Posts Tagged ‘Inspiration

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04
Jun
12

Square Peg in a Round Hole

By garagegym107 2 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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I love reading.   In fact it’s not uncommon that I have more than one book going at a time.  Sometime there is fiction/drama and it’s generally counter balanced with something that is non-fiction.  Right now I have two non-fiction books going at once.  One is Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath and it’s about making lasting change when change is hard.   The other is a book called Paleoista by Nell Stephenson.   

I bought Paleoista because I was interested to see a woman’s perspective on Paleo eating.   I’m just over halfway finished and so far I find it rather idealistic. 

In example…”you’ll no longer need that microwave so go ahead and donate it to the thrift store” and in the same chapter, “plan your meals so there is enough for lunch the next day”. 

Ok in a perfect world of having access to a working stove and a skillet to reheat lunch meals at work would be great.   Not using a microwave is fine if you eat salad every day. But realistically does this author always eat her leftovers cold?  Leftovers that she discusses how wonderful the meals are fresh and hot off the stove?

Ok, so I’m nit-picking.  Or am I?  I eat a very clean diet.  I have for several years.  One of my greatest discoveries was that I was eating too many cold meals and wasn’t satisfied 50% of the time.

Instead of telling people to ditch the microwave (I’m not trying to start a debate here so hold your comments on the damages of using a microwave) why not instruct them how to properly re-heat those awesome leftovers?

I live in the great state of Alabama.  North Alabama to be exact.  The land of fried, smothered and covered, eat everything on your plate, and “thanks for dinner, I enjoyed it”.  We don’t have a Whole Foods.  Thankfully this time of year we do have a farmers market.  I’ve found one source for a grass-fed cow, but I’ve yet to jump on the 6-12 month waiting list.

Another hot button?  Squeezing all women in to the same one size fits all box.  Ironically, I do eat a Paleo style diet mainly because I have a wheat intolerance and it takes exactly 3 days for strange things to happen in my body.  I do include the occasional dairy, wine, dark chocolate,  and sweet potatoes. 

That being said IT TOOK ME YEARS to get here from morbid obesity.  Attempting to make Paleo appear to be the fashionable thing to do rubs me a little.  When you are 168# over weight, you don’t really feel very “ista” anything, instead you feel lost, lonely and perhaps even a bit broken.

I would not recommend this book to one of my clients unless I knew in advance that they had their head on straight. And that there was no yo-yoing going on.

What I mean by that?  Heavily restricting the diet of a person that is extremely overweight can wreak havoc on that persons emotional eating issues not to mention their metabolism.  Some folks don’t do so hot with cold turkey.

I’ve never been able to understand the statement “eat until your full”.   Some people just simply do not have that “full” mechanism until they learn to become mindful.  And trust me, that is a process and depending on the person they could see results quickly or as in my case of strong denial it could take much longer.

Ok, I’ll settle down now and finish reading the book this week.  If nothing more than for the sheer humor of it.

When I’m further in to Switch, I’ll let you know my “opinion” on it. Remember, we all have opinions and you are free to consider it or not.

01
Jun
12

Speed Bumps in The Road

By garagegym107 Leave a Comment
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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Thank goodness for auto insurance!  Needless to say, the boy has learned a whole lot about responsibility from his decision to not notify the police of the accident. 

Note to all of my friends and anyone that I don’t know who is reading this blog:  I assumed my child understood that no matter what, when there is an accident he must report it to the police.  Don’t make the assumption that your kids know this. 

Explain to them that no matter what, it matters when it comes down to who pays the bill for repairs.  I’ve raised my kids with the understanding that in every situation they have choices and no matter what choice they make, they must be prepared to handle the consequences   The boy is better for the experience although his summer will be spent paying off the deductible debt he owes me.

I have been sitting here thinking about the rather crazy week I’ve had.  I’ve managed to get all but one of my workouts in.  I do intend to make up that workout at some point this weekend.  I usually take both days as active rest days.  I’m going to have some pull-up skill work and 10 x 100m sprints.   That ought to work me over pretty good and then I intend to stand-up paddle board if the mound of laundry will allow for it. 

My eats have been pretty close to 90% clean which I’m ok with.   I’ve run the gamut of the eat bad, feel bad, eat bad cycle and then transitioned over to the perfectionist cycle of 100% clean 100% of the time and plenty more phases smashed between the two extremes. 

These phases I now see very clearly and understand how they came about.  It has only been since I realized the difference between 90% and 100% is minimal in terms of my results that I’ve become more comfortable.  Now my body, mind and soul are a lot happier when I selectively choose my 10% meals.  

I do believe that 80% clean eats is a good solid goal for everyone.  I’m personally not as comfortable with that being my choice.  I prefer to keep a slightly tighter reign because I am more comfortable with that structure. 

For those struggling to find balance out there, it’s doable.  Just be patient with yourself and don’t be afraid to fall down from time to time.  Just don’t stay down because no-one will come along and pick you up.  You have to do that for yourself. 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

25
May
12

One of Those Moments

By garagegym107 4 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
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Rewind to yesterday.  I was driving home from the gym after my workout and noticed a large gentlemen slowly making his way down the walking path next to the road.  He wasn’t walking, he was doing his best to jog.   He’s heavy, really heavy. 

That little voice that gets me in trouble some times started whispering “pull over, pull over and tell him don’t quit!” but the rational side said “that man will think you’ve lost your mind” so I kept going.  But I never stopped thinking about that guy.  All day yesterday I thought about his red and black clothing and I remembered my first year in the gym.  I wanted to cheer for him.  I wanted to be his biggest fan yesterday.

This morning I was working out and I turned around and thought “OMG!!  That is the dude that was running down the street!!”.  He was there in the gym in the flesh.

I waited for him to finish his time on the elliptical and went over to him and asked if he was the guy going down the road and he said yes.   

I know he thought I was pretty close to crazy because my eyes filled up with tears and I just looked at him and told him a little bit of my story and I said “just don’t quit, no matter who or what interferes with what you are doing here today or any other day, just don’t give up because if I can do it, you can”. 

I left him to his workout and went on to finish mine.  He’s probably never going to set foot in that gym in the early morning again thinking that crazy woman might be there.  But I don’t think he’ll ever forget that. 

You know I think back on the people who have encouraged me and it humbles me every time I do.  People I have met either in the gym or online.  Many of the online friendships developed in to real life friendships.  Support groups, friends, mentors all in it to help one another along.  One of my friends said to me “Each one, Reach one”.  I know she will read this and I know she will know I’m talking about her.

Living fit daily can be challenging, but those challenges can be overcome.  Every single day I get up with the intention of being more fit today than I was yesterday, mentally, physically or emotionally in some way.   I’m not always perfect, but I am always consistent.  Consistency wins the race.  I’m living proof of that.

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