Posts Tagged ‘Motivation

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27
May
12

Why I do What I do

By garagegym107 5 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
Tags: , , , , ,

It is a hot one today!  You would think being on the lake for the long weekend would be full of fun and games. 

Today was tree removal day.   Since  starting CrossFit almost two years ago I have been the tree hauler.  Any time we need to take a tree down, the spousal unit does the cutting and I do the hauling up the steep lot to the street.

Today was a wonderful reminder of why I train.  Why I love CrossFit and why I became a trainer. 

If I can help one person become as functionally fit as I am
then I can’t really ask for more.  Today I never doubted for a moment the purpose of the farmers walk or the waiter’s carry and the 400m of walking lunges.  Going up and down the steep slope reminded me that agility and balance are taken for granted until you do a WOD like I did today.

I challenge ALL of my friends to put your CrossFit training to task and do something major, something around your home to improve it.  If you’ve been training like I have you are ready, no doubt. 

If you aren’t doing CrossFit in a box, I recommend going through a fundamentals course just to see if you like it.  If you don’t have access to a box then I highly recommend that you take a look at Cultfit.com and check out some of their workouts that can be done just about anywhere.

Get yourself started on a path to fit.  Take it one day, one workout, and one clean meal at a time. 

There is no going back for me.  I live with intention, with purpose even if at times the purpose may be a little clouded, I still focus on living today being a better person than yesterday.

25
May
12

One of Those Moments

By garagegym107 4 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

22
May
12

The Morphing of a Fit Woman

By garagegym107 3 Comments
Categories: Living Fit Daily
Tags: , , , , , ,

People in the gym see me and most would never know that I weighed 328# at one point in my life.   Most days I don’t think about where I came from just because I don’t live in the past.  I prefer to keep my eyes peeled on what’s happening today. 

That way I see more of the good stuff.  Worrying about tomorrow before it gets here solves nothing.  Hanging on to crap that happened in the past only serves to keep me there so I tend to let yesterday go and live in today.

Ever looked up the definition of morphing? 

  • Undergo or cause to undergo a gradual transformation: “it began as an online magazine and morphed into a book”.

This suits me perfectly. Gradual transformation.  What started out as a seemingly impossible task has become a reality.   From fat to fit.  I used to bristle at the term fat for fear of hurting someone’s feelings.  

The truth is I WAS FAT and I blamed it on everyone and everything.  Bad  divorce, hated my job, not enough money, I had three kids, I was too busy to go to the gym, my knee’s hurt (ya think??  what body part doesn’t hurt when you pack 170# of excess weight on it?).   In reality, I was scared.  What if I failed.  What if I didn’t follow through.  What if I didn’t stay with it.  Notice I never said “what if I can’t”.  Subconsciously, I always knew that I could and I would.  Where I got into trouble was wanting major results all the time.  I’ve learned that the minor changes are just as important. 

It’s in the details.  We lose ourselves in where we want to be instead of what it takes to get there.   My best progressions have come when I stopped focusing on when I get “there” and started wholeheartedly focusing my attention on where I am and what I can do to be better today than I was yesterday.

It’s not easy, but I promise you when you get “there”, you’ll move the bar to somewhere else.     That’s morphing. 

Gradual transformation is difficult mainly because of our instant gratification society.   For me, gradual transformation has forced me to embrace the journey. It’s the journey that makes it possible to endure the necessary sacrifices to achieve any goal worth having.

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