Thursday, September 17, 2009

These things I know to be true...

Over the past two weeks whilst my legs were dragging the ground and perilously close to falling off the healthy living wagon, I had plenty of time to contemplate my situation. I discovered several things about myself. Maybe not discovered so much as just a big "DUH" moment or things that make you go hmmm. For your review:

1. I can't just "work out" for the sake of exercise. There must be some sort of goal attached. I have to be working towards something. Something bigger than the grandious idea of just looking and feeling better. A marathon, a 12 week challenge with prizes attached, you get the idea.

2. I wonder if people who eat healthy food as a general rule ever ate junk food at any point in their life? I read blogs raving about green monsters and various healthy grains and it just makes me wonder considering I can't seem to shake my love of sugar and fatty foods. Did these people grow up with parents who fed them carob instead of chocolate? How can I break my addiction to cake and ice cream?

3. How do people work out at night? I think I may be a morning person in that respect. Over the past 2 weeks I have had every intention of working out when I got home from work but always found some excuse to not do it. If I don't get up and do it in the morning it ain't gonna happen.

I had to drop out of bootcamp due to the economic situation in my home. Not to worry, that same week I received an email about a 12-week challenge at my gym. Basically, they tell you what to do for 12 weeks in terms of exercise and there is some sort of prize at the end. There are probably 80 people doing this challenge which is quite impressive considering there were maybe 9 in the last one I did.

My interest in the challenge was the accountability (see bullet 1) but also I wanted someone to help me plan out strength and resisitance training. I figure I have the cardio down, I got the nutrition component from the last challenge I did and now I need the 3rd piece of the puzzle. More details on it all later but am pretty excited about it. It was the kick start I needed.

Lots of rain on tap for this weekend but hopefully can still get a run in and a tennis match on Sunday. Have a great Friday!

4 comments:

Kevin said...

I am the same way with #2. I really struggle at times with sweets

I need to get back to doing more of my training in the morning. At least then I dont have the issue of a busy day at work that leaves me too tired to train. Unfortunately that has happened too often lately

Lauren Starks said...

I think the same thing about foodie-bloggers. Sometimes, I think I'm missing some sort of gene that makes me tolerate (?) healthy foods.

I envy morning worker-outers. I find it easier to hit get the workouts done in the evening/night. (Most of the time, anyway.) It's probably. I think maybe if I lived in an area that was more 'runner' friendly (i.e., sidewalks) I might workout earlier in the morning.

Lindsay said...

#1. i'm the same. i say i just want to work out in general, but i'm addicted to tracking my mileage so "just working out" won't cut it.

#2. i've also heard of people no-longer craving sweets or even having "bad aftertaste" when eating sweets after cutting them out. i don't think i'll ever have that problem. i am just trying to be more balanced and cut back (somewhat) on all the junk! :)

#3. i used to feel the same. when my schedule changed a ton i didn't have much of a choice. it's not too bad, though the desire to just sit relax instead is strong some days. it's also tougher to fall asleep at night when i don't get done running until 8 or 8:30 and eat a late dinner. i'm trying to get back in a habit of running in the morning at least a few days per week...

sounds like the new challenge will go well, and hopefully it will be the kick-in-the-rear you need for strength training! :) have a good weekend!

RunToTheFinish said...

I am a green monster drinker and a pretty healthy eater, but you know what I still have a cookie every day! You only live once right? For me it was definitely a transition I made on my own, I grew up in a house of soda and was allowed to have cake for breakfast when I got older because well dad did! My parents were thin so they didn't think much of it but it left me chubby.

It seems like you are darn healthy and fit, so I say don't stress it too much. Find the fruits and veggies you enjoy, experiment a little and you''ll be a ok