V’s Journey

Ha! For once I am not posting an overthought, overwritten blog. 

 I am moving and will not have broadband for the next couple of days.  (How am I going to cope??)  I’ll be back though.   And soon.

Last night when I was doing cardio, this song came on.  I loved it.  Thought to share it.  The video has an old school Soviet gym in it.  It will make you appreciate your gym… and the song has excellent bpm. 

 "Keep on running! Keep, keep on running! There’s no place like home!"

And so should you!

 Okay, let me qualify that statement.  You should stink when you’ve finished your workout. 

People often ask me how hard they should be working.  This is a perfectly good question when you’re an unfit beginner.  At that stage you have not learned to love the "pain".  You still think the "pain" is killing you.  Human nature says to avoid pain. 

So what do beginners do?  They don’t push themselves as hard as what they need too.  There are exceptions of course, I pushed myself to my maximum right from the beginning.  My previous failed attempts were failures because I had not been able to push through the initial discomfit.  I see others in gym everyday, not pushing themselves to their maximum.

Take note of the phrase "push to your maximum".  We are all at different levels.  For example I have this feeling that a workout with Shannon would probably kick my butt.  I know in my gym there is only one other woman (who is a great friend to me, we have dumbbells named in our honour) that works at the same level I do, the rest would struggle to keep up.

So how do you know that you’re working to your maximum?  With cardio it’s easy.  (Keep in mind I’m speaking to beginners.)  You don’t have a heart rate monitor so use the old breathlessness test.  At the very least it should be difficult to have a conversation.  That is a good rate of work to begin with.

If you can read a book while leaning back on the recumbant bike then I can tell you now, you are NOT working hard enough. 

So how do you know that you’re working hard enough with the weights? 

This is my answer.  There is no science behind this.

I sweat.  No, I don’t perspire.  I sweat.  And that leads to stinking. 

If you’ve finished your workout and you haven’t broken a sweat, then I’m challenging the level of your workout.  I see the people who come to gym, delicately "working" on the circuit and never breaking a sweat.  They go to gym regularly.  But their bodies stay the same. 

You need to break a sweat to change your body.  You need to stink to change your body. 

And then for heaven’s sake go have a shower!  

I know a couple of former smokers.  Reformed smokers are normally the most vehement anti-smoking campaigners.  Good for them.  They overcame a life-threatening addiction, they’ve done the work.  And they know it can be done.

 I have also overcome a life-threatening addiction.  I’ve done the work. And now I’m going to preach the message.  (Can I have an AMEN!! I feel it, Sista! Preach it!)

There is a slight difference between being addicted to nicotine and food.  You don’t need nicotine to live.  Whereas food is a neccesity.  Nicotine addiction is pure stupidity.  

My addiction was food.  I couldn’t walk past a buffet without loading a plateful.  It had to be a plateful (geez, gotta get the FULL value!).  If you offered me cake, no matter how cheap and nasty the cake was, I would eat it.  If there was food it had to be eaten. 

 I used food as a comfort mechanism because I had no other tools to deal with the baggage I was carrying.  Ironically, this just gave me more baggage.  More issues.

You will not achieve your weight loss goals until you deal with the baggage.  You can try the latest diet, you can pay a personal trainer, you can buy home gym equipment.  You can do a lot of things but until you sort out your head and your heart (yes, the emotional stuff) it will not happen. 

So where do you get help?

From everywhere.  Join a support group.  See a counsellor (highly recommend this if you’re dealing with really nasty issues).  Read books.  Join BodySpace.  Find a Life Coach.  Just do the work.  

Only you can do the work.  The things I mention above are just tools.  You will make the choice to change your life.  You will choose to get better.  You will live and breathe your journey.  This is all good because it prepares you for the next step in winning the weight loss battle:

Nutrition and exercise.

Once again this will come down to your choices.  You will live and breathe this.  No-one can do it for you.   YOU do the work!

I’ve done it.  So have many others on BodySpace.  So can you.  The question is:

 Are You Gonna Go My Way?

My friends will know that I was in the process of separating from my husband. This weekend he moved out. And I am so happy that it is scandalous! I have been living in a state of uncertainty for the past couple of weeks. The tension at home was terrible. Life pretty much sucked.

It was my choice to end the marriage. There is a part of me that feels for my ex. He is not a bad guy. However, the relationship had run it’s course and I decided to end it before it became toxic. It has taken a year for me to work through this decision. It was not made lightly or flippantly.

During the course of the year I have had time to grieve for my marriage. Like most people do when they get married I had fully intended to live happily ever after. The major emotion I am feeling at present is relief. Because I can finally get on with my life.

Unfortunately, all the turmoil has impacted the way I was eating. My training has been consistent and has kept me sane. Now it’s time to get back on the horse! Today was the last day of eating off plan. From tomorrow it’s back onto the plan. The plan does not include foie gras, brie, chocolate or freshly baked baguettes. Hello baby leaf spinach and chicken breast!

I am very excited to be back on plan! Excited because there is still much to accomplish.

Thank you to all the friends who have been checking up on me and making sure I’m okay. 

And just because I haven’t had one in a while, here’s my latest theme song.  "She’s a genius" by Jet.  Love it. I know I’m a genius.