Talk Yourself Into It

      Yesterday was a bad day. You know how some days your life feels like a country song? Not one of the adorable ones where some hot stud wants to make you feel "Wanted", but one where everyone including your dog has left you and life in general seems to be imploding on you? That was yesterday. Needless to say, at the culmination of all of such events, the last thing I felt like doing was working out. And I almost didn't.

     It's very easy to give yourself a pass when you're having a crap day. When you're choking back tears from all the various BS you're dealing with, it's not usually something you want to deal with in a public place. The thing is, I already had my workout scheduled into my day. I was wearing my workout clothes, it was next on the agenda and the gym was right down the street. I would have had to deliberately DRIVE PAST the gym to get home. And believe me, I wanted to. I almost did. I started taking a different route home telling myself that it was ok to skip today because seeing as how my life sucked, it was totally acceptable to go home and cry for a million years instead of working out. I was approaching the last turn that would have put me on the road to the gym. I was not in the turning lane. The light was red in the straight lane and green in the turning lane. The turning lane (next to me) was empty.

And I had a moment.

     Yes, today (and this month) in general are pretty horrendous for me. However, one of my goals in my bigger plan is to achieve a certain body aesthetic that I haven't yet reached. It is very possible, but I keep sabotaging myself. I workout, but haven't been as consistent as necessary. I eat pretty healthy...some of the time, but have also been a little more lax in that area than I need to be to achieve results. Yes, there are times when your workout is not the end-all-be-all to your day - but if every time my life isn't going right I use it as an excuse to skip the gym, I will never see the inside of a gym again.

     In a split second decision, I moved into the turning lane (I looked first!) and headed to the gym. I told myself that I could sit in the parking lot until I was ready to go in, and if I still wasn't feeling it - I could just drive home. I sat in the parking lot and thumbed through my ipod for what I wanted to listen to while I made the decision to stay or go. I chose one of my favorite motivational phrases that happens to be from a song. The song is from a musical from which I get my namesake: Sweet Charity. It's called "I'm The Bravest Individual". Without getting into crazy detail, the reason I like Charity is because no matter how bad things get for her and no matter how poorly she's treated by people she is a genuine sweetheart to, she believes that at any moment, things can turn around. If not today, then there's always tomorrow. And when you get to the end of your rope or when you're really scared, just tell yourself that you're the bravest individual you know. You'll calm down and be able to face whatever is coming at you.

She's the bravest individual she has ever met.

    After crying all the frustration that I had out while listening to the song in the car. I wiped my eyes, sucked it up and went into the gym and completed my workout. Because in the grand scheme of things, if I don't do all I can to accomplish my fitness goals - that will just end up something else that adds to the list of "things that suck right now." I have some degree of control over this specific situation, which is not the case for other things on the afore mentioned list. It's up to me to do all I can in this area.

   The takeaway is this: Even when it's hard, do it. Unless it's impossible, do it. If you don't feel like doing it, start doing it anyway and give yourself the option to stop or continue. Your ultimate success lies with you and whether you decided to suck it up and do it or to go home and cry.

xoxo,
 SweetC

Focus

Something occurred to me during today's workout. I took a break from regimented workouts over the summer which means I haven't seriously lifted weights since, hmmm... March? Lifting weights is ESSENTIAL to weight loss. Lifting builds muscle, muscle burns fat - even when you're just chillin', the more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn. But that's not all lifting weights does for you. It also makes you strong. I remember finishing my second round of P90X and how strong I felt. I felt like I could move mountains or hold my own if some creeper tried to mug me. It was this great sense of fitness and power.

Now, I'm just starting to lift again and I'm really upset at myself for waiting so long to get back to it. My strength level is not where it was at the end of my last round of the X. The good news is, I know from experience that it will come back quicker than it took me to build up. I'm not at the level I left off at yet, but I will get there pretty soon and hopefully surpass it. What I realized is this - I think I need to change my focus.

I spend so much time worrying about why I'm not losing any more weight and what I need to do to lose it. The reality is that figuring that situation out is gonna take a while. Any new thing I try will take at least a few weeks to show if it's working or not and if I'm stressing out over that entire time, I'll just be miserable. My workout tonight was actually fun. I did a HIIT from Turbo Fire and some lifting from P90X. If I just focus on enjoying my workouts and giving it the best I have, at the very least I'll just continue to get more fit. Being fit and feeling fit makes me feel good and EVENTUALLY that fitness has to lead to the weight coming off.

Thankfully, we're entering the cooler months and I don't need to worry about showing skin. It's the perfect time to relax my attitude (not relaxing the workouts). I can still bust my butt and work super hard, but I don't need to worry quite as much about seeing those ab muscles just yet. I have quite some time before they need to be seen by others. I really want to focus on getting in the best shape that I can and let the weight loss come as a result of that.

If anyone has not signed up to join my September fitness challenge, you must do it now! You don't want to be that person making resolutions YET AGAIN on 1.01.11. Why wait? Why not have the body you want BEFORE the new year rolls in? You have nothing to lose but the weight!
Click Here To Join The Fitness Challenge!

"I Don't Wanna Get Too Bulky"

I just gotta get this off my chest - because it makes me crazy. I hear SO many women say they don't want to lift weights or do P90X because they don't want to get too bulky. Honestly, how many fit and in shape women do you know PERSONALLY that you would describe as bulky? Ok, how many have you seen - outside of fitness magazines and competitions?

I personally know 2 women who compete professionally, and they are the closest thing I've seen to "bulky". Ladies, you're not going to pick up a weight and all of the sudden turn into a professional male wrestler. It doesn't work that way. Our bodies were not made to get large like that. There is so much work and effort and supplements that you would have to purposely invest to manipulate your muscles to a point that could be described as "bulky". It's not gonna happen by accident. It's certainly not gonna happen by you picking up a 15lb. dumbbell.

Excuse #2 - I don't really need to build muscle, I just want to lose weight

Guess what? Muscle burns fat. Yup, you heard me. So when you're sitting at your desk at work, doing nothing - your muscles are burning fat. The more muscle you have, the more efficiently that fat is burned. That's why lots of women who are slim also have very toned muscles. Those muscles helped them get slim. And how do you get toned muscles? You need to lift weights. Or - use your own body weight as resistance.

Take it from someone who knows.

www.beachbodycoach.com/sweetcharity