Thursday, May 14, 2015

Success or Failure...and the space between

Black or white, left or right, up or down...these are very clear opposite ends of the spectrum.  When it comes to working out, daily nutrition and staying positive I think that you need to have a little bit of grey area.

Don't get me wrong, I am very much an all in kinda girl and when I am in the throws of a training program there is nothing that is going to break my focus.  However after that training program has come to a close I will give myself a little breathing room for a week or so and let my head and body have a little bit of a break.  I do not think that makes me a failure or a winner.  I think that makes me human.

I love to push my body to new extremes.  I love to try to challenge myself every chance I can but I also understand that there are breaking points.  I don't let myself get to that point as a rule but also know that I like to see results and be proud of what I have accomplished.  In my spinning classes our instructor will ask  us to turn the resistance dial once for her and then once again for ourselves and then usually one more for yourself.  In that moment I do in fact do that triple turn because I know I have dedicated 45 minutes to me in this session and I am going to push as hard as I can for me.  I am going to have a successful session.

Then comes the rest of the day and telling yourself you are going to continue that surge from the high intensity workout and you are going to rock the day.  Then you uncover that bag of chewy sprees you have left over from the roadtrip and even though you know they are 50 calories per 8 little circles, you find yourself consuming extra calories you had otherwise not planned for.  One step forward, two steps back....some days that is just how it is.  As long as you have more rocking days then challenges...you will get to your goal.

Telling yourself you are going to do something is one thing...I am going to work out today.  That may happen but it probably won't.  Stating the fact that you will run x miles at 7 o'clock, or I will go to bootcamp class at 11am, or I will do the ab challenge with the kids when they get home from school.  These are statements...not open ended phrases.  You need to have a clear definition of your goal to reach it...you need to have a plan.

So let's pull up our big girls pants and accept the situation that is upon us.  We want to make a difference in the life we are living.  Well it will be hard, it will suck, it will hurt, it will make you cry, it will make you want to quit before you even get out of bed.  But let's focus on the successes.  Let's realize you did get out of bed and put on your gym clothes and actually WENT to the gym.  You even used a measuring cup to see how much is 1 cup of pasta or dry cereal really looks like.  You drank 60 oz of water in a day...and got lots of exercise walking to and from the bathroom!!  The more you focus on the positive the more positive you will be rewarded with.

G4 and I were running errands last week and I told him when we get home I need to run on the treadmill for a little bit.  He said okay...I play trains...I told him yes he can play with his trains while I run.  When we got in the house to head to the basement, he found my orange visor and handed it to me and said...run momma?!?!?  He is helping bring me positive.  Hubby now runs with an orange visor, he is bringing me positive vibes!!  Yesterday when I drove G1 and G2 to the bus we walked outside and G2 said to me, Mom, this would be a great day to go for a run, the weather is amazing.  She is bringing me positive.  Hubby and I have planned out our weekend of workouts and life and yet again we are able to squeeze it all in...we are focusing on the positive of making it all work...and not the craziness of the timelines.
Three legs done...all at varied paces...but completed...still success!!

So yes there is success and failure and you are probably stepping on the scale or coming back from a run and looking at your time on your watch and thinking one way or another.  But let's focus that today you cared enough to see if the scale moved from your past days efforts, and you actually went for a run.  I would view both of those as a success.

Embrace the suck...choose you!!



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