Hello Old Friends! It's been a while....

That title sounds like the beginning of a cheesy 80’s song doesn’t it (Acutally, I think it is!)?  Well for me today, it was the recurring theme for my workout.  With the swelling in my ankle down after 3 weeks off (OMG seriously!?!?!), my food for the week taken care of (Thank you again to My Fit Foods) and feeling like a sloth sitting on the couch, I made my goal for today to officially get back in the gym. 

I decided to go during my lunch as I am not back in the routine of getting up early yet. All morning while I was doing my work for my full time job, I had my workout music blaring in the back ground.  Hello old friend #1!  Thanks for getting me pumped up and motivated. 

At the stroke of noon, I mixed up my usual workout drink of water and glutamine (tastes like cherry), grabbed my music, slapped on my shoes and was out the door!  As I was walking to the clubhouse in my condo complex, I started sipping my drink. Hello Old Friend #2!  The taste was immediately familiar. 

All of a sudden in my head it was 2006 and I was getting ready for my figure show.  It all flooded back in…the hard work, the dedication, the motivation, the exhaustion, the sweat, but mostly the desire.  It is the type of desire that drives a person to do their very best and leave nothing on the table.  It is the type of desire that drives a person to all ends of the earth and enables them to jump over or mow down any obstacle in the way of their goal.  At that moment I knew I this was going to be a HARD but GREAT day back.

As I walked into the workout room I saw that no one was there.  It was just me.  No one was there to distract me. No one was there to steal the equipment.  No one was there to make sure that I got every set and rep done.  No one was there to keep me from slacking off.  I was completely alone and on my own.  It was all me!  I took a moment to scan the room and take inventory:  Elliptical, treadmill, bike, free weights, benches, universal machine, and stability ball.   Hello Old Friends #3!  Oh my I have missed you. 

Finally, I took a deep breath, turned on my music and went to work.  Mostly, I took aim at my chest and my triceps.  Since my ankle was feeling good I added some basic cardio intervals.   However, my abdominals were feeling a little bit jealous so I pounded on them for a bit too.  After I had sufficiently punished myself with weights I started to walk towards the door and paused at the bike (boy do I miss spinning).  I got on to see how it worked and how it felt to ride.  Well, it must have felt good and familiar because before I knew it 10 minutes had passed.  It felt so good that I could feel my body craving more.  And even though I had not done ANY activity in 3 WEEKS (Man I was SUCKING WIND!), the more I pedaled, the better I felt!  Unfortunately, after those 10 minutes I had to call it quits so I could get back to work.   And just like that 55 minutes after I had walked into that room, I was walking out.  My goal for today was met!

Mentally, I feel awesome.  Physically I am toasted.  I believe that my muscles do each have minds of their own.  Today I could feel them shaking in what I am going to describe as FEAR (in reality it is FATIGUE).  Tomorrow I am positive they will be screaming at me in ANGER (in reality this will be SORENESS).  My response to them is this…..Bring it on!  I welcome the pain!  Change does not come without some degree of mental or physical pain!

Monday Motivation.... 
You are only ONE workout away from a good mood!

Pinch Me.....I'm Dreaming!!

Confession time!!!  I absolutely HATE dealing with grocery shopping and cooking.  I mean it is the last thing that I want to do (I would actually prefer to have root canal done).  Cooking and being in the kitchen is just not my thing.  My mother, who has always been an excellent cook, has tried for years to get me to appreciate and enjoy time in the kitchen…..and bless her heart that effort has failed miserably.  Don’t get me wrong… I can cook.  I have prepped healthy food.  I did it consistently for a long time.   I did it under protest over and over, got burnt out, and needless to say that time spent in my kitchen over the past year or so has been sporadic at best.  I do see cooking as a chore and do not get an ounce of enjoyment out time in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, my decision to refocus on healthy living and eating has brought me face to face with this demon.  Even though I do my best to pick healthy options when I eat out, it is completely unrealistic for me to think that restaurant dining and avoiding my kitchen is going to get me the health results that I am looking for right now.  I want to find a way to eat healthy and not have to do the grocery shopping and the cooking.  Yes….Yes….I know that is having my quinoa and eating it too.   If I could, I would hire myself a health nutritionist/chef to do all this leg work for me, but unfortunately I have not pinpointed the exact location of that stinking money tree yet! 

However, I am excited to say that I think I have found the next best solution!!!!!!  I stumbled across a business here in Arizona (BTW…also in Texas, California, and Idaho) a couple of weeks ago that was created exactly for someone like me!  It is called….

Courtesy of My Fit Foods (www.myfitfoods.com)

My Fit Foods was started by a personal trainer that began cooking meals for his clients that were not getting results in their fitness programs because they were not eating the right foods, were too busy to cook, or HATED TO COOK (HEY! That’s me!).  I am sooo excited! 

You go in and pick out your healthy, clean, pre-made, pre-packaged, perfectly portioned meals from the really LARGE refrigerators.  If you want, you also have the option to order your food a day ahead and pick it up the next day to ensure what you are looking for will always be in stock.  All the food is made fresh there with no preservatives. Each meal has a “best by” date on it that will not exceed more than five days from the time you purchase it.  The protein/carbohydrate/fat ratios are balanced and the meals come in three different sizes based on your caloric needs.  Their meals are healthy and tasty!  In addition, many of their meal choices are also GLUTEN FREE!  On top of everything else….grocery shopping and food prep this week has taken me 30 minutes!  Pinch me I think I am dreaming!!!  What’s the catch?

Well, I will tell you.  It is more expensive than doing your own food prep of course.  Each meal can range anywhere from $4.85 to $10 a meal with the average being about $6.00/meal (depending on what you get and the size you get).  Of course, you also do not have 100% control of what goes into the meals, which is a huge plus to prepping your own food.   Nothing will replace the value of preparing, portioning, and packing up your own food.   I will eventually get back to doing my own food prep, but for now this is going to get me going in the right direction and is a great interim solution.   

So with that, my food prep for the week is DONE and I am on my way!…WOOOOHOOOOO!

NOTE:  I was not lying.....other than my meals f

or the week see how empty my frig is?????? Yikes!

Coming Soon!!!!!  Workout Move of the Week!  Stay Tuned!

A New Chapter.....

Four Months! Four Months!  Are you kidding me?!??!?!?!  Where did it go?  Let me see if I can recap.....work, teach Group Fitness (GF), sleep, work, teach GF, sleep, teach GF, teach GF, work, sleep, and did I mention TEACH GF.  Ok, so you get my point.  All of a sudden four months has flown away, and I didn't even see the direction it headed.

On a side note, please note that in my todo list above there was no mention of personal workouts or food prep.  My point....not a lot of personal workouts and food prep has been consistently occurring.  The result...my training has suffered, my diet has suffered, and my overall physical condition has suffered. 

All of a sudden, it started to get worse.  Crohn's/Colitis flare up.....CHECK!  Injury (mysterious ankle sprain that I don't remember injuring with swelling that will not go down).....CHECK!  And before it could get any worse I called TIMEOUT!  My body is trying to tell me something.  If I don't listen to it now, it is just a slippery slope down hill until I hit rock bottom.  

So what were my options?

Option 1:  Keep going at the rate I am going.  Change nothing.

Potential Result:  Risk permanent physical injury and major internal inflammation that could turn into something far more serious, perhaps even permanent, if ignored.

Option 2:  Something has to give, so.....OMG!  Dare I say it....Give up teaching group fitness classes for a while

Potential Result:  Take the time to refocus, establish goals, get healthy, and come back strong.  

How did this happen?  How could I let it get so bad?  I could ask these questions until I am blue in the face.  The answer is simply this....I lost my focus on my health and I lost balance.  It is time to stop asking those questions and take control.  Like so many, I am human and not perfect, but I do have the power to change.   

After many tears and CostCo sized boxes of kleenex, I reluctantly decided to put teaching classes (my passion) aside.....at least for now.  In my mind, to get back to where I want to be, option 2 is the ONLY option.  I want to regain my balance, I want to establish some new goals, I want to be strong, I want to be comfortable in my skin again,  and most of all I want to regain my health.  

So here we go.....Let the "New Chapter" begin.  
Join me as this new chapter in my journey unfolds will you?   Am I excited?  Yes!  
Am I nervous? Definitely!  
Am I going to move forward?  Oh yeah! You Betcha!