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Next weekend is the first day of Spring. I’m sure everyone is ready this year to bid winter goodbye and bring in the warmer weather. But, first we have to get through all the mess, the mud, the melting snow. We have to watch everything look dirty and yucky for several weeks before things REALLY get to where we can enjoy them. Spring is just so…untidy, isn’t it?
Just like us. Here you are. You promised yourself at the New Year you would do this thing. Maybe you started and then quit. Maybe you are out there, just going through the motions of whatever program or plan you have kind of decided to do. Or you are paying your gym membership every month and NOT working out. Or you are saying you’ll “do something here soon” because it is spring next week afterall and you had that new year’s resolution and…
Our minds are like these unruly places where great ideas form but the key is to make your way through all the other muck and bring them to blossoming into action. THAT is the tough part.
So this, unfortunately, can take some being really honest with oneself. And that is not easy. We all WANT to believe that we can succeed. But you cannot even begin to succeed without taking a good hard look at WHY you might be failing. Is it because you are too busy? Too old? Too tired? Or are those just symptoms of the real issue, which is that your own personal wellness is not first on your list. Do you have bad genetics? A slow metabolism? Or are those just excuses? I’m not saying some people are not more genetically gifted than others when it comes to fitness. There IS validity to that. Believe me I would take my girlfriend’s body type of itty bitty you know whaties, flat belly and cute little bubble bum over my apple shaped tendency toward “ample” bosomed, soft rounded tummy just waiting for a bun in the oven body type ANY day! Do I have to work harder than some people? Yes indeed I do. Is it fair? Hardly. BUT there is NOTHING I can do about that!
The FIRST step in failing is worrying and fretting about stuff you can do NOTHING about. You can’t change some things. You just have to move forward. Other things you CAN change. Your body and health are some of those things.
So, what is this really all about? Are you REALLY about getting your wellness house in order? Are you REALLY about putting your health first? Are you REALLY about finally losing that weight that you have been meaning to lose for the last 5, 10, 15 years? Or are you just standing in the room worrying about all those things that you cannot change?
When you LIVE what you say is important to you, you just do it. If you have to take baby steps, then dangit you do. If you need help then dangit you ask. If you fall then DANGIT you get back up and you do it again.
And it is not always easy. THAT is the point of the first part of the story. LIVING something that you feel you want is sometimes THE hardest thing to do. It isn’t neat. It is NOT tidy. Being a way that isn’t popular, or accepted, by your friends and family who don’t want you to take this step toward your own health because it is going to result in the disappearance of the household Twinkie stash, is not fun. If is difficult to go against the mob and say - you know what my health and my body mean something to me so I’m going to have to pass on just eating mindlessly and I’m going to have to get up an hour earlier and insist on this time for myself.
Why is being real sometimes such an issue? Because people who are different make other people uncomfortable. THAT is the bottom line. And to that I say also - So What? Here are these other people now, uncomfortable and worrying about things they cannot change. And one of those THINGS is you!
So, it is almost spring. Be muddy, mucky, dirty, unkempt in your conformity. Allow yourself to go wild with your wellness! Pursue it, unabashedly and in a manner that raises eyebrows. And by summer, you’ll have the beginnings of a beautiful bloom with your health and fitness right in the center.
I did my one month stuff yesterday for the X. My measurements have not shifted much, maybe an 8th of an inch or so off the waist. I have lost three pounds. My bf is around 16%.
I have done this program several times, as well as other beachbody stuff, my own stuff, different trainer's stuff, etc. Point is, i've been at this for awhile. But, even if you have it is important to take stock and periodic times. That is why the X has phases and gives you worksheets to track your progress. You should list your goals. They should be attainable but not without a push. They should be measurable. That is why people weigh themselves, or do measurements or body fat. Some do all of those. The point is to not get stuck on one but utilize them for what they are in whole, places to start from and measure by.
One of the things i am noticing, again, about this program is the fact that it wipes you OUT. This is the second occassion since starting it that i have slept ALOT over the weekend. Like double the amount i normally do. My hunger has increased. My eyes don't seem to want to stay open. ha ha ha.
You need to REST when you do this. GET YOUR SLEEP because your body needs it. Eat good food because your body needs that too.
Sometimes i think it is the amount of time the X takes. 1.5 hours most days and that is what frightens people off, BUT it IS extreme and they don't lie about that. With Insanity, another of my FAVORITE bb programs, your torture is tough - but it is shorter. It will beat a body up but you have the fall back of "only x number of minutes, circuits, etc". THAT is how you get through. With the X there is NO "it is only" - instead you find yourself saying "not the pullups oh god NO MORE pullups" or whatever. ;)
So, the "tip of the day" here is to take your REST or your body will take it for you!
I’ll just have a little bit… You’ve said it to yourself. Just one piece… And then before you know it the whole bag, carton, box, plate is GONE. LOL. I am NOT one of those people that can have “just a little bit” of anything. If it is ice cream, a little bit results in the whole pint. If it is chips (Doritos being my personal favorite) the empty bag will find its way to the trash can when I’m done. What can I say? My parents told me there were starving kids somewhere and I’d better clean my plate. Or maybe I’m just gluttonous. Or I have a rather addictive personality when it comes to certain foods. Whatever the reason, the fact is that the moment I say to myself “I’ll just have a little bit” I am 98% likely to have much more than that.
Some people CAN manage their intake of food and allow themselves just one whatever it is they are being offered. If so, great! But you need to know your “dirty food personality” ;O because knowing how you react to food will indicate to you the things you need to do to be successful at whatever goal you have set. Calling foods “dirty” is just my little way of deeming them inappropriate. There is a lot of talk these days about “clean” eating, etc. so this is just my play on the mindset of eating clean, natural foods in as close to their base state as possible. I prefer to call the correct way of eating “base” eating but when I’m thinking about consuming those Doritos, well now THAT is some down and dirty food! LOL.
If you are one of those people that cannot control your dirty food intake once you start, I have some suggestions.
First, don’t start. Easy huh? Yeah right. Dirty food is EVERYWHERE. And if you love food, chances are a lot of what you love you should not be eating. But, don’t start needs listed because really, THAT is your best weapon.
OK, HOW do you not start? That is where things get trickier. First of all, please remove dirty food from your house. Do you know how much more likely you are to find yourself at the bottom of a Ben and Jerry’s container if that container is in YOUR freezer as opposed to down the street at Walmart on a cold winter night? The very nature of availability will have you hand to mouth with dirty food faster than it can make its way to your thighs so GET RID OF IT!
If you can’t get rid of it for whatever lame reason (and there are a TON of lame reasons including the kids “deserve” some treats or whenever aunt Minnie comes over she HAS to have Oreos and milk or whatever) then take some precautions. I’m not calling YOU lame I’m saying your reasons are lame. There IS a difference. I have lame reasons. Their names I will not mention. LOL. My guys still have crap in the cabinets I would LOVE to eat. Everyday. Dang them for being of an independent nature and going to the store themselves. HA HA HA… Anyway - so here is what I do. All their dirty food goes in certain places. We have a bread nook where we keep bread (duh) but also whatever chips, pretzels, tortillas, etc. they currently have on hand. I don’t open it. We don’t keep anything else in there so there is absolutely NOTHING in there I need so why would I open it? We also have another cabinet that has a lot of different stuff in it but mainly boxed stuff like cereal, popcorn, mashed potatoes, rice side dishes, canned soup, etc. Again, I keep nothing of any base nature in there. So I don’t open the cabinet. It doesn’t even exist to me - la la la la la la…
I keep MY food elsewhere. A completely different cabinet than their dirty junk. The bottom crisper of the frig, in our extra frig downstairs, in a different pull out shelf in the freezer. This is basic food compartmentalizing and it works when you have an “all or nothing” personality with food.
Next, IF there is something that you absolutely CANNOT resist, please talk to the people you live with and love. I’m sure they are a lot more understanding than you might imagine. For instance, we don’t keep ice cream. I can’t stay outta the stuff. If we have a special occasion I get single serving containers. My guy can’t resist chocolate. I don’t even buy it anymore. And recently we both agreed that peanuts were the devil. LOL. Not really but we mutually decided that we would stop grabbing a jar of peanuts at the store because we both have no concept of “a serving” when it comes to those yummy little nuts.
My point is that there are so many things you are not going to be able to control when you attempt to get your nutritional life in order but there are many things that you CAN control and if you are one of those people, like me, that is addicted to dirty food, you HAVE to learn ways to manage it.
Other ideas: cook ahead. Always have prepped food on hand so you can just grab it, heat and eat. I usually pre-prep food twice a week. Either Sat or Sunday and then one evening during the week. I’ll do a 3 pound bag of chicken, lots of veggies and a batch of brown rice. I almost always have two protein sources ready to eat and veggies either prefixed or steamer bags in the freezer ready to go.
And speaking of veggies - eat ‘em dangit! They fill you UP and you‘ll be less likely to reach for those foods you can‘t stop eating. I just ate a WHOLE bag of broccoli with some chicken. The whole BAG had only 60 calories! Veggies are SO MUCH your friend when you are eating right.
In social settings, write down what you are going to eat before you go. Read this outloud. If you have a loved one supporting you, read it to them and ask them to help you stick with this plan.
And always repeat to yourself - no such thing as just one. Because you know it is true. By acknowledging what you know will happen if you cave, you are taking away your permission to hide. Once you do this, say: NO THANK YOU.
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