On listening to your body...

"Listen to your body" is something that anyone who has ever done anything fitness related has heard over and over again. "Your body knows what its doing" "Your body knows what it needs" "Your body is telling you what to do" "Listen to it."

Yeah, well no offense to genetics (sorry, Mom and Dad!) but my body is a whiny little bitch. There. I said it!

Never being one prone to physical fitness, this new "fit" lifestyle is completely new to me. Sure, I danced as a child (up until college), I swam and dove competitively, and even played some team sports as a wee girl (didn't last long); but I was never the "give it my all" type of athlete. I was in it to participate. In it for the friends, in it for the "fun".

The first thing I ever found to be 'hard' (fitness related) was spinning. Riding a bike isn't hard, right? Well, I coughed and hacked my way through my first class and clutched my stomach trying to force the nausea away while shuffling my way home. My legs burned, my heart was pounding, so I spent most of the class sitting on the bike just pedaling along.

When I began running, everything hurt. My knees, my thighs, my butt actually moved up and down as I trotted down the road, leaving the muscle actually sore from impact. (Hint: compression pants are your friend!) My lungs burned, my heart raced, and my body was screaming "STOP! STOP! STOP RIGHT NOW!" So, I stopped. I always stopped.

Granted, there are times where walking is necessary, and I have stopped beating myself up over the absolute need to slow it down during a run; but, listening to my body often leads to me accepting less than what I can actually do.

Sure, my body feels like it knows what it needs.

"Rest today. Feel the hurt in your legs? It's because you did too much yesterday. Know what would be better? Order pasta in and just rest."

Riiiiigght.

My body thought it knew what it needed 50 pounds ago. Now, I can power through a 45 minute spin class pushing myself harder each step of the way. I can push myself hard to get a tough workout even if the instructor, for lack of a better word, sucks. And running will eventually be the same. Body screaming "Stop!" or not, I'll show that little voice just how much more can be done.

'Tis the season to... overindulge

My diet is seriously off track. In fact, I have fallen further back in this week than I did over my Thanksgiving at home, including 3 full Thanksgiving dinners.

This week, Craig and I attended 3 Christmas parties (with one after-party) and a birthday celebration accompanied with enough fried food to make even the North Carolina State Fair weep with cardiac fear.

All of the food and drinks of the week and not a single foot in the gym, literally left us flat on our backs Saturday night, a Ginger-Ale on each night stand, sharing a bottle of Pepto Bismol.

I'm feeling slightly better this Monday afternoon, after having a single tomato for dinner Sunday night and a slice of bread with peanut butter on it for breakfast this morning. One thing I have certainly learned: I just can't eat like I used to. I think I have literally shrunk my stomach so that I simply cannot indulge like I have before. When I do, I feel sick, nauseous, and my stomach bloats, leaving me looking like I'm 5 months pregnant. (yikes!)

So, I vow to get back on it! I've still got a ways to go to meet my goal and after a month and a half, I've probably just broken even. Going to try to stay in the negatives moving forward! Hold me to it!