Posts Tagged ‘listen to your body’

Playing Hooky

I skipped my workout on Tuesday. I couldn’t bring the kids to the child care in the morning because M was (and still is) sick. Then, as the day wore on I found myself increasingly tired and decreasingly motivated. I battled back and forth with whether or not to go. I thought of all the usual things that get me out the door when I lack motivation:

  • The popular “I never regret a workout” mantra. <—I know Julie loves that one!
  • Telling myself I can take it easier because something is better than nothing.
  • Putting on my workout clothes to get in the workout mood.
  • Thinking about the energy at the gym and how it may help my tired, sour mood.
  • Questioning if there was a physical need to rest and determining there was none.
  • Remembering that my progress pictures/measurements are this weekend.

No matter what I told myself, however, the thought of heading to the gym almost made me cry. In that moment, I knew I needed to skip out for the day. 99% of the time I look forward to the gym. 99% of the time it doesn’t take much to get me out the door or down in the basement for a workout. So those days I feel myself hating the thought of the gym, I tend to know something is going on and I shouldn’t push it. A growth spurt and two harder days at mommy work had me hitting rock bottom. I had very little energy and just wanted to relax.

So, I watched The Bachelor instead and hit the gym again right away Wednesday morning feeling refreshed and ready to kick butt. We always hear tips to increase motivation to get in that workout, but I want to say sometimes its okay to play hooky too. Just be sure its not every workout. ;) 

Question of the Day – When do you know you need to skip a workout? How hard is it for you to skip?

Posted by on March 10th, 2011 58 Comments

go with the flow

FFF Featured Blogger (chosen from your comments): Keeping Slim and Getting StylishI think the title says it all! Laura blogs about excellent healthy dining ideas and has fun fashion favorites mixed in here and there. She had a great post earlier today about food choices too.

Today I have really just gone with the flow. It all started after Power class. I had a sudden urge to come up with workout split ideas for after the baby comes. I know I still have around 12 weeks left, but I couldn’t help it! I sat down at my computer and typed up the splits I found myself brainstorming during Power class.

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I cannot wait to get back to my favorite workouts and plans! And please note that this is just a random list of rotations and plans I have used before of varying difficulty and set-up. I have no order whatsoever to the above. I simply felt inspired to jot down possibilities of things I’ve done before that I enjoyed for me to pull from when I get back in the gym after this pregnancy. You will just have to wait with me to see how these play out in my future workouts. 😉

Moving on. I maintained that go with the flow attitude for my food today as well. At lunch I felt a tad bit of nausea again, which leads me to think its just a part of this pregnancy. I craved a simple lunch and a few things leftover from the birthday party this weekend. I had a throwback to school days with a PBJ sandwich, sliced apple, handful of chips, and a soda.

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Then, a few hours later I craved something sweet. Dang you artificial sweeteners! Luckily, I still had my small square of pumpkin bread from the pumpkin patch on Saturday. Who am I to have saved such a delectable treat for 4 days?!

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And who am I to have only eaten half because I realized I wasn’t really hungry and wanted to save some for later?

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Lastly, I felt inspired to go with the flow on a topic tonight as well. Quite…literally. Meghann posted about not having her cycle for the past year on her blog today. It really touches close to home for me because I didn’t have my cycle for awhile as well, thanks to nursing and then jumping right into the intense training for my fitness competition. It bothered me greatly that my body did not function properly, especially knowing we wanted to conceive another child.

As soon as my competition ended, I took steps to try to bring my cycle back. For me, that meant not working out at all for a month and then limited workouts for awhile after that. I had to gain weight, which I would have done regardless coming off of show weight. It went further than that, though. Due to wanting to conceive right away, I had to gain weight to get back to the size I was when I got pregnant with Makenzie. A huge mental battle ensued, but I now feel so blessed that I took care of the problem sooner rather than later. Only a few months of competition training affecting my cycle caused a lot more trouble conceiving the little man than we likely would have faced otherwise.

I leaped for joy when my cycle returned. In my opinion,a functioning menstrual cycle is an immense blessing and something we should not ignore or gloss over. Also, we should not wait to consider it an issue until trying to conceive. I can tell you right now that waiting that long is waiting too long. I have many friends who have been through so much to figure out their fertility and the thought that some women out there simply don’t care about it breaks my heart. Also, fertility is not the only reason to be aware of our cycles. They can signal a hormonal imbalance or other issues that affect so much more.

I do not intend to share the steps I took to regain my cycle as advice, because different people face different issues with different remedies. Nor do I post this as a way to say Meghann isn’t doing enough. I commend and admire her for sharing her struggles and can tell she whole heartedly wants to resolve them. I desired to post my experience and thoughts on this topic simply because I want to declare the importance of this aspect of our health as women. If you face this, please work hard and act proactively for an important part of your health. You don’t ever want to wish you had done something sooner.

  • Do you consider your visits from Auntie Flo a blessing? Have you ever seriously thought about your cycle or considered reading books like Taking Charge of Your Fertility?
  • Do you like creating workouts or does it stress you out? It’s one of my biggest hobbies. I love it!
  • Don’t forget to ASK ME ANYTHING for the Q + A series I’m doing in Nov!

Posted by on October 20th, 2010 73 Comments

 

 
Catch Up With Recent Posts

Announcement Time

Posted: November 23, 2011 at 7:47 am

Well, I have had a whirlwind of a few weeks over here. I missed all of you so much! I can’t express enough gratitude for your patience while I got some important things sorted out. Some scary things. Are you ready for the announcement? Here goes! I will no longer be blogging at Faith Fitness […]

88 CommentsRead more →

Self-Love Reflection: The Road Not Taken

Posted: November 20, 2011 at 11:47 am

Hello FFF readers! Nice to meet ya! My name is Carissa and my husband and I blog at Fit2Flex.  Well, I blog…he consults! We are both certified personal trainers with a passion for healthy, active living and clean eating.  I am also studying to become a registered dietitian, a race announcer, and a runner.  Stop […]

24 CommentsRead more →

Healthier Eating For Kids

Posted: November 19, 2011 at 10:56 am

Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about tips for baby feeding magic. What if you let baby choose what’s for dinner? Check out their cute "Quest for Yum!" video and see what happens! As parents, we want the best for our children. We help them to feel loved. We strive to teach them […]

14 CommentsRead more →
 

Announcement

Posted: November 17, 2011 at 3:36 pm

Hey, everyone! I wanted to pop in and say I am working on some new and exciting changes.  As a result,I may not be posting as much during the coming week.  Please stay tuned for the big announcement! Love you all! And still feel free to find me on Twitter and Facebook for the time […]

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Where The Change Happens

Posted: November 16, 2011 at 7:54 am

It’s kind of funny. I become a certified personal trainer and the first workouts I turn to this week come from someone else. The book came in for me at the library last week and, after flipping through it, I couldn’t wait to give the circuits a go. Making The Cut includes a lot of […]

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From Beginning To End

Posted: November 15, 2011 at 11:53 am

Good morning! First off, thanks for the many congrats yesterday. Love you all bunches for the tons of support you have given me in so many things this year. I hope I can return a little bit of that love through this here blog as well. So yesterday I had my first parent-teacher “conference” for […]

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