I’m 5 weeks into my journey of better health. It’s not been the most exciting ride of my life but I have a goal and I need to meet the goal. I’ve struggled a little bit here and there, it’s true. I’m on the slow and steady path to better health. Definitely not a fast tracker. And it’s not always easy. Some days my will power is weak and I have an internal (sometimes external) temper tantrum. And some days, I’m a robot, doing all the good things without question.

It’s not easy to sit at On the Border with friends while they have beers and other adult beverages, while they go to town on chips and salsa. And I sit there with water, guacamole and grilled veggies because I was a good girl and ate dinner before I went to socialize. 

It’s not easy to show up to our local watering hole after a long, hot baseball day and I crave a beer or a crown and coke. A place where I’d like to eat wings and stuffed jalepeños. Instead I have grilled chicken, salad and pinto beans. 

It’s not easy to have an hour+ commute home to hurry up and rush to get to a workout when all I want to do is take a nap or turn into a zombie in front of the tv. But I don’t, I go workout and feel tons better afterwards.

It’s not easy to suck it up and just weigh and measure all my food so that I have a more accurate food journal. And now I have better macros and calorie count.

It’s not easy. In general, it’s not just a walk in the park when you are trying to break bad habits.

BUT IT GETS EASIER.

I can attest to that. A little easier everyday. But there are still moments when I realize it’s 9pm and I still haven’t prepped all the things. Or I’m so sore I doubt that I have it in me to show up to the gym.

But at some point, your WANT-TO has to be stronger than your cravings and your bad habits. It has to be. Without it, you have nothing but failure ahead of you. It turns into that vicious cycle – I’m good Mon-Fri but can’t control the weekend. All that work for 5 days only to throw it out the window in two days. Or somebody at work has a birthday and you really want some of that cake. Be strong for a little bit. Reward yourself later.

I get it, you can’t deprive yourself of all the things. You might break a lot sooner than later. But at the same time, if you have a goal and you really want that goal, then you’re going to have to sacrifice some things. Just remember it’s short-term. You can’t say you want to meet a goal and do NOTHING to meet it. Then cry about how you’re not meeting your goals. It’s a sad slap in the face.

BUT I BELIEVE IN YOU! I’ve had to re-learn to believe in myself. I know you can do it. Especially if I can do it. I’m a lazy, whiny, girl-baby! Still am, but less lazy now.

The Workouts

Oh the workouts. I’m still crawling along. Showing up. The goal is still FOUR workouts a week and maybe more.

Thursdays are OLY days. That’s short for OLYMPIC LIFTING. Sounds intense, maybe a little intimidating, right? Well it is intense but it’s not intimidating. I know for some of you the barbell is scary but it’s really not and for me it’s empowering. The barbell is my friend and some days it’s the only thing that gives me confidence. As for OLY class, we work on the two OLYMPIC LIFTS: Clean & Jerk and Snatch.

We do sets on sets on sets of progressive weight all based off of our 1RM. You’d think I sat in a sauna for 2 hours once we’re done. It’s work but it’s good work. And after we do “extra” work… in the form of squats, ghd work or cardio. This past week there was EXTRA to the extra. And that was bike as many calories as possible in one minute on the assault bike then “run” a 400m run – 8 times! My outside voice says HELL NO. My internal voice says you probably should do it. Tory says do it! Britt says I’ll do it if you do it! Arrgghhhh, you guys, I don’t want to! But Tory comes up with a compromise of only doing half! Alright, I can do half. Maybe. I can tell you I probably only ran 400m total, but it was EXTRA work and it was better than nothing. Cause this girl was going to go home. I was there an extra hour, but that’s ok. I did something more than I would have done originally!

Friday… it’s normally a no-go for me. Traffic is always worse and the latest class at the Boom Box on a Friday is 5:30pm. Sometimes I’m not even home by 5:30, much less making it to class. This past Friday the traffic gods were nice and I got home in time to change and get up to the Boom Box. I’m glad I made it. Five days for the week and it was a necessary evil to get those wall balls in!

Weightlifting
Front Squats  (2-2-2-2-2-2)
Start at 80% work up to 90-95% 6 sets of 2 reps

Metcon

 

There you have it folks. I’m a little over a month in and 4 weeks in on tracking food. And 8lbs down. It’s a good start on a long journey. I’m already “slimming” down if you will. And I’m feeling better overall. It’s easier to wake up (when I go to bed at a decent time). It’s easier getting through workouts. And it’s even easier to food prep for the week!

Don’t stop working! You got this!