Fighting Our Exercise Demons
Since: Thursday, 23 May 2013
Choose wisely. :)
Excuses are a funny thing. They show up everywhere and if you're not careful, they can rule your life. They are easy, convenient and we all have them.
The interesting thing about excuses is when you decide that you won't allow them to be a part of your life; you get a lot more done. You accomplish things you never thought you would.
When your alarm goes off and the first thing that goes through your head is "I'm too tired" it is most likely followed by a back up excuse that is something like this: "Resting is probably more important for me today" "I don't feel that well" "I can go later today, I don't need to go now" "I really need the sleep" "I have a busy day, I probably shouldn't go" "I don't really have time" "I'm too sore", etc.
Do any of those sound familiar?
Many of them are probably true, but when you don't allow excuses in your life then you make adjustments where you need to.
After all, how many of us find an excuse not to brush our teeth each day?
"Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow."
--Doug Firebaugh
I just wanted to take today to tell each one of you thank you. Thank you for being part of RaceDay Training and thank you for inspiring me.
As I was doing my triathlon on Saturday I thought of everyone on here. I thought about Julie doing her first 5K. I thought of Jenny making progress by leaps and bounds, pushing herself to new limits every day. I thought of Angie feeling so good after a workout she wanted to jump around the house. I thought about Lea, Kate and Diane working so hard to make Consistency Club--and making it! I thought of each of you and the progress you have made and it made me push harder.
When I started RaceDay Training it was to inspire other people, I just had no idea how much each of you would inspire me.
Thank you.
"If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self."
--Napoleon Hill
Those of you that did the No Sugar Baby Challenge, and did it completely, congrats!!! It wasn't easy.
What I hope you used this time for is as an evaluation period. To truly be able to evaluate something objectively you need to remove yourself from it, or remove it from you, as the case may be. To be able to evaluate just how much sugar is readily available and offered to you and your family on a daily basis you have to be in a state of mind where you are aware of it and are turning it away. Turning it away makes you acutely more aware--am I right? :)
I hope you have or will ask yourself questions like: How much sugar do I feel is okay in my life and the life of my kids? Why do I feel like I need sweets/treats? When do I feel like having sweets adds to my life and when does it take away? Etc.
There are definitely times and places where sweets and treats are okay and can enrich your life or your experience, but if food is the main source of enrichment in your life then something is off. You need to attack the underlying problem. It's not that you're addicted to sweets, it's something else you are trying to substitute sweets for. I know they taste good and you think that's why you're going back for more, but it's not. There is something else going on and if you'll stop for 2 seconds to try to evaluate why you're doing that and what you're feeling just below the surface, you may find some answers. And when you find the answer you can solve it with what it needs to be solved--and it's not donuts. :)
Another thing to note in this crazy society of ours is that you are almost looked down on or ridiculed if you do turn down sweets. "Oh, are you on a diet?" "Look at you, why aren't you eating?!" And on and on. People try to make you feel bad if you aren't shoving your face full of the junk they are. Just because sweets are there DOES NOT mean you have to eat them. It should be a choice, an active choice, every time. Not an obligation. Not a reflex. Not a reaction. A choice--yes or no. And then feel confident with your choice and nobody will question you, including yourself.
Having been removed from sweets for 30 days write down different thoughts and feelings you had. Set terms and guidelines for how you want to handle sweets and sugar in your life. Do you feel like making cookies once a week is something that will add to your life or with all the other sugar around is that too much? Do you just want to have sweets at celebrations or only at certain celebrations? Once you set some guidelines for yourself you won't have to re-decide every time you go somewhere.
Decide how to take care of your body and good health will follow.
"We are either progressing or retrograding all the while; there is no such thing as remaining stationary in this life."
--James Freeman Clarke
One of the biggest questions people ask is "What should I eat before a race?" or even a workout. This is such a hard question because it is so individual. I found this little video on Active.com that is a really great explanation. Specific enough to know what to do, general enough to be able to apply it to yourself. Click HERE to view.
If you get a chance, you might also want to just glance through his top 5 Race-Day nutritional tips. This is more geared towards triathletes but can be translated to other race forms.
It is very important to keep your body properly fueled when you exercise and race. Take a minute to learn from an expert a little more about how you can do that.
This is just another reminder that the 90-Day RaceDay Challenge is coming. It will be something that people can do even if they aren't RaceDay members so if you have friends or family who are needing to learn healthy habits and kick them into gear, get ready to have them do this with you. It's gonna be good.
Also, just wanted to give a shout out to our Consistency Clubber's. I believe that Diane, Lea and Kate are all on track to be initiated into the club this Saturday!!! Three more days ladies, and you're in. Keep up the great work.
Remember, you can work towards Consistency Club at any time. 30 days of exercise in a row, 6 days a week, and comment on the workout so we know what you've done. That's it.
START TODAY!
One of the most important parts of training is to remember that your brain tells your body what to do. I assure you, it does.
Next time you are training try it out. If you tell yourself “I can’t finish this set”…you will struggle to finish or not be able to finish. If you tell yourself “I’m going to finish this set stronger than my last set”…I bet you will.
Of course there are certain situations that it doesn’t always work for, but for the most part our brain is the main controller.
Stay focused.
It makes all the difference.
It occurred to me yesterday that life is sort of like a game only we can choose if we want to play offense or defense. It has been my tendency in the past to play a lot of defense, to try to keep things from happening to me, to prevent the bad as much as I can. But yesterday I realized that as long as I am playing defense I can't score. And scoring is the only way to win the game.
Switching from defense to offense means now I move forward with purpose. I'm not trying to keep something from happening, I'm trying to make sure something happens.
Now I'm in control of the game.
Switching mentally from defense to offense gives you power. You're not a victim in your life, to your weight, to your current physical or mental state. You have what it takes inside of you to "score", all you have to do is move with purpose. Don't wait for something to happen or change...make it happen.
You make the changes.
Make just one change today.
Running is a very mental game. You start running and right away we often want to stop. Here are a couple tricks to make sure you don't fall victim to the jerky voice in the back of your head telling you to stop.
1. Decide before you start how far you are going.
2. When you feel like you want to stop, increase your speed. This can actually give you an energy boost and cause you to catch your second wind.
3. Set time goals to keep you motivated. Running the same distance and the same speed every time you run gets very monotonous. Change it up to keep it interesting. It's a lot more fun.
Just because you have never been a "runner" does not mean you can't be or aren't one. We can all be runners.
I have always considered myself a "swimmer". When I won a small 5k a few months back I was talking to a few of the other women who ran with us. They were congratulating me and telling me I was a great runner. I told them I'm not really a runner. They were marathoners and ultra-marathoners and when I told them I wasn't a runner they told me it was time to rethink what I was saying.
So I thought about it. What makes someone a runner? Well, I suppose it's if they run. You don't have to be winning races to be a runner. Once I realized that, I was a little less intimidated to commit to running and be in running races.
All the ways you have defined yourself in the past are out the window. You can be whatever you want and if being a runner is one of those things then take it!
How many times have you opened a workout and thought, "NO way! I'm not going to do that." ?
It happens to all of us. Sometimes just thinking about exercising is overwhelming and we just don't want to do it. If you find yourself having this battle see if you can convince yourself to just do one.
One set.
One mile.
One lap.
One push up.
Just do one.
More often than not you will think, "Okay, maybe I can do 2." and then 3...etc.
Sometimes all you need to do is get your blood moving and you're fine but we get overwhelmed by the idea of having to do the whole workout. So eliminate that excuse.
If you're struggling, start with just one.
It will get you further than you think.
Don't get frustrated -- Get focused!
Privacy Policy · Terms of Use
Copyright © 2013 · All Rights Reserved