Fighting Our Exercise Demons
Since: Monday, 20 May 2013
"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.
When you're fighting a war there are two things that are very important:
1. You always need to know who your enemy is.
2. You need to win the battles to win the war.
Many of us view fat or food or calories as the enemy and I'm afraid if that's what we are fighting against we will lose because we're fighting the wrong opponent.
The biggest enemy in weight loss or training is ...yourself.
We all have that voice in the back of our heads that tells us, "You don't need to go today" "It's okay if you eat more of that" "I don't really care about losing weight today, I'll start tomorrow" "It's not that big of a deal if I......"
It's the voice of apathy. It's apathetic towards your success.
This voice is the enemy.
Every time this voice speaks we have the chance to win the battle and every battle we win brings us closer to winning the war.
Let's go soldiers.
We're gonna win.
This is the month to start sharing the love.
Everyone who joins RaceDay Training before October 31st will be entered to win an iPod Shuffle. Two winners will be randomly selected.
If you are already a RaceDay member you can still be entered to win if you refer somebody who joins.
If you love what RaceDay Training is doing for you let others know so they can start changing their lives too!
Healthy = Happy and we need more of that in this world. :)
I think this might be a challenge you all really like, but it might be harder than you think.
I referenced an article yesterday that talked about sleep and exercise being among the top ways to stay young and healthy.
Our challenge this week is to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night—8 would be even better. The best way to make sure this happens….set yourself a bed time.
We are all busy. Many of us have young kids and crazy schedules, but with some planning it is possible.
The last hours spent before most people go to bed are just puttering around, watching TV, and are fairly unproductive. When you have enough sleep the hours you are awake will be more productive and enjoyable.
Studies have shown that sleep allows the mind and body to heal. There have also been studies that show sleep deprived people are more likely to be overweight. Perhaps it is because you are awake more hours of the day and therefore eating more. Maybe it’s because without adequate sleep your body doesn’t run as efficiently. Or maybe it’s a little of both. No matter, the evidence is clear that getting enough sleep in every day is important.
A wise, and very successful man once said, “ There are 24 hours in the day. 8 hours for work. 8 hours for play. 8 hours for sleep.”
Let’s strike a balance.
Nite, nite!
I used to hate carrots. I mean really hate carrots. One day I decided I should probably learn to like them because they are so good for us, so I just started choking them down. After about a week of forcing myself to eat them I actually didn't mind them, and before long I actually liked them!
Carrots are SOOOOOOO good for us and so the challenge this week is to eat at least 10 baby carrots or 2 full carrots every day. Eat them as an afternoon snack, when you feel hungry, of course, and before you eat anything else.
Here is some info I found on carrots:
Carrot contains a very complete nutrition to provide our body the essential enzymes, vitamins and minerals. For each 100 gram, the carrot has 7.6 gram of carbohydrate, 0.6 gram of protein, 0.3 gram of fat, 30 milligram of calcium and 0.6 milligram of iron. Also, it is a good source of fiber, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K, biotin, potassium and thiamine.
Carrot also has an excellent source of beta-carotene and research has revealed that people who are lacking beta-carotene have two times higher risk of cancer than normal people.
Eat them raw, fresh and without dip.
I don't care if you don't like them--learn to like them! :)
I do realize that Wild Card Wednesday would have been much more fun and alliterative. My name is Dixie Dixon for pete's sake, I understand the beauty of alliteration! But it just didn't work out that way, so Wild Card Thursday it is.
Only click on one link and do whatever it says to do. No cheating. :) If you want to see what you didn't have to do you can look at the others, but do the first one you pick.
This is the perfect set of Wild Cards for Thanksgiving Day as you will most likely be surrounded by family and friends. Have fun with this!
"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."
--Charles R. Swindoll
Don't get frustrated -- Get focused!
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