We see things as we choose to see them and what we experience as “hard” or “easy” is a direct result of our choices.
Let me give you an example. Today in one of my FLFT Facebook groups, someone made this comment:
Eating is such an emotional mind game!
Here’s exactly how I responded:
It’s whatever relationship between food & your thoughts you decide to create.
You get what your consistent choices create. That’s what determines what is hard or easy.
It’s no different than when we get super stressed over a family vacation. The relationship between your thoughts about the event & the event itself creates your experience. You can choose to focus on how you don’t like being away from home & out of your element. How there can be tension between certain family members. How you don’t have control over your food choices and getting packed up is such a pain in the butt.
Or, you can be grateful that you have a family to travel with. That you have the ability to go on vacation. That you’re well enough to do so.
You create the relationship between your thoughts & events. That relationship determines your experience.
You have way more control than you think you do. It’s really not that complicated. It’s not always easy, but it’s pretty simple.
Change the way you think and you change your experience of the world.
Today’s workout wasn’t very fun. It was challenging, but not intense the way I really prefer.
For Time:
50 seated shoulder press
50 push-ups (right leg crossed over left to my right quad dis-engaged)
50 hanging knee raises
I also did a little seated-shoulder stabilization work doing seated single-arm kettlebell presses, which the ball of the KB facing up. Like I said in my Anchor post yesterday, right now my workouts are about consistency & recovery, not intensity. Hopefully in another week & a half my knee will be better and I’ll good to go full speed.
On the food front:
As you can see from my past blogs, I usually do lunch/dinner food for my first meal of the day but I wasn’t in the mood for it today. I wanted yogurt. So, I had it. I picked up some greek yogurt on the way home from the gym and added coconut flakes to it. So tasty. I can’t do greek yogurt on the regular but every once in a while it makes me happy!
Around noon I had a large cobb salad with extra raw cabbage. I resisted the temptation to have my computer open while eating. That continues to be something I need to pay attention to. No multitasking while eating! I want to pay full attention to my meal, my body as I eat and if I’m still enjoying each bite.
I was planning on an early dinner & early bedtime but at the last minute I decided to go away for the weekend so I’m not sure what dinner will be…
Synchroncity. You know, when the same particular theme seems to show up, simultaneously, in multiple areas of your life? That’s happening to me right now & I love it!
Would you rather listen to this blog than read it? Listen on my new Anchor short-form audio channel! And: did you know you can “call in” to Anchor and ask questions? It’s so freakin’ cool. My new obsession.
I am currently going through Seth Godin’s altMBA program for leadership and business development. While, understandably, he doesn’t want us sharing the projects, I will happily share one of the interesting experiences I’ve had.
Each week we work via video conference with a small group. There are multiple assignments due each week and our groups collaborate to complete them.
The assignments are incredibly vague & ambiguous. That created frustration for several of my teammates. There were comments like:
What does this even mean?
How are we going to complete it when we don’t even know what it’s asking?
Does it mean xyz or abc?
What if we’re misunderstanding it?
These questions were debated, in frustration, for quite some time until I suggested:
Guys, I think it’s meant to be vague. Life is vague. Growth is ambiguous. The path, in life or career, is rarely mapped out with clarity.
Later, in a broader discussion group, someone echo’d that sentiment. It’s not the assignment or challenge’s job to give us clarity. That is our job.
Our job is to create the meaning and define the solution.
The synchronicity came within my Fat Loss Fast Track rookie group. They are just 10 days or so into our 12 weeks together and there are lots of questions about the details not provided. I don’t provide meal plans or food lists. It’s not about me telling people what to do but rather helping them develop the skills, habits & awareness to chart their own sustainable course to their individual goals.
All too often, we let ambiguity paralyze us. We see a lack of answers or certainty as a reason not to advance.
That’s crap. Life doesn’t come with a blueprint. It’s not one else’s job to chart your course.
That’s your job.
If you aren’t sure, make a decision, take consistent action and then pay attention to what works and what doesn’t. Adjust accordingly.
Take control. You are the leader of your life. Act like it.
What else? Oh yeah, workout & food of the day.
The scheduled workout was running, more running with a sandbag and heavy kettlebell farmer carry. Needless to say, with the knee injury, I can officially do none of that.
Instead, here’s what I did:
AMRAP 18
Heavy seated sled pull
100 lb sandbag hold (30 sec)
5 cal arms only assault bike
So first of all, I went to my chiropractor immediately afterwards and he told me I shouldn’t have done the sandbag hold. Noted. Won’t do that again until my knee is better.
Second of all, the assault bike sucks in general but sucks more when it’s just your arms! Holy arm burn!
After my workout I had chicken & broccoli over cauliflower rice & 1/2 an avocado. That was around 9:30am. Around 12noon I had a bag of beet chips. I wasn’t hungry but they were on the counter and I ate them.
I took a work break around 2pm for lunch which was a big plate of broccoli/cauliflower rice with grilled chicken and 1/2 an avocado.
I’m planning a later-than normal dinner (Anchor channel will tell you why) so I had lunch a bit late. Dinner will be crispy-skinned salmon with cauliflower rice (the crispy skin is my favorite part!)
The other day I had a powerful interaction with someone in my Primal Potential Masters Club. She loves food (I do too) and she’s struggling with a feeling of “missing out” if & when she’s trying to eat less.
How do you love food & still lose weight? I promise it’s possible…
She knows she is probably eating too much but the idea of eating less creates a real uneasiness for her.
She called it fear. Whatever it is for you, it can feel like tension, deprivation, fear of missing out or lack. Today we’re going to dive into solutions for those fears.
Big shout out to this super special client for being open to me sharing some of our exchange.
**This episode is explicit for language and content beginning around the 25+ minute mark**
If you’d rather listen to this blog than read it, please click here to listen on Anchor, my new short form audio channel.
That quote jumped out at me this morning as I sat outside reading tao te ching.
I’m sure it resonated because I was pretty darn uncomfortable this morning. I shared with you yesterday that due to a knee injury & the desire to avoid a much more serious issue, I have to keep weight off my right leg for the next two weeks and avoid anything that requires flexing my quad. But, that’s not the discomfort I’m talking about…
I went to the gym this morning with a great attitude, planning to find something I can do. As soon as our warm up started, I noticed myself feeling insecure & uncomfortable. While they did jumping jacks, push-ups and air squats, I sat there stretching.
My mind was drifting to insecurities related to what other people might be thinking of me. They don’t know I’m injured. Do they think I’m lazy? Incapable? Are they judging me?
It was uncomfortable and I was deeply desiring comfort in that moment. I didn’t want to stand out.
I made the decision right there in that moment to change my perspective. Maybe they are thinking those things. Maybe they aren’t. I’m certainly not going to assume the worst. In fact, I’m not going to assume anything. I don’t know what they are thinking and, quite frankly, it doesn’t matter.
I don’t go to the gym to prove myself to anyone there. So, what anyone might think or not think is just none of my business and has nothing to do with my purpose: to take great care of my body and mind.
Every time those uncomfortable, insecure thoughts arose, I chose to remind myself: I will not assume the worst. I will not assume, period. And, I am here for me and only me.
I came home, had some food and went to sit outside to read and journal. Low & behold, one of the first things I read was that quote:
“She doesn’t cling to her own comfort, thus problems are no problem for her.”
Uncomfortable in the gym? That’s fine. I’m not seeking comfort.
Uncomfortable facing temptation? Great. Defy that comfort zone.
When I don’t cling to my own comfort, to what it easy or convenient, problems are no problem.
How beautiful & empowering is that?
Back to that uncomfortable workout (comfort ain’t for me anyway!)….
I had to modify the heck out of it. The workout called for push jerks, front squats and all the things I can’t do right now. Here’s what I did instead:
5 sets of 7 bench press
3 sets of 5 bench press (heavier)
2 sets of 3 bench press (heaviest)
9 minute AMRAP
6 ring rows (right foot crossed over left to avoid weight bearing)
9 heavy KB deadlifts (yeah yeah, my weight was on my leg but I used my hams & glutes instead of quads)
Did I perfectly follow the rules? I did not. But I made sure that everything I did avoided all pain & discomfort. And, I’m learning.
On the food front:
After the workout I had a decent sized piece of steak & a big plate of steamed broccoli.
Around 1pm I took my normal cobb salad from Paleo Power Meals and added 3 cups of raw, shredded cabbage to it.
Dinner was early (because I plan to go to bed as early as possible) and was chicken & broccoli over cauliflower & broccoli rice. Allllll the cruciferous vegetables today! They keep me so freakin’ full!
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My early-morning was great. I was up by 4:30 and had a great morning of work & reading. By 6:55a I was out the door for the gym and I had a great workout.
I had some knee pain during the workout, but it wasn’t as bad as it’s been so I pushed through. After cooling down, the pain got quite a bit worse. Fortunately, I was headed to see my chiropractor right afterwards. (If you’re in the Boston area and want an incredible chiropractor, it’s Dr. Chad Messina. He works on some of the world’s best athletes and he’s incredible.)
Not the news I hoped to hear…
I’m sidelined. No bearing weight on my right leg for two weeks & then we’ll re-assess. It’s actually more than that – he doesn’t want me contracting my right quad. So that means biking is out, rowing is out, burpees, jumping, any lifts that require me to be on my feet.
He wants me on crutches for the next two weeks, keeping weight off my right leg as much as humanly possible.
When he finished making his case I said, “What does that mean for CrossFit?” hoping he’d give me a list of things I could still do.
In his wisdom he said, “I don’t care about CrossFit. It’ll be there when you’re better.”
Now, he does care about CrossFit and is himself a great CrossFit athlete but his point really hit home with me.
I immediately started considering one of my go-to reframing questions, “If this could be for me, how would it be so?” Basically, if being sidelined for two weeks could be in my very best interest, if it could be a good thing, how would that be the case?
I can work on gymnastic movements like pull-ups and toes-to-bar
I can incorporate more fasting protocols, which I love but don’t do much of because of my workout intensity
I can find a pool and do some swimming, which I love but rarely make time for because my CrossFit workouts take up the available time I have daily for working out
Allowing myself to heal will make my workouts even better when I get back to them
I’m catching the injury (hopefully) before it’s a serious issue requiring surgery and a much longer recovery
By the time I got my car I was thinking, “This actually is a good thing!”
I guess my point is this: we all choose our perspective and can convince ourselves of almost anything.
You can convince yourself that losing weight sucks and is hard or you can convince yourself that it’s an exciting gift you’re giving yourself and you’re falling in love with the process.
You can convince yourself that you’re unmotivated & stuck or you can convince yourself that today you’ll find solutions to move forward.
You can convince yourself that there are a million things in your way, you’re tired, you have no time or energy. Or, you can convince yourself that there are plenty of things you are able & willing to do to make progress and you’re going to capitalize on them today.
So while my workouts won’t look like I thought they would for the next couple weeks, this setback is actually a great gift and I’m going to make the most of it.
Here was today’s workout. It was a freakin’ great one. I loved it!
“Fifth Wheel”
AMRAP 5
7 Rounds of “The Chief” (115/80)
Max Calorie Bike
rest 5 minutes
AMRAP 5
6 Rounds of “The Chief” (135/95)
Max Calorie Bike
rest 5 minutes
AMRAP 5:
5 Rounds of “The Chief” (155/105)
Max Calorie Bike
1 Round of “The Chief” = 3 Power Cleans, 6 Push-ups, 9 Air Squats
What that ends up being is 54 powercleans, 108 push-ups and 162 air squats + 3 bike sprints.
Yeah. It got me good!
On the food front:
I mentioned yesterday that I’ll be eating a lot more cruciferous veggies as I approach my egg harvesting. I also might be doing some more fasting since my workouts will be changing.
After this morning’s workout I had 3 cups of cauliflower rice with a few ounces of steak.
Around 1pm I had a large salad to which I added extra raw red & green cabbage.
Dinner was several cups of broccoli/cauliflower rice (pre-chopped from Whole Foods) with butter, avocado and grilled chicken. Nom nom nom.
