My alarm went off at 4:30am this morning. I didn’t want to get up. I did it anyway.
I needed to get in the shower at 6:40am to make it to the gym. I didn’t want to go. I went anyway.
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I’ve been talking a lot lately about the stories we tell ourselves and whether they’re working for us or holding us back.
I have a couple options of stories to tell myself when my alarm goes off.
Story 1: I’m exhausted. I traveled all weekend. I’m not a morning person. I hit snooze a million times. I can’t seem to get up. No matter how hard I try, I never get up when I say I will. Whatever I said I would do, it’ll be there later.
Story 2: I’m working towards something that matters. These moments when I don’t want to get up are the ones that matter most. What I do when I don’t feel like doing the work determines if I grow or if I stay the same. There is a beautiful day full of potential waiting on me.
One story moves me forward. One story holds me back.
The same is true of the gym.
I don’t grow when I go to the gym on days I feel like it.
I grow when I go to the gym on the days I don’t.
And look – this isn’t about pushing through pain & sleep deprivation. I go to bed early. But I still want to hit snooze because it’s just easier.
Here’s what I tell myself when choices are hard:
It’s hard? Perfect. This is where growth happens. I live for these moments. This is my opportunity to get better.
When it’s easy, I’m not improving.
When it’s hard, that’s when I’m really challenging myself and being intentional about getting better.
I got up early each morning while away this weekend. I didn’t want to.
It’s hard to get up early when on vacation. It would be easier to stay in bed.
Perfect. This is exactly what I need.
It’s hard to go to the gym while everyone else is relaxing.
Perfect. This is exactly the opportunity I need.
Today’s workout was hard. Perfect. I struggled and wasn’t at my best, but I got it done.
“Mighty Mouse”
AMRAP 18:
30 Thrusters (75/55)
30 Box Jumps (24/20)
30/21 Calorie Row
30 Toes to Bar
My shoulder is currently injured so I did front squats instead of thrusters and GHDs instead of toes to bar. The scaling didn’t make the workout any easier – it was hard as heck! As usual, I felt pretty amazing afterwards!
On the food front:
I had a new-to-me delivered over the weekend and waiting for me when I got home late last night – Keto Kookies.
I had them as a post-workout meal with a cup of coffee. While they weren’t bad, they were really, really sweet and very clearly NOT a traditional cookie. They were very creamy and, due to the high fat content, felt pretty heavy. Combined with the sweetness, I’m not sure I’ll buy them again. They weren’t bad – don’t get me wrong – but I try to limit healthier versions of treats. Treats are treats and I want to enjoy them occasionally instead of trying to find more fat loss friendly versions to include more regularly. I don’t want to include them regularly. That’s just better for my approach to food.
They did, however, keep me quite full. Around 2pm I had my cabbage salad bowl and tapped out on food for the day.
While my Friday travel day was super clean from an eating perspective and Saturday was too (with the exception of 1 drink), Sunday wasn’t so great.
While I don’t judge food choices as good or bad and I certainly have no guilt about it, I say “not great” to mean it didn’t make me feel so great. I ate more than my body needed and dessert. It was tasty, no drama needed, but it certainly allows for less eating today!
I’m sooooo much happier when I eat clean & avoid sugar! Here’s to crushing my choices this week and making myself feel proud and energetic, choice by choice!