Yeahhhhh I made it to Friday! Have you followed my first week? If you have no clue what I’m talking about, listen to this podcast. Then check back on the blog for posts 1.1-1.4.
Quick little administrative thing: I won’t be posting on the weekends but I’ll likely include an abbreviated weekend recap on Monday.
I was up later than intended last night so I’m feeling a wee bit tired this am.
One of the first things I do after getting out of bed is put my hand on my lower belly. It’s a weird thing – a habit, I guess. I do it to gauge my body. When I was 350+ lbs, I turned away from all of my body’s feedback. I wore stretchy clothes & avoided mirrors. Now, I face my body every single day. By touching my belly, I immediately get a sense of whether or not I’m bloated, if I feel leaner, etc. Today, I feel good. Definitely less “puff” than last week. I’m always looking to my body for feedback.
While I can’t notice fat loss day-to-day, there are some things I can notice day-to-day. My belly is just one of them. I also pay attention to my eyes, cheeks and hands. They give me a good sense of what is happening in my body and if I’m taking care of myself through sleep & good nutrition.
As I shared the other day, when I have Halo Top at night, my eyes are more puffy in the am. I try to be super diligent about paying attention to those signs from my body.
Heading into the gym, I have no idea what the day’s workout is.
I’m psyched that I’ve made it to Friday and had a great week of workouts. My body feels really good. I’m not sore at all today.
I still feel nervous & uncomfortable going into the gym but instead of withdrawing into those feelings and making them grow with my attention, I’m taking a tough love approach with myself.
Oh, you’re uncomfortable? Great. That’s exactly why you came here. Now go do work. When you get comfortable, we’ll know it’s time to level up again.
Instead of resenting or fearing the feeling, instead of fleeing from it, I’m celebrating it. It’s how I want to feel right now. That’s the whole point.
So uh…I just got home from my workout. Wanna hear a story?
Earlier, I typed that I didn’t know what the workout for today was. Well, what I meant was, I didn’t know what MY workout would be.
Today was scheduled to be 17.2, the 2nd workout in the CrossFit Open. But, when I saw it last night, I decided that I couldn’t do it, so I wasn’t sure what I’d do instead. Yup, I talked myself out of it.
Then…
I walk into the gym and one of the coaches says, “You ready for 17.2?”
“No, I think I’m going to have to do something else. See, my knee has been bothering me so those lunges are out. And I haven’t done much grip work so I’m not sure how I’ll do with all the bar stuff, or how I’d modify to….”
He interjects: “You’re ready for 17.2”
Meanwhile, an earlier round of athletes was in the middle of 17.2 while we chatted. I watched the ladies. I started to compare my abilities to theirs.
Wait. That has NOTHING to do with me.
What they do, how they do it, how quickly or slowly they move – it has nothing to do with me.
Energy spent on “I can’t do that” or “I can lift more than that” is energy wasted.
I decided to invest my energy in warming up my muscles and joints to be ready for the lunges.
I did the damn thing. I worked hard.
When I stopped focusing on what I couldn’t do and started focusing on all I can do, I made myself proud and I pushed my body.
Every.damn.day.
My grip is definitely taxed and my forearms & glutes are completely fatigued – and it feels amazing.
Proud is so worth the fear & doubt.
Some of my clients ask me, “I hear you say (insert lesson here) all the time – why does it take me so long to catch on?”
Welcome to the human experience. Me too. The same lesson, over and over.
Stop talking yourself out of shit. Get out of your head and into your life.
To translate this workout for you as it’s prescribed (or RX)
- It’s a 12 minute AMRAP so you’re doing as many rounds of this cycle as you can within 12 minutes
- 50 feet of walking lunges carrying 35 lb dumbbells (50 lbs for the guys)
- 16 toes-to-bar
- 8 dumbbell power cleans (35s for the ladies again)
- repeat 2x
- 50 feet of walking lunges (35 lb dbs again)
- 16 bar muscle ups
- 8 power cleans
- repeat 2x
- begin again
I modified the body weight stuff, but even on that, I was able to perform at a higher level that I would have chosen if left to my own devices. My glutes felt the lunges under the weight but the powercleans felt pretty easy for me.
Lesson: Elizabeth, don’t you ever talk yourself out of a workout. Find a way, not an excuse.
On the food front:
I’m having a couple handfuls of cashews before heading into the gym. I’m a little hungry and don’t know what workout is planned so a little something on my stomach is probably a great idea.
In other exciting news: my furniture is getting delivered tomorrow! Yay!!!! My long tailbone is supremely grateful to get up off the floor!
After the workout I had a big salad with steak tips, tomatoes & avocado and some more coffee.
I worked for a few more hours (whatsup to everyone who joined the FB Live!) and munched on some EPIC brand pork rinds before dinner.
Any guesses on dinner? I’m so un-interesting on the food front. Same as the last two nights, because it’s so dang good! Cauli rice with the stuffing from a stuffed pepper (beef, veal, mushrooms, onions, bacon).
I think I’m going to head to Friday Night Lights at the gym to watch some of the athletes complete 17.2. Again, this is so far outside my comfort zone. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but putting myself in social situations where I don’t know people…dude, that’s so major for me.
But, that’s the whole point. Uncomfortable. Growth.