It gets coooooold here in Utah over the winter months. Usually starts in October and feels like it lasts for the rest of forever. It usually starts to warm up in late April or early May. That means a lot of exercising inside instead of outside.
This year I asked Santa for a bike trainer and I have LOVED riding the bike while I catch up on my DVR shows (when I exercise is usually the only time I have to watch shows). I generally burn as many calories on the bike as I do when I run, but it doesn’t hurt as much. I’m a huge fan of watching The Biggest Loser when I work out.
Most recently I’ve been watching Fit to Fat to Fit. I read the book Fit2Fat2Fit
Now the book has been turned into a TV series where several different trainers gain weight and then lose it with someone who has been struggling to lose weight. Again, crazy brave.
Several months ago I got a Dexa Scan (which is a post for another time). At the time I felt I was in pretty decent shape though a few pounds had creeped on over the months as I became more lax about the things I was eating (aka, eating whatever the heck I wanted). But the Dexa scan showed otherwise and unfortunately the Dexa Scan doesn’t lie. My body fat percentage was WAY higher than I’d like it to be. While still in what is considered the “normal” range, it was much higher than I felt it should be for the amount and intensity of exercise I was doing 5-6 times per week. My V02 max (the test they use to measure your endurance and “fit” level) was above superior. But my body composition wasn’t what it should be. The classic example of skinny/fat. Even though I was in good “shape” and could do intense cardio activities, I have more fat in my body than I should (to be healthy–this has nothing to do with vanity or what I look like)
It was proof to me that the FOOD we put in our bodies is about 80% of the battle.
So the past several months I’ve been more conscious of what goes IN my body. Trying to eat REAL food. I will never, ever be able to give up some things (like pizza) but I have been trending in the right direction when it comes to what I was eating. But the past month, I’ve been feeling worse. Headaches, Migraines, fatigue, sore muscles, periodic stomach aches, and occasional lack of appetite.
So when I went down Wednesday with extreme stomach cramps, no appetite, and utter exhaustion, I was incredibly frustrated. I told my husband “screw the healthy lifestyle if I’m going to feel like crap anyway. Bring me all the food.” I was discouraged. Despite my best efforts of being more conscious of what was going in and really focusing on efficient exercise (high intensity interval training, time-limited cardio–no more than 60 minutes, and more weight training) I wasn’t feeling like I thought I should be feeling.
Then I started the never ending battle of wanting to work hard and just not caring.
But I woke up Thursday, climbed on the bike, turned on Fit to Fat to Fit and was immediately reminded that the journey to good health is just that. A journey. A long, HARD journey. And results take time. Hard work, conscious eating, and TIME. A hard reality when I want visible results yesterday.
The only way to get to where we want to get in any aspect of our life, we just have to keep putting in the work. Keep trying. Keep working. Keep doing. And one day, we’ll get where we want to be. If nothing else, we’ll be better than we were yesterday if we keep plugging along at our goals one day at a time. Something I’m having to remind myself of every single day.
All I know is I better have the nicest toned arms at the end of all of this….
Keep at it my friends. “A year from now, you’ll have wished you started today.”
