Last week was another fabulously full one (i.e. three Mommy Dates, one with each daughter on different days), and laughably trying to keep up my fitness goals. And yet in a different way, it worked!
As I considered what I’ve learned so far, I decided to put it into five words…
1. Listen. Thankfully, I’m being reminded daily to listen to my body, and then do what it needs. Sure enough, after a month of working out former symptoms of adrenal fatigue set in–exhausted at 8:30 p.m., then wired at 10 p.m. and again at 4 a.m.; ringing in my ears; sudden lapse of energy after my workout, etc. I know that a good workout should leave you energized and sleeping well at night. Listening to my body I stopped pushing it when pushing wasn’t best.
2. Adjust. On the above, instead of giving up on working out completely, I adjusted it, cutting down my daily hour to 75 minutes, down to 35-45 mins. I created my own Express Workout, picking a well-rounded assortment of exercises. That worked so much better and the ringing basically stopped, as did the 8:30 p.m. dead zone, with great energy after my workout. Now I’m considering for next week doing upper/lower body workouts simply for the time frame–I just can’t get it regularly shorter than that doing all upper/lower/abs daily.
3. Laugh. Sometimes my fit and fab life/workout is just downright hilarious. While I’m doing abs, Chubba will be leaning on my stomach, lifting my shirt to see my belly button, or “walking” with his hands in my shoes with me while I do walking lunges around my kitchen floor. It’s so not pretty, but it is a keeper. My “gym” is hiding my hand weights under the living room shabby chic chair, and my stay ball and yoga mat behind the couch. Who needs a gym pass? 🙂
4. Progress. Often, OFTEN, I have to remind myself that whether it’s on a scale or a tape measure, numbers are not the bottom line. Case in point: I not only didn’t lose any weight but gained two pounds, TWO! And, except for 1/2 an inch, nothing changed on the tape measure. BUT, on a whim I tried on some old fave dresses–AND THEY FIT! I now have five new dresses to wear and feel thrilled that I’m using what’s already in my closet. Can someone PLEASE explain this numbers vs. fit phenomenon to me??
5. Continue. No matter what, I’ve learned to be Nemo-like and “just keeping swimming, just keep swimming”. There have been many, MANY (in fact, I would say MOST) days that I had a really, really, really great reason for not working out. But I’ve done it anyway. And now six weeks later I’m feeling some great results already, and so thankful for them.
If you feel your body is stuck, you have “estrogen” belly at 5 p.m., or that you’re working it and fed up not seeing results, try some of the tips that I’ve shared in previous blogs. I’ve been there, often, and now am thankful to find some solutions that have helped.
Stay focused, keep tweaking, and enjoy making it a part of your life–I say a PART for a reason. It’s not a total focus. I’ve been intuitively living, loving, and learning along the way, dessert and all. Life is to be lived well, and if we’re improving our habits and tailoring them to our body, we’ll see results. Sometimes it’s on the scale and sometimes it’s just better choices.
So, that’s what I’ve learned this past week, hopefully it helps you too. 🙂
Connie’s Fit & Fab: Week 6
Goals:
Eat: 1500-1800, veggies 2 meals and snacks, eat when hungry
Exercise: 5x and rework for Express Workout
Energize: Listen to body, bed at 10:30
What worked:
*adjusting my workout time from over an hour
*eating only when I felt hungry
*adding on a 1/3 of a protein bar or protein shake before bed–helped my adrenal symptoms
*listening to my body and resting at night or resting 30 extra minutes in the morning and slightly delaying my workout
*more veggies, so yum, and a tasty, easy broccoli soup
What didn’t work:
*doing over an hour workout daily
*Bryson not sleeping well
What to do differently:
*possibly try upper and lower body workouts on different days
*add in Garden of Life veggie powder to my protein shake
P.S. – Check out Connie’s latest blog entry on KSL’s Motherhood Matters, CLICK HERE to read “Unstructured Time with Children a Powerful Parenting Tool”
Did you miss Connie’s video segment last week on Studio 5? CLICK HERE to view “Defining Success as a Mom”. A great watch.
