A Change in Perspective: Body

Even though I have taken a step back from my blog for the time being it does not mean that my life is not progressing.  In the last four weeks I have had a complete change in perspective of how I look at my body, my mind, and the world around me.  I want to talk about how my life is changing in a couple of parts so today I will talk about my changing body views.

From the MBB facebook group

The 8 Weeks to Wellness Challenge at Mind Body Barre coupled with May Cause Miracles 40 day Journey has completely made a difference in my life.  Being a busy full time, working mother, I felt like I often did not have time to think, no matter reflect.

But I was going about it all wrong.  I have shut off the TV and computer at night and made time to journal and reflect and it has helped me find was is really important in my life.

A huge eye opener was how I treat my body.  I have always struggled with my weight and anxiety.  I felt like it I wasn’t able to eat what I wanted I was depriving myself, so I would work out for HOURS a day.  Everyday I went at it harder, faster, longer.  Then I would go home make mediocre food decisions and then try to burn that food off again.  It was a never ending cycle and when I was unable to burn off all those calories or I would put on a pound I would become incredibly upset and anxious.

It probably did not help I was compulsively weighing myself.  What the scale said dictated my mood for the whole day.  Some days would be ruined within the first 3  minutes of a very long day to come.  It was not a positive way to live.

Now, I have been given the gift of realization that if you do not do what makes your mind happy your body will not be healthy.  Everything works together in this unit!

For me, my first love has always been running.  But I do not love running so hard or long that I get injured or sick.  I am a soul runner.  I would love to jog for an hour at a comfortable pace and chill out to my music.  But watching the pace and time on my Garmin causes me stress and anxiety and I began to lose the love of the sport.  I was always competing with myself and others.  I lost sight of why I was really running.  To be healthy, to be happy, to relax and to have fun!

I have also found that I love Barre, Pilates, and Pound.  They are fun, the time flies by and the meditation at the end creates a whole body mind experience.  It enables me the opportunity to develop and grow my mind, body, and soul.

In the past, even though I loved these types of exercises, I would decide I didn’t have time for them in my life, since they do not burn a lot of calories.  If I did them as a workout one day, I felt like I couldn’t eat and then when I did I would get upset.  I was miserable all the time.

But now, I do what is right for my body.  I am happier with my exercise  and it is helping me (along with the lovely Heather from For the Love of Kale) making better nutritional choices.

I have stopped weighing myself.  It creates negative thoughts and feelings of inadequacy which is not good for anyone.

These types of realizations would have been really hard to come by on my own (considering I never fell upon them in the last 28 years) so I am incredibly thankful to Mind Body Barre and all the incredible women who are so kind and supportive there.   My eyes have really opened to a new way to go through life and I strongly believe I am better for it!

M.I.A.

For the past week or two I have been a little M.I.A.  But I have had to loosen the reigns on somethings in order to make room for life’s ever changing path.

As I progress through the the 40 day “May Cause Miracle” book and 8 Weeks to Wellness Program, I have found the easiest thing for me to stay focused on progress is to disconnect for the internet.

Work is crazy, having a two year old is crazy, and making sure you are making healthy food and exercise choices is time consuming.  But add in meditation, journaling  getting in those damned 10,000 steps a day, running and 5 barre/Pilates classes a week- I realized I am insanely busy.  To add insult to injury on top of that- I have a horrific math course for educators that I am dreading to take part in both weekdays and Saturdays -I  know I am uncomfortably swamped.   But it is important to be present in what I am doing and not just going through the motions to get through it, but it is not easy.

What would be easy, is to block and tune out to the internet and the TV and ignore all the things going on around me.  In order not to do that I am making a conscious effort to do this program 100% as well as everything else I can’t change (work and class) and if that means I need to be a little less regular on here, so be it. For now.

But when I come back (so soon) I have some awesome things for you guys including an amazing giveaway from Sports Line fitness!

So stay tuned and stay calm and until then…keep active through these chilllllyyyyy days   :)

When the Scale Won’t Budge

It has been about a week since I started cleaning up my diet.  I feel better but the scale hasn’t budged.  I’m not going to lie.  It is annoying.  Obviously through my weight struggles throughout the years I have had many times when my diet has hit a standstill

 

Yup. Source

Shock your Body: Your body can get very used to routine.  If you are eating the same number of calories and exercising the same way each day your body will adjust and adapt.  Add a couple hundred calories for a day or two.  Hit up a spin class, or do an interval workout you don’t normally do.  Anything to get your body guessing again!

Feed your Body: Sometimes when we diet we tend to take off too many calories.  Sometimes that magic 1200 calories a day number is too small for many people, especially those who are active.)  Your body will begin to  think it is starving and will try to conserve everything making weight loss that much more difficult!

Treat you Body: Stress and tension can do terrible things to a body.  It is important to relax and take everything one step at a time.  Earlier in the year I found that I was really stressed about a few things and put on a couple of pounds rather quickly.  As soon as I was able to work it out and relax about the situation the pounds came right off without any effort.  A body can retain water in times like that and can cause water weight gain easily.  To relax take a yoga class, meditate, take a warm bath, or give yourself a nice excuse to get yourself a massage.

 

I am going to take my own advice as well and hopefully I will see some movement in the near future.

 

Question: What do you do when the scale gets stuck?

8 Weeks to Wellness

8 Weeks to Wellness is an all encompassing challenge that inspires creative ways to get moving and eat healthy, feeding both the body and mind.  I have decided to join up with this group challenge at the barre studio I attend, to try something new and help get myself back on track after a disastrous holiday season.

I was feeling so lazy and lethargic by New Years, I knew I needed to do something.  Holiday overeating had really gotten the better of me.  It wasn’t as much of a weight gain situation as an icky feeling situation.  I just felt “blah.”  So when this was presented at the studio a few weeks back I decided to bite the bullet and go in full force.

Challenge essentials a pedometer (Fitbit) and a journal (Vera Bradley)

I am sure you think I jump around from challenge to challenge, interest to interest, and I do!  I hate doing the same things all the time.  I get bored.  Especially if something is not for me (i.e. CrossFit).  The only sport I have ever stuck with is running, but sometimes I need to cut my mileage back and do something else to begin to yearn for it again!

In this challenge I am running, doing Pilates, yoga, Pound, and barre method workouts.  I like the variety and I know it is what I need to stay on track.  The challenge only has a few “rules”:

  • Drink 60 ounces of water a day
  • Take 10,000 steps a day
  • Log your food in my fitness pal and stick to your caloric goals
  • Attend 3-5 fitness classes at the studio a week
  • A daily meditation and reflection using a journal

I am really excited about this challenge which anyone can really be a part.  It is relaxed and nurturing.  It is an environment that I thrive best in as a high anxiety person.  Also, it is a great to meet new people, all working on a common path of health and wellness.  This is a total shift from my half marathons and CrossFit but I feel it is a time I need to take a step back and give my body a break as it felt like it was slowly breaking down.

I have also decided to make sure I read at least one book a month as part of my challenge.  I decided to read: “May Cause Miracles: A 40-Day Guidebook of Subtle Shifts for Radical Change and Unlimited Happiness by Gabrielle Berstein.

Questions:

  1. Have you ever tried to walk 10,000 steps a day?  It seems like child’s play, but I have to get on my treadmill and run or walk every night to make up steps!  
  2. Have you ever read of Gabrielle Bernstein’s books? What is your take on them?

Get Pounded!

Since quitting CrossFit, I have been doing barre classes along with running to fill my time.  A few weeks ago, I noticed while looking at the schedule of the barre studio where I take classes, that there was a class I had never heard of before called Pound.  I had a bunch of class credits from a Groupon so I figured I would try it!

Sure enough I am hooked!

Pound is a 45 minute class cardio class that infuses fitness with music!  You use weighted drumsticks to beat along to the music while you are getting your butt kicked!  It is so fun and the music is so current and fresh it makes those minutes FLY by and leaving you wanting more!

If you would like a visual, check out this video from the creators of Pound:

POUND – Rockout. Workout.™ from Alexander Rydell on Vimeo.

The ladies of Pound boast that:

“Pound is a full-body cardio jam session, combining light resistance with constant simulated drumming. The workout fuses Pilates, isometric movements, plyometric and Yoga-based poses into a 45-minute series. Burn up to 800 calories per hour, strengthen and sculpt infrequently used muscles, and drum your way to a leaner, slimmer physique, all while rocking out to your favorite music.”

If you don’t already know I am incredibly uncoordinated and inflexible.  I don’t dance and I can barely touch my toes.  But I like this enough to put my ego aside and show up once a week!  (I may have a leg up on all of you though, since in 8th grade I was in a percussion ensemble and rocked out to Titanic every week in competitions as my brother loves to constantly remind me).

Pound is popping up in studios across the country, you can find one near you or you can even do an online class here!    It is definitely something fun to shake up that workout routine and keep focused on your new year, new you goals!!  :)

Question: Have you ever tried Pound?  What is the wildest workout class you have ever tried?