I briefly touched on my motivation for healthy eating and exercise in last night’s post, and several of you asked that I expand on my philosophy a little tonight.
To summarize what I said last night, one of my turning points was when I realized I should work out for my health, not to look hot. When I only cared about being skinny, I ended up sabotaging myself. I was too focused on short-term benefits, and when they didn’t instantly materialized, I would binge. Now, I make food and exercise decisions based on long-term goals.
I can’t really tell you how my eating and exercise philosophy evolved without talking about my changing views on life. Healthy eating and exercise doesn’t happen in a bubble.
For a long time, I struggled to "connect the dots" on my actions and my overall satisfaction with life. I would complain I was overweight and then binge on ice cream. I wrestled to button my jeans but refused to to the gym. I was mean to (a few) people and wondered why there was so much drama in my life.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to actively seek the answers to my questions instead of just stumbling through life. And maybe it seems like the thoughts below don’t relate to healthy eating and exercise, but to me–they do.
- Life is a Series of Choices: Every choice we make has a consequence, good or bad. Do you want to marry a nice man? Choose to date nice people! Do you want to have a successful job? Choose to stay in college! Do you want to feel comfortable in your own skin? Choose to go to the gym more often than not! Life doesn’t happen to you. Happiness isn’t a fluke. Health isn’t handed to you on a silver platter. Life is a series of choices, and you’re responsible for putting all your ducks in a row.
- The Only Moment that Matters is Now: The past has weight on your life only if you choose to give it importance. The only moment that is truly pivotal is this single instant. If you’ve made a bad decision about food or exercise, just let it go…. you can’t change what happened, but you can do something RIGHT NOW. If you just binged on Oreos, acknowledge the mistake and do a few push-ups. And, because life is a series of choices, the decisions you make in this moment positively affect your future. So look FORWARD with your chin up!
- One Day, I’ll Die: It’s weird to even type that, but it’s true. I hope I don’t die anytime soon, but I could! I think when we are younger, we tend to believe we are invincible. As I’ve grown older, I realized two things. First, just because I’m 24 doesn’t mean I’m immune to health issues. Two of my friends in college got diagnosed with cancer when they were 21. I want to do EVERYTHING I can to protect my health NOW. Secondly, I could die in freak accident, with no warning. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow–so why stress out about having a bag of fun size M&Ms if I’m generally healthy? It’s not worth beating myself up over it and ruining my self esteem. Seriously… don’t sweat the small stuff, it’s just not worth it!
- I Can’t Control Other People: People are going think and do what they want. Many women strive for physical perfection because they think it will make someone love them more, treat them nicer, pay attention to them…. Living your life for other people will get you nowhere fast.
- Your Greatest Love Affair Should be with Yourself: No one has the capacity to love you the way you can love yourself. If you love yourself, you can’t go wrong in your choices. Staying true to your own desires will guide you through the toughest challenges and give you motivation to achieve any goal.
- Fake It Until You Make It: Life is tough. Happiness is elusive. Motivation wanes. When you’re feeling down, the best thing you can do is "fake it until you make it!" Putting on a smile and looking forward to the future can do wonders.
I’d love to hear the lessons YOU’VE learned about life, health, and happiness!
Speedwork
I hit the gym up for a quickie speedwork session. I intended to do a 11 X 400 sprint session (i.e. 11 sets of 400 meters at an 8-minute mile pace). My heart rate was going through the roof! I felt terrible by the 6th sprint, so I only ended up doing 7 sprints. I finished up on the elliptical.
Here’s what I did
- 2 minute warm-up at 5.5 mph
- 2 minutes at 7.5 mph (400 meters)
- 1 minute cool-down at 6.5 mph
- Repeat sprint and cool-down 6 more times
- Remainder: elliptical
Here are my statistics:
- Duration: 32 minutes
- Average Heart Rate: 174 bpm
- Maximum Heart Rate: 198 bpm
- Calories Burned: 307
Today’s Eats
For dinner, I had 2 oz. of chicken, some steamed peppers, steamed broc, and Kashi Pilaf.
When I came home from the gym, I shoved the butt of the French bread loaf into my mouth. Ahhhhh. Bread = Perfection.
Before the gym, I had 1 slice of WW bread, some PB, and a banana.
Around 2 PM, I sneaked a M&M pack. This Halloween candy needs to be passed out to the children ASAP!
And around 1, I had my usual yogurt + granola.
Side note: doesn’t Maggie look pretty (and wrinkly) in the sunlight?
Off to do wedding chores! And…. thanks for listening to me wax philosophical earlier. 🙂
i love your life lessons. i especially like “Your Greatest Love Affair Should be with Yourself”. very true concept. thanks for your wisdom! i’ve experienced many of these things too.
awesome meals too of course 😀
maggie looks precious :DDD