Don't Let the Perfect Be the Enemy of the Good.

This handy piece of wisdom brought to us by Voltaire.

It really sums up the purpose of my journey. For so many years I let the Perfect control my every move, and tell me that Good just wasn't quite good enough. If I couldn't eat Perfectly, then why try at all? If I don't have a full hour to exercise, what's the point?

The point is, you can make an imperfect food choice, or have a bad meal, or even a bad week - and recover from it. Each new choice is an opportunity to get back on track. Obviously, the sooner the good choices take over, the less damage is done.

It goes against my nature to believe that I can accomplish a thorough workout in under half an hour. My rational side knows that it can be done in smaller increments, however the perfectionist, buying-in-to-all-the-hype side of me screams, "Thirty minutes or nothin'!!" However, these 10 minute trainer workouts are reinforcing my belief in the Good. The cool thing about these, I am finding, is that I don't defeat myself before I even start, like I do with other types of workouts. Here's how the thought process goes (grab a crayon and follow along):

• "I've worked 12 hours. I'm tired. Let's go see what's on the DVR."
• "But, look! If you only do the mandatory workout it's only 10 minutes out of our day. The couch and DVR will still be there in 10 minutes."
• "Ok. I'll just do the one."

~ 10 minutes later ~

• "Huh. That wasn't so bad."
• "I'm all warmed up now. I'm already dressed for it and kinda sweaty - I should just bang out another one."

~ 10 minutes later ~

• "Whew! I'm pumped up and a little tired. But only 10 minutes more and I can say I did all the workouts for today."

~ 10 minutes later ~

• "Is there anything better than a hot bubble bath/DVR'ed shows/cuddling with the dog/sprawling out on the couch/insert favorite downtime activity/?"

So, how about that? I fooled myself into doing a 30 minute workout when I didn't even want to do 10. I find I have to do that quite a bit. Dupe myself into getting started, then the rest takes care of itself.

The other nice thing about these workouts is that if I ever get my butt out of bed early before work, and I only have 10 extra minutes, guess what? I have time to knock out a workout. And if I have a hella day at work, I've already gotten my mandatory workout in for the day. More often than not, though, I can bluff myself into getting at least one more workout in after work, using the ol' "it's only 10 minutes" ploy.

It might seem funny, the mind game I have to run on myself to get myself to do a simple thing like exercise. I don't mind, though. It's a little victory for me, each time Good can flip Perfect the bird.

3 More Days of Daylights

And then I get four wonderous! beautious! fabulous! weeks of night shift. Three, actually, and a week of vacation. Even better.

I love working nights. Everyone goes where they're supposed to go, does what they're supposed to do. No Monkey Wrench screwing up the works. And, outside of work, I get stuff done. I feel almost like I have a full day off, then go to work. House gets cleaned. Dogs get walked. Shopping gets done. Tasks get crossed off to-do lists that have sat and gathered dust for four weeks while I shuffled zombie-like through daylights.. eating, sleeping, working, but barely much else. I am planning to get a few good hikes in with the Little Girlie, as I haven't gotten to do that yet this summer. Hiking and camping are summer must-dos.


Working out: I did the Cardio and Abds dvds the other day but did not get to the Yoga Flex. I'm ok with that. The first two together were a hell of a workout; there were moves in the Abds workout I couldn't do as fast or as well as the buff dvd chick, but I get a second crack at Abds tonight, and I'm sure today I will show improvement. Yesterday I did Total Body and Lower Body. I'm already noticing that some of the moves I couldn't complete the first time, I could do with no trouble this time around. And I'm feeling a pleasant soreness in my core muscles today, so I know it's doing its thing. Today's schedule calls for Yoga Flex, then Cardio and Abds as optional. I am thinking I will try and get all three in after work tonight. I need to figure out a schedule for before/after work exercising that I can fit in a short run in addition to these dvds, and I think the run and the dvds need to be at separate times, since the 10 minute trainer is so intense. So far I've stuck to the schedule and haven't missed a 10 minute trainer day. I've done the bare minimum some days, but I've done something every day, and that's been a goal of mine.

Had a session yesterday and figured out some things that I probably already knew. (That's why talking to someone impartial is good - they have no problem pointing stuff out to you that you may be denying to yourself). Among the revelations we came up with yesterday:

• I'm not doing to great on portion control, but at least I am eating healthy for the most part, so I need to get back my mindfulness when eating.
• I am a competetive little shit. Hence the sudden landing of my butt back on the treadmill because of an upcoming stress test I have to take with other people. So it would probably benefit me to find some sort of club/group for a regularly scheduled athletic pursuit.
• I need to be going back over and reinforcing the info in all the written exercises I did in the earlier sessions, and be mindful that this journey should be more about my health than my weight.
• I need to be doing more reading that is relevant to my food issues to keep my head in the game.

These are all infinitely do-able, and I left yesterday's session feeling pretty good about the plan and how I'd improved over the past month.

And my personal to-do list for the upcoming weeks:

• figure out how to balance a run at least every other day with these dvds
• hike
• camp
• bike
• clean carpets
• put away laundry, forGodssakes. Folded in a laundry basket does not = put away.

This...

... is what DONE looks like.








Tonight, after finishing a 12 hour shift, my 10 minute trainer schedule informed me that my only obligation for today was Yoga Flex. And that was fine and dandy with me. I had blown off working out again this morning, having tried to reset my alarm in my sleep - don't try that, it never works out for the good - and barely made it to work on time.

Yesterday, my 10 minute workout schedule was Total Body (mandatory), Cardio and Lower Body (optional). The plan had been to do the mandatory one in the morning before work and do another dvd, or run on the treadmill, when I got home. All I ended up doing was the Total Body, before work in the morning. Which had some moves that I felt like I was trying to do through a coating of molasses, and the dvd chick seemed to be doing while hopped up on amphetamines and anabolic steroids and on fast forward. But I am definitely feeling it all over, so I must have indeed gotten the total body workout.

Yoga Flex was a really nice break. It's not a total walk in the park, and it reminded me that I have a really long way to go regarding flexibility. However, I would really benefit from doing this particular workout every day. There are lots of really deep hip and glute opening stretches that you hold for 30 seconds at a time - these and my pyriformis were always problem areas with muscle tightness and knots.

Also got a 20 minute run in on treadmill. I wanted to quit really badly after 10, but I kept thinking about that stress test coming up in about 9 weeks, and about how badly I want to show everyone else up.. and I kept going. Go me.

Tomorrow's menu:

• Cardio dvd - mandatory
• Abds dvd - optional
• Yoga Flex dvd - optional

I'm going to try to get all 3 in, since it's a day off.

You know what's depressing?

Taking 'before' photos and measurements. If you're anything like me - and I prefer to think anyone with a ridiculously unfair mix of genius intellect, humor, natural good looks, common sense and of course humility is just like me - you hate having measurements taken. And photos. Especially photos like the ones I took. Sports bra and snug workout shorts. Nowhere to hide. No nice v-neck babydoll top to accentuate the hooters but float over the gut. (Who did I think I was kidding anyway? It just looked like I was trying to hide a pregnancy.)

And... wow. You think you know yourself, but you really don't know yourself until pictures like that are in front of your face. But honestly, that's probably good for my reverse body image issue. If I can bear the thought of the people at the photo processing plant seeing these images, I really should get some prints made and post them on the fridge and bathroom mirror. Maybe on my alarm clock too, for those mornings I'm feeling too lazy to lose an hour of sleep to work out. I could go nuts! Pictures of my thunder thighs and big ol' love handles everywhere!

Just so long as the Michelin Man doesn't see them. I am spoken for, after all.

This morning was one of those that I was too lazy to get out of bed early and workout before work. I have historically had a tough time finding the motivation to work out after putting in 12+ hours at work, then coming home and taking care of Old Girl, putting uniforms in the laundry, etc. Days when I have found the motivation, the workouts have required, it seems, twice as much effort, and were downright painful at times. Tonight's run was no exception. I am back up to 20 minute runs again, but I felt very cloddish and out of sorts for about 16 minutes of that.

Then I took my first crack at my new 10 Minute Trainer dvds. The premise of these are the 10 minute 'stacked' workouts. One is all you [air quotes] have to [/air quotes] do per day, however they give you two other options to 'maximize results'. Duh! Nobody ever got a beach body on just ten minutes a day! Today I was supposed to do primarily the Cardio dvd, then the two optionals were Lower Body and Abs. Had I known just how intense the Lower Body workout would be, I may not have opted to run 20 minutes beforehand. But I had already done it, and I counted it as cardio.

All I can say about these workouts, having only done one, is DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN. It was intense. I blasted my legs for ten minutes straight with isometric moves that required no more equipment than an elastic resistance band. Even that could have been optional and my legs would still have been shaking just as much when I finished.

Tomorrow morning before work I have Total Body to do, with Cardio and Lower Body being the optional two. I'm thinking I will do Total Body and then do another 20 minute run if I have time and am feeling it. If I don't run, I will do at least the Cardio dvd, either before or after work.
Notice those 'before' pictures aren't posted. I can hardly bear to look at them myself. so the thought of putting them out in public domain is truthfully rather nauseating to me. I'm hoping within 90 days or so that there will be changes significant enough that I will actually be proud to show you the amazing transformation.

For now, though, you'll just have to use your imagination.

Did you know..

.. cookie dough and Doritos and bologna on white bread give me heartburn, lower GI distress, a headache, and a general achey, crappy feeling?

Well, I knew. And I had some anyway last night.

As I sit here with my head pounding, the same four words keep running through my mind:



"WHEN. WILL. I. LEARN?!"

Today..

.. was technically supposed to be a day off running, but I really felt like it. And when you feel like doing something that's good for you, dammit, you get to steppin' and you DO it.

I was planning on modifying the W5D2 workout to walk 5, run 10, repeat x1. However I got interrupted toward the end of my warmup by some hot guy walking right into my house! Luckily, he loves me so he didn't seem to be disgusted by my workout attire: sports bra, shorts and running shoes. I, personally, was mortified. By the way his eyes were fixated on my boobs, I determined that he didn't notice anything other than those 38Ds bouncing with each step.

Anyway, my workout got cut short because I had to leave soon. So I ran an easy 15. I guess I didn't get as out-of-shape as I thought on my self imposed lazyass break from hard exercise.

The New Year's resolution that stuck

You know how New Year's resolutions are. Especially the ones regarding exercise. We come out of the gate with our asses on fire, only to have petered out within a couple of weeks. If we're really seasoned at this NYR stuff, sometimes we stick it out til March. You hear the regular gym-goers complaining about the NYR peeps all the time because the treadmills and circuit machines have n00bs swarming all over them. Probably not even wiping them down when they're done. *shudder*

My NYR that stuck this year was a three-pronged approach. I resolved to start eating cleaner whole foods all the time, not just sometimes. And to quit hitting the drive-thrus on my way home from work. The latter was actually the biggest struggle of all. Who doesn't crave a Chik Fil A cookies n' cream milkshake, or a Big Mac, or Wendy's chicken sandwiches, at one time or another? But I've done it. The only reason I've been able to do it was with a whole lot of help.

You see.. I "see" someone. Yep. Part II of the NYR. To finally sort out why I put so much importance on food. To figure out why I can't resist the lure of the drive-thru. To help myself find the motivation for a permanent change. I have learned so much about myself, and what twisted and warped reasoning I had been using to justify bingeing on crap food. One of the latest little gems I have learned to keep myself on track is the idea that it is my job to protect myself from harm. I protect those I love from harm. I protect my beloved dogs from harm. Why not myself? Will one Big Mac harm me? No. Will eating it every day to excess cause harm? You betcha. *waits for Mcdonalds lawyers to find this paragraph* One thing I have learned is that we have become so detached from the beautiful and amazing piece of machinery that is our body. You would never think of putting sugar in the gas tank of your car intentionally. It won't run right! But we put all kinds of crap into our bodies every day that it doesn't recognize. Our bodies weren't meant to break down and use Twinkies, or margarine, or Ramen noodles - or high fructose corn syrup - probably the most evil processed "food" product of all. It's difficult, every time I prepare food or eat, to think to myself: "Am I protecting myself from harm by eating this?" And I'm sure it sounds boring. For the majority of the time, it is. I eat pretty much the same thing for breakfast every day. The routine is comforting for me. However, the flip side of this is that when I do allow myself to indulge in a treat, I enjoy it and savor it 100% more.

Part III of the NYR was for me to finally complete the Couch to 5k program. It's an awesome set of workouts geared toward training someone who's literally never run before, to someone who can respectably complete a 5k. I had started it numerous times and had always quit around week 4. However, this time it stuck. I can't tell you why, except that in my mind I made it absolutely mandatory that I complete the designated C25K workout every other day, without deviation, without fail, without excuses. I did finish (graduate - YEAH!) the 9 week program and continued to run every other day until late May. Then the lazies took over.

However I do have some new motivation to start running again and I did restart today. I jumped in to W5D1 of C25K this morning. I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about how it would go. Envisioning pulled muscles, too-slow playlists, not having a clean sports bra or socks, I got it together and hopped on the treadmill. Much to my surprise it's like riding a bike. Or something. It's almost as if my body missed running. Another case of being sort of blind and deaf to the body's wants and needs.