What Doesn't Kill Me . . .

Today I got asked by more than a few people what my 'secret' was to losing weight and keeping it off. There secret is there is no secret. Here is how simple and yet how complex that answer is: I changed my mind about who I am in the universe, how I interact with food and how I relate to my god. Everything else is just a matter of making choices and forming habits for me. Does that mean that everything has been easy . . . heck no, the emotion, mental, spiritual stuff is the hardest thing I have ever done, but until I did that I was merely going through motions grasping for 'the answer' to my obesity issue and my binging issue. The core reason I was doing those things was what I had to deal with first. I was losing weight, changing habits and dealing with the emotions as they came up. I didn't just sit and wait for an epiphany moment. I knew I needed to make changes and along the way I changed my mind little by little about how I wanted to interact in this world.

The 'secret' to how I stay motivated . . . I like my lifestyle. I like feeling healthy, strong and confident. I like wearing pretty clothes and not wondering whether or not a chair is sturdy enough to hold me. In order for me to continue living how I love to live, I have to invest in my self. Anything you value, you will invest time, money and effort into. Think of your children, your spouse, your house, etc.

The 'secret' to how I keep from plateauing . . . I abhor boredom. I cannot and will not exercise for exercise sake! I can't just jump on an elliptical a couple times a week and go mindless numb for 40 - 60 minutes . . . that is some kind of torture invented by a sadistic mind. I'm glad to have the option of using a piece of stationary equipment on bad weather days, but you will not see that on my 'plan'. I keep my ACTIVITY fun and changing all the time. No two weeks of exercise look exactly the same. It may say 40 minutes of cardio on my calendar and that could be dancing, riding my bike, running, push mowing my yard, or if need be, using a piece of equipment in the gym. It will say strength training upper body on another day and I will choose on that day how I am going to work those muscles. Maybe at the gym, maybe in my driveway, maybe with my TRX, resistance bands, medicine ball or maybe trimming bushes and raking! It just depends on how I am feeling, what needs to be done and what the weather allows . . . but it will happen, that is a non-negotiable with me.

Let's talk about non-negotiables. Do you ever, EVER get up and decided whether or not you are going to brush your teeth before you go to work? Or whether you should get dressed and comb your hair or not? I hope the answer is no to all the above. Those are non-negotiables, they will happen even if you don't have time for anything else before work you will get those things done. I'm not a morning exercisers (I did when I had to for marathon training), so I do not want to start something that I know for a fact will not be a sustainable habit for me. During my work week I exercise right after work because that is what works for my schedule. Sometimes that means coming home jumping on my bike and going for a ride before I make dinner. But it is a non-negotiable. It will happen.

Now to the above title. I'm in transition, yet again. This journey just keeps revealing new things for me to experience and try. As I learn more, I apply more and see how that experience works for me. Two big changes for me are my diet and my training. Usually I would not be real excited about this because I don't transition well in most other areas of my life, though now that I think about it I have gotten much better about that in the past 6 mths. or so. Food, I know that subject can be frustrating to some and that information can be conflicting making it hard to make a choice about what is right for you. Here is what I know, clean eating works for me. I feel vibrant, healthy, radiant, energetic. Another thing I know is that different foods work for different people and some combinations of food do not agree with my digestive system, it does not matter how good or how clean that food is, if it doesn't work for me, it doesn't work for me. It doesn't mean that YOU should not eat it, it just means it's not for me at this time. About a month ago my taste buds and constitution seemed to suddenly change. This was in conjunction with me starting the hot yoga classes, so I chalked it up to a temporary thing, that I was just being wise about what I put in my stomach before taking a 80 minute class in a room that was 115 degrees. Well, those food preferences have stuck. It is now a daily pattern. How long will it last? IDK. Each day while I'm prepping my meals I ask myself "will this be the day I desire something other than seafood, veggies, fruit, nuts and greek yogurt?" And each day the answer is Nope! That has been my diet for almost a month now. I do have a little coconut milk each day and some dates. The fruits and veggies change, the type of seafood changes, and the combination of how I eat them changes. But, the basic foods stay the same.

The other thing that is changing is how I workout (stay active). It is summer! I love being outside and will do as much as possible outside each day. I invested in a TRX back in March I believe. But I never really had the time to explore it and use it. Now that weather is awesome and I can be outside I connect the TRX to a tree in my front yard and am learning new ways to use it to get the workout I need. Since I workout outside I don't have access to a monitor to follow a DVD or a YouTube video on workout routines. So, I purchased a couple tools to help me! One is called a FitDeck which are exercise playing cards with the moves on the card w/pictures and description to help me out. I can 'deal' out any workout I want to do or play a wild card game of random exercises! The other thing I got is a training manual (I do well with pictures). This is a Military Fitness Guide for the TRX, it is a 12 week training program. The outside of the manual says "Make Your Body Your Machine" . . . YIKES!!! I looked at the schedule and yea, what doesn't kill me will turn me into a Navy Seal! LOL! I am excited! I will blog for the twelve weeks of training to let you know how much fun I am having!

How about you? What foods do you enjoy in the summer? How do you incorporate fun and fitness? Is it different in the summer time? What goals are you training for or events are you preparing for?