Ladies, thanks for all the great responses re: MOTIVATION!

B

Boybert

Cathlete
You all are so inspiring...it is great to hear about the ups, downs, and in between :) I guess I knew not everybody feels revved up every second of every day but some of these posts started to sound like it to me and I was like "oh my gosh I need to kick it into gear!"

However, I do realize everyone is different and different things work for different people. I wanted to share with all of you (now that I'm getting familiar with this forum) that I lost 150 lbs when I was 16 and am celebrating 13.5 years at my goal weight. I did hit a bit of a plateau and got bored with my routines so I found my fellow Catheites! It is truly awesome. I also incorporate some spinning and Tae Bo.

So ladies, continue to work hard, play hard, and strive for all of those goals!! I know you are all helping me. Thanks again.


Debbie
mommy to Aiden Mackenzie 4/8/04
 
Debbie,
I hate to be a downer, but I just finished reading all the motivation posts and they made me feel like I'm from a different planet. I honestly have nothing in common with people who work out consistently 6 days per week for umpteen years.

For me, for better or for worse, my career comes first. Working out is my passion and my favorite hobby, but I just don't get to do it as much as I would like to. So, for example, I worked out yesterday but my legs felt weak and I didn't have much energy. So, even though I would love to try again today, I know I need to rest and sleep today to be sure that I can be in good shape for work tomorrow. I don't know if I'm coming down with something or not, but work must come first. I have a tremendous amount of responsibility at work and it pays for my lifestyle, so I have to make sacrifices. I am someone who needs a lot of sleep and if I were to cut into my sleep to make more time for exercise, again, my work would suffer. I am so envious of people who can get by on 6 hours a night.

So I workout when I can, always looking forward to it, and always hoping to have enough time and enough energy. I do the most exercising on weekends. It is typical for me to do about 45 mins of cardio and an hour of strength training on both Saturday and Sunday, and catch as catch can during the week. And I love it to death. But, for now, it is never front and center in my life. But maybe someday.....
 
Debbie, Wow! One hundread and fifty pounds! I have no doubt you are capable of great things whether your motiviation flags or not!

Nancy, I have always considered you an intelligent woman and your post underlines that. I have had to modify my workout regimen a great deal for various reasons ranging from time to injury to insomnia and I have discovered that my fitness level has suffered very little for that and I have lost the compulsiveness I used to flourish on (between injuries :D). I can't believe I have only done two of the Hardcore workouts (Lowmax and Kickmax, both fabulous) and I can't wait to get a rotation going along with my regular yoga practice but I am delighted that I can contentedly put it off until I can give it the time and attention it deserves and not beat myself and be consumed with guilt and negative feelings so that I would push on when it was wise not to.

The day I decided to put aside of my 20 and 25 pound dumbbells because although I am 5'7", I am an ecto and my arms want to rip off and fall to the floor when I go that heavy and it's TOO heavy for me even when I go up incrementally and emphasize strength. This occured about the time I admitted that 35-50 miles of running per week was a thing of the past and always would be. Happily I also discovered I cold love yoga nearly as much as running after I grieved my biomechanical failings and came to terms with them. The beauty is I am still among the super fit, lean and strong. I love it! I'm looking forward to getting a groovy Hardcore rotation going but I am so happy that I can modify intenstity to protect my feet, be content with a single strength workout per week if that's all I can fit in, and cut my workout time BY HALF and not lose one iota of, not only my feelings of being a fit goddess, but my sense of self-esteem and confidence I used to garner from exercising too much.

It is easy to get compulsive attitudes about diet and exercise and while I would certainly rather go there than alcohol, cigarette or disordered eating, addictive behavior is addictive behavior and has the potential do harm. I am happy to at long last be capable of moderation even if I had to learn the hard way. It can't be because I am mellowing in my old age because I'm not that old and I'm definitely not mellow in spite of all the yoga! :)
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.

-Ann Landers
 
Bobbi and Debbie and all,
At last at last - sanity!! I admire you both so much!!! As Cathe has emphasized in many of her postings, rest and listening to your body are as important as the exercise itself. I find that under stress, the same workouts ache twice as much. I pray each day for the wisdom to listen to what my body needs and to give it just that. That to me is the definition of true health and the lesson I am trying to teach my two little girls - a lesson I have had to learn the hard way.


I wish all of you great health in every aspect. And may I state for the record that today I am happy with the way I look and the health that I am blessed with.

:) :)

Julie
 
RE: Ladies, thanks for all the great responses re: MOTI...

Hi, Julie! Thinking about the above this morning had me realizing just how intensely I used to equate workout minutes and miles with every calorie that went in my mouth. Most likely the fact that I've been injury free for years now and still maintain my (boyish ;)) figure in spite of backing off have gone along way toward my attitude. I used to take great pride in going pound for pound with Cathe and it wasn't until I reazlized that I shouldn't that weight training became more fun. Once I started to use lower weights particulaly for shoulders and triceps, a problem with my elbow disappeared and my left shoulder quit aching as it was prone to alot. So I guess I am mellowing quite a bit. :) Mostly it was gradual and I didn't even notice it. I'd love to have muscles like Cathe's but ain't gonna happen without steroids. Don't you love the fitness photos the women on this website share? I admire their hard won muscles so much but at my bulkiest (and I use the term looslely) I have small, shapely muscles which is probably good. My daughter was critiquing my wrists yesterday and compared me to a skeleton so streamlined works on me!. Did you see the thread asking is anyone felt bigger? I saw it and before I read it, I thought it meant felt bigger as in more muscular and I do! I have an image of myself and a strong well-muscled woman and I am, for me. In yoga, when asked to engage our legs, I am happy with the quad definition I have. I happen to have it on rather bony long legs. :) I am just getting to the point where I can take my handstand away from the wall and that takes strength and god alignment no matter how even on a slight frame. It's all good!
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.

-Ann Landers
 
Bobbi, my friend, I guess we are living proof that you don't have to work out every day to be in good shape. I'm proud of us. Moderation has never been my thing. I was always all or nothing. My mother was constantly saying "everything in moderation", which is obviously very wise, but I never could get the hang of it, and may have rebelled against it to some extent just to try to prove her wrong (although she's obviously right). So, even now, at the age of 48, I feel proud of myself when I'm able to achieve that elusive ideal called moderation. It gets a little easier every year. :)
 
Coffee talk!

Good morning, Nancy! It does get easier and I think that's because was unintentional. Nobody ever accused me of moderation but somehow I can workout just a little, eat just a little and not obsess. I used to always worry I was getting fatter if I didn't workout and I ate and my rational mind know that was silly but my emotional mind was in charge. Of course, with the tintinabulations in my head, I weigh in at a whopping 112 so I'd be downright dumb to get kooky over not working out.

I never acquired more than a little patience by trying to learn it but life has a way of showing you what you need to learn. In my case, it's how much time I have to give the the kiddos. With my oldest child in the school musical, I had to give up a few evening yoga classes I love but it turned out 3-4 a weeks was just as good as 5-6 because Hardcore arrived!

You obviously love your job and know what it takes to give it all it needs. And sleep is an interesting component too. I never used to want to sleep, have always been light and restless and that was fine as a spring chicken http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif. I think I thought I was going to miss something. I think I thought? :) Now I need at least 6 hours (8 would be ideal), think 11:00PM is getting too close to the middle of the night and relish crawling into bed and falling asleep. The day I change sheets each week is the best. Who doesn't love crawling between crisp, clean sheets? People who never change their sheets? It's the simple things in life, yanno? The tinnitus has wreaked havoc with my sleep. I could pack these purple bags under my eyes and take a vacation. AND overpack! :) I almost always wake between four and five and a bad night's sleep can ruin my day. A workout always helps but an all out, kick your rear workout is too much. And I do still have my issues. I should get my behind out and run those 3 milers (blew it off yesterday) but having lost all those capabilties, I dread going out and doing a slow 3 miler even though it's gonna be in the 80's the end of this week and going out when the sun is peeking up over the gorgeous Santa Catalina's has often afforded me moments bordering on the sublime. Nancy, I couldn't run a 7 minute mile if someone was chasing me! I no longer think of myself as a runner :( and there was a time when I would have thought tht would always be a part of my resume. Of course, I could change that and will, when the time is right!

I have a burning question for you. Are you going to see Spamalot on Broadway? We haven't been to the City since my oldest was a baby and the in laws still lived there but Rich has family there and I would love to go and play there. I do a short stint in Chicago with the kids each summer, visit museums, usually stay along Lake Shore Drive. I think a little culture would be great for all of us. The hubby wants to go without the kids though.

I blew off working out yesterday in favor of laundry and cleaning so I think it's time to take a shot at Hardcore X Interval and Curcuit. I think Harcore is my favorite series and can't wait to see what's next. I'll wait patiently though! ;)

I know, I know, easy on the caffiene, which I tried to give up recently. We all need at least a vice or two!

Signing off...
Have a beautiful day!
XXX
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.

-Ann Landers
 
RE: Coffee talk!

Bobbi-
How odd you should ask about Spamalot. Did I mention it? My DH surprised me with tickets for my birthday, because in my youth I was a big Python fan and he remembered. So I'll be seeing it 2 weeks from tomorrow. I take it you'd like to see it?
 
RE: Coffee talk!

You didn't but my husband mentioned it and being a huge fan of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, I would so love to see it. Nee! :)
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"

Maturity is the ability to do a job whether or not you are supervised, to carry money without spending it, and to bear an injustice without wanting to get even.

-Ann Landers
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top