Workout Wednesday: Back in the Groove

After going at it hard in the gym for two months I inevitably became bored with my routine, but there are only 3 types of cardio machines at my gym: treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes. I logged plenty of hours and miles on the first two and I hate bikes, so where was I to turn? Between boredom and facing a personal issue not related to diet and exercise, I told Trainer that I was desperate for a break.

Haha, gotta love this!

During this time I swore that I would not exercise and that I'd eat some things that I had on my mental forbidden foods list, but only to the extent that I wouldn't gain any weight back. For three days I allowed myself a carb once a day, so one day I chose an ice cream sundae, another it was an Italian style, thin crust pizza, and I can't recall the third day. But I'll say this--I didn't really care for any of it. I threw out the sundae after just a few bites and willingly shared half the small pizza with my daughter. Nice, huh?

Sorry, I know this picture is a bit too pretty ;-)

I also accepted an offer to walk around Forest Park with a friend twice the following weekend. It was tough walking 6 miles (twice as many miles as I had been doing on the treadmill), but I figured that since I had done it once there was no excuse not to do it again. So, I went with her again later that same weekend. Other than the heat it wasn't as bad as the first time. The next day I was on my own, so I invited a friend to join me for a walk around Creve Coeur Lake, and we had a great time! After walking 6 miles, a 4-mile route was nothing. Since then I have walked around Forest Park two more times with various friends, walked a nearly 7-mile path around Creve Coeur Lake and hiked almost 3 miles in Castlewood State Park. The total miles for all of these walks is 43 miles and I did that in just 11 days. Yeah, I'm stunned too!!

Two horses from the mounted police division of the St. Louis PD. We

aren't supposed to feed them, but I did give them some grass they were

trying to reach. I have yet to see horses in my gym ;-)

This sounds great, fantastic and wonderful, but the first two days I just went because I wanted to get out of the house and I knew I had to move my body so that I could at least maintain the weight I was at after my last training session. What I didn't expect was to like the long walks as much as I did. I am thrilled to report that I have found my drive for exercise again and am just as passionate about it as I was nearly 3 months ago. Yay!! Now I'm getting outside every day that I possibly can and will hit the gym only for training sessions. I love the views and wide open spaces. Television monitors in my face on cardio equipment is a poor, poor substitute for real life.

I've learned a few things from my experiences during the past two weeks:

1. Do not give up, no matter what. If my heart isn't in it, take a "break" by slowing things down for a bit, not by quitting. It works.

2. Allow others to reach out and help, and definitely don't be afraid to ask for support--it's always there when I need it.

3. Avoiding things in my personal life will lead to disaster, so face them early on and take care of them before they grow into real problems.

This was one of those challenging times that we expect to happen but aren't sure how to handle when they do. In the future I will definitely be more honest with myself, my friends and my trainer when I feel that I'm facing something too tough to deal with on my own.