Tag Archives: happiness

A Change In Perspective

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I’ve noticed something lately.

I see so many people on Facebook complaining about having to drag themselves to the gym, having tricks to force themselves to “just make it there”, and commenting on how little motivation they have to get up and do anything. It seems strange to me, because I truly, honestly look forward to my gym time.

I’m not pretending that I’ve never lost motivation, or that I’ve never complained about going to work out, because I have. But not for a long, long time.

Not since I started working out in a way that I really love.

Back in the day, when I used to go to the gym, hop on the treadmill and run 3 miles, and then maybe go do some sort of nonsensical “ab routine”, I hated it. I would complain all the time. The treadmill? Absolute torture. And then I started running outside, and guess what? I kept on complaining. I hated every second of it.

Once I started lifting though, everything changed. And then a few years ago, when I started lifting heavy things, everything changed all over again. I was no longer going to the gym to drone on the elliptical or stare at a TV screen while pounding the belt on the treadmill. I was going to the gym with a purpose, with goals, with a routine that was making me happy and giving me results.

And I’m not saying that heavy lifting is the answer for all of those people out there who have little motivation to work out (although I wish that were the case). I’m just saying that at some point I had a shift in perspective, and started treating my workouts as stepping stones to bigger goals, instead of just ways to burn off that bread bowl from the day before. And maybe that is the answer.

exercise-motivation-required12

When I used to ride along on the elliptical or treadmill, there were no real goals and there was never really a sense of accomplishment, besides the one (yes, one) time I ran 7 miles. The most exciting thing for me would be watching the number on the calorie tracker go up as I went along. Never mind that those calorie trackers on the machines are far from accurate anyway. If your biggest concern while working out is how many calories you’ve burned while watching The View, what are the chances you’re actually making any progress?

So back to this change in perspective. When I first started lifting, I finally realized that there was a form of working out that I enjoyed and that could make me feel good. Running felt like torture. Lifting, although difficult, felt amazing. And by amazing, I mean equal parts challenging and agonizing — but in a way that feels like I’m accomplshing something great. While I realize, unfortunately, that lifting does not feel so amazing to everyone, doing something to get that feeling is what it’s all about, No?

And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most people that share those types of complaints are those who are spending countless hours on cardio machines. Maybe it’s unrelated, but of all of the lifters I know, they’re generally NOT complaining about having to work out.

It’s usually more of an “F Yeah! It’s Deadlift Day!” type of mentality.

Maybe everyone doesn’t need to dive head first into the weight room and set up camp in a squat rack, but there is something to be said about finding something that gives you that “F YEAH!!” feeling.

If you’ve been parking your ass on an elliptical for the past 2 years, have seen little progress, and have hated every second of it, what makes you think your perspective is going to change and that you’re all of a sudden going to love it? (Or that you’ll magically start to make any progress, but that’s a different story).

Of course you don’t have to change what you’re doing in the gym, but if your first thought of every day is something along the lines of “Ugh, I Have to go to the gym today. Gloomy mopey mopey dread“, than it seems silly not to. I swear there’s a saying about that sort of thing…

insanity

Find something that you love. Something that makes you feel empowered, strong, capable, and purposeful. Find something that you can put your heart into, strive for goals, and be proud of your progress. It doesn’t have to be heavy lifting of course, although if improving your strength and physique are among your goals, that seems like kind of a no brainer to me.  It could be yoga, it could be training for a half (or full) marathon, it could be martial arts, or something else entirely. I guess my (rather long winded) point is this:

Stop complaining. If you hate working out, you’re not doing it right. Find something that makes your life better, through both happiness and health. Find something that can help you shift your perspective from “Ugh, I have to go do this today” to “I can’t wait to see what kind of progress I can make today!”

Is there a type of workout that makes you feel amazing? Do you usually complain about working out or do you look forward to it? 

Checking In

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Hello World!

I just want to start off by saying thank you to everyone for the kind words and wishes after my accident last week! All of your comments, emails and tweets were wonderful, and I can’t thank you enough. I am still nursing a bum ankle, but that’s about it besides some nasty lingering bruises. So all in all, I’m healthy, I’ve been working out again (although no heavy lifting for the legs just yet), and word from the bike shop is that I should have my bike back on Friday. Woo hoo! I’m ready to get back to my bike commute, although I realize I might be a little apprehensive for my first few rides.

What else have I been up to? Well, quite a bit actually! In a nutshell, I’m a busy busy bee this week, with hardly a second to think, let alone blog.  I will update you all on everything in the near future, but for now I just wanted to stop in to say that everything going on this week is forcing me to take a mini blogging hiatus. I’ll be back for sure with a real blog post for you on Monday, but for today, I’ll just leave you with something that sums up exactly how I feel right now:

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And another random quote that I found, that I thought was worth sharing:

Thoughts on Growing Older

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When did I get so old?

I’m seriously having a bit of a crisis here.

When I was fresh out of college, my best friend Lori and I took an amazing trip to Europe that I still remember clear as day. We met some amazing friends on that trip, friends who were in the same boat as us: fresh out of college, excited to explore, and not quite sure what life had in store for us.

Fast forward about a bajillion years to today, and I just found out one of those friends just got married. I don’t know why this hit me so hard, because he’s not the first out of that group to get married. And it’s not even the fact that he got married that bothers me (If you’re reading this Jessie, Congrats friend!!), it’s the fact that it makes me feel really, really old.

Stalking him on facebook Looking at the pictures, it suddenly hit me that that trip was not just yesterday. It was a long freaking time ago. I look like a baby in our pictures from that trip, and although I don’t feel that much older, pictures of me now tell a much different story (Hello, wrinkle face!).

Ok ok. I know I’m not that wrinkly. But it’s like I just woke up one day and had crow’s feet.. and WTF is that all about.

And the thing is, everyone lately is getting married (or divorced) or having babies. I really sometimes feel like I’m the last person on this earth who isn’t married or with child (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) But it’s everywhere I turn: facebook, twitter, bumping into old friends on the street.  And the strangest part about it is that it’s not weird. I’m now at the age where it’s normal to be surrounded by all that. I’m just wondering when that happened?

I don’t feel that much older than I was when I graduated from college. Although my random aches and pains may tell you otherwise, it doesn’t seem possible that we’re closing in on a decade since I was showing up to NU hockey games in body paint with a flask in my purse (Sorry, Mom!) Sure, I guess I’m a little bit wiser, and I know I’ve been successful, but I really still feel like a young kid who just happens to have a pretty cool job.

Side note: I was at a friends house recently, and we were talking about Eye Creams.  EYE CREAMS. She even showed me hers. Seriously? When did I get so old.

I don’t even really know what my point is in writing this. I guess I’m just wondering if others out there feel the same way? Just like some people are “old souls”, I think I’m a “young soul”. I’m pretty sure my grandmother still feels like she’s 25 deep down inside, so maybe it’s in my genes. All I know is, acting your age is totally overrated. The other day, one of my athletes told me that I was what would happen if a 13 year old graduated from an athletic training program. Now, we all know how I feel about 13 year olds (ick), but I’ll take it. If I’m 13 now, does that mean I’ll still pretty much be in my 20s when I’m close to retirement age? Sounds good to me!

Do you feel older or younger than your biological age? Have you ever been told you’re an “old soul”? If you could stay one age forever, what would it be?

Fall Goals

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The past few weeks at work have been pretty hectic and crazy, but with pre-season starting up next week, I know it’s only about to get worse. For those of my readers who were/are athletes, you understand how crazy us athletic trainers get around pre-season time. And for the rest of you, well, I don’t even have words to describe it. Fall pre-season is  pretty much equivalent to getting run over by a 10-ton truck… and then getting up and getting trampled by a heard of stampeding wildabeest.

This sums it up quite nicely. Thanks Simba!

Long story short, it’s exhausting. And with exhaustion often comes lethargy, lack of motivation, negative feelings, etc. So knowing that all of that is on the very close horizon, I’m going to take a cue from Kristi over at Sweetly Fit and set myself some goals. The last thing I want to happen this fall is for me to get so busy that I forget to take care of myself, so I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen by setting a few new goals. I’m a firm believer that goals shouldn’t be set just once a year (Hello, New Years!), but should be continuously re-evaluated, revamped, and they should always be evolving. So here are my goals for the next few months:

  • Read at least 1 book per month. And this is reading for pleasure, not reading research journals for work (although that will be done as well). Reading makes me happy, so even if I can just set aside 10-20 minutes per day, that’s some great, quiet ME time. Besides, I have a couple of book reviews on the horizon for you guys,and how can I do that if I don’t make time to actually read the books?
  • Squat 160 lbs for reps. My squats have been struggle city for the past couple of months due to a back issue I have been having, but I am determined to get to 160. I have been hovering at the 145-150 range for a while now, and I need to push past this roadblock in my training, or I might actually go a little crazy.
  • Write at least 2 blog posts per week. Throughout the summer I’ve been good with about 3 per week, but I know that that’s just not realistic every week, especially for the busy fall season. However, if I keep myself on a schedule, I know I can get two good posts for you guys per week on most weeks, and if there are a few that it just doesn’t happen, well, so be it.
  • Take (and pass) my CSCS exam! This has been a goal of mine for a while, but I finally have my sights set on a specific exam date: December 1st. Now that it’s public, I’m going to have to get my butt registered and get serious about studying!

I think that’s good for now. Having just a few specific goals will hopefully help to keep me centered and focused throughout this crazy hectic time. I’m pretty optimistic that I can accomplish all of them, and then you can all congratulate me when I’m a CSCS in December :) In the meantime, don’t be surprised if I start going a little batty. Just knock some sense into me if my posts get a little too off track.

Do you set goals regularly? Do you find that it helps to keep you focused when things get a little crazy? Do you have a busy time of year at work/school or is it all pretty much the same for you?

Food, Photos, and What I Learned In Paris

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Bon jour!

I have finally had time to reorganize and resettle after returning from my trip a week ago! I finally got 100% unpacked, put everything away, uploaded photos, and have had a few minutes to sit and reflect on the trip. So what I’m going to give you over the next couple of posts are food pictures, some fun pictures, and also a little bit about what I learned in each city I visited.

I truly believe that every time you travel someplace where the customs are so different from what you’re used to, you learn things without even trying. (And if you don’t learn anything, maybe you just need to pay a little bit closer attention to your surroundings).

With that being said, let me begin by taking you on a mini-food tour of my three days in Paris…

First, there were the crepes:

The first morning there, I had a lovely crepe with ham, cheese, and a runny egg. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of that one, but this one with Nutella and Banana is a pretty good substitute! 

There was also quite a bit of cappuccino and espresso involved…

Sitting and enjoying these at little sidewalk cafes was most certainly one of my favorite parts of the trip! 

And then of course, the pastries:

A delicious, delectable, chocolate croissant

A lemon tart pastry… also known as a little piece of heaven. 

And yes, in between all of these sweets, carbs, and caffeine, I did enjoy some real meals as well:

Our picnic dinner beneath the Eiffel Tower on the last night. I was craving veggies at that point, so I picked up a little carrot-slaw to accompany my fresh baguette, goat cheese, and champagne :)  

Goat cheese, fresh mint, and a drizzle of honey in a pastry shell, accompanied by a small arugula salad. So simple, yet this was probably my favorite thing that I ate during the entire trip. 

There were other meals too, but I’m sure you guys don’t want to see every single thing I ate for a week (that would get a little boring, no?)

Beautiful sculptures inside the Louvre. 

Now on to the other part of this post: What did I learn from the French?

This one is easy, and is something that you can probably gather from all of the food pictures.  And it’s actually rather simple:

Indulge, enjoy, and savor (life). 

On the surface, this applies to food (bread, wine, cheese and pastries in particular), but it also goes a lot deeper than that (more on that in a second). In essence, it’s ok to indulge in decadent foods and savor every bit of it. The french eat bread like it’s their job. They walk through the streets carrying baguettes home to share with their friends and families for dinner. They savor a meal with friends, enjoying not only the food, but the company and the experience of it all. They have picnics beneath the twinkling Eiffel Tower at 10 pm on a weeknight, and they sit at sidewalk cafes taking an hour to enjoy a tiny cup of espresso.  There are lines out the door of pastry shops during lunch time; young professionals in suits lining up for an eclair (yes, really).

 But beyond the food, they seem to savor the experiences that go with it. There aren’t a whole lot of paper coffee cups being carried around the streets, nor are there fast food joints at every corner. It’s less about on-the-go, how-fast-can-you-get-where-you’re-going-while-eating-that-bagel, and more about enjoying the moment that you’re in. Doesn’t that seem like a great way to live (and eat)?

I’m not suggesting that we all sit around and eat pastries every day, but I AM saying that when we do eat a pastry, or some fine cheese, or indulge in a little bit too much wine, that we don’t have to beat ourselves up over it. Enjoy the experience you had, linger in the moment, and then move on. It’s really very simple.

And chocolate croissants are delicious. 

Another thing I learned from the Parisians? Always wear your leather jacket and scarf. I swear, even when it was 70 degrees outside, almost everyone was still in their leather jacket and scarf. Tres chic :)

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back and drool over that goat cheese/mint/pastry picture. I’ll be back in a couple days with some thoughts and pictures from Barcelona. Enjoy!