But the real work was all me.

It’s funny how just a random sentence in someone’s blog post can stop you in your tracks and make you take a look at your life and what kind of effort you are putting into it.  My long time blog friend Shelley posted yesterday about cleaning out her closets and used that as an analogy of how putting stuff in her closet was like adding pounds to your body, and it just seems overwhelming at times.  You see the stuff in the closet, know you don’t need it all, but the thought of sorting through it all and getting rid of it is just, well, daunting. 

But then you start pulling stuff out, making piles of what to give away or throw out.  And suddenly the task seems a bit easier to manage.  This was the same way that Shelley thought when she started losing weight.  Suddenly when the pounds started coming off, her clothes started getting looser.  “Much like that spare closet, it was something that I was in charge of – yes, I could get some help, but the real work was all on me.”  That last sentence really grabbed me “but the real work was all on me.”  It got me to think about how I’ve been going through the motions of exercise, but was I really putting all the work in I could be?  I realized that no one will push me as hard as I need to push myself – and I don’t know, it kind of set the tone for my day when making choices.  I can’t blame someone for bringing in donuts (although truth be told, that’s usually me when I stop by Hannah’s work!) or any other obstacle that may get in my way – in the end I need to do all the work to get where I want to be.

Two years ago I was on an Insanity kick and I stuck with it day in and day out – I ended up doing Insanity 101 days in a row that summer!  I know I have the capability of challenging myself, I just need to do actually put in the real work.

I almost feel bad posting our weather picture when so many of you are in the deep throws of a steamy hot summer.  My alarm went off and I looked at the weather app, and was like “get the hell up and get out there!”

When Hannah and I were thrifting over the weekend, I picked up this super cute water bottle.  My flavoring was fresh mint and lime and it was so refreshing – I drank 3 of these bottles before I left work for the day.

My breakfast was on fleek guys.  An egg white and baby spinach scramble on top of a tostada, then topped with extra light Cabot cheese and when it came out of the toaster oven, I sprinkled shredded radish over the top – and of course the obligatory splash of Cholula hot sauce.  On the side were two turkey sausage links and the best summer fruit – cherries were .99 cents a pound this week!

Okay, so my lunch time walk was a bit steamier – nearly 85 degrees and the humidity was really climbing.  My second mile was a tad slower because I was trying to find inspiration podcasts on my phone – I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a podcast from beginning to end before – Tony used to love them, but he preferred “talk” radio vs. music any day.  I didn’t really find anything – any podcast suggestions would be appreciated!

Lunch was leftover tortilla soup from last week – just added a bit of baby spinach for some color and texture. 

So I switched up my strength training program and went back to Bodybuilding.com.   I like the program because it has videos to watch so you know what you are doing.  Yesterday was lower body, hamstrings and glutes.  Holy balls guys, this was tough!  The only thing I wasn’t able to do was the sled pushing because I didn’t know how that was going to happen at the gym, but still this routine took me about 40 minutes to complete.  Then I finished off with a mile walk to kind of stretch out my leg muscles.  While my blood sugar was fine, I was STARVING when I left the gym, so I ended up eating this granola bar on the way home so I didn’t start shoving food into my mouth as soon as I walked in the door.

Jacob was working late, so Hannah and I had what I like to call a meatless Monday – shrimp instead of meat!  I still laugh at that because I truly did think that having shrimp or fish would be a “meatless” Monday.  I adapted this recipe to make skinny bang bang shrimp – I basically reduced the amount of sweet chili sauce and added more sriracha.  We each had a measured cup of white rice with some sauteed zucchini on the side – it was really delicious!  Guess what?  Hannah didn’t mind the heat!

So with that mantra “the work was all me” that I had going on yesterday – looky how many steps I got!

One of the things this new strength program talks about is changing things up all the time – go balls to the wall one day, then take it a bit easier the next day, change up your calories from day to day and incorporate different exercises to keep your body guessing.  I will still get my minimum of 10k, but I realize I can’t keep up the 18k days day after day. 

Alright, time to get my morning walk in – make it a great day!