1. It blows my mind how fast you can get out of the habit of something.
2. If it were possible to eat your body weight in cookies, JP and I would be a cookie.
Which, in a nutshell, outlines our holidays. No gym. LOTS of cookies. Now I am switching those things out....daily to gym...NO cookies.
(Insert part where I defend the lack of gym attendance over the holidays): Did I mention I was sick over Christmas? I mean, full on chest cold, struggling-to-breathe sick. That was for a little over a week. Then there is the slow recovery period, where everything starts to loosen up. Which means no sleep, because you are hacking your pelvis up throughout the night. Yup. That didn't make for good workout energy. So I didn't go. And I ate lots of cookies.
And I had a great week last week - ate good, worked out every day...and then Jenna got sick...and now I am sick again. What better to make you feel better when sick than....??
I know you are going to say soup, but I am going to say....cookies! Teehee.
The lesson of all of this? I am HUMAN. Yup. Human. I get motivated and then I lose motivation. I get focused on one thing (in this case competition prep) and then something happens that throws me all out of whack (like taking teaching a class on top of an already CRAZY schedule and then getting sick multiple times in quick order). Which reminds me that I am human.
Ironically, I really am okay with this all. I didn't make it to the stage, but I did do the prep for almost 5 full months. 5 full months of weighing everything that went in my mouth, not eating ANYTHING not on my plan, increasingly phasing out everything that tastes good. 5 months of going to the gym every day...even when out of town, of not taking a down day, of not skipping cardio - of documenting every rep, every set, every weight, every minute of my time in the gym. I was SO burnt out after the 5 months of rigorous dieting and rigid training that I needed to just bounce around without a plan for a while. It's a balance of sorts. Ok. I know that sounds insane, so let me elaborate.
Balance is this elusive concept that people try to find, plan for and that most people seek. As though they can give equal attention to everything in one 24 hour time span. Yeah, as if that is realistic. Truth is that sometimes one area of my life will command more of my attention and at other times another area will command more of my attention. But I also have a tendency to let the obsessive part of my nature take hold, which is why I realize, after the fact, that something consuming like competition prep isn't the best thing for me.
So...back to balance. Balance is a concept that can be hard to achieve in the best of circumstances, but impossible in the extreme of circumstances. Which brings me to the point that this is all a process. For the moment, I am okay with a few extra pounds and cookies. I don't have to set a rigid standard and totally beat myself up for not meeting it. I can just be where I am today. But I do know, when it comes to fitness and nutrition (as well as life in general), being healthy requires some measure of discipline and some degree of stepping out of my comfort zone. I saw something the other day that I have been meditating over. I will leave off with that, as it's a good reminder...as balance sometimes is achieved when I step out of the realm of my comfort zone. Which is a topic for another day. :)
