3 Weeks in...

So I'm three weeks in...

This post has been delayed for numerous reasons. Partly sheer laziness. Cooking and gyming and yogaing and working tends to occupy most of my time, which leaves little time for anything else.

Some people might label me a workaholic, in this day and age and in my profession working is a necessity. That Donna Summer song comes to mind... "... She works hard for the money...". I would however change the lyrics to "... He works endlessly for very little money...". Alas that is the bane of our existences...

Anyway, lets stop ranting and get down to business. I'm back at gym full time (at least 5 times a week), and I am going to bikram/hot flow yoga 2-4 times a week. The eating is going well, all good food, unprocessed. Except for cheat meals (which happen about once a week)... then it's a whole lot of processed deliciousness that could send even your 4 year old into hyperglycemia. Even though rewarding yourself with food is definitely not the way to go, cheat meals can be good to 'reset' your metabolism.

I try keep artificial or processed foods down to a minimum, that includes artificial sweeteners. Sometimes its unavoidable, most supplements(including weigh proteins, pre-workouts, post-workouts etc etc etc) have sucralose or acesufalme K or any of the other fake sugars in them to try and make them more appetizing. The lucky thing, and it takes a while to realize it, is that the less sugar you have in your diet, the less you tend to crave more and more and more.

My progress on the scale seems very slow, but I know with the amount of protein I'm shoving down my pie hole and the amount of weight training I'm doing I can't expect rapid decrease in weight. Because of that, I have to base my progress on the following: Fat percentage, body measurements and progress pictures. 10 weeks to go :) lets see what they hold.

Tomorrow a very difficult 3 months begins.....

After wolfing down my mushroom omelette and sipping a glass of red wine. I've got to start focusing on the next three months. I know it's not going to be easy. I mean, no copious amounts of chocolate and ice-cream, no pizza, no pasta, no delicious creamy deserts. Alas I will persevere, not for anyone else, but for myself.

It's difficult taking a before picture of yourself, knowing that you don't like what you see in the mirror and that is your reference to work with is kind of troubling. It doesn't feel like its a blank canvas, more like a horribly distorted and broken canvas that needs to be patch worked back together,

Over the past week I have slowly gotten my ducks in a row. Not easy considering my last blog post was about emotions. I tend to blog about what is happening in my life and relate it to a specific situation or how I think it should be dealt with.

With all the personal difficulty that I will experience in the next while, I feel positive and optimistic because there is an abundance of support out there for me to become the best me (physically and mentally). I have lots to learn about myself, but it's a journey I am excited to take!

Emotions

Our emotions affect every aspect of our lives. From the physical to the mental, the emotions we feel and the way we express them change how we live from day to do.

In terms of physical, the way our emotions affect us are quite easily illustrated in a person who is depressed. Have you ever seen a depressed person (or a person who says they’re depressed) stand tall and confident? Emotions influence our posture, our pain thresholds and even the ability of our muscles to contract optimally.

Our mental being acts similarly to the emotions that we experience on a daily basis. Concentration, reasoning (common sense) and understanding all get blurred by how we feel about a certain situation. Common sense is easily thrown out the window and reason is easily shrouded by hurt, sadness and anger.

The ability to put your emotions aside, especially with training and diet comes easy to some, but very difficult to most. I, for one, am easily influenced by the situations around me and allow my emotions to cloud my judgement and influence my physical. Over time it improves, but it’s difficult to block out emotions completely.

I’ve learned that it’s not always about blocking them out completely, but more about leaving the emotions at the door, especially with training. Pick them up when you leave if you must, but sometimes it takes the little effort of focusing on the task at hand for the things that felt so overwhelming to feel insignificant when you leave.