I had a good P90X yoga workout this morning. I didn't do the entire routine because I have a little cut on the bottom of my toe and it started to hurt. I don't do much in my bare feet so I didn't want to continue the stress on that foot.
Great News
I am also very happy and excited today! I was just reading an article in my Runner's World magazine where the author talked about inviting his son to run with him. Running was apparently an activity that the boy was very good at but didn't have any interest in doing but finally agreed to run with his Dad. Eventually the son joined the cross country team and fell in love with running. But, the whole point to the story was that you should try new things in the spring (i.e. asking someone to run with you). I decided to take the author's advice and ask my son (I didn't think my daughter would have any interest) if he wanted to start running with me. My husband even suggested that we could get him running only shoes if he was interested as an incentive to keep at it. So this morning both my kids were in the room and I threw out the suggestion to both of them, tell them that we would slowly build up (start with a run/walk if necessary) and that we could run both here at home and on the trails. To my surprise, they BOTH said yes!!!! I could have jumped to the moon I was so excited! I then pushed the envelope just a little bit farther and suggested that maybe we could find a 5K race to train for and they were both still interested!! I only had to make one promise......that I wouldn't make them run at 4:30 am (the time I usually run with my running group). THAT'S A DEAL!!
Interesting Philosophy
My husband gets Men's Health Magazine and I was reading an article in it today. It was about Tony Horton and P90X. There was one little section that really jumped out at me: "'externals' such as weight loss and muscle definition, should never be your primary motivators for working out. 'Focus instead on the internals,' he says. Are you less fatigued? Do you have more energy? Are you sleeping better? Do you feel stronger? Are you happier?.....". It started me thinking about whether these are the things I focus on and the answer was NO. Honestly, if we are honest, especially women, we don't focus on these types of internals. We are constantly looking in the mirror and telling ourselves that we aren't thin enough or we aren't pretty enough or our hips and thighs are too big. Men might look in that same mirror and tell themselves that their legs are too thin and the shoulders are too narrow or they are too fat. We all have our "buttons" that we push.
Even when we have had a significant weight loss are we happy? Sometimes, but often times not. We forget about how far we have come and we don't take a moment to be proud of ourselves or to give ourselves a pat on the back. Why? because we aren't "perfect". Here's a secret.....we aren't ever going to be perfect!!! So does it make sense to focus on those external factors? Not really. But, and this is a big but for me - I know deep down that I am going to have a really hard time changing my way of thinking. Truth is, I know that I am probably healthier and stronger than the majority of women in the United States but instead of being pleased with that I focus on my negatives.
I don't want to imply that striving for super fitness is always a bad thing. Being lean and sexy is awesome! I also think that pushing yourself to your limits is a positive thing because we really don't know just how much we can do - Insanity has taught me that lesson well! However, I think it is just as important, if not more so, that we keep a good portion of our focus on those "internals" that Tony talked about. Take a step back routinely and be proud of yourself and all that you have achieved. Is it an easy thing to do? No, I don't think it is - especially for women who are constantly told that others should come first (kids, husbands, work etc). Just as we need to schedule time to get our workouts in, I honestly feel we also need to schedule time for congratulating ourselves and reflecting on life.
Where's my calendar????????????
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