It Gets Easier With Time, But For Now It Still HurtsI haven't been able to stop thinking about how my last workout ended. Everyone I know keeps saying that there's no shame in getting sick at the gym, but it's just hard to think of a full body shutdown as positive, you know? I woke up the next morning (Wednesday) and it was all that was in my head. Luckily, I was able to push it out of my mind, because I had to start on my new diet plan. First up, drywall pancakes.
That's fine, but there's no need to yell about it lady... Jenna, my trainer, calls them protein pancakes, but I think they taste more like drywall paste. It's egg whites and oats, and even with a blended up banana in the mix for flavor, it was an ordeal. Also, I had a half a grapefruit, which is officially the most grapefruit I've ever had in one sitting, mostly because I hate them. I just kept telling myself, this is the price I pay for eating drive thru 3 times a week for the past few years. Now, an alternative to the drywall pancakes is to seperate the ingredients, so oatmeal and scrambled eggs, which is what I did for breakfast today, but the oatmeal is still pretty awful. I'm going to try some stevia, which is a natural sweetener, tomorrow, so hopefully that's the ticket. Lunch is pretty easy, some salad and some chicken. I can handle that, no problem. Dinner is similar, so again, easy mode. I'm not going in to too much detail on my meals, because plans are different for everyone, and if you want a proper one, you should go see Jenna at Motion Fitness. I'll just say that breakfast is the hardest, because it's not a big pile of bacon and eggs and bacon and toast and jam and bacon. I'm used to rich, fatty foods, and it will take some time to break from that.
Now that's the breakfast that I'm used to... The best part of the day though is protein shakes. These things are delicious. Protein powder, and water, and I'm drinking a vanilla milkshake mixed by angels. Both days I have looked forward to this like a dog does a treat when you get home from work. I always thought that "gym guy", who walks around with his shaker cup, rattling around his protein mix, was kind of a d-bag, but I gotta say, I now know why they're so attached to the stuff. Also, I get to eat pretzels twice a day, which is awesome. The nice thing about my diet, is that I get 2 "cheat" meals every week. 2 meals where I call the shots, and I can eat whatever I want. Pizza, a burger, chinese food, a bag of oreos, whatever! But my only meal plan setback so far has cost me a cheat meal already this week. I didn't bring one of my meals with me to work, so I had to improvise. Someone had brought donuts to work, so I grabbed one at snack time, and while it was awesome, trading pretzels for 1 donut isn't exactly a wild party. I found myself more disappointed at forgetting a meal than I was happy I was eating a donut. That's right, they took the fun out of donuts. The impact of proper eating is immediate. When I woke up Thursday, after fueling myself properly the day before, I had way more energy than I usually do. It was incredible. It made eating drywall paste seem bearable! After work I didn't find myself desperate for a nap, and that's on a day that included another workout! Honestly, even if you're allergic to fitness, change your diet, and watch your world get better almost immediately.
This is me, at about 5AM this morning. Like I said, today was day 2 in the gym, and I was ready for vindication. I promised myself, sitting in the Motion Fitness parking lot, "I will not get sick today". To stay honest with myself though, I also promised "I will not go easy, just to avoid throwing up". With my mind right, I walked inside. Jenna asked how I was, and I was honest. "Well, my legs still feel like they're broken, and I'm having trouble walking up and down stairs." She laughed at me, and then told me to get changed and hit the gym. We worked on a lot of the same stuff as Tuesday, again this is all about getting my body used to going from days on the couch to actual activity, and to my surprise I was doing better than last time. My legs were sore, I was full up on chicken and pretzels, but damnit I was doing good! I had to stop a couple times, because these milkbags I call arm and leg muscles were getting tired, but I took a quick breath and got back to it. There were times where I felt like I was going to fall over dead, but never like I was going to be ill. Finally, at the very end of the work out, I started feeling my stomach turn. I was mortified. "Not again" I thought to myself, bummed out that I might fail at one of my daily goals, but instead of feeling sorry for myself, I just said no. Seriously.
Being sick from exhaustion is not like having too many drinks, or the flu. You are in control. I sipped water, breathed deep, and walked it off. I would not hurl in the gym on this day. I stood tall, like a triumphant champion. Or, at least as tall as that champion can stand with two jelly legs under him. Don't get me wrong, I didn't get sick, but I did get my ass kicked. It was another slow walk to the car, and another 20 minute sit, sipping a protein shake, before I could drive away. But it felt good. I did better on my workout, and I didn't get sick, and even though I know I'll be feeling it all weekend, that slight progress is enough to tell me that I can do this. It's going to be hard work, but I'm ready to put in that effort. And I'm going to do this. And so can you, if you keep the right mind set. Oh, and before I go to bed, Jenna found out that I'm a filthy smoker, so now I have to quit. So that's going to be fun. I'm sure that will come up in future blogs though. Let's share your triumphs here. Anytime you were at the gym, or working out at home, or even just walking in the park, tell me about a time when you did more than you thought you were capable of doing. Drop your stories, and comments or questions, in the box below. blog comments powered by Disqus |
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