Get Fit Friday

So I did it. PLS Summer session is done!
As I promised yesterday, here are the results of today's fit test:

I also lost the following inches...

Calf:1.8

Thigh: 4

Hips: 5.5

Waist: 4.5

Chest: 5

Bicep: 1.5

Forearm: .75

When I started my run this morning, I told April that I wanted to finish in 13 minutes... that's 3 minutes off my original time. I did it! I'm sooo proud of myself! 

I am also surprised at how much stronger I am than I was 12 weeks ago. I remember STRUGGLING to complete the first fit test. Today it wasn't easy, but it wasn't horrid either... even with heavier weights.

I didn't pay attention to the beginning weight reported the first day of training, but based on my own recording when I first started this journey in May, I lost 16 pounds.

More importantly, I met some fantastic people and made some really good friends. Its amazing how well people can bond over 5am workouts. The thing that means the most to me is how those who were more physically fit then me encouraged those of us who struggled more. There was no competition. We all wanted everyone to succeed. Im not sure I have ever been part of another group where not one person thought that they would benefit from someone else's failure nor would they suffer from someone else's success. It was refreshing.

I connected with people and realize now that I really know very little about them. This gave me a wonderful mage of how people can bond over one common thing... but that is a post for another day...

Most importantly,  I learned that I can succeed. (See yesterday's post to learn more about that.) I did this. I did it! I really really did it! I have a long way to go. I'm not satisfied with where I am now, but I am PLEASED with the result of the work I put in these past 12 weeks.

I actually believe that I CAN trust the process and I have a better grasp of realistic expectations concerning what can be accomplished in 12 weeks. 

 I'm sooo glad I did this. So very glad.

What's Next: Spend the next 12 weeks focusing on getting stronger and cleaning up my diet. Going to pick a few measurable things (other than weight and inches) to use as a gauge for progress. I'm thinking push-up, squat, plank, timed mile, pull up? Maybe other things? Different things?  So far as cleaning up my diet... in a perfect world I'd only eat whole foods and never crave processed foods again. While I KNOW that a whole food diet is the best for me and that processed foods make me feel bad... It's HARD. Anyway, I'm gonna work on it. 

Next week's Goal: Determine 5 ways to measure progress for the next 12 weeks and make a plan to improve those things in that time. Make a plan to work the processed foods out of my diet and be eating clean in 12 weeks. 

It's Important to me because: I can do this. I want to be stronger and more healthy.

What I need to succeed: keep going

Thursday Thoughts on... my fear of failure

Over the past 3 months I've shared a lot about going to the gym and what not. Today was the last day of  PLS Summer Training. I'll write about the physical results tomorrow but today I want to share something that goes a bit deeper than inches or pounds.

Honestly, I considered QUITTING... NOW... here at the very end... I want to QUIT. It started 3 weeks ago and the feeling has gotten progressively stronger...

This morning I realized why... and it is quite interesting...to me at least.

To put it simply, I'm afraid.

I'm afraid that, at the end of this, my results will not be what the people around me expect and... I will have failed. It is easier to quit... and fail by choice... than to try and fail anyway.

This brought to mind a conversation I had with Mom over the weekend. She told me (again) I should pursue painting and told me (again) that I should write a book. She asked (again) why I don't and I told her "I'm afraid." We talked about this for a long time. Bottom line is, just like with the gym, I am afraid to fail.

I'd rather NOT do something and fail by choice than really try and hope to succeed and still fail.

Goodness...  I've had this same conversation with myself before.

Here's the thing that I realized yesterday, the thing that's different and that prompted me to write about it today:

There is no option to succeed. 

In my mind, in my heart, in the deep places where the real, raw, and brutally honest part of me lives, I believe that my only options are to try and fail or to quit and fail by choice... there is no option to succeed. 

So...what if I consider success as an option?

What would my life look like if I strive for success instead of striving for the least painful way to fail?

What would change if my life wasn't ruled by fear of failure?

What would change if I didn't make decisions based on what I believe will disappoint the people I love the least?

I wonder what my life would look like if I didn't spend energy looking for logical, believable, acceptable reasons to justify self-imposed failure and instead spent that energy honestly striving for success.

I recognize that this fear of failure has stolen so much from me. It brings to mind John 10:10, where Jesus tells us, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Is fear the tool that Satan has used to steal, kill, and destroy in my life?

I'll close with a few more verses... for the day when I look back on this and need to be reminded... and for you, if you need it today.

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
—2 Timothy 1:7

When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me? - Psalm 56:3-4



Much love and Big Big hugs!!!!!
K

Tuesday Tips and tricks - BEat the Heat

 


Plan indoor activities for the hottest days...

• Go to the movies
• Visit a museum
• Learn a new craft
• decorate cookies or cupcakes

Water is most always a good idea, just be sure to wear sunscreen:

• Go swimming
• play in the sprinkler
• wash the car
• visit a splash pad
• go to a water park