I didn't have a weigh in this week. It's not that I haven't been excited to stand on the scale. Wow, I can't believe how I've changed. Well, I'm not overjoyed at standing on it but at least now I have a new attitude towards it. But still, I was all ready for it until I phoned Joni Kowensky, my incredible fitness/nutrition coach and the owner of Kilo2kili. I was in a state because for the first time since #projectbody began 4 weeks ago, the cravings had set in.
Lucky for me, I'm open about what's going on in my life and I got it out pretty quickly that it's the girlie time of the month. I now how much I used to eat then, so I wasn't surprised I had mad cravings. The difference is that this time I didn't want to give into the cravings but knew that I had to step out of my routine. Can I give you the huge realisation that I've just had at this very moment?
I'm learning to listen to my body. I might not known what to do about it, but I heard the craving cry.
That's what I love about having chosen to not do this journey on my own and one call to Joni had me sitting with a yum and filling solution. POPCORN! Not a daily snack, but one that is clean and healthy at times when a female body needs that extra boost of energy. I wish I could put into words the feeling of satisfaction that slowly filtered through my body as I felt the popcorn hit all the right craving spots. The whole time that I was munching on it and breathing in that heavenly smell of fresh popped corn, I kept reminding myself of the message Joni had left me with before we ended the call. He told me that this is usually the time I would binge and give up on my healthy way of eating because we all think if we can't make it though that one craving we won't make it.
I did ...
I made it through really well and had fantastically clean eating day after that.
I've figured out what is motivating me most of all. It's being proud of myself. I am slowly beginning to see how I want to go to gym or eat clean because of how proud I feel with each milestone. I'm most excited at how much fitter I thought I was and can finally feel the fine line between challenging myself but not overdoing it.
I'm also beginning to realise how much damage my body suffered when I sequestrated my lower disks. Everything has it's up side too, so I acknowledge how much I have healed since that dreaded time. My cycling is going so well and I've already increased my intensity from level 3 to level 5, with a max speed (I think that's the term) of 80 which is now at 90. That's huge leaps for a body that was hardly moving about 4 weeks ago.
Joni is still very focused on?strengthening?my core and I'm conscious of how precise he is with my body positioning and every move I make. On the one hand, I know I'm in the best hands but on the other, I know that this journey of fitness is going to get interesting and I am still very nervous. Well, after what I experienced after my last training session, I'm not surprised I still excited for the months to come.
You see, there's this exercise called Planking. It's up there at the top of the blog and Jay Anstey makes it look so simple. Me, on the other hand ... no, let me be kind to myself. I did it and stayed up there for the count of 5 but I did feel every muscle in my body quiver and realise how much core strength I need to work on. That wasn't the kicker ... it was the combination of the ab muscles saying 'howzit' and the muscles around my ribs saying 'hiya' that had me gasping for short breaths since yesterday. Holy crap ... 'hello' muscles. I can't believe that even though I had to skip gym today and just give my body a time out, that I knew the muscle pain was a sign of how far I've come and how strong my body is going to be.
It's the weekend again and I have another treat day that I'm taking tomorrow because we're off to spend the afternoon with Pat's sisters. After last week's treat day where I literally ate every single thing I got my hands on, I realised how much I used to eat and I also reminded myself that every week I will be able to have the things I love, so it's really taken the pressure of my weeks and also has me calm about not overindulging tomorrow ... or on any treat day that lies ahead.
All in all, I feel great and can even feel it in my clothes. But most of all, I don't remember being so confident that I'll shake this weight and live a happy and healthy lifestyle 🙂
