Exercise Guilt and Multi-Tasking Workouts

"To be awesome, you have to be good at multitasking." - Shakespeare? Lies, that's a Whitney original...

I myself am indeed a great multitask-er and as we know am super awesome. 

How many people do you know that can chug wine AND take a picture of themselves at the same time?

The skinny of it is, my workout routine has been a bit disjointed.  Jack and I sneak in our morning runs, but the length of each run has been all over the map this past week.  Mostly short and sweet ranging from 13 - 38 minutes all just depending on how much time I have to get to work.  I have gone in a bit early to play catch up but obviously felt no need to adjust my alarm clock.

Run mo fast, Run mo long!

Short workout or long, by 8:00am I am a real hungry girl devouring my protein shake and already dreaming of my mid-morning snack.  By 4pm however on the day I ran 13 minutes my body head starts to get real upset with me, telling me mean and nasty things about myself for slacking on my morning run.  On Tuesday, the day Jack and I sprinted for 13 minutes, my day was literally filled up by the hour until 10pm.  I had to have my car smogged, and it failed so that's a plus, so I decided when I dropped my car off to do a 25 minute run around the neighborhood.  Good idea, though the man at the smog shop was not particularly impressed and thought I was a bit odd.

 Scrapping the bottom of this delish barrel

This past weekend we played in an OTL tournament so I ran around in the sand all day, but since my working out was not measurable, and I stuffed my face with snacks and cheez-its all day, my body head told me I needed an intense workout on Sunday.  Sunday comes, jam-packed with a to-do list around the house complete with a trip to the laundry mat.

While my clothes were drying I thought it was a perfect time to run for 35 minutes.  Also a seemingly brilliant plan, though it was ridiculously hot out, I didn't bring glide, wore a thin tank top from Forever 21 (no it was not sweat-wicking) and ended up chaffing... under my arms which has NEVER happened to me.  Killer.

You no take me to smog shop for run, I eat your shoes and wake you up so you can't sleep in.... EVER!

The short of it, I got my workouts in, randomly but I got them in... Until this morning.  I was out late last night playing 3 games of slo-pitch, one of which was the championship, we lost and I was upset.  I did not sleep so well so vowed to sleep in the extra 3 minutes this morning by the time Jackalope started barking relentlessly wanting his morning run.  I basically just laid there in bed thinking about how I should have been running.  At 10am sans run, I was even more exhausted than before and feeling even more upset for not running this morning.

No cup of coffee could save me today...

My 'tude made me think of an old PB Fingers post on how to handle exercise guilt. I revisited this post and this quote stuck out for me, "Our life should be our priority.  Sometimes family members, friends or our job require our time and attention more than the gym."  True story morning glory.  As I type now I am accompanied with a glass of wine and a sigh of relief.  I do the best I can to take car of this old body of mine, but I am probably not doing it any favors if I am running into the ground and obsessing over every minute of movement or lack there of.

Take a breath folks, stick to your routine, listen to your body, and when in doubt there's always Tiger Balm.  Time for some dessert... Hmmm popcorn?  Yogurt? 

xo

sometimes you need pasta

Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance. - Brian Tracy

Back on track with a delicious PB mocha covered strawberry smoothie! (Recipe below)

Balance looks different to everyone. You have to try it on sometimes to see if it fits, and sometimes you simply have to accept the fact that you're not perfect. You're not perfect in your words, thoughts, and for me food choices. But that's the beast of burden of our lives. If you can learn to live with it, let it slide off your back and move on, you'll feel a bit lighter walking the path of your life with the guilt monkey off your back.

 

Like a little glass of healthy heaven!

I have to kick myself constantly simply to remember that you cannot plan your whole life. Sometimes there's not going to be a healthy vegetarian option for you, and if you're real hungry you'll be just fine eating some bread and butter. Your body won't hold it against you. On Saturday my mom made her version of my Grandma Betty's spaghetti, and having lost her a few months ago, this was quite possibly one of the most emotional meals of my life. I know it sounds odd, but her spaghetti is like a little nugget of my childhood, when all the world falls away and enjoying some spaghetti is the key to all that is great. Needless to say I indulged in two full plates of spaghetti, and topped it off with some vanilla ice cream with the hubs. Granny Betty preferred cookies and cream ice cream, but she never believed in skipping a dessert, so I really had no choice.

Mmmm frozen strawberries, almond butta, coffee and protein does a body good! 

This morning I thought I would wake up 10 pounds heavier, upset and irritated for over eating and ruining a strong week of workouts and clean eating. Luckily I slept it off. Not the extra calories but the extra negative 'tude I gave myself for enjoying some pasta, ice cream and a night with the fam. Instead I woke up, laced up the sneaks and Jackalope and I set out for a 3.5 mile loop around the sunny block. I came back to a delicious peanut buttah mocha covered strawberry smoothie, a recipe which I adapted from PB Fingers, and bounced right back into health and happiness.

Bottoms up bottoms up whaa?

Take a breath sometimes.  It's totally OKAY to eat pasta now and then.  Grandma Betty would be proud.  Don't beat yourself up, and don't use working out and healthy eating as a trophy to over indulge.  Live it breathe it balance it.

xo

PB mocha covered strawberry smoothie! 

* 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
* 1/2 c. almond milk
*1/2 c. coffee! 
* 1 tbsp. almond butter
* 1 tbsp. cocoa powder
* 3 ice cubes
* 5 small frozen strawberries