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

Running temper tantrum...

"Where there is anger, there is always pain underneath." - Eckhart Tolle

There was anger.  There was hurt.  There was a child sitting on the front porch pouting, and that child was me.  Have you ever thrown a temper tantrum?  Of course you have.  Have you ever thrown a temper tantrum as an adult?  Yep, thought so.  And last question, have you ever thrown a temper tantrum over a protein shake?  Nope, just me?  Thought that might be the case.

Imitating this little nugget at 26 years old... STILLLLLL got it!

This past weekend I set out for a glorious 4 mile run on a hot Sunday afternoon. Not sure if you can relate, but I am motivated by food.  I easily sprint up hills by simply knowing that a delicious peanut butter mocha covered strawberry awaits me at the end of the climb.  As I sprinted into our backyard like a child to an ice cream truck and attempted to open the back door to our kitchen, I nearly shattered the glass door with my fist, pounding in wonderment as to why it was locked.

Day dreaming of better days...

On the other side of the glass in the living room, my hubs looked up from his hands and knees as he refinished our hardwood floors, and motioned for me to go around to the front door.   Crushed. I sprinted to the front door and noticed there was absolutely no trail for me to get into the kitchen, as he had already lacquered the floor and the door to my dreams shut.  I did not think clearly at this moment, I simply turned around and slammed myself onto our front porch and placed my head in my hands. Poor hubs came out offering to send me off to Whole Foods with his wallet to buy a protein shake.   He knew why I was upset, I need not speak, but like Michelle Tanner would, I simply said, "IT'S NOT THE SAME!" and slammed my head back into my hands.   He turned around just shaking his head, and leaving me with the words, "Wow, you've got be kidding me."

I wasn't kidding, I was being an a-hole.   The worst part was I could feel the crazy taking over my body but I couldn't stop it from coming.  The best I could do was tuck the crazy into my pocket when it was all over, run back inside and apologize profusely to my wonderfully kind, hard working and care giving hubs who has to put up with the 5 year old within me now and again.  He appreciated that I acknowledged my lapse in sanity, as we both know me admitting that I am wrong happens about as often as I take out the trash.

Isn't he a handsome devil?  P.S. Hubs I apologize for sharing this photo, as well as my temper tantrum... Double sorry...

This particular episode really got me thinking as to why we allow the ones we love the most to see us at our very worst?  No one else in the world would have gotten this reaction from me, but poor hubs did.  I bought him lunch and beer to say sorry and thank him for making our home so beautiful (pics to come), but I still feel bad for this one.  Guess we have to remember that we are human and sometimes we throw fits, hopefully whoever is lucky enough to scrape us off the ground is patient and understanding, and hopefully we have already started to apologize.  My bad on this one...

xo

balance is everything... and other Tone it Up tips.

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, And loudly proclaiming, WOW !!!! What a ride!" (This quote used to be taped to the inside of my locker in college, still holds true...)

In the past couple of days I have had more than a handful of friends and readers ask me, Do you like the "tone it up" plan, does it work, how do you have time? So here are my collective a's to a few q's, mixed in with some tips.

Drove to work today with wet hair to account for my run... Here is the end result.

it works. do it. make time for it, even if your hair is messy everyday.

Yes. The Tone It Up plan works, and it is worth paying for. I have lost some good lbs and some good inches. But more importantly, I FEEL good. Some people look good but don't feel good because their approach is self debilitating (ie my previous self). This plan works for me because it is fun, different everyday, and positive. The saying is true: If you tell me I suck at life, I'm gonna suck at life. If you tell me I rock at life, I rock at life. (Yep, just made that saying up. Spread it like buttah.)

Best Christmas present ever from the hubs.  There's just something amazing about checking off my 30 minute  or hour long morning run.

tick tock tick tock

How do you have time? I don't have time, I have to make the time. I work full time plus a few side projects, plus moving into a new house, plus living the good life. But what's the good life worth if you don't feel good? I wake up an hour earlier every morning to get a good run in. Sometimes I do my tone it up or resistance workout during my lunch break, sometimes at the end of the day, sometimes I just can't squeeze it in. But that's fine, so long as I have had my morning run and my morning coffee, all is in balance in the world.

ask for help, ask for friends

Sometimes you can do it all by yourself, sometimes you just need a little help. I need friends to sweat with. I need my hubs to understand and support my eating and work out needs (he does fully). If you are overwhelmed you have to communicate to the ones you love as to why and what they can or cannot do. We all hate it when people ask us if they look fat, so stop asking, and if they do ask if they want to workout since they don't feel amazing about themselves right this second. (Just a suggestion, or you can give me frozen yogurt that helps).

Balance is Everything

I'm not perfect, not even close, with my workouts, eating or life in general. Sometimes I have too much to do in one day to workout, so if that means I have to dance all night to burn off the calories I neglected that morning, so be it. But really, if you don't let yourself have a little fun now and then, you're probably gonna suck at life more often than you are a rock star. Eat well. Be well. Dance a lot. And yes, TONE IT UP.

your corners of the world

Lately I've realized a rather large shift happening in my life.  Everything from my dreams, friends, and what really holds stock in my priorities are changing.  Some have been changing for a long time, some are new, and some I am just beginning to realize will change.  Normally change frightens me, but today, I'm welcoming it with open arms, and holding dear my little corners of the world.

Coral Tree Cafe in Brentwood, this exact spot under the heater was our corner of the world in college.  Going back recently reminded me how much I miss LA, and how much I have grown out of this person who originally sat there.

Sunday morning indulgences, homemade cappuccino, January Vogue.  Finding my balance again with my reading.  I have been working so much and have been so busy, I haven't made time for the things I love, like Vogue, Italian Vogue, and catching up on my BlogLovin'.  I'm bringing Sundays back.

Drops of cappuccino, sprinkles of chocolate, topped off with love.

Need I Say more?

Bialetti milk frother.  Haven't used this bad boy in over a year, I forgot how wonderfully delicious it whips up the foam for my capp.

Moka stove top espresso maker.  The way the Italians do.

Homemade cappuccino in the awesome tea china I got for our wedding.  It only make special appearances, but since it makes me so happy, I think I need to use at least one cup a week for a smile.

Homemade butternut squash soup a friend made for me, just because.  Makes the ol' heart warm, and it was delicious.

Balanced indulgences.  Because I've been rather busy lately, the at least hour workout a day I am accustomed to is not always realistic.  So I've committed myself to a 20 minute interval workout every morning.  It doesn't take long, I break a sweat, run as fast as I possibly can, and at 9:30 at night I don't beat myself up for exhaustion and no workout.  Sometimes you have to give yourself a break and just acknowledge the place your in, embrace it, and hold on to your corners of the world.  

Life changes, but simple pleasures always seem to you right back to a simple happy life.