Sounds of Silence and a Quest
I've lost my voice. Cannot find it anywhere. It started leaving me on Monday and was completely gone today. Hope it comes back soon because it's really a pain to not be able to speak...and have people hear me!
With the voice being gone, there's also a bit of a cold. First cold I've had in about a year, so I really can't complain. While my co-workers were coming down with colds left and right this past winter, yours truly never had one! I attribute it to the increased exercise. Studies have shown (and I cannot cite any at present, but they're out there) that if you increase your exercise, you increase your body's ability to fight off illness. I am a believer!
With the cold, there's been a distinct disinterest in going to the gym. I went Monday night and did my lifting, but I had zero energy to do the 20 minutes I should have done on the elliptical. Tuesday night I went to my nephew's ball game instead of hitting the treadmill for 45 minutes. Last night I went to my exercise class and the instructor tried to send me home. I refused because I've not missed one class yet and I'm not going to start because of a stupid little cold. Again, I did not spend any time doing cardio. Tonight, I came home and slept for 3 hours instead of hitting the treadmill for 45 minutes.
But do I feel guilty for any of this? A smidge, but no more. I wish I felt like doing it all, but I know that my body needs some rest too. I'll get back into it when I feel better.
I did have a really, really down moment, ok...more than just a moment, during my workout Monday night. I caught site of a side-view of myself in the gym mirrors and was very discouraged. I cannot begin to express how frustrating, disheartening, depressing, discouraging, and difficult it is to continue to do everything right with my exercise and nutrition and get no results at the scale. I try not to dwell on it too much, but to be perfectly honest, it's always flitting about in my mind somewhere.
And I try to put on my happy face and pretend that I'm perfectly content with how things are going, but my happy face slipped big time that night. It was all I could do not to burst into tears and stop my workout. Thankfully, I was alone in the gym so no one was there to witness my struggle. I did actually spend a few minutes gazing out the window, asking myself whether I wanted to even bother with finishing the workout or not.
I did manage to finish the workout, but it wasn't my best one because my heart just wasn't in it. A part of me wanted to have a major meltdown and wail and scream and rant and lose my mind. But what good would that do? Instead I thought about the other improvements I've made and convinced myself that even though the scale is obviously stupid, the gym is still my friend. Happy face back in place now!
Now I'm on a quest. Eighty percent of a person's success from exercise comes from their diet (again, I have no sources on this, but I've read it in more than one place). I want desperately to learn as much as I can about nutrition now. And I don't want that BS "nutrition" where you eat 100-calorie packs and use Splenda in place of sugar and chow down on sodium-filled frozen "diet" meals. I want honest-to-goodness NUTRITION! Whole foods, eating "clean" - no processed foods.
I know there's a lot out there that I don't know and it is so hard to find good, reputable information. There's a quack on every corner of the Internet (you didn't even know there were corners on the 'net, did you? Yeah, there are. Don't let me see you standing on one, neither!) trying to convince people that his/her "information" is correct. I'm not looking for a "lose weight quick" scheme or the "newest, hottest weight loss craze." I want good, reliable information and sources for learning how to eat right to give my body the nutrients that it needs to perform at optimum levels. Am I asking too much? I hope not.
I'll keep you informed on my quest. I know that what I'm looking for is out there - I just have to find it!
Posts
Cheryl said...
Best of luck on your quest ... I have no doubt you will find the information that you need.
AND, you're sick ... simple as that. If you aren't up to working out, DON'T DO IT! You might just make yourself sicker. It's no crime to let your body heal ... darling friend of mine ... GET WELL SOON!!!
12:27 AM
Hanlie said...
It's probably a better idea not to work out when you're sick... Your body really needs the energy to fight off the infection.
Even the American Dietetic Association has recently endorsed a whole-foods, plant based diet, saying that it seems to have many health benefits. Scientists have known this for a long time and there are many, many studies out there that prove this. Two programs that I endorse are Mary-Ann Shearer's Perfect Health (look it up on Amazon, but I also have a review on my blog under Book Reviews) and Dr Joel Fuhrman's Eat for Health program (similar, but more relaxed than his Eat to Live program). You'll lose weight on these, not too quickly, but steadily, but most importantly, you will enjoy amazing health!
Good luck!
1:36 AM