After my last post where I struggled getting through my row, I am happy to say that I have had my groove back! I hope I am not jinxing myself right now but these last couple of days have been so good! I’ve been able to really get into my groove and out of my head and just row and it has been great! I’m glad that I didn’t let my bad day win and ruin my progress. It would have been so easy to tell myself that I just needed a break and after a day or so break I would be ready to get back to it. I wouldn’t have. I can tell you that now. Not because I wouldn’t want to but because that habit would have been broken and I would have to start over and retrain my body to crave that normalcy. As it is, on Saturday I actually slept in and when my eyes popped open it was 9:44am. I had to take a double take at my watch. Let me tell you, I wanted to close my eyes again and just go back to sleep because I could but my brain kept telling me to get up because it was almost 10 and that is row time.

I say all this to say, don’t let those bad days discourage you because the next day might just be the total opposite. Sometimes we need the storm to keep us grounded so we can search for the rainbow that we often forget follows.

#FattyGetHott

Man, I struggled through my rowing this morning. I just could not get in the groove. I couldn’t get lost in my audiobook, I couldn’t get lost in a TV show, I just kept looking at the distance and it was just not going down fast enough. Eyes on the prize and all that jazz. I finally just found a spot on my machine and focused on it and wouldn’t let myself look away. It helped some but I definitely had a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. One side saying, “come on, you don’t want to do this anyway and you’re already halfway..one day won’t hurt to stop here. You could always come back and finish later.” And the other side was telling me, “no. Don’t stop. You’ve got this. You’re already halfway there. If you stop now you will be so mad at yourself and beat yourself up over it. You’ve got this.” In the end, that little angel was louder and I finished 5000m in one of my best times yet. I’m not sure how that happened, really, but somehow it did.

Days like today happen. You don’t feel it, you can’t get in the groove, you just want to quit but I’m here to tell you, my friend, you’ve got this! Don’t listen to the little devil on your shoulder telling you that you can “just do it later” and quitting is ok because “you deserve it.” Don’t listen to those thoughts! Let that little angel on your other shoulder be your strength because what you really deserve is the pride you’ll have in yourself when all is said and done. When you hit that finish line, per se, and you just sit there for a minute out of breath, dripping sweat, and you are so spent physically and emotionally that all you can do is just hang your head and close your eyes, that moment is the moment you should be proud of because you fought today! You gave it all you had and look…YOU WON!

#FattyGetHott

I was talking to my husband tonight and I told him that I can tell that I am feeling better about myself because I wouldn’t mind in the least getting a checkup from my plastic surgeon. I have said since we moved back to the area that I wasn’t going to schedule my way overdue checkup until I was back down to my surgery weight. Now, I didn’t really gain much over the years and what I did gain was at least in part muscle but still. Despite all of my weightlifting PR gains that I made over the years I still never felt completely comfortable in my body. I am strong. Built like a weightlifter. But other than the pride in how much I can lift I was very self conscious about how my clothes fit and how I look in them. Since I have begun rowing, it has been a complete turn around! Rowing has been good for me. Really good for me! In more ways than one. Am I losing a bunch of weight? No. I am losing some, don’t get me wrong, but I’m pretty much at a plateau at the moment. However, I am physically seeing results! And other people are seeing results! That is exciting to me.

I say all this to say, don’t give up!!! Just because what you are doing right now doesn’t seem to be working, doesn’t mean it isn’t. In the same way, find something you enjoy doing and it won’t feel like such a chore to complete every day. I enjoy putting my AirPods in and getting lost in an audiobook or in a TV show (I am so way into Miraculous on Disney Channel right now it is ridiculous. LOL) and just rowing away. I think I have mentioned before, I didn’t start rowing because I loved it. I didn’t even start it with the plan to get invested and keep it going. I simply started it to keep my daughters motivated for a challenge my husband gave them….but then I began to see results. So don’t get frustrated, just switch it up! You got this!!

#FattyGetHott

Today was a full day. My oldest had someplace to be at noon, I had PTA training at 1, and I knew that I had to go grocery shopping, at the very least. All this, not to mention, that I knew I wanted to have some time with my husband and my other 3 girls AND I still had to row. It may not sound like a lot but I knew this last night when I went to bed it was going to be a full day and after a long week I really just wanted to sleep in; no alarm, no wake-up time, just sleep until I wake up. And that is exactly what I did. At 9:44am my eyes pop open and it was so nice! haha It would have been easy for me to just say “I’ll just row later..” but I know me and that “later” would not have ever happened. So I got out of bed, put on my rowing clothes, pulled my hair up, and it was row time!

So what is the point of this post, you ask? Don’t let your excuses get the best of you. I had all the excuses in the world not to row today but I knew that I would be so mad at myself if I listened to them so I just went about my morning like it was any other morning; wake up, row, and go. That is really how you have to look at any workout regimen or, really, anything that you do that is important to you. I read one time that if something is important to you, you will find a way, and if it isn’t, you’ll find an excuse. Don’t let your excuses get in the way of your desires.

#FattyGetHott

I way didn’t want to row today. I don’t really know why but I was just not feeling it. I did it, though. I pushed through and I am so glad that I did. It drained me, absolutely, but I did it.

So what keeps me going when I don’t feel like rowing? Stubbornness. haha Stubbornness and the fact that on June 5th or 6th, I think it was, I looked at myself in the mirror and had to do a double take! My stomach was flatter and more toned and my shape was more defined. What?! No way. I seriously thought that I was just seeing things. I mean, it had only been like 2 weeks of rowing every day. AND the scale is not changing that much. I mean, I’m not even really dieting…and by “even really dieting” I mean, I am not dieting. haha I still eat bread, I drink wine, and I sometimes have a little Ben and Jerry’s Salted Caramel Core ice cream. So even though I thought that I saw a change I just chalked it up to wishful thinking….until my husband saw me changing getting ready to row one morning and he made a comment about how my stomach looked flatter. So maybe I wasn’t just seeing things if he can see it, too! I wish that I had thought to take pictures when I first started rowing because it would have been really cool to see side by side where I was when I started and where I get to. I generally always think to take pictures but, honestly, I wasn’t planning on this whole rowing thing to be more than just playing around here and there. Needless to say, don’t be like me…ALWAYS TAKE PICTURES! Because on those days where you are just not feeling it, you can pull those out and see how far you have come.

#FattyGetHott

Quite a lot has happened since I last updated and I feel quite ready to jump back into this blog and really make it everything I always thought it could be. I hate that it has taken me this long to get back to it. *sigh* Alas, here we go! Let’s start over. Well, not over over because we have been through a lot here but let’s begin again fresh.

Last month, I think it was May 25, we purchased a row machine for the family and I began rowing 3000m a day. I finished out the month and planned to keep going but maybe slowly upping the distance and resistance throughout June. My husband then decided to challenge our oldest, who was rowing 3000m a day as well, to then row 5000m a day for the month of June. Me being the go-getter that I am was like “I’ll do it with you!” And that’s how it all began. June 1, 2020 I began rowing 5000m a day and I haven’t missed a day yet…nor do I plan to! Do I always feel like doing it? No. But I won’t let myself miss a day because 1 day is all it takes to throw you off and I know how hard it is to get started again.

#FattyGetHott