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!!

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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.

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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.

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Cupping!! It’s basically a form of acupuncture so it helps to loosen the muscles, get the blood flowing, etc. and, in turn, aids in the repairing of the muscle. I initially tried it for a non-lifting related shoulder injury that was just not healing at all after months. After one session of cupping I was able to raise my arm and to reach back (like to swat my girls in the backseat when they began to act a fool..LOL), after a second session a few weeks later I had full mobility back. I am definitely a believer now. The initial suction doesn’t always feel so great but after a few moments it stops sucking..LOL, I had to..and instead of the pinching feeling you just feel everything relax. It’s pretty crazy. And the marks generally only last a couple to a few weeks so not big deal. I’m not saying it is for everyone but for me, I love it! Best deep tissue massage ever! I am always asking my husband to massage my shoulders because along with lifting heavy I also carry my stresses of life in my shoulders so when I ask him to massage my shoulders I always tell him I wish he could just pull up my shoulder blade and really get in and under there. Haha When those cups were placed on my back around my shoulder blades this morning I was braced for the sucking pinching that I get on my arms and shoulders…it never came. It felt SO good! I was so relaxed. Don’t knock it til you try it. 😉

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Today I fell into the “days when the body aches” category with the dental work that I had done this morning…you know, when your mouth/tooth hurts your whole body hurts…and then my dental appointment went longer than I thought it would so I was running late to my gym appointment because thinking I would be able to have a bit at home I wore real clothes to the dentist so I had to go home and change. It would have been easy to call and cancel the gym because, really, who feels like going anywhere at all after dental work?? But I wasn’t letting those excuses stop me. I didn’t want them to! I was bound and determined to make it work and I did! The moment I stepped into the gym I forgot about the pain in my mouth and crushed leg day. Like, no joke, I felt like a newborn baby giraffe by the time I left. haha I say this to say, don’t let your excuses win! Anyone can go to the gym and train when they are feeling great but only champions go to the gym and train when they don’t. 

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Let me start here with, I am a good tipper. I thoroughly appreciate those who bring me the food for my face. That being said, the tip has become something that it was never meant to be. The tip is expected nowadays. Many places take the authority and charge a “gratuity” for parties of 6 or more. Well, what about if it is a family who is made up majority of young children who are not charged to eat in the first place? We’re not talking about a party of adults out for lunch or dinner, this is a family with 4 or more children and half are not even charged in the first place.

A couple of nights ago my husband and I took our 4 daughters out to eat at a local hibachi restaurant for our oldest’s birthday. It was where she wanted to go for her birthday. We have been to this specific restaurant many times and more times than not received at least good service. This night, however, I was more disappointed than I have ever been. Our chef did none of the “show” that normally comes along with the service, he threw and hit my 5 year old straight in the eye with a shrimp because he did not wait to see if she was paying attention and ready to catch it, he served everyone and did not think twice about 2 of my children even though we made it clear that 2 of our children (who are to eat free per policy) were sharing with an older sibling, and to top it all off they asked, both he the chef and our server, if we were celebrating anything and we told them both it was our oldest’s birthday. In the end our oldest got to sit there and eat while just about every table around her sang Happy Birthday to someone at their table. Sure, the food was ok but the service for the first time ever was sub-par. Did I mention that I had to ask twice for my glass of wine? Yeah. The whole thing made me really think twice about tipping, as well as my favorite hibachi restaurant. 😦
EDIT: Let me just say, this is from December 9 that for some reason just posted.

If you have to heard of it before, Shortcut to Shred is a program by Jim Stoppani that breaks down everything from workouts to supplements to nutrition that you follow for 6 weeks and at the end of that 6 weeks you should be seeing some good results. My husband and I started it on Monday. We spent last week going over everything and purchasing our food and supplements and were ready to hit is hard on Monday.

Monday came aaaand it didn’t go too well. I felt like poo all day (I must have caught a bug) but I kept up with the regimen (SO. MUCH. FOOD!!). That is until it came time to meet my husband at the gym. He was going straight from work and I was going to bring his intra-and post workout supplements as well as his workout clothes. I forgot the workout clothes. *sigh* So that nixed the gym but we did some things at home that kept along with the program. Not the best but better than nothing.

Tuesday I felt better but not great. I still did it, though. We hit the gym hard and by the time we got home I was feeling bad again. I pushed through dinner but, man, I felt bad. I went to sleep and was hoping to sleep it all off but it didn’t work. I didn’t sleep well at all. It didn’t help that our daughter came to our bed in the middle of the night for some reason and she, too, tossed and turned and turned and tossed. So I didn’t get hardly any sleep last night. I’m feeling better physically (other than tired) today, though, so I am hoping that this bug that I apparently caught is gone. I have tweaked my foods today and, in all honesty, have not kept up with eating as much as I am supposed to but I think that I’m still good as far as calories and macros go so…*crosses fingers*

I’ll keep up my progress with the program and if I can remember to I will take some progress pictures so that *hopefully* I will have something to show at the end of these 6 weeks.

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