Week XV: The Invisible Muscle

Hi Followers!

The holidays are such a tease: delicious cookies, feasts, wine, desserts for us to enjoy, then (BAM!) New Years resolutions start a week later. Okay, really, whose sick joke is this???

Well, it may be really tough for us to get off track and jump back on, but it's also a good time to strengthen what I call the "invisible muscle". This invisible muscle is the strength it takes from falling off the bandwagon to having to climb right back on. For some people this takes weeks, maybe months to pull themselves back up after they've given in to the 'dark side'. And yet I was always amazed at how some people could eat one bad meal and then completely get back on track by the next. So, I thought right now was the perfect time for me to learn how to strengthen this muscle and have a quick rebound after I had a not-so-healthy week.

Easier said than done, right? Well, considering I've been following a healthier lifestyle for more than 4 months now, it wasn't as hard as I imagined. Let's go back in time about 8 days ago: Katie gets diagnosed with "walking pneumonia", which translates to "not allowed to workout for a week". Lingering holiday food around, no where to escape to, and visions of sugar-plums danced around in my head... okay we'll blame that one on the pneumonia. As you can tell, this was becoming a very appropriate time for me to fall off the wagon.

So, it certainly wasn't my best week. But, I continued to remind myself that this was a trial period for me. Trial, in terms of how I would react to this "beyond my control" situation. Typically in the past I would have just gone full-throttle into the eating bad, lazy, don't care attitude. But, I knew I was stronger than that, and thus, I decided instead of throwing in the towel, I would compensate for my situation. So, I made sure I kept my food intake in check more closely since I wouldn't be able to give my body a good workout. Some of the things I did was to keep a food diary (bodymedia.com), drink a TON of water, and get lots of rest. Even though I wasn't working out, my body was burning a decent amount of calories to heal itself. I did give in to a few cravings but only because, as I mentioned in a previous post, if I pushed that craving aside I would most likely want it twice as much later. And honestly, it worked. I had my unhealthy choice but then got it out of my system and didn't look back. Either way, I really tried to stay optimistic and not give up when so much was trying to pull me down.

Now, a week later, I am back in my gym routine (slowly of course), and on my regular food plan, as well. I'm only planning to go to my trainer once this week as my lungs aren't quite where I'd like them to be just yet. But I'm getting there, and I'm so glad that I had the strength to stay afloat while many temptations were pulling me down into the lazy, eat-what-you-want trap. I really found a way to pulse that invisible muscle called willpower to stay on track and pull myself up off the ground when sickness and the holidays were waiting for me as a speed bump along the way.

You know, I'm a really big adventurist. I love to create journeys for myself and see where I end up, who I meet, situations I'll have to handle, how I can grow from these new experiences.. But, I'm learning that one of my biggest adventures never even required me to leave my town. This whole experience of testing myself and pushing myself to be the best "me" has been a whole adventure on its own and probably been the most rewarding journey I'll take myself on. But then again.. never say never, right?!?

Well, until next time readers...

Quote of the Week:
"Life is either a great adventure or nothing" - Helen Keller

xx
-Kate