SHARING MY DREAMS AND PLANS

Having weathered the weekend storm its nice to be sailing on calm seas again. Its times like these that I can think about what I want as opposed to what I dont want (thanks Shelley for a very opportune reminder!!)

I have a little mantra that I repeat when I'm out training (usually on one of my jogs) and the going gets tough. It goes like this:

I am strong.
I am lean.
I am toned.
I look great and I feel fantastic.

And I repeat this over and over forwards, backwards and whateverwards. It really helps to get my headspace right and to keep pushing when I just want to give up. I could also apply this to my weight training and at those times when my Inner Fat Girl is screaming for a feed. I'll be aiming to do this more over the coming weeks.

The other thing that means a lot to me is to achieve a happy balance with my lifestyle including how, what, when I eat etc, how much I train, what my resulting physique looks like, how my energy levels are and most importantly how I feel within myself. There's a lot of elements to this equation and I keep playing around with them until I get it right. I've made a mental list of what I dont want to do but this has been replaced by focussing on behaviours that I do want to incorporate into my every day life. Such as:

1. Eating mindfully. Choosing nutritious food most of the time but having small regular treats without feelings of guilt or shame. Trusting my instincts that will guide me correctly towards fat loss without obsessively weighing every morsel and keeping painful records of it all.

2. Balancing my training time between weights and cardio so as not to burn out in either area. Its no secret that I'm a cardio junkie and could happily do it twice a day on most days but this should not be necessary. I enjoy doing weights but I could be more passionate about them, I know.

3. Ah physique and how it looks. I have my motivation book with a page devoted to describing the physique I'm aiming for. Yes I'm aiming for the stars but you gotta dream big. I'm realistic enough to know that it'll take quite some time but as long as I'm moving towards it then I'm on the right track. I also know that down the track, I'll have to change my plan of attack but not ready just yet.

4. Energy levels are a problem for me. When you eat little and often, gaps in between meals can be longer than planned and then I hit a real energy slump. Thats when my food cravings go through the roof and I also get mega grumpy and irritable. This area needs work thats for sure.

5. Finally the most important thing is how I feel within myself. Before I saw the SP and I was binging regularly, I always felt agitated, stressed, tense and did not believe I could conquer my problem. I lived constantly with feelings of shame, disgust, hopelessness and failure. I was in a negative rut and I could not see a way out. However after a few sessions things changed drastically for the better and a sense of calm and internal happiness came over me. Those are the feelings I want to hold onto and I now know how to manage my thoughts and actions so that I dont go back to my negative place - well I may stick my nose in for a second every now and then but thats the extent of it.

So thats my brain dump on my life, where I'm at, where I want to go and to some extent how I might get there. I dont have all the pieces of the puzzle just yet but its filling out slowly and surely.

Cheers all

Magda