Sweet wonderful workouts

Exercise is now such a big part of my life, I have a hard time imagining life without it. During my interview with Jenna from the Gettysburg Times, she asked me to expand more on it when I said something along those lines and it made me remember how key it is to my happiness.

Friends, family, and fellow ww members ask me frequently how I have enough time to workout.  Having too busy a life and "not enough time to work out" is the #1 excuse people use.  They mention that it must be because I don't have kids and my job gives me flexibility so I must have more free time. That must be why I workout so much!

It's true, I don't have kids and I'm sure that makes it worlds easier than a busy mom or dad but my job sometimes makes it nearly impossible to work out.  I really enjoy my job (when I'm not completely stressed out by it), but I travel a lot.  In fact, there was a time that I would be gone an entire week at least once a month in Pittsburgh, or some other city at a conference. Staying at a hotel.  With a crappy hotel gym.  Not ideal conditions, people.

And guess what? I still worked out.  Some days it was just 30 minutes on an elliptical or stationary bike, but I didn't let the crappy gym or fact that I was completely exhausted from work and traveling all over to keep me from working out.  Even 100 lbs heavier ago I felt that I HAD to get my butt into the gym.  Then it was more about losing weight and burning calories, but I felt the pull to exercise, whatever the reason. And I MAKE time.  If it is important enough to you, you will make it happen.  Adrian can attest that some days I get up at 5:30am so I can workout before work (he probably thinks I have lost my mind these mornings).  Other days I go straight to the gym after work and change there so I won't allow any excuses to get in the way when I get home.  Adrian has heard me say before "I'm sorry hunny, I need to get to the gym before I come home or I won't go."  Thank my lucky stars he has always been so supportive of me. <3

 Friday was stressful for me.  Jenna called me asking if they could put my heaviest weight (and current weight) into the article.  I literally stuttered and panicked my way through a "can I think about it and call you back?"  After nearly having a panic attack while driving on I-695 (not a good place for this to happen, take my word for it), my body went to I NEED TO WORKOUT. GIVE ME ENDORPHINS NOW!!   Ironically, this made me calm down almost immediately because my mind did not go to I NEED COMFORT! FEED ME! and it made me insanely happy that the binge monster was still passed out in the basement.

I called my darling husband and asked him a tough question that I know he didn't want to answer but he is just awesome so he did.  "As a reporter would you want to have my weight in the story?"  Of course, his answer was yes.  So needless to say, my weight got into the story and I'm glad it did.

Having said that.....from the moment after I gave Jenna my before and current weight and the go ahead I felt like a complete nervous wreck.  How harshly would people judge me? What would they think about how I got to that weight? You can imagine where else my imagination took me over the hour drive home.

Needless to say, I got home and drug my exhausted and stressed body to the Y.  My plan was 30 minutes of hills on the stationary bike then about 30 minutes of strength training.  Well.....I was so anxious about the article coming out the next day, I couldn't drag myself away from my comfort zone.  After about 90 minutes on the bike I finally staggered off and started my planned strength training routine.  I was so exhausted I had to do jumping jacks before traveling lunges to get me pumped up enough to do them and I repeated this pump up routine before several exercises so that I wouldn't flat out quit on myself.

I finally left the gym 2.5 hours after arriving.  I did do a nice 15 minutes of stretching because 90 minutes on the stationary bike then almost an hour of squats and lunges will make your legs ache and tight.  I also made my abs go into full muscle spasm by putting them through 2 sets of 20 reps of passovers (if you have never done these, they are like sweet death to your lower abs), leg lifts, bicycles, bench v-crunches and ball crunches.  My abs are still thanking me for the sweet torture, especially after an Emily workout today with some more.

Now a days I don't feel complete without a good sweat.  When I get stressed for any reason, my body craves the powerful and sweet release of endorphins that comes from a hard workout.  FINALLY my body does not crave food.  I couldn't feel more relieved that I have been able to train my body away from needing food to comfort me.  Of course there are some days that my binge monster rears her ugly head and demands that I eat an entire bag of chips or a giant candy bar.  That doesn't mean I have to listen to her though!