Got to the gym (YAY always a good day for me when I can say that) and did a great "BodyVive" workout. It's a low-impact aerobics class....although, the way my instructor teaches it, it definitely gets to the 'high' end of 'low impact'. My heart rate goes WAY up (which is the point).
And I find myself HATING her. She's so skinny! OMG she's like a toothpick. And yet she's a SOLID MUSCLE toothpick, not sickly looking at all. She leads like, SIX classes a week....or more! She's working out literally for hours and hours every single day.
I don't know how she does it. But I envy her.
On the other hand, she CAN be quite...pushy.
And that started to bother me...especially after one class in particular where we 'butted heads' over some equipment that SHOULD have been there but wasn't (turned out people were STEALING them...do you believe it? That SUCKS, pardon my French but it does!) The gym had to order more...and she got real 'snippy' with me when I said I really didn't feel I was pushing myself enough without them (she had advised those of us unlucky enough not to grab one of the few to 'do it without'). So we sort of butted heads a bit....and then she gave me some advice in the middle of a class about spreading my legs wider, and I thought I'd be 'funny' and so I deliberately spread them WAAAY out ... just to get a laugh... and ... well,
She was NOT amused.
So I started to 'hate' her. Not really but you get my drift. My rebellious side kicked in. The more she told me to jump higher, move faster, etc. (and obviously she was yelling this to EVERYONE, not just 'me!') the more I started thinking 'NO! I won't! I won't risk a heart attack! I'm not as young as her! I'm not as fit as her! What if something happens? SHE wouldn't care....'....grumble grumble...
Well today I stopped myself a bit and decided to give her another try. After all, again, she wasn't just yelling at ME, she was yelling at the entire class. And that's just her style! She doesn't mean it in a bad way. In fact she's kind of funny...the funniest instructor I have. She makes jokes out of 'Come ON...I don't WANNA....' and she makes faces the stuff....and she can have a really dry, silly sense of humor. I can't help laughing (which is the whole point). She'll point someone out in the class and say 'It's not THAT bad, is it, Sheila?' just to get her to SMILE, and then she'll grin and say 'That's more like it!'
She's a one-woman ENERGY MACHINE. LOL.....
She's also the one I saw eating a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) container of PLAIN GREEK YOGURT in the 'lounge' one day. She had this big spoon and was spooning it up like krazy. And I thought "PLAIN Greek yogurt? No even vanilla flavored?"....
...there's a REASON she looks like she does! :)
WOULD that I could eat plain greek yogurt like that. I still have to buy the vanilla. It's nonfat, and it's the lowest sugar one I could find, but it's not plain. Even when I do break down and buy the plain I wind up adding vanilla and a 'tad' bit of Splenda to it. I simply can't eat it plain like that.
I betcha she eats plain chicken breast strips, too.
Hmmm....actually I did that MYSELF yesterday. As part of my lunch. I had 3 ounces (1/2 lean) Perdue 'short cuts' grilled chicken breast strips. They're terrific because they're already cooked, so you have to do...nothing!
ANYWAY. "Get to the point, Linda!".....LOL...
My POINT is, halfway through sweating through this class, while part of me was 'grumbling', the other part was realizing I was working out PAST my 'comfort zone'.
And when you go past your comfort zone, guess what happens?
You IMPROVE!
You establish a 'new' baseline for yourself. Your heart rate gets a little higher, you recover a little faster (which is a measure of true fitness, by the way, when you can recover quickly), and you burn MORE CALORIES.
And hello? Wasn't that the POINT of this workout to begin with?
I started to realize that maybe, just maybe, my 'rebellious nature' wasn't serving me so well sometimes. After all, if I continue to harbor resentment towards this instructor (who believe me, could care LESS, she's been there long enough....) all I would be hurting, is ME! And my OWN PROGRESS!
Maybe it was time to stop resenting her and start LISTENING to her instead.
Maybe it was time to stop clowning around and trying to 'get a laugh' in class and PUT MY NOSE TO THE GRINDSTONE AND DO IT.
What was I doing otherwise? Wasting my time, is all.....
Well, I finished the class in a lot different 'mindset' then when I started the class, believe me. And I sweated up a storm. And I DID NOT resent her. In fact I clapped LOUDEST for her afterwards, and went out of my way to tell her 'Great class'. (which she loved...EVERYONE loves compliments...I don't care WHO they are or how long they've been at whatever it is they are skilled at doing).
WE ALL love to be complimented, and patted on the back.
And she is filling a NEED. A need to GET ME PAST MY COMFORT ZONE.
I may resent it at times, I may grumble about it, but I NEED it.
(by the way she's always my Spinning instructor...and guess where I intend to be next Wednesday morning at 9:15 am? You got it...right where I should be...where I've been putting off for the past several weeks...in that Spinning class!)
Be careful who you are 'resenting'. Maybe your Coach is telling you something that hits ... a bit too close to home. Maybe a friend is trying to help you by commenting on your blog and you don't 'quite' like what she has to say because....maybe...just maybe...it's 'true'?
We don't like to admit to ourselves sometimes when we have 'blinders' on. We swear we know the truth....we got this...!
But do we?
THAT's why the MF community website is so important and why I keep coming back. No matter how long I maintain my weight, I really believe I'll need my 'fix' of this website every so often. Because it's where we get REAL with ourselves. Dig deep. Find out what makes us tick.
And unravel the mysteries of our food addiction. Little by little.
So that we can get HEALTHY strong sexy LEAN bodies!!!! :)
Keep on keepin' on!
