Growing up I was a competitive athlete, one that all year round I was playing some sport or doing some outdoor activity. It created something inside me that grew to love challenges, the desire to win and perform. In addition to the foundational mentality that it built for my adult years, it gave me the value of intention setting. The notion that what you do on the field is only as good as the thought, determination, and effort behind the physical experience.
Fast forward into my early thirties I was feeling bored and unmotivated by the fitness activities I was relying on to produce significant physical changes and mental motivation. The endorphins and challenger mind were lacking HARD!
So what did I do? I went back to what I know, the sports. I wanted to find things that consistently pushed me physically and mentally, the activities that won't bore me after 30 days. I trained by myself to run a half-marathon, because I had always wanted to try and never done that big of a run before (I'm a sprinter naturally). My sister-in-law was learning to road bike, and cycling always piqued my interest knowing the scale in distances, the terrain options, seeing different places you don't typically notice in a car etc. I gave it a shot a few rides before I committed and I was hooked. There is something and I'm sure you can relate, to hearing some good jams new or old that get your blood and body pumping. This paired with endurance and focused stamina to ride 20+ miles in a single ride felt like it's own version of freedom.
Once I found cycling it felt like Caitlin - 1 and Boredom - 0
It's a wonderful freedom to have that is individual and of course, outdoors! I paired this cardio, freedom riding with a new gym routine combined with weight lifting and a kick-ass schedule of kickboxing and kettlebell classes and I felt A-Okay. This provides enough variety each week that I have been doing this for 9+ months and still feel eager to hit the gym or get in the saddle.
Most recently, I was not seeing the muscle growth or tone I was hoping to see with this 5-day weekly routine. Enter Andrea Allen, founder of Deliciously Fit N Healthy. I have been following her for some time purely as a fan and "you go girl" follower. I love her authenticity and how she speaks to women of all journeys pre-motherhood, post-motherhood (if that's your chosen path) or anything in between.
THE BIG UNLOCK
She doesn't just do workout programs, she works to fix the biggest culprit of stunted results.... NUTRITION! Here I thought I was eating a well-balanced diet, minus the occasional In N Out animal style fry stop, but she informed me that I was undereating. Yes, undereating, and that it was storing fat with the inability to gain muscle. LIGHT BULB!
She learned my daily eating habits, informed me of this undereating situation that was holding me back and placed me on a reverse diet specifically on a macronutrient program. I am consuming more protein and snacks I ever have. All I can say is just two weeks into this adjusted lifestyle I feel phenomenal. I am sleeping like a log, I have sustained energy throughout the day and I have never felt stronger in my fitness workouts. I can't wait to see what the coming weeks hold for me in my trouble areas, but I am so motivated to keep this daily good habit up and show up for myself day in and day out.
If you have any interest in finding an unlock with your eating lifestyle I would highly recommend her program. It's digestible, she explains everything in steps and within the first week I picked it up and feels so much easier this early on to stay on track.
More to come, but I hope this sparks something in you to do what's good for your body and it will tell you daily how it feels with a 'thank you' in many ways.