*Mahomet Curves purchases advertising space on the sidebar of the Mahomet Daily. My decision to workout at and talk about my experiences at Mahomet Curves was not influenced by the advertisement on the Mahomet Daily. Instead, I chose to make a decision for my body and to be with my friend, Jan Smith, owner of Mahomet Curves because I trust her. In no way is this content promoted by or scripted by Mahomet Curves or the Curves organization.
I’ve fallen off the wagon.
But before we get to how disappointed I am in myself, I do want to invite you to workout with me on Saturday morning. I will be doing three workouts: Zumba at 8:15 a.m., Jillian Michaels at 9 a.m. and Boxing at 10 a.m. Even though people read what I write, I’m still hearing, “Oh! I didn’t know Curves offered that! I thought it was just the circuit!”
So, let’s get this out in the beginning…Curves is not just the 30-minute circuit with strength machines anymore. Curves has quite a few classes, some of which I really like, and some that don’t really fit my personality (but I’m sure others enjoy them). I’m doing my favorites, Jillian and Boxing, on Saturday. I’ve not tried Zumba, and honestly, I cannot dance, but the lady who does the Zumba seems pretty nice, so I’m going to give it a whirl. This marathon workout is to highlight some of these programs. And while I’m doing three workouts, I want to invite you to do just one workout with me. It’s free and you don’t have to commit to anything, but just come and try it out. I’m going to need encouragement, too.
This marathon workout is to highlight some of these programs. And while I’m doing three workouts, I want to invite you to do just one workout with me. It’s free and you don’t have to commit to anything, but just come and try it out. I’m going to need encouragement, too. So if you’ve thought about working out, feel like you could use some accountability or just like to be with other women who have the same goals as you, come to Curves Saturday morning. We will have a good time.
Now, confession time. Over the last two weeks, my workout and eating has been fairly sporadic. I think that when we are working out or trying to eat healthily it’s not just about making the changes of doing, but realizing why we have the habits that we do, that lead us down the road that we are on.
Please stay with me while I digress.
After writing my last Curves post, I decided that I needed to really put in the effort to eat better. Looking at my evening schedule, I tried to choose dinners that went with the weather and our activities. I had a plan to make some granola, which I love to snack on. And I resolved to not eat out as much.
This process is really, really hard for me because I hate to cook or even think about preparing food. I hate planning what to make, I hate defrosting the food or cutting the vegetables, I hate waiting for the food to finish and I especially hate cleaning up after I’m done eating. I also hate thinking about what I can get everyone to eat without bickering.
But I did it. Then, when we got to Meijer with the healthy shopping list, they did not have many of the things we wanted. Lesson learned. I might have to shop somewhere else.
Want to know how many meals I made of the six we planned? One. And I didn’t even make it. My healthy eating person made it while I worked. That’s all I’ve done for the last two weeks. Work.
When I get up at 6 a.m., my life takes off like a balloon that has been inflated and then let go without the end tied. And it runs that way until I go to bed at night. The Mahomet Daily keeps me busy, I’m also a marketing consultant for several businesses here in town and I have three kids. You know that scene in Star Wars where the group gets caught in the garbage compressor and the walls start moving in on them? That’s how I feel all the time. Like I’m in this pile of muck that I can’t get out of and the walls are slowly going to crush me from the sides.
It didn’t dawn on me until today, but that’s why I like to eat out. Because for those 40 minutes, I can just sit and breathe. Someone is preparing and cooking the food for me. They will clean up my mess, too. I can just sit there and connect with whomever I am with. That is pending my clients or the whole town of Mahomet doesn’t need me for those 40 minutes.
I would enjoy making a beautiful tomato sauce if I could get up to a clean house with no problems, roast the tomatoes (if that’s what you do), then let them stew with the other tomato sauce ingredients while I read a book on the hammock until 6 p.m. when I add that sauce to, you know, whatever I want to add sauce to. But this isn’t real life. This is some far-fetched idea I’ve made up. Realistically, I’m going to get home around 5:30 or 6, throw something together while everyone complains about what they don’t want to eat, and I’m not going to be satisfied with the food I’ve put into my body.
You see, the exercise and the food aren’t the real problem. It’s like a drug addict quitting cocaine. Just because you stop using cocaine doesn’t mean that you’ve fixed the problem. Even if I stuff exercise and very healthy food into my lifestyle, I’m just stuffing stuff into my life still. The problem is that the way I’m living my life is unsustainable and it makes me feel bad daily.
My body tells me that I like the exercise. My body is craving good, wholesome food. My mind continually tells me to slow down, take a day off. I’m just at a time in my life where I’m wondering #1 How do I make it all work? How do I do everything I need to do? and #2 When and how do I make the decision to make some major changes that will result in that simple, relaxed and rich life that I really, truly desire?
And it’s easier to just keep running the gamut. We call it a phase of life. We shrug it off as that’s what life is. We say it’s better to be busy than not busy. I hate the word busy. People say, “Hey, Dani. How are you?” I say, “Busy.” As if that really reflects who or how I am internally. It’s just an excuse, really.
For me, it’s not better to be busy than not busy. I want to live intentionally and directly so that the things I do are lush and full of life. When I am busy, everything is just me scraping by to get stuff done.
So. I haven’t worked out at Curves much over the last two weeks. Maybe two or three times? I think I’m still losing inches because I’m not drinking Pepsi all the time. But I think this realization is going to be life-changing for me. I hope so at least.
