I CAN goals

Man, this morning was a lifting day.  The schedule has been changed a little to allow me to run my long run on Friday-12 miles.  I really did NOT want to get up. Then I really did NOT want to get dressed, or go downstairs or put the DVD in.

But I knew that I would feel good afterwards.  Yesterday I listened to Tony Horton talk about how even with a bum arm (he tore a bicep muscle from the bone) he still gets a workout in.

He talked about finding your reason why you workout.  When people ask him why he does it he tells them because he never feels more powerful than after a workout.

The scale and the numbers game is no fun to play.  Its not suppose to be a game and I can tell ya right now if the reason why you are working out is to be skinny or reach a certain number two things are going to happen-either

1. You are going to fall off the wagon and not be consistant or
2. You won’t know what to do once you get there

A number on the scale is not tangible.  And by that, it doesn’t have emotion attached to it.  I don’t workout so I can reach a size 4 jean or weigh 125lbs (which I dont)  I work out because doing that gives me the energy to be able to play tickle monster with my kids, to be able to throw my children in the air and hear their screams of delight.  I do it because I have more energy to hold Noodles and push the vacuum because its her first encounter with this contraption and it scares her to death.  I workout because I can carry Noodles and Scooter when they both get hurt at the same time and need love.  I workout because it gives me confidence that if I can master something I didn’t think I could in an exercise-then I can take on the world.

Now, I have been teased several times about my ‘healthy living/eating.”  I’ve come across people who discourage me.  I actually got an email today from a friend who is worried I’m working my body too hard and thinks that it would be healthier if I let go of running the half marathon… More on that later.  Anyway, there will be things, people, situations that will either intentionally or unknowingly try to derail you.  If all you’re after is a number on the scale, then you will easily fail.  It helps me that even though I’m not at my ‘number’ I am feeling so much better now than ever that nothing anyone says can stop me.  I KNOW what it was like to eat crappy food and feel lousy and I didn’t like it at all.  Thats not to say I don’t indulge-I can devour a Cheesecake quicker than anyone I know-but I choose to do these things based on a calculated decision, not because I was pressured into something-thats not feeling confident or empowered.

See, if I ever reach my dream weight-it will be just a side effect to all the other benefits of working out.  Too many people go for that number and then what-whats the next goal-another lower number?  What if you can’t get that?  Then you get discouraged-loosing sight of the fact of how you feel and only focusing on the number you AREN’T SEEING-or worse, the person you’ve become.

I set goals based on things I want to be able to do.  Being fit and healthy are things required to be able to do these things-but they aren’t the goals.

So I did workout, it was a great burn-and that really helped me to eat well.  You don’t feel like eating junk food if you workout hard.  I had SUPER energy and a great day.

Set goals based on I CAN rather than a number and you’ll start understanding what I mean.  It needs to be deep, it needs to be something that no matter what, you won’t let go of.