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The Need for Healthy “Me Time”
What is your quiet time? I don’t listen to Metallica, but I can say most of my quiet time does involve heavy metal – weights, that is! 
On a serious note, I don’t get a lot of quiet time. My fitness time is my quiet time, however my quiet time is not always quiet – it’s just “me time”. My “me time” may be playing DJ Special Ed‘s latest mix while hitting weights or listening to a Joyce Meyer podcast while on my morning run. It might be running the bridges with my BFF or doing a BCx Boot Camp workout at home. No matter what my quiet time looks like (or sounds like), it’s so important to make time for it.
We need to take some time out to work on ourselves and to get away from facebook, texting and emails. We need the time to actually think, focus and release stress. Even if your time isn’t quiet, I guarantee you’ll enjoy a certain level of peace after it – no matter the noise around you. -B-
Work Like a DOG Because You are Eat Like a PIG?
ADDICTED
We’ve all met people who seem addicted to fitness. They live at the gym and workout really hard, but maybe they aren’t so much addicted to exercise as much as something else altogether.
ARE YOU A WORKAHOLIC
Think of it like a workaholic. Some people are literally slaves to work, but it’s not because they love working so much. It’s because they are slaves to their debtors. So, they get as much overtime as they can, take odd jobs, and work like crazy to balance overspending.
Many people aren’t afraid of work, they are afraid of missing out. They don’t want to part with the luxuries in life – cars, clothes, dining out, going out on the town, etc. So they work hard to maintain those things, even if they are bad for us.
QUIT WORKING OVERTIME
Maybe you need to stop eating like a pig so you don’t have to work like a dog. Yes, it’s harsh, but it’s honest. We can’t continue to rely on exercise to keep getting us out of trouble. It’s time you truly address the real problem: eating. It’s time to cut back, because what you are missing out on is much more valuable than your favorite food.
Are You Addicted?
Even if the true addiction is to food, it can result in exercise addiction too.
Rate yourself as honestly as you can below with the following checklist from Active.com:
- I have missed important social obligations and family events in order to exercise.
- I have given up other interests, including time with friends, in order to make more time to work out.
- Missing a workout makes me irritable and depressed
- I only feel content when I am exercising or within the hour after exercising.
- I like exercise better than sex, good food, or a movie — in fact there’s almost nothing I’d rather do.
- I work out even if I’m sick, injured, or exhausted. I’ll feel better when I get moving anyway.
- In addition to my regular schedule, I’ll exercise more if I find extra time.
- Family and friends have told me I’m too involved in exercise.
- I have a history (or a family history) of anxiety or depression.
Although some of these feelings are natural, and even healthy. Feeling good because of exercise is a good thing, but feeling good at the expense of harming relationships or your body, maybe a warning sign you are off balance.
If you can get a better grip on your food, you may not feel so obligated to workout as much. You won’t feel so guilty if you skip a workout, and you will feel more confident and healthy because you’re eating healthy – not just erasing your bad food.
Look deep within and find the real root of the problem, and take your fitness to a whole new healthy level.
Photo Credits:
Sweaty guy: metronews.ca
Cartoon: Illustration by Aaron Taylor, Site: UtahValleyBusinessq.com
Girl in the fridge: 40 years of faulty wiring
Balancing Act: metafitsolutions.com
BODY: Be Mine
17 years ago today, Steve asked me to “Be Mine” and I said yes. It was such an easy decision, I barely blinked an eye. There is a lot of love in the air around this time of year, but no matter how much love there is to go around, we often struggle to extend that same love to our own self. I have to admit, if my body said “Be Mine” I’d have to think twice. I mean, I can’t help but think there HAS to be a better body out there for me. If only I had the choice to pick it like we get to pick our mate.
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
Poor Vision
If we could just see ourselves through our lover’s eyes. We would be so much easier on ourselves. We wouldn’t even notice the zit on our face or our love handles poking out of our jeans. We wouldn’t be staring at everything that is wrong, but we would be looking at all that was right. It would almost be like we were looking at a different person.
If only we could see ourselves like we see others. We extend our loved ones so much grace, yet we have none left for ourself. We harshly judge our body, so much so, we end up imprisoning ourselves with negative and irrational thoughts.
Blindness
Even Heidi Klum can rip apart her own smile, yet all we see is beauty. How many times has someone said they wish they had something you had. They wish they had your hair, they wish they had your skin, or they wish they had your eyes. If you’re like me, these comments are hard to accept.
They are hard to accept because we honestly don’t see what they see. Not because it’s not there – but because we aren’t looking at it. We are so focused on all the crappy stuff, we literally aren’t even looking at the good stuff. However, the good stuff is still there, whether we recognize it or not, and it’s normally what everyone else sees first.
The problem with people who are actively working on the “flaws” in our life, is that they become focused on them. It’s difficult to work on something without focusing on it so much you actually become obsessed with it.
Losing Focus
Think of marriage and relationships. You can’t just ignore each other’s flaws – there is a certain amount of work that is required to improve flaws so you can improve your marriage. However, you can easily become so focused on those flaws you begin to take everything else for granted. Before you know it, you can’t even see all the good stuff that made you fall in love to begin with.
This is exactly what happens to people who are working to improve their health and their body. The fat you once were accustomed to, and didn’t bother you as much as it does now, and although you probably even have less of it now, it’s all you see.
As you work and work to improve your flaws, it’s important you don’t become obsessed with them. Because you will never naturally think of all your positive attributes, you have to be purposeful when it comes to building yourself up. Our flaws will always try to steal the show so it’s up to us to close the curtain on them and put the spotlight on the real stars – all your awesome traits everyone else loves and you’ve forgotten.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
It’s a Balancing Act: 5 Tips to Sanity
Christmas is a crazy time of year. During this time of year, we all rush around like maniacs, behaving like wild animals or circus freaks. WE MUST STOP THIS NONSENSE! So, this year I decided to make some changes and I’ve almost got the whole balancing act down!
ACT #1 The Amazing Juggler: I Am Planning Ahead
Planning is EVERYTHING to me. If I don’t plan I definitely might as well plan to fail because the only way to survive this busy season is to map out my workouts, my meals, my meetings, my “me time”, my “Steve time” and my rest. If I am prepared I will rock each and every day without fail.
ACT #2 The Acrobat: I Workout More
I know this may seem impossible to many people lugging their children around to every Christmas party, recital, school event and church event – not to mention your adult parties and responsibilities, shopping, card writing…do I need to go on? BUUUT, you’d be surprised how Read the rest of this entry
Sexy Body Hideous Soul – Fit Tips to Lookin’ Good Inside & Out!
Funny how much time, thoughts, dreams and energy we spend on (trying to) make our bodies look good naked (or in a wet shirt like this amazingly sculpted fella here – wowzers!). Fellow online BCxer, Nick Collins writes “I care too much about my appearance than I should. Im tired of not looking well enough to feel comfortable without a shirt. I think I’ve been beating myself up so hard that im losing sight of what is important.”
Nick is SOOOOO not alone! Not only do we get the privilege (sarcastic tone here) to see ourselves naked in the mirror (yuck!) and feel all our fat pockets, rolls and folds as we shower (double yuck!), but we also look at ourselves with a very critical eye (down right mean to ourselves). No one else sees that as much as we do. Even romantic nights are dimly lit or under covers (thank goodness!!). Bottom line, WE are in our face all the time. Read the rest of this entry
Staying Fit May Require MORE Than Just Working Out
This week I’ve really been working on BALANCE. This actually requires I do things OUTSIDE of working out that can improve the quality of your life. Doing things that rest your mind and soothe the soul.
For those of you who only know the fitness me, you may not know my family history or know my passions outside of fitness. I love art – I draw, design, paint and pretty much do anything I can that allows me to be creative. I also ride a motorcycle, which I LOVE. But more than anything else, music has been a part of me and what makes me who I am today.
Growing up with parents who were in a band, we all lived and breathed music. I played and sang at a young age (yep, that’s me in that pic!), singing for large crowds with my parents at 8 and playing drums with my school choir when I was 9. I took piano lessons for several years and picked up the trumpet, which I played all through school. Music was my passion, my therapy, my first love.
Then life happens. Read the rest of this entry
Are you SO focused, you’ve LOST focus?
Are you so focused on your FITNESS goals, you’ve lost focus on LIFE’s goals?
Warning: This is a long blog, but I am convinced it will be worth it. We all want quick fixes and tips, but there is nothing quick about making the right decision and changing your life. Take a deep breath and get ready to look beyond muscle and body fat – and look inside.
There’s a very fine line between being SO focused on your body and training your obsessions causes you to lose focus on your overall health, well-being and life. I’ve seen many people uncover layers of fat to expose this new amazing body that even the new owner can’t handle.
Before you know it all they do is look at their physique, think about their physique and want to show their physique to anyone who will look. Before long, there is little room left in their life for others. Relationships go down hill, job performance may even decline, their passions change – and sometimes even their morals.
It’s a very tough act to balance – getting fit physically and staying fit spiritually and mentally. People may spend 2 hours in the gym sculpting their bodies but they don’t spend 2 hours of quality time with their spouse or alone with God. Read the rest of this entry
