When it comes to my fitness routine, I’m all about pushing myself. If I’m not covered in sweat by the time I leave my gym or finish an outdoor run, I don’t feel like it really counted. The upside to this mentality is that I get a lot of bang for my buck – by pushing myself really hard, I complete more efficient and effective work outs. I also get some positive reinforcement that I don’t necessarily get at law school – writing memos that no one will ever read is not the most fulfilling work in the world. The downside is sometimes it’s hard to overcome the mental barrier that doesn’t want me to do push ups until my muscles fail, or go up another 3 pounds with dumb bells, because it’s hard and it’s tempting to do “good enough.” But sometimes “good enough” is exactly what your body needs.
Yesterday morning was one of those mornings. I woke up with a cardio day on my schedule and I wasn’t feeling it. My body, especially my legs, were/still are sore from CrossFit on Monday, I hadn’t slept well, and I have the beginnings of a head cold that ridiculous amounts of Vitamin C does not seem to be knocking out. Seriously, if you lick my arm right now, I probably taste like citrus.
I wanted nothing more than to hit snooze, roll over, and bury my head under the covers until the last possible minute before getting ready for work. Instead, I made myself a deal that I’d go for half an hour, after plenty of hot coffee and a pre-run smoothie. I sat down at my laptop with caffeine by my side and published yesterday’s post. By the time I was done posting the last link ranting about CrossFit, I was starting to feel more motivated. Physically I was still sore, achy, and tired, but mentally I had overcome the barrier that would have kept me in bed and fed me Cocoa Krispies for breakfast.
I ran the interval workout posted for the Extra Mile challenge in the Goldleaf Fitness Challenge. Normally I’d do a longer run, but I knew I’d feel terrible by early afternoon if I did. The point is, I still got up, and did the best my body could do that day. I felt more energized than if I had slept in, and I could breathe, which is always a plus. Exercise for me is about feeling good first, and looking good second. Sometimes these priorities flip flop, but I try to keep it about feeling good rather than basing everything on how I look.
If you’re having a roll-over-leave-me-alone morning/evening/anytime-you’ve-got-a-work-out-scheduled feeling, you can use the same tips I do:
1. Make a deal with yourself. Not feeling like an interval work out? Circuit seem too boring? Tackle it in chunks. Go for a 30 minute run rather than the hour. Promise to complete at least 3 sets if you’d normally do 4. Sometimes you’ll finish the abbreviated work out and figure “Well, I might as well just push through, I feel good enough anyhow.” Or you might have a day like I did, and just be glad you got up and moved around.
2. Keep some motivation on hand. Whether it’s SELF, Fitness, or Shape magazine (or let’s be honest, InTouch, Us Weekly, or Star), blogs, or music, keep something around to help you get to the gym when you need it. I like to read through my regular blogs in the morning because they inspire me. I also like to update my iTunes pretty regularly with music because I know I can’t work out without it.
3. Imagine how you’ll feel afterwards. I know that I’ll feel better 99% of the time after I work out. Write it on a post-it and stick it to your mirror if you need to. That’s assuming you brush your teeth before you go to the gym (if you’re a morning person like me), and I hope you do.
What motivates you?
We’re having a cold snap inWisconsin after two weeks of record high weather. Combined with my cold, I’ve been craving comfort food, and my biggest comfort food is breakfast. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a great talent for cooking breakfast dishes, and abysmal talent for preparing meat unless it’s in a crock pot or extremely easy, like Asian Cucumber Chicken.
Now I have a pretty bad habit of sitting down to just dessert for dinner. If I don’t reason with myself, I will eat a bowl of ice cream for dinner and call it a day. Instead, I’ve come up with this egg bake recipe. It’s easy and keeps well, so you can re-heat and re-enjoy for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Since I only cook for myself, my meals look pretty similar over a period of two days.
Easy Egg Bake (serves 4)
Ingredients
6 eggs
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
½ onion, chopped
2 cups spinach
4 strips turkey bacon
3 slices reduced fat swiss cheese (I like Sargento)
½ cup reduced fat cheddar cheese, shredded
Garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 8×8 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Feel free to add a splash of skim or unsweetened almond milk. Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.
- In a pan, sautee onions until they start to go clear. Add mushrooms and spinach until softened and mushrooms are browned.
- Slice turkey bacon into 1 inch sections, combine with onion mixture.
- Drain off any excess liquid from the onion mixture and pour into casserole dish.
- Top onion mixture with swiss cheese (I tear it into smaller strips and get decorative).
- Pour eggs over onion mixture and cheese. Top with cheddar cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until egg bake is firm.
- Top with ketchup if you’re that kind of person (I am), and eat.
Total Calories – 225
Why is this an awesome meal? This meal is all lean protein, satiating fats, and veggies. It is also great as a later dinner because the casein in the cheese makes you sleepy.
Last but not least, a fitness tip from my friend David, who is a certified personal trainer through 24 Hour Fitness. If you have skinny legs and are looking to shape up your calves, David recommended supplementing with creatine. Creatine helps rephosphorulate (say that one 5 times fast) the muscles and aids in sustainment, strength, and size.
Lindsay
Fit is Always In 