Commitment to Fitness

Well hello again.  What a pleasure to see you so soon.  Part of my recommitment to myself and general pursuit of happiness is my recommitment to fitness.  I have always been quite active and one of the more muscular types.  I like to rough house, climb mountains, and be strong enough to beat most people at arm wrestling, it's a weird pride thing I've had since middle school.  So, compared to the average 26 year-old American lady, or Arab lady, I am fit.  BUT, I am not exceptionally fit by my standards.  I do understand the dangers of "by my standards" especially in the post-eating disorder world.  I showed you a picture of Ashley Horner yesterday and I stand by that picture and what she represents.  To me she represents hard work, commitment, and NO EXCUSES!  If you really want something, you can make it happen!  Just be happy and healthy about it.

On that note, I cannot seem to manage to get myself into the gym on these beautiful, or warm but not particularly gorgeous, days.  I want to play and be silly and, ideally, be outside.  La Fitness doesn't quite do that for me.  Also, and I know this isn't an excuse but it is a realistic psychological influence, the gym by my work is really run down and dark.  The gym by my new apartment is gorgeous and lovely and very affordable!  That gym also has a special partnership with the yoga studio I'm a member at.  So that shift is going to happen very soon.

A shift that already happened yesterday is that I committed to a Flirty in Thirty Challenge at Flirty Girl Fitness.  Flirty Girl has been one of my favorite "gyms" since I discovered it last summer.  It is all classes, though they do have a small weight and cardio room for special members.  They have dance classes galore as well as yoga, weights, and ballet style kick-your-butt classes.  The music is super upbeat and motivating and it's ALL WOMEN, which I really like.  Perhaps it is from my days at an all-girls summer camp, but I feel so much more free and comfortable when it's only women.  And so I had my butt handed to me last night and every minute of this morning has shown me new parts of my body that can feel sore.

Yes, these are my "Before" pictures.  I thought it would be fun to do a "Before & After" with these classes and my commitment to fitness.  It's harder to keep going when you don't see the results.  So this is my way of being accountable and showing myself that I can make changes.  One thing I haven't mentioned is that my new Dr. put me on a gluten-free, soy-free, sugar-free, dairy-free diet.  I have some not-so-fun chronic body issues, and he said this might help.  The soy and dairy part is really no big deal as I don't really consume them regularly, but the sugar and gluten part is hard for me.  I have a sugar problem.  I'm actually on week 2 and have impressed myself thus far with my ability to say no.  I want to stick to it though so I can see if my issues go away.  I can feel myself flagging after 2 weeks.

Here is to commitment and remembering that putting yourself first is the best way to help those around you!

CHEERS!