It’s time to take inventory

I’m entering Week 3 of 12 weeks of working with The Kilted Coaches and I’m seeing results. More importantly I’m feeling results.

F-you scale!

Let me state that while this is primarily a weight-loss program I AM NOT focused on the number on the scale. I completely understand how muscle mass weighs more than fat and therefore the number on the scale doesn’t accurately reflect health and fitness. I effing hate scales because of this, and this is why my weight is not included in my measurements.

I am focused on improving my eating but I am NOT on a diet. There is no quick fix. I am drinking A LOT of water (minimum 2.5L a day), I’m focusing on increasing my protein intake (Rab and Stephen have suggested 150 grams a day), and I’m focused on eating more veggies and more fibre. Have you noticed how often I used the word focus in that last sentence? There’s a reason for that.

It’s all about focus!

What you focus on becomes your reality. When I chose to focus on positive energy and including positive people in my life, positive things started happening. When I chose to focus on running more and running better, pursuing a half-marathon became a reality. Get it? Need more water…focus on that goal. Need more protein?veggies? fibre? FOCUS ON IT to make it happen.

Take inventory of your focus for a day. Honestly, do it for a day and see where your energy is directed. Are you focused on what you don’t like about yourself or where you are lacking or are you mindful about you do when you do it?

Mindfulness is key

I was at my run club bbq on Sunday and I had a great chat with a fantastic marathoner and we got to talking about running with music versus without. I’m a hardcore running remix-high bpm kinda girl and he chooses to run to sound of his own footsteps and breathing. This kinda blew my mind for a minute:  How can you run for hours to the sound of yourself???

I reframed it in terms of mindfulness, just like Coach Rab suggested I make time to walk each day to the sound of nature around me and my own breathing (he calls it a Breathing Walk) and it makes sense. Being truly mindful in running means you are aware of your breathing and cadence and the world around you as it relates to each step you take. You are totally in the zone of what you’re doing.

Shouldn’t we be that mindful about what we put into our bodies every single day?

Take inventory of your food choices in a day. Do you think about what you’re going to eat or do you just grab what’s there? Do you think about what it’s nutritional value is or do you just shovel it in? This 12 week program is really forcing me to consider my options and make more deliberate choices (I say deliberate because when I ate that ice cream last night I knew exactly what it’s nutritional value was.)

I promised to be honest throughout this journey so here are some areas I’m finding challenging:

• I am nowhere near close to getting 150 grams of protein but I’m waiting for the local gym to get their order of collagen powder in and I’ll be mixing that stuff in my coffee and smoothies
• Drinking this much water is very hard but my Hidrate Spark water bottle helps (it lights up to remind me to drink and sends me cheesy alerts on my phone). I feel like my bladder is always full which is a whole other topic when it comes to long runs…another day perhaps.
• I do not eat enough veggies. I know this and I’m focusing on it.
• I eat too much sugar. I was so good about for so long and I made the choice to ignore my better judgement and hop back on the treat train. I will make that a specific goal for next week. Why not this week? I’m trying to focus my attention on other things and want to get those under control first.
• I suck at logging my food. I use MyFitnessPal and I find myself omitting certain items and I’m waging a battle in my mind over that. I will work on getting better at it.

I feel more in control of how I approach each meal and each workout. We all struggle with things and some more than others but I’m choosing to focus on setting realistic goals and chipping away at them in manageable chunks. I don’t expect to be a fitness model by the end of my 12 week journey but you can bet your ass I’ll be a stronger, healthier, more mindful version of myself by then!