Month: August 2015

guess who’s back, back again.

Aside ~ ~ loveandlunge ~ Leave a comment

Well.  A lot has happened since my last post.  I officially packed up all my stuff and moved out of my old, little apartment and in to a beautiful 150 year old farmhouse in the middle of a nature preserve.  The preserve is all grasslands and is surrounded by about 3 miles of walking trail which is perfect for Boo.  I was a little hesitant about moving here initially because I have never lived in such an isolated location, but it seemed silly to pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity.

By far and away my favorite part so far about the farmhouse is the amount of activities we can do outside now.  I bought boo a tether and she is loving the new freedom.  We spent a good portion of th e weekend with her leashed up and my doing yoga or lying on my mat.  She loves to just sit and bask in the sun and I can’t blame her.  The views just make you want to sit outside forever and just stare.

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My favorite form of exercise is the spontaneous kind.  The kind that isn’t planned and just appears organically and feels so good.  Enter saturday morning.  It was my rest day, but I wanted to go for a walk around the preserve because I was still up early.  I started walking, but then my legs and body were just aching for a run and I took off.  I ran about a mile and a half completely care and time free and it was amazing.  It felt incredible to not be bound to anything; my watch, the road, a machine.  I plan on doing this more often, just going.  I love working out, don’t get me wrong, but some days it can feel like a chore.  I’m glad this move has helped to reinvigorate me and I’m excited to take on other new adventures fitness or otherwise.

-sj

i didn’t come this far to only come this far.

~ loveandlunge ~ Leave a comment

What a hectic past couple of weeks!  I have been working hard studying for my GMAT and getting ready for a big move this weekend.  That coupled with a lot stuff going on at work has made this week pretty stressful.  But finishing up BBG 1.0 for the second time made it all better.  It’s the little things.  I started BBG 2.0 yesterday and I’m already loving it.  A friend asked me the other day why I liked the workouts and kept sticking with them and I really had to think about it.  It’s become so much a habit at this point that I just do it.  I enjoy somedays more than others, but overall, the results I’ve seen are far worth it.  As I head in to BBG 2.0, this quote I found the other day sums up my journey thus far perfectly.

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I have seen significant changes in my person throughout this entire experience and crave more.  I don’t want to look back because I know the harder I work and push myself forward, the more I will achieve.  I don’t ever want to be a slave to anything, particularly a workout plan, but there are two things that really resonate with me with Kayla’s plan.  The first is that it is all mapped out for me, and the second is that it brings with it a community of insanely supportive women that only want what’s best for each other.

When I first attempted to try weightlifting at the gym, I think it’s safe to say it was a colossal failure.  I had no idea what I was doing and I would wander aimlessly from machine to machine praying I was doing it right and counting down the milliseconds until I could officially call my workout done.  Every workout was kind of a haphazard, disjunct flop around the gym that left me with little to no results and little to no motivation to continue.  By having a plan mapping out exactly what I should do when I get to the gym, I feel more structured and excited to get to the gym. I know what I’m doing when I get there and I can’t back out because it needs to get done and I’m the type of person who lives for structure.  If you are just starting working out, go in with a plan.  It makes everything seem less overwhelming and will help you keep the eye on the prize in the long run.

The other aspect I love about the BBG is the community I’ve found through social media.  Fitness can be a highly individual thing.  I know I prefer to not talk to a soul when I am at the gym.  I just get in my own zone and go.  But, with this online community, I can swap stories about my workouts with other like minded people.  I can learn from their successes and failures and they can learn from mine.  We are all working for the common good and that is to better ourselves.  Support systems are crucial when you’re making changes.  Seek out friends in unexpected places.  You never know what else you’ll get out of it.

-sj