Has it Really Been That Long?

It was a long week without my kids, but luckily for me, my husband is active, and we got a lot of walking in.  We even discovered some new paths that are so plush and green it was like drawing in fresh air.  I have to say, it's been a long time since I've felt this good, finally my energy is returning and my muscles don't feel like they are going to crumble when I use them. 

I got back in the gym today, and it felt great.  I hate how my arms are looking after not training them for months.  I think the last time I was seriously training and sticking with anything was a year ago, when I was doing the Live Fit Trainer program.  I did put some muscle on and was happy with how things were going, but so many things I was doing were irritating my knee, and I dropped out all together when I got the shingles and my knee swelled to epic proportions.  So when I start to pout about how "quickly" my body changed for the worse, I need to realize that was at least 8 months of not modifying and working out a way around it, eight months that I succumbed to stress and simply gave up.  And worse, eight months of letting junk creep into my diet, compounding the problem instead of fixing what was broken.  

Today as I watched myself in the gym mirror, struggling to complete some triceps work, my immediate response to my reflection was disgust.  I looked at my ugly arms and thought I really shouldn't be wearing sleeves that are this short, and a whole slew of other negatives wanted to take up space in my head, but then I looked at my triceps doing what they could, and I realized that I could just as easily have still been in bed, like I've done for the better part of a year.  And I remembered that not only has atrophy had its way with my body, but it is going to take a while for my iron and vitamin D levels to get where they should be, so I truly can't expect to be Wonder Woman just because I used to be able to lift heavier.  This time around I am paying more attention to my mind, and not letting it set me up for failure.  I'm grateful  that I'm not still all hung up on running, that whole thing messed me up for a while, but it was a valuable lesson about how that kind of mental, self-inflicted torture can stop me dead in my tracks.  

My diet this week is focusing on veggies more.  I am eating two salads a day and because nealy everything I would generally eat for breakfast interferes with iron absorption, I have been juicing for breakfast.  I was a little suspicious of juicing as a meal, but when I look at the fresh veggies on the plate before I juice them I think I wouldn't want to sit and eat all of this for breakfast, and then when the gorgeous, colorful juice comes out, I have no problem drinking it down and thinking, pure nutrition!  And yes, I wondered about the fiber I was leaving behind as the refuse, and the answe to that is, the fiber actually slows down the absorption of the nutrients.  I ate a banana with my juice this morning, to help my muscles recover, and in an hour or so I'll eat some soy yogurt for the protein.  This week's juice is comprised of organic kale, organic red chard, organic Granny Smith apple, and cucumbers.  It tastes so good, I always wish I could have more right away.  

On that note, I will quit babbling and bid you a good Monday!  Hope you had a fun and restful weekend.