The week in review

It has been a terrible week... And that's putting it lightly. In response, my nutrition and workouts have totally been out of whack.

I'm an emotional eater. If I'm sad, I'll throw caution to the wind and seek comfort in all things sugary. Usually, simply knowing this about myself helps me keep control. But this week was a doozy.

I've also forgone my logging of both diet and exercise, which only makes it worse. If I don't have to see it clearly spelled out, then for me, its much easier to pretend it didn't happen. But the proof is in the mirror, on the scale, and in the way I feel physically.

Wednesday and Thursday I actually managed to hit the gym with high energy and had really good workouts; burned out a lot of grief! But I didn't bother aligning my nutrition accordingly.

Then today I found myself going through the motions, forcing my way through a back/biceps workout without a plan and without any conviction whatsoever. Finally, I realized that neither my body nor my heart was in it, so I left.

I'm writing this entry to say that it's completely ok to take an unplanned day off every now and then. Listen to your body. It will tell you when it needs a break, emotionally or physically. You need your body and heart/mind to fuel your workouts. If one component is missing, your workout won't be complete.

Most of the time when you're not feeling it at first, if you just get up and start the workout anyway, the fuel will come pretty quickly and you'll be glad you pushed yourself over that little slump.

However, there are times when you legitimately need a break and forcing a workout in spite of this can actually be detrimental rather than helpful. You could get injured from using bad form, for instance. In these circumstances, it's ok to take a break. I ended up cutting my workout 30 minutes short and going home early today.

That said, it's most definitely NOT OK to lie to yourself. Learn your body's and brain's physical and mental cues and learn the difference between feeling whiny, and feeling legitimately exhausted. Only you can determine how you feel. Don't shortchange yourself by lying to yourself. It's NEVER worth it, and your results WILL suffer for it. Mark my words, I speak from experience.

I'm looking forward to starting a new week with better nutrition to fuel my body properly, and more conviction in my workouts! I just have to remind myself that just because I'm sad, that's no excuse to take that anguish out on my body. I have to live in this body; shouldn't I try my hardest to make sure it's a great place to live?

How do you pull yourself out of a funk, no matter what the trigger happens to be? Share below!

P.S. Pinterest week kicks off on Monday so stay tuned!
P.P.S. check out my Facebook page and click on the Gold's Gym link to redeem your free 7-day trial pass in time to come with me to spinning tomorrow morning at Taylorsville at 8:30 AM! I hope to see you whenever you're ready and when I do, I officially challenge you to a Step Mill Interval competition!

Peace.