Enjoy Your Cardio!

This will be short and sweet!  First of all, working out has been going so well.  Not in the way of "i'm losing so much weight."  Yes! I want to lose weight but to be honest, I haven't really been thinking that much about the weight.  I have just been enjoying working.  Being able to go to the gym and do what you want to move your body.  I think one of the reasons why I do not feel slave to it (which I have definitely felt in my past) is because I am more flexible with my workouts and don't pressure myself to do something I do not want to.  I actually really enjoy the gym and all of the aspects to it so finding something I enjoy is easy.  But, to be honest, sometimes I do not want to spend 40 minutes on the elliptical.  So I do not and I do something else.
A prime example of this is tonight.  I wasn't that motivated to go to the gym anyways because by the time I was able to it was nearly 10 at night.  I went anyways and I just didn't want to go on the elliptical for 40 minutes and then lift weights like I normally do.  So instead, I put the intensity really high as well as the incline and powered through for 10 minutes.  I went and lifted weights for 20 minutes and then after that I ran a fast mile on the treadmill.  This intensity workout allowed me to burn the same amount of calories but in a quicker time since I was not that interested in spending that long on cardio machines.  I got an awesome workout and feel great now!
I do have somewhat of a schedule in terms of weight lifting because then I know that I am rotating through my muscle groups and allowing them to heal properly.  In terms of cardio, I burn at least 400 calories doing whatever feels fun!!

Here is my flexible schedule:

Monday - Core (Abs and back)

Wednesday - Arms

Friday - Legs

Extra Day (Whatever day I have off work) - Catch up/Fitness Class
I also always burn 400 calories doing cardio!

What Would You Do if You Weren't Afraid?

Happy Hump Day everyone!
Health is important and it also can be skewed.  Health does not mean skinny.  There are many people who are skinny and not healthy and there are also people who would be deemed fat when they are indeed healthy.  At this point, I am in neither of those categories. I have recently gotten back on the workout and healthy eating train.  You can read about my story right here.  I actually recommend reading this before reading this post because then you can get an idea of where I am coming from and the power that some of these words hold.
With the start of the new quarter, I also wanted to begin exercising again (and when I say again, I have not consistently worked out for about two years).  I became a member of LA Fitness a few months back and have only been a few times.  Now many of you can not relate but I love the gym.  That is my preferred place to work out.  I love the fact that you can do your cardio (yes I love cardio machines and really don't get bored on them) walk 20 feet over to do lifts and then go and catch the hour long yoga class.  I love the versatility of being at the gym.  I decided that if I did not use my gym membership consistently this quarter then I would cancel it.  No use in paying for something you do not use.  Classes for this quarter just so happen to be the perfect time schedule to be able to workout before class.  I can get up around 8 or 830, go to the gym, shower and be ready for 11am class.
The first day of classes (which happened to be a Friday) came and I epically failed at getting up and going to the gym.  I laid in bed with all of my excuses and decided that I would not be going today.  So when Monday came along and I had the same plan and I was so tempted to stay in bed again.  As I was fighting with myself a question came to mind that shouted so loud I could not ignore it..."What are you so afraid of?"  Right away I knew that it wasn't because of laziness or lack of motivation that I was not getting up but rather it was out of fear.  I jumped out of bed went to the gym and thought about fear the whole time I was there.
What am I afraid of?  Jesus has been showing me how much I fear certain things and how much that fear gets in the way of me living.  What was I afraid of?  I was afraid of failing.  It is easier to make excuses and live by those beliefs than to give it a try and fail.  At least that is how I have been living in regards to the gym.  The reason why that shocked me, woke me up and got me out of bed is because I decided about a month ago that I do not want to make decisions out of fear.  I want to make decisions out of faith.  Faith in my self, my abilities and faith that God is with me and even if I do fail, "failure" is not my identity.  Since that morning I have been going to the gym, working hard and more motivated than ever.
I work at Whole Foods market as well and in perfect timing they began a 28 day Engine 2 Diet.  It is a plant based whole foods eating lifestyle.  It is not a diet in terms of Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig.  It is a way of eating to be more healthy.  So for the next 28 days, that will also be going on.
The most beautiful thing I have experienced through this new routine is that I am not in bondage the way I was in the past.  My past scares the crap out of me.  I do not want to get to that point or anywhere close to it!  With this being said, I am not going to let that fear determine the choices I make.  I am excited about this but also not so excited that it is an obsession.  I will keep you updated on "Healthy Hump Day" about my progress, how I am doing and *gasp* my failures ;).
I hope this was a helpful post for you all.  Don't be afraid, it holds us back from too many good things that can happen!