Bugger it, I have had a gut full of making other people happy and life, although full of stuff that should satisfy the average person in the Western world, just isn't. It is time to give myself another challenge. Just back from the gym and whilst there I decided to do my best to drop 5 kg by Christmas. So here is my mid-August pledge:
Get me! I saw a great photo on someone else's blog a while ago of a girl running and it read, "you are losing weight with every step", well I typed that into G images and on the first page this picture came up. I heartily agree with the sentiment and had a quick browse of the blog it featured on. It transpires that a very attractive, seemingly slender, 21 year old girl is obsessed with not indulging, she is lacking self-esteem and is no doubt she is under immense pressure (or that is her perception) to look like the photo shopped girls in the glossy mags. Now I am more than double her age and like to think that I am not effected by the commercially driven tosh in the media and no longer buy magazines of this type, but of course I do want to be in control of myself again and this is not tied up with trying to compete in the sexual Olympics - which was certainly the hormone driven case from the age of 12-29. It would have gone on further and would no doubt still be the case but I have been in a long term relationship since 29 and for many years didn't even look at other blokes (and rarely do now) and so the motivation about all related issues has fundamentally altered. Contentment can make you fat and lazy, is that so bad?
However you can take this too far and as late middle-age approaches, I find myself being bored by the debauched lifestyle I used to absolutely love. Stop press - oh no, it happened again, just back from a birthday of a very good friend and it was supposed to be fun but it was just short of the mark. I am clearly going through a transition stage and N called it, it was just a farce and bullshit - his perception but he is not used to having to please everyone and I am a master at at least attempting it. His essential issue does speak volumes for him though.
Can I break the habit [training] of a life time?
Did enjoy being told I looked good tonight (by my friend) and this does give me a buzz, is this my new drug?
Just discovered a running tips site and here are a few superlatives, for running and life in general!
- You must listen to your body. Run through annoyance, but not through pain
- My whole teaching in one sentence is: "Run slowly, run daily, drink moderately, and don't eat like a pig.
- I believe in using races as motivators. It's hard to keep on an exercise program if you don't have a significant goal in sight.
- Build with care - If you put down a good solid foundation, you can then build one room after another and pretty soon you have a house. After your base mileage, add hills, pace work, speed work, and finally race strategy.
- Your body is always trying to tell you where you are. Beware when you become tired and listless, when you lose interest in workouts and approach them as a chore rather than a pleasure - so just beware!
- Divide and conquer - Pick one thing each year that you need to improve, and work on that. It might be improving your diet, getting more sleep, or increasing your mileage. You can't work on everything at once
- Get over it - If you have a bad workout or run a bad race, allow yourself exactly 1 hour to stew about it--then move on
 |
| PUT THE TIGER IN THE CAT |
No comments:
Post a Comment