Reason #9 to Love My Body: Because It's Awesome!
Awesome is such a fun word. In fact, it's one of my favorite words. And the idea of training to be awesome is very much something I would like to embrace. But awesome is also incredibly subjective. Is training to be awesome being able to win a powerlifting competition? Is it training to have defined abs? Is awesome sticking to my macros every single day? I say a resounding HELL NO to all of these. Training to be awesome is similar to strength and takes three components to do it: physical, mental, and emotional.
Physically, training to be awesome is about function. Now, I realize that functional training to some people is trying to stand on a BOSU ball and lift weights. I've seen that version of functional training and it never quite looks functional to me. I can't figure out when on earth I would ever need that skill. To me, functional training to be awesome is about taking the training I do in the gym and applying it to every day life. To complete the task of laundry in my house, it requires repetitive squats to pick up all the clothes that don't make it into the basket INTO the basket. It requires a deadlift to pick up the basket. Endurance to carry that basket down two flights of stairs. Lots of twisting to get the laundry from the washer to the dryer. More deadlifting and endurance to get the laundry from the basement back up the two flights of stairs. And then more endurance to put it all away. Am I exaggerating a little? Maybe.... but for a good point. I don't ever want to be that person who is so muscle-bound that I don't have the flexibility to reach back for a seatbelt in a car. At the same time, I don't want to be so weak that I can't pick up my kids. And I definitely want to keep racing my kids! To do that, my training has to mirror what I want it to do. Have I gotten that figured out yet? Nope. But, it's continually being refined every step of the way.
Mentally and emotionally, training to be awesome is about mindset and learning to appreciate life. Somewhere and somewhen in my life, my relationship with food and diet got very messed up. I learned that foods were "good" and "bad." I counted macros and points and weighed every morsel that went into my mouth. If I didn't know the nutrition facts, it quite simply didn't get eaten. Now, this can be an excellent way to lose weight and get that "look" that people always want. But, emotionally for me, it was one of the unhealthiest, least awesome ways to train that I know. Counting points and counting macros has left me with an even worse relationship with food. Definitely NOT training for awesomeness. So for me, for today, this is my focus of awesome. Learning to eat for enjoyment and learning to not stress about everything that I consume.
Am I already awesome? Yes. Can I train to improve on my already fabulous awesomeness? Absolutely. And because awesome is ALWAYS one of my favorite words...I shall leave you with the epitome of awesome.
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