Having enjoyed a very pleasant Saturday evening of my 'should include foods' (refer to previous entry for details), I decided it was time for a visit to the gym this morning. After all, I can't possibly start my new program on a back-foot. Whilst there I saw a very interesting quote on the board. It went (something) like this
"If you want something you've never had before, you have to do something you've never done before"
This got me thinking about my upcoming program; What is it I do now? What do I hope to achieve/gain from it? And yes, what is it really that I want that I've not had before?
There's this part of me, a minuscule little grain of thought that lurks deep within the maze of pathways that make up the brain), that wonders just how much more my body is capable of. I know in my heart of hearts, that although I always put my full efforts into achieving any of my goals, there is always a teeny part of me that wonders if I could've added just little bit extra, worked that little bit harder, run that little bit faster, pushed that little bit harder….
A perfect example of this was in the completion of my previous challenge (aforementioned Michelle Bridges 12wk Transformation). I entered this wholeheartedly, with my main aim at the time being to lose weight. I set a goal to lose a minimum of 5kg but was really (secretly) aiming for 8-10kg. Over the 12wks, I did lose 10kg's. Yay, goal achieved! *jumps off chair and does the happy dance*. Much of this was down to organised food planning and following a weekly meal plan of the correct portion sizes and proportions. However, exercise (not surprisingly) also played a large part in this. With that particular program there are a lot of different exercise programs to choose from, making it dynamic and suitable for anyone. I started off signing up to the "Advanced Lean & Fit" category, which gave ample videos and workouts suitable for both home, gym and even an outdoor fitness regime, to be completed 6 days a week. I followed this for about 2, possibly 3 weeks, at which point I decided that it wasn't really the program for me and switched to a running program. I chose the 'Run a Half-Marathon' option as I had previously (a few years previously) run a half-marathon or two and decided that was where I wanted to get back to. I followed the program almost to the letter, ran my half-marathon at the end of the 12wks (with a PB), lost my weight and felt fabulous, very proud and super satisfied with my efforts.
Until (yes, there's always an 'until') that little part of my brain wondered where I would be at physically had I followed and completed my original choice of program.
I'd achieved everything I'd set out to do, but somehow (strange as it may sound), I had still managed to stay within my comfort zone. Choosing to do something I knew I would not fail at.
This time around my goal is not weight-loss. Neither is it to run (another) half-marathon. (Possibly a full marathon down the track but that'll be a whole other story!)
Two years on, that seed of thought has grown enough for me to finally embrace what I really want, and that is to become whatever it is I can become when I'm really pushed out of my comfort zone.
Image courtesy of Google Images
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