Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Good Distractions

Distractions come in all shapes, sizes, colours, and disguises. And they've tried to trip me up these last few weeks ... attempted to blur my focus towards my fitness goals. Many might think distractions like pizza, chocolate cake, and red wine ... a.k.a BAD distractions ... are the most difficult to handle. I disagree. I believe GOOD distractions are more of a challenge and they almost got me off my game. But I was able to deal with those distractions ... so far.

Here are a couple of my GOOD distractions that took me slightly off track of my fitness goals ... and how I dealt with them.

BANFF GETAWAY
I've been told by countless people that I need to take a break. Getaway and do nothing. So I did last weekend. I went to Banff. Beautiful Banff! Solo. I brought work ... writing, studying, reading. But I ended up not doing any of it. None at all. Stayed up late Friday night. Had a couple glasses of wine. Slept in Saturday morning. Ate bread at lunch. Had caramel and chocolate for dessert. Napped for several hours. Went to the spa. Had more wine and bread with dinner. Sunday morning breakfast I had more bread and even some cheese. Guilty? A bit. But doing and eating whatever I want for a couple days = freedom! Living in the moment. A GOOD distraction! But of course all good things must come to an end (usually they're replaced by better things anyway!!!). This GOOD distraction was easy to deal with. I left Banff ... hahaha ... plus I was so "traumatized" from indulging (and my food belly) that I got back on track once I got home with clean eats and hard training!

GETTING CERTIFIED
It takes more than a one-day workshop to teach Get RIPPED Fitness classes. So far, I've done 2 full weekend courses plus a few team teaching sessions ... and that's barely the tip of the iceberg to get fully certified. I still have an anatomy exam to do, plus a practicum exam to present. So I've had to put aside time to study/prepare for both. While it doesn't really cut into my training time it has taken me away from my sessions with my trainer Nathan at the Hour of Honour. Those sessions keep me focused and totally on my game by shocking my body ... an honourable ass-kicking! It's scary but I L.O.V.E. it! Yes, I train hard in the gym but it's never as hellish as with Nathan. But this certification process is a GOOD distraction because it's part of a bigger goal/dream of mine. It's a GOOD distraction because I get a rush from teaching. Big smiles and great energy! But I can deal with this GOOD distraction too because once both exams are done I can focus on getting as much team teaching in as possible and use those classes as part of my training regime and still have time for my honourable ass-kicking ... YES!

So those are just two of the many other GOOD distractions in my life. And I embrace them all! GOOD distractions remind me that I'm alive and that I have choices. How can that be bad? It's ALL GOOD!