I used to be the queen of naps. In college I'd come home and nap as soon as I walked in the door. There wasn't even a question, it just happened. Even if I had to go to work and that meant setting my alarm for 10 minutes later, I napped.
What I realized much later in life is that napping makes me feel WORSE, especially if I sleep for a long time. Naps are great if they're kept to 30 minutes or less, but if I wind up sleeping longer than that it generally has the opposite of the desired effect.
So yes, back to Sunday. I decided to go against everything I know to be true and take a nap. Said nap lasted 1.5 hours and I woke up feeling less tired, but definitely not refreshed. I was sluggish and unmotivated.
The whole point of this story is, I was up until 3:30 in the morning on Sunday night into Monday since I had slept so much during the day. Needless to say, when my alarm went off at 6:45 am Monday morning, I was not pleased. I was so sleepy all day on Monday and despite going to bed ay 10:15 pm last night, I woke up feeling like crap this morning.
My list of morning ailments:
My teeth still hurt (don't even go there)
Lower back pain (again... STILL!)
Heel pain (MUCH MUCH better)
My calves hurt (dumb Insanity DVD)
Sore throat (allergies? getting sick?)
Stuffy ears (same as above)
And that was before I even got out of bed.
Upon reflection in the mirror I added:
Bags under my eyes
Dark circles under my eyes
Shit, I look just like my brother (yes my BROTHER)
Tell me that doesn't look JUST LIKE ME!
Whew, this is getting a little long winded, especially when you find out my point. My point? Oh yes, there is a point. The point is....
I could have made excuses this morning (or yesterday morning for that matter) not to work out. I count 9 reasons I've listed above that might have caused others to stay locked away inside their house (yes looking like my brother is one). I did not, however, allow any of those reasons to hold me back.
I went, begrudgingly mind you, to the gym today for a 45 spin sesh and you know what? I didn't regret it. Not once did I say, "I wish I hadn't gone," or "I shoulda, I coulda, I woulda." I just went, and you know what else? It felt GOOD. No, no scratch that, it felt GREAT, FABULOUS even.
So make all the excuses you want, come up with a million reasons NOT to do what you NEED to do, but that's all they are, EXCUSES. The truth of the matter is excuses don't work here. There will always be a reason NOT to get out there and do it. Today it's the flu, but tomorrow it's a hangnail. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely days you NEED to rest or a REAL VALID reason prevents you from getting in your workout. The truth is, you and I know the difference and most days excuses are just that and NOT good enough. So, just do it and you won't spend the rest of the day regretting it.
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