My Sanctuary...

As most of you know (if you've been reading and following this blog) yesterday I was feeling pretty awful about my poor weigh in. Here's the thing about me: when I feel like a failure, I take it to the extremes. Well, I should say that used to be 'the thing' about me. However, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to change that about myself. When I screw up, I vow to stop it right there and correct the screw up and never let it happen again. I'm trying to incorporate this way of thinking within my personal life as well as this weight loss journey. So, when I had that poor weigh in yesterday and I was feeling pretty crappy, I stopped myself and said "Stop it Jules! Turn it around. Make today a productive day." And you know what I did? I went to the gym AFTER class. I decided to make NO excuses for myself. So the baby was sick. So what? I couldn't go to the gym in the morning. So what? Use your time wisely. If there's one thing I've learned in my short 24 years on this earth, its that Time Management skills are valuable in all areas of life. If you learn how to get the most accomplished/completed/done with your time, you will be successful in anything you set out to do.


Before I went to class last night I had already packed my gym bag. I knew that since it was the first class of the semester we would likely be getting out early because everyone knows the first class of the semester in almost any school is usually nothing but B.S. (Syllabus, Rules, Codes of Conduct, Attendance, Get to know the teacher, etc. etc. etc.) So we got out an hour and fifteen minutes early. As I was walking to my car in the freezing cold I was thinking to myself, "I'm tired, I'm cold, I just wanna go home and relax." But then a mental picture of those numbers 1-8-5 flashed in my head and I drove straight to the gym.


I have to be honest with you here. Growing up, I was never extremely athletic. No, that award went to my amazing older brother who was the "Family Athlete": Basketball, Track, and Cross Country to name a few. My sister and I both were involved in Basketball from the age of 9 and up, but other than that, I just wasn't really interested. When I hit sophomore year of High School I even stopped playing basketball and that's when I started gaining the majority of my weight (obviously). My point is this: when I started this weight loss journey I was NOT someone who enjoyed going to the gym and working out. In the beginning I had to look at it as a job of sorts. I had a goal, I knew I had to work to achieve that goal, and even if I hated it (like with many jobs I've had in the past) I knew I HAD to go and workout.

But eventually, I began to enjoy my workouts.

I can honestly say that today, I LOVE WORKING OUT!

This has been a tremendous transformation for me. I have begun to think of the gym and my time within it, as a Sanctuary of sorts. When I get the chance to go to the gym its totally and completely "ME TIME". I don't have to worry about my son, I don't have to worry about time constraints, I don't have to think in general. All I have to do is put one foot in front of the other. All I have to do is just keep going.

There are so many things in my life that I can do wrong. I could write a paper incorrectly for school. I could make a really horrible dinner for my husband and my son. I could forget to pay a bill. One thing after another after another, there are tons of things in our day to day lives that we can pay the consequences for doing "half-assed" or incorrectly. But consider this thought: You can do no wrong when you're working out. Even if you're just walking on the treadmill, you can't go wrong! Everything you do while working out is doing something right and good and positive for yourself and your body. And when you're done working out, those endorphins sure do feel good, don't they? Such a wonderful, natural high for a job well done.

I used to hear people talk about how much they "loved" working out and I used to think, "Who the hell are they kidding? They enjoy sweating? They enjoy getting tired? They enjoy sore muscles? What a bunch of bull." But I'm here to tell you, I have joined the ranks of those people. And here's something refreshing: You Can Too! If you just keep going and going and going. If you make working out or going to the gym apart of your daily routine (believe me, I'm a busy person and I know how difficult it can be to fit it into your schedule) then sooner or later, working out will just become apart of who you are and what you do. I'll leave you with this:

"The future depends on what we do in the present." -Gandhi