Just doing it {again}

If you take a look at my run keeper app on my phone it tells me that my last run was on the 10th August. And then the day before that on the 9th. That was because I had new running attire from NY I had to show off. Der. Before then? Oh the 4th June. And before that? THE 31st JANUARY. Prior to that it was every second or third day for about 2 months. I felt great, my fitness was the best it had been in ages, I felt fabulous inside, in my head, and as a bonus I was toned and relatively jiggle free around all my normally jiggly spots. Or did I feel great? Is it just in hindsight that I looked a whole lot better than I do now so I should have felt great. I’ve never had that post exercise elation shenanigans. I struggle making myself do it. I struggle while doing it. And afterwards I am just relieved the whole thing is over and done with until the next time.

This morning I went for a walk and it looked like this:

I got home puffed and red in the face and sore in places already. Did I feel great? Not really. Most of the time I was out I was battling with my head – just run to that spot there and then you can walk for a bit, only to have my head stop me 2 metres before and wonder what it is inside of you that makes you stop. It was beautiful out there, and quiet. I saw a few rabbits and a dead wombat. I wonder why I couldn’t just be in the moment and enjoy it for what it was: time away from the kids, a slow start to the day, a chance to clear my head. Instead it was beating myself up, setting challenges, failing.

I got home and after School drop off I made breakfast that looked like this:

Some eggs. Some smoked salmon. A shit load of dill and rocket. And lashings of pepper and salt. It was delicious.

I’m sure the secret to good eating is herbs, and lots of them. They make EVERYTHING tastier. And I swear I didn’t even miss the bread and butter. Eating well isn’t really hard. A tasty salad tastes a whole lot better than 2 cheese sandwiches on white bread with butter spread on thick. This breakfast tasted better than vegemite toast. It’s a little harder to do, but is worth the effort 10 fold.

A bit like exercise I suppose. Stupid exercise.

Comments

  1. Stupid exercise πŸ™‚

    Yes, I need to get my act together. Lately, I classify a vacuum session as my workout, and I’ve been missing lunch {to cram in some work, while the kids sit & eat} and then pigging out on crap at 4pm coz I’m starving and cranky!!
    Gotta fix that!!

    Thanks for the inspiration and prompt!

    Shit, your local scenery is amazing! The best place to walk/run and clear your mind & soul.

    Love it.

    x

  2. I feel the same way about exercise too. I find it so boring. I put the two little ones in the pram after school drop off and power around the streets a couple of times a week, but that’s the extent of it. I’ve got a gorgeous bike but she’s built for looks, not speed. I’m no gym junkie that’s for sure! Give me a coffee and some cake any day.

  3. I have run all my life and I can safely say that it is a rare run indeed where I am having the time of my life WHILE actually running. Which makes you wonder why I run at all.

    And the answer is that for me, nothing feels as good as *having been for a run* (a bit like nothing feels as good as having written something … but the writing process itself can be quite painful)

    Two of life’s wonderful paradoxes πŸ˜‰

  4. I could never get into the whole running thing either – and after two kids I really needed to get out of the house/get fit. My SIL told me about Couch to 5K. There are apps to download and it helps you get running. I even ran 5k in one go….once! I’m just starting to get back into again now!

  5. I have a beautiful vineyard on my doorstep to run around, safe and no cars around – you think that would be motivation enough – but it’s not. I really need to pull finger and start. The jiggly bits are getting jigglier………….

  6. Another excellent post Beth. No idea how you do it, but you make everything seem so pretty and special:-) Vicki

  7. I LOVE THIS POST.

    Everything you just said is so true, and apt as we head into the silly season. It’s all it takes, a few tweaks and runs, and our heads feel better. And jiggles get tighter. (Says the woman who gnawed on two European KitKits right before sleep last night.)

    XX

  8. Keep trying Beth and don’t beat yourself up if you don’t exercise or eat the wrong thing. I too have been trying to become a little fitter and eat healthier…slowly very slowly it is starting to pay off. If I miss a day or two walking so be it…if I eat the wrong thing there’s always tomorrow to try harder. I still have those days where I start out hating the walk…and my surroundings here in the Blue Mountains are lovely like yours…but I try to persevere..and if I really don’t feel like it, I don’t go and try again tomorrow. Every little bit counts and if nothing else it balances out the over indulgence at other times.Annie M

  9. Just remember – it’s 70% (or 80%?) what you eat that makes the difference. Exercise is good, but it’s not the be all that people make you believe for weight loss…Life is way too short to be doing something you hate Beth! Have you tried any High Intensity Interval Training? With a skipping rope or rower machine? 15 mins and you’re done. Short and sweet, max effort, min time, better results than the treadmill hours I used to log. Google it! πŸ˜‰

  10. Go you! Cyber ‘hi five’. I try to get up a 5am before the child wakes and pound the pavement. I hate every second but feel so good for the rest of day when I do. People pass me with their bouncy, fluid like running styles. I feel jealous. I want to run like they do.

    • Sarah Jane – that’s me too! I get up before the kids and run (as for you, it always makes my day better). Every other runner looks super-smooth … I dread to think what I look like. But hey, I’m doing it…
      Good on you Beth for giving it a crack. I reckon if you stick with it you will soon start enjoying it.

    • I know I look terrible, I’m the one the other runners look at and think to themselves ‘hope I don’t look like that’. But my care factor is low. I am out there having a go and that is what matters!

  11. I totally get the thing about running Beth. I just can’t do it. If I’m not doing an activity that I truly enjoy – swimming at the moment – then I am just going through the motions. Am also trying haed to make good food choices. Grilled haloumi and rocket for breakfast was delish. Will take your lead and do eggs and salmon tomorrow. Thanks!

  12. Luckily my boobs are too big for running so I just don’t do it, they are saggy enough. It is such as hassle exercising but if I don’, I start to ache, my GORD comes back and of course I put on weight. So I do 40 mins at the gym 3 mornings a week. I used to do an hour but it was unsustainable so I cut it back to 40. I watch the clock like a hawk and don’t do a second more than I have to.
    Really hard but really worth it.
    Carolyn

  13. Totally agree on the food thing… good food actually tastes FAR better, it’s just about time and where the head is. I don’t run, I jog/shuffle in a ladylike fashion, actually in an old lady like fashion. But swimming, now there’s a marvellous exercise. After the wee op down below I feel as if I’ll never manage to run (or have sex) ever again. Lets hope time heals ALL those wounds.

  14. That breakfast looks 1000 times better then my honey on toast shared with my one year old!
    I count house work and running after kids as exercise. Maybe just to make up for the fact I do no exercise! Good on you for actually getting out there. Can’t complain about the view!

  15. I wrote a post today about how much I don’t enjoy exercise but do it anyway. I subscribe to the half arsed is better than none exercise philosophy. It means if I’m really not into it, I just do the bare minimum, but I still do it. Amazingly after you start you usually get a bit into it. But I still swear at the alarm clock when it goes off and wish I didn’t have to exercise at all.

  16. I fight with myself every day. Every single fucking day x

  17. That breakfast looks amazing! I agree about herbs especially dill, god I love dill.

    I’m struggling with the same demons at the moment.
    You know what, just enjoy the walk, forget about the running (for now). My secret has been incidental exercise, walk to the shops instead of drive, take the stairs, chase the kids in the yard. I just mentally struggle with set exercise. Good luck!

  18. Other than the gooey eggs that breakfast looks absolutely delicious.
    My daily breakfast consists of a hot chocolate and waiting until lunch time because I just dont like breakfast food… you are doing a whole lot better than I!

  19. DUUUUUUUDE!!! Good ON you. Just chip away at it mate (not packet of chips by the way). Before you know it, Christmas will be here, you’ll have done 18 more bouts of exercise (based on 3 times a week for 6 weeks) and you’ll have eased into a more healthy eating routine and it all won’t feel so hard. Trust me, I know! I’ve been sugar free for a month now and I feel so freaking better. I’m going to blog about it soon. Huge fistpump from me dude xxx (Ms_Clutterbuck)

  20. The healthy eating I can do. And enjoy it. It’s the exercise I loathe. And, like you, mess my own head up while I’m doing it.
    I find that I can easily talk myself out of or find excuses for not doing excercising, but I struggle to talk myself into doing it.
    I pretend I like it though – trying the whole “fake it to you make it approach”… I’m hoping it will work eventually…
    Keep at it. x

  21. I am a stopper too…and I hate that I am a stopper…why can’t I just put my head down and make it to the top of the hill?

    I must admit I have really stopped with the exercise completely.
    I walk to work three days a week but that is about it.
    I love to eat well though.
    I feel SO MUCH BETTER when I put good food in my body.

    Back in the day when I was exercising something that always helped me was, it takes three weeks to make something a habit.
    So if you can make it another twenty days, then walking or running or whatever you chose, will become part of your routine.

  22. Stupid exercise, so much easier in winter to ignore the wobbly bits. I know I should, but… maybe tomorrow? Umm, just let me finish my block of chocolate and then I will think about it.

    http://iliska-dreams.blogspot.com.au/

  23. Gorgeous photos of your walk outlook lady. Well done for getting back on the horse xo

  24. The couch to 5km app is great. I couldn’t run a minute when I started it 8 or so weeks ago. Now I’m running about 4kms without stopping, and I know when my FUN RUN (yes fun and run in the one sentence, who knew?) lobs in early Dec, I’ll be able to go the distance. I have lost 15kg all up this year, but shit I had it to lose. And I’m still 7 or so kg out of my healthy weight range, so I have a little way to go. Everyone wants to know the secret, but it has been mostly diet. And I don’t mean going on a diet, but just changing what I eat. Cutting crap, cutting portions, eating more of the good stuff and paying more attention to what I eat at what time of day. It takes a shit tonne of discipline, as cake seems to be there every time I turn around, but I’m getting better and the results are there. I know you can do this too.
    xo

  25. I love that you keep it real. Make exercise fun. Take a friend and chat while your at it! Xxx

  26. I know, up yours exercise! My bete noir.

  27. Your walk looked amazing! Lucky you having all that beautiful scenery to look at… but yes, stupid exercise haha! Breakfast looked mighty good too!

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