Monday 30 June 2014

My struggle (excessive training)

This weightloss/fitness journey is not easy, it’s not easy for me too. If I say this everybody around me will be shocked because I enjoy my workouts and I enjoy the food choices I make. I have no issue with eating a fruit for dessert or planning my day around my workouts...my issue seems to be the other end of the spectrum I cannot skip a workout. I used to work out 6 days a week now finally I have cut it down to 5 days a week after being forced to by Michelle but all 5 days are intense workouts even though I don’t do the same thing every day. I know a lot of people who will think this is perfect and it is perfect if everything else in my life goes as planned.
There have been days when I have not eaten enough because I was busy with something else but still gone ahead and done my workout. I know without fuel either my workouts will suffer or I will get injured but I have still gone ahead and done it. When I am injured I can’t take a break. I might reduce my intensity change my workout days but it is a struggle for me to actually skip a workout.
Last week I pulled a muscle in my back and I had to be forced by Michelle and T to not working out. I was really miserable, I was cranky, I was moody...I knew what right thing to do was but it was very difficult.
Finally over the weekend I sat down to handle this problem after an argument about all this with T

Why is extensive working out harmful?
1.   My muscles are always sore because of which I pull my muscles very easily.
2.  My maximum intensity keep dipping that’s because I cannot physically keep up when my muscles are not really getting time to repair
3.  For the time and effort I put in the results are not as expected.I feel like I am stuck at the same level.My fitness level is not really improving.



Why I do what I know is harmful for me?
The first thing that comes to my mind is fear!!! I get scared of going back to who I used to be. I get worried about going back to not enjoying exercising, going back to not being able to run and going back to my starting weight. I feel I have finally reached a stage where I don’t have to force myself to workout instead I workout because I enjoy it but I know I was this person who would cry to enter the gym what if I go back to being that person??this fear stops me from taking breaks.
The other thing that stops me from ever taking a break is the feeling of not yet being good enough. Over time my goals have changed but somehow in my mind I can only see my new fitness goals which are very far away at this point and I blindly believe hard work, consistency will get me to those goals so I feel if I stop I will not reach my goals...

What can I do to keep moving forward?
To overcome my fear of slipping into bad habits I am going to be accountable to somebody (T specifically) so if it looks like I am overdoing it or at any point I’m making an excuse, skipping my workouts for no valid reason I will have somebody point it out immediately before I go spiralling down and reach my starting point.
I am making a very detailed goal list. So I no longer have a list which says being able to run, instead I will break it down to being able to run 20K in a specific time. This way I will see my improvements and tick them off before moving to another random goal.

Most importantly I will keep reminding myself :  The reason I workout is to get fit and healthy. If I keep working out even when I am tired at some point my hard work is not going to be helping me move forward instead it could be one of my biggest obstacles.
Working hard is good but working hard in the right direction is important
Hopefully keeping these two things in my mind will help me get my exercise level to a point where I am improving and not getting injured so frequently.

If any one of you have faced similar problem I would love to know how you handled it? I hope answering these 3 questions can really help you decide your workouts too

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing  
Tanvee

11 comments:

  1. If u keep changing ur goals i think u will never be happy as u keep striving whole of ur life. If the motive is just to be fit and healthy with a reasonable goal it should be fine. Doing intense workouts even when u lack fuel may hsve detrimental impact. Take care. I m no where in position to answer ur questions. The above are my views. Take care. All the best.

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    1. you are right...intense workout without fuel is a bad idea..I have learned my lesson..hopefully I won't make that mistake again...thanks for your comment :)

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  2. Intense workouts can backfire, you might find yourself mentally and physically exhausted to the point you don't do anything. Now, I'm trying to find the balance.

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    1. Me too...I need to figure out how find my balance before I reach the point of exhaustion. ..

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  3. I agree, you should find a balance and stick with it. Lovely pic xx

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    1. Thanks Z...I trying to figure out the balance thing now...:)

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  4. I am like you at least as far as the workouts (and the quantity of workouts ... I'm not sure if mine are really all that intense). I can NOT master the eating, I still like my junk food, so I feel I need my cardio to combat the calories. I do enjoy the workouts though, and feel like the endorphins help battle stress and depression. I did take a rest day yesterday (did do two 20min elliptical sessions, but didn't even hit 10K steps). I'm sitting out a family vacation ... part of that is anxiety over other issues, but not being able to exercise for several days did play a part in the decision. So even though I am skipping out on the vacation, I have been trying to go do something with the kids every day (bowling, bounce house, swimming) even though it does impact my exercise time. I wear my Fitbit, and as much as it is a motivator to move MORE, sometimes I do use it as a gauge to say "you know, you are at 20K for the day, that is enough!" even if I have the time and desire to hit the basement gym again.

    I am feeling wondering, no injuries ... like I said, while I'm putting in a lot of time, my workouts can be somewhat mild at times. I'm just "active" not really "exercising" for hours. But I do know it is something I need to pay attention to and watch ...

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    1. As long as your body can take it and you are happy I guess it's not as bad as me...I need to calm down a bit...maybe some days just focus on being active instead of always challenging myself

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  5. I don't think intense work outs are the way to go ... isn't it all about balance?

    All the best Jan

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    1. I definitely have to reduce my intense workouts..The problem is I have so much fun.pushing or challenging myself I don't realise how much I am pushing myself till after I am done...now I working on finding a balance such that I can continue to challenge myself without actually harming or getting injured...which means I need to find a balance :)

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  6. I have been resistant to rest days. In fact, last year, I was telling my prior trainer that I had a rest day the prior day and had only done 500 kettlebell swings. It was also the day that I met with my current trainer. He still gives me a hard time about that. He keeps telling me that rest days are rest days....no swings, no running, no ab exercises, etc. It's hard but I realized that I needed to figure out how to deal with rest days as I was paying him a lot of money for his advice and help. I know take long walks two days a week....and some stretching....but nothing else. I also had to cut back the various activities that I really wanted to do...because i was trying to do so many different things each week, I was stressing myself out if I couldn't get the all in. Now I am focused on weight lifting...I still cardio intervals, stair climbing and hiking but I have cut out running, boxing and a few other things that I enjoyed but not as much as lifting.

    I still struggle....every rest day....but it is getting easier.

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