SKINNY is overrated.

I have gotten my a$$ handed to me, from a DVD workout, in my living room,  for the last four days.

I have woken up for the last three mornings feeling like I was run over by an 18-wheeler, dragged off the road by a pack of wild squirrels, and then beaten with a few baseball bats, specifically in the calves, lower back, and shoulders (those squirrels have an accurate swing!).

And I've never felt better.

There was a time where my sole purpose for working out was to be skinny.  To fit into a smaller size.  There was a time, say most of my teenage years and a good part of my early twenties, where I probably obsessed about it more often than not.  Never in a dangerous way, but certainly not very healthy. I loathed my "non-skinny" body...yet the irony is, there are many that would scoff and say that I've "always" been skinny (save for pregnancies and those two years way back in college where I lived on pasta and beer, lol).  And they would be right. Hello typical female-young-adult horrible body image. This is where traditionally we would blame the media, etc, but there is no sense pointing fingers now, for those days in my life are over.


Because as I progress as an athlete, a health/fitness professional, and as a wiser woman (here's hoping, haha), I'm realizing that "skinny" is absolutely overrated.  That toothpick arms and legs that can't do a full minute of squats or even ten push ups are pretty useless.  What good is a size 4 waist if it can't fend for itself?  Good for looking at? Maybe for some. But does it come in useful, especially if that body struggles to do everyday things, like lifting your 35 lb 2 year old any higher than your hips?  Heck no.

And even more than overrated or superficial....skinny does not always equal HEALTHY.
Biggest misconception EVER.

Believe it or not, I'm currently what you would call "skinny fat".  Yeah, yeah, roll your eyes, most people do, but it is what it is.   I eat junk food more than I should and slide by with the luck of the genetic draw giving me my  father's metabolism (thanks Dad!) Most recent caliper measurements by a professional who has been doing this for YEARS (therefore, I trust her accuracy) measured me in at 26% body fat. 34 lbs of me, the equivalent of my 2 year old, is fat.   According to ACSM, that ranks me as a "poor". But again, what's a number?  In this case, simply an example to show you that looks can certainly be deceiving.

 So let's go with upper body fitness assessments. Push ups? "fair".  Bench press one rep max? "very poor".   Sure, I can run 15+ miles without stopping in an easy zone 2. Sure I have finished 6 marathons, all in better than average to average times. Sure, I can take home local 5k age group and overall awards. And yes, I do make fitness a priority. 

But a fine, well rounded, specimen of physical fitness? That I am not.

PLEASE do not get me wrong, the intention of this blog post is NOT to tear myself down.  I am very proud of all that my body HAS accomplished, and the hard work it HAS put forth up until now.  I'm proud of my motivation, I'm proud of my dedication. I love my body.

But the body that I love...is weak. And as my passion for fitness furthers, I'm realizing that my personal fitness has been very narrowly focused on...you guessed it...running. And that narrow focus has ultimately only been a disservice to my running. 

A lot of you commented, tweeted, and dailymile-d asking me to continue posting progress as I tackle this ridiculously INSANE fitness program appropriately named "Insanity".  So here is your first update:  I've finally found something to push the "weak me" to the "strong me". Sure, there are plenty of other outlets to do this.  But something finally lit that spark for me.


action shot, weeee! Check out the beet red face, ha!



4 days in.  56 days to go.

Never in my life have I been brought to my knees out of pure exhaustion so dang QUICKLY by a workout. I'm lucky if I can do a third of everything they do on the video without needing a break. It's no joke.
 
Never in my life have I wanted to conquer something so darn badly.  Never have I felt so defeated, yet so motivated at the same time. I want more and more.

Push push push. Dig deeper (Shaun T has brainwashed me already). Find what you are made of.  Something I've always tried to push the brink of with running, but never able to cross that mental and physical pain threshold.  For some reason, this makes me do that. I mean, I'm grunting, yelling (all while my boys are laughing their butts off at me) with shaking arms and legs that make me want to puke. And just when I think I'm going to do so, it's a 30 second break. 

I promise this blog is not about to become "Globe jump and push up jack FASTER mommy!", but I will update you once a week with my progress report, measurements, and  pictures, since so many of you have asked.  And hopefully, I will update you with FASTER run times. I WILL tell you that only 4 days in, I'm so convinced that this the most crazy, kick a$$ thing I've ever done, I even signed up to be a Beachbody coach. Yes, the thing I scoffed at just a few weeks earlier (I'm very overprotective of my degree, really pretentious I know).  I am the queen of totally tearing down infomercial based fitness fads. But that's how much I love this workout  (Again, I won't harass you with any of the coach stuff either, but if you are interested, you know where to find me).

So there you have it, your first update on the quest to find a STRONGER me. Running will always be my #1 love, but today,  I finally feel like I'm headed in the right direction. There is something so incredibly rewarding about knowing you pushed yourself way past your comfort zone, past something you knew you could do into something you never believed you would even try.

What have YOU done to push your limits today?