Friday, June 22, 2012

Authentic.

I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for quite a bit of time, years actually. This one:

Love has taken me in, lifted my load.
In this empty space, a wonder grows.
A dream of some kind of peace I can hold up as true.
I never knew anything about love before you.

And something for Talon and Jason. A symbol. Maybe some blue light down my arm with the lyrics written inside. They are lyrics from (my favorite artist besides Pink) a Sarah McLachlan song, Love Come. The entire album has the undertones of her emotional journey through her divorce but if you listen to the whole song it could be taken in many ways. The beauty in her music, and she's said it herself, is that she writes for herself but in a way that everyone can interpret it for themselves. This stanza is so important. No joke it's the song I listened to over and over amidst my first Reiki journey when my grip on life was slipping and spinning out of control. It's the last song I listened to before my last Reiki appointment before finding out I was pregnant with Talon. On the other side of that first Reiki journey, I learned more about love and relationships than I ever imagined. Saved me. Saved my marriage. Saved everything I had and then on top of that made everything even better.

This entry should maybe be in Talon's blog too. This one's more about me so I guess that's why I decided to put it here.

The Reiki journey continues with a new chapter of challenges. I was thinking today in my session how I've prefaced talking about Reiki with people like it's weird and I'm apologizing for something weird. Bottom line, it's working with the consciousness and mind-body connection. Everyone can get that. It doesn't mean everyone is willing to tap into their true selves but everyone has had some experience or another. The irony is humans are social beings. We need connection yet we all walk around guarded, unwilling to be authentic. The saddest part: some of us don't even know our authentic selves. We can justify, reason, and lie to ourselves about ourselves everyday then we end up doing the same thing to those around us. Then one day you wake up and look at that person and think, "WHO are you?!" Or, "What am I doing?!" Things happen to us from birth that shape how we perceive the world. How we interpret the world can create our "issues". Shit happens. And sometimes we think shit happened. It's all about the energy. It ebbs, it flows, up, out, and around. Some people have energy that flows up and out. Others have energy that flow more out and out and out....the ego. They drive, they pound, they assert, they defend, they destroy, they blame, they manipulate, they will try to prove. Prove what? Who knows. They suck energy because all they do is take and they have no idea how their actions impact others.

I've been that ego-driven asshole. Ask the 21-year-old me.

What I've learned is my issues reside in the past. Whose don't?! It's my responsibility, specifically if I truly want to succeed at this body transformation thing, to attend to the energy surrounding those moments in my timeline. The work begins by revisiting those moments, the people involved, and moving the stagnant energy that is holding me back. I've tried training for a fitness show before and I failed because I never attended to the wounded self. No one ever hurt me but I thought they did. Now...I have to revisit, search, forgive, replace and give a voice to the silenced. When you want to do something for a long time but you just can't seem to commit, look at your reasons and truly why you are feeling such repulsion. It can get ugly but isn't it better than living in a constant battle?

I'd been feeling embarrassed for announcing I'm doing a show in November like it'd prove something then retracting my statement. I felt hesitation all along. The same fight, the same hesitation I've always felt when attempting a show. I knew something had to change. I could have kept my mouth shut, done the mental work, then announced the training. But it can't be that easy, right? No, of course not. I needed to put it out there to realize the enormity of the situation. The resistance wasn't going away. It was time to pay attention to it. The focus now is fix the situation. I know I want to transform in one way or another. Maybe I will still really want to get up on stage. Or maybe I just want to work my ass off to get back to the shape I was in when I was rowing. 

Whatever happens, I'm going to find that dream of peace I can hold up as true.






Saturday, June 9, 2012

Happy Bonnie Day!

All I can say after today is I have work to do and it's not this right now. Fixing the soul is more important than transforming the body. And when the soul is fixed, the transformation can begin. This is bigger than I ever thought and so for now, I'm redirecting my energy into creating a new way of being and mending the worn.

I understand it and the blog will too once I am ready to articulate. It's the way it needs to be. It's the way it has to be.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

BLAH.

You know you're crazy when you're counting the days until you see your therapist. I'm still not connected to the nutrition plan. To top it all off, I'm sick AGAIN. Strep throat in April, flu (minus the barfing) in May, and now laryngitis in June. I blame the baby but what else is different in my life besides him? I'm re-evaluating. Maybe now is not the time to do this. Maybe I make a goal of lower body fat percentage? That would still be a success.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Vulnerable, not victorious.

My loyal LHS Club I train on Thursday mornings gave me the idea to blog this adventure; The Lift Heavy Shit Club. (Thanks Sandi, Thanks Becky, Thanks Kristy) It clicked how much I'd enjoyed blogging through my pregnancy documenting the journey which by the way I'm turning into a Blurb book for Talon's first birthday. He'll have the entire pregnancy and his first year written in my crazy whacked out opinions forever in a book. I give credit to Lori for the inspiration of the title of this blog. Recruit the Glute...it's going to find more than one meaning now! Maybe I'll inspire others to learn how to literally recruit their glute....because I only talk about it every single class I teach!

About a month ago after months of searching for focus, I returned to the idea of training for a fitness show. I would actually do "physique" based on my height and musculature. Throw in that I enjoy writing so blogging about this journey seemed like the accountability and catharic space I will need.

Training for a fitness show still scares the bejeezus out of me which is probably why it's always been on my list but I'd never done it. I'd gotten ants in my pants several years ago and lasted less than a week on the damn nutrition plan. It was something ridiculous like 1200 calories a day and I knew my 5'9" badonkadonk had no binizz being on 1200 calories a day for months on end. A few weeks ago, I took my idea to Bonnie, my Reiki Master. I needed someone to reel in me in, help me find balance, and figure out if I'm doing this for the right reasons.

If you followed me on Ahh Zookie Zookie, you will recall the enormous role Bonnie has in my life and will probably always. She told me I wasn't crazy and assured me I am in very good hands with Stacey Barta as my coach. Funny because I'm a personal trainer. I design exercise programs for a living and push people to their limits. Doesn't matter than I'm a trainer; I still need a supportive coach and an experienced eye. Bonnie told me that I have never trusted or believed in myself enough in the past. Our Reiki sessions will retrain my brain to believe, to trust, and to become empowered in what I can do with my body. I told her before it was always about the aesthetic appeal and glamour of fitness competitions. I'd get ripped and voila...instant awesomeness. External motives are so short fused. They don't last. Losing weight, changing yourself, as I teach everyday, must come from within that monster place. Finally...finally...I went to Stacey and Bonnie with internal motivations about being up on stage and thinking, "Fuck yeah, look what I did. I did it!"

But...I'm in an awkward place right now. This is not the post I thought I'd be starting. I thought the first post would be listing my perfectly tuned diet and beast workouts not "I'm in an awkward space..." I am lifting but my nutrition focus is blurry. I'm overwhelmed with the idea of going to Costco getting 28 oz of organic beef, 28 oz of organic chicken, and 96 eggs. That's just for one week then putting it all together..the meals, the tupperware, the cooler. It's work. It's work to put this all together. Ahhhhh, this is where Bonnie comes in; brain retrain, brain retrain. Trust. Believe. Envision. Bonnie said, "If you decide to commit, the emotional transformation you will endure will be extremely valuable." I concur. I want the transformation...can I do the work? After 12 weeks, I want to see where I am. I'm prepared to be vulnerable, I'm prepared to put it all out there in here. We all judge when someone fails but no one remembers how hard it is to change. So, I'm here. It'll get raw. Even now as I type, I still am not sure I can do it. Good thing I see Bonnie next week.

Current weight: 186lbs. I'm solid but leaning is necessary.

My workouts: 3 to 4 sets of 20 reps. (Killer.)

Monday: Chest/Shoulders
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Biceps/Triceps
Friday: Legs/Plyos
Saturday: Back/Shoulders

Cardio: 6 days a week including classes I teach.

The BIG goal: Rocky Mountain Classic November 3, 2012.