Sunday, May 23, 2010

Excuse Free Zone!


Free at last! Free at last!

School is officially over. Yesterday I took my last final which was in my favorite class of all times, psychology. The funny thing about the class was that the professor was not there to teach. He was there because they needed a fill-in for Saturday and he offered to do just that fill-in. I learned on my own and love it. I would recommend psychology 101 to all folks over 40 because the mind is ready to accept the information and have a better understanding of the theories and methods. The class started in late January with 40 people and ended with #15. The professor told me in March that all his students over the age 35 was passing the the exams with "A's" and the younger folks were making grades lower than 60%. I will admit we had some babies in the class that complained about his exams but the nice thing about his exams was the fact that each question came out of the text. So it was easy for me because I read the chapters and passed each exam with 100%. In a few weeks I will start my next course in Human Growth and Development. The professor is wonderful and very passionate about her job so it should be fun.

When I drove off the campus yesterday I experienced a moment of sadness. It was weird because I was happy for the semester to be over. I also asked myself "what are you going to do now?" So, this morning I woke up and realized way I was sad. It was because my routine was over and I needed to started a new one. It was time for me to start back at the gym full-time again and the excuses were in the past for me not to the gym. It was very clear and simple. Like I mentioned in my post on Thursday I have a hard time balancing my life. Exercising has always been on the back burner when it comes to my life. I realized last year for me to maintain a healthier life I must include exercise it.

As I close my eyes I can see the door to exercising but I will not open it. There is nothing in my way this time but me. All the excuses are gone such as school, work, family, friends and body pains. The only thing that is holding me back is myself. I have to open that door and walk in. It's really sad that I struggle with this because I love to exercise once I get there. I love the classes and enjoy the way I feel after every class. There is also a side of me that is mad about having to get up and workout. There is anger and frustration in my heart but I am not going to allow it to stop me. I am very aware that working out is my choice and I should not do things that makes me angry (but). Let me stop right there for now! It helps to write about this because I 'm wrapping my head around it every second. Today I will walk across that thrush-hold and make exercising a part of my weekly routine again. I am very fortunate not to have so many doors to open so I will change my attitude and make it happen.

Excuse Free Zone! This week I am starting a new campaign for myself and that is to stop with the excuses. No more door blocks and road blocks in my way. This is going to be a 4 week challenge and I will write about it every week.

Today exercise: Spinning class for 60 minutes.

Question of the day! Do you give into your excuses about exercising and eating healthy? I appreciate all comments and words of encouragement. Thank you!

Exercise update: Made it to the gym this morning. I started with a 45 minute weight lifting workout and ended with a 45 minute cycling class. It felt and still feels good. I am back! It was just what I needed. I have not been to a cycling class in over five months and I have truly missed it. So my plan is to get two more in before the end of the week.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Obsessive Thoughts! Learning to Breathe

Learning to breathe for the first time. Just one more final to go and school will be done for 6 weeks. During the past 14 weeks I have learned one important thing about myself and that was my behavior of obsessing.

In the past I talked a really good game about being able to balance my life but reality proved me wrong because of my need to obsess over things. These things included: eating, working, studying, exercising, and playing.

Just tonight as I was looking through my college catalog and thinking to myself "Wow! I would love to take all of these classes in this book". I was trying to figure out how I could do it within the next 3 years. During my moment of craziness, I realized that I have been looking at this catalog every day for the past 3 months trying to figure out how I could make it work. So as I turned the page and saw the 15 history courses I thought to myself "girlfriend, stop with the obsessive thoughts". So, I decided to toss the catalog in the trash and stop thinking about it because it has been consuming my life for months.

So I thought about how I have put my life on the back burner to fulfill my desire for knowledge that is not realistic or necessary. In the past I have had obsessive thoughts about exercising, planning a vacation, eating, and so many other things that would take about 2 hours to list. My goal is to stop this behavior because it is so unhealthy for my mind and body.

My plan is to think about why I need to obsess and when I have these obsessive thoughts to confront them head on. Tonight I realized that there is no reason for me to take over 2000 classes or go to the gym 12 times in a week unless I want to. And please believe me I do not want too!

This is all new to me so I will need to process my thoughts for the next few days. I want to know why I have these obsessive thoughts and behaviors. One thing I will do is not obsess over my thoughts about this but learn how to correct my behavior.

This semester I took a psychology class and I learn so much about cognitive behavior. I enjoyed the class so much that I am thinking about changing my major. But I will not obsess about that right now. My plan is to take classes that will challenge my mind and bring me pleasure all at the same time.

My obsessive thoughts about my life has caused me great frustration. It is so nice to live in reality again. It's time for me to enjoy each day not the things I want in my future. I feel at peace and so relax. I am truly breathing again! Reality feels good!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

I Can See The Light!

It has been awhile. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hello to all my blogging friends if you guys are still following me.

I have two more weeks of school and my life will be back to normal again for about 6 weeks before the summer semester starts.

Blogging was a blessing to me so I can not wait to get back and visit all my friends.

I have a lot to talk about so I will be back later this week.

Happy Mother's Day!