Water Makes You Pee, FYI

Apparently when you start drinking water on the reg, you have to pee a lot...

This post is far from insightful, and I'm digressing from my usual rant that involves a barbell, and either epic success or failure on that front. Instead, let's chat a bit about nutrition, and how water factors in to it.

I'm on a bit of a mission right now, working to sustain solid workout habits, and working to both establish and maintain solid eating habits. Pretty much anyone who pays attention will have observed that I drink what is known as no water. Coffee is pretty standard. Throw in the occasional tea. Water on it's own? Nah. That being said, apparently it's helpful to be fully hydrated. Who knew?! And it's nothing new for me to get chirped endlessly by my friends (specifically Ty & Ky, the "Y" twins) about how little water I drink. In all fairness, they're totally correct, and as such, I feel the need to make a big deal about this shift and give myself a proverbial pat on the back, whilst giving them the proverbial middle finger.

You've likely picked up on the fact that I've been making a concerted effort to drink a lot of water. How much exactly, you ask? I have no fucking clue. Enough that I have to piss constantly. How on earth do people do this? Everywhere I go, I'm on the lookout for a washroom. It's the most annoying thing ever. At this very moment, as I type, my bladder feels like it's going to explode. I legitimately could pee my pants on the sofa, obvs something that Kyla Gagnon would do, for sure.

(At least drinking all the water will make me look even more youthful...hard to imagine, I know...)

I suppose the reason I'm writing about this is that I feel as though it's symptomatic of me making the appropriate changes, and that makes me feel good. It's kind of amazing that feeling as though I may end up peeing my pants as a grown woman is indicative of improving my health, but hey, I can work with that. Maybe once I achieve international superstardom for my weight-lifting prowess, I can also snag a contract with Depends. I can see it now, some amazing marketing extravaganza that combines the latest & greatest in adult diapers with my ridiculously impressive snatch. I'll let you decide if you'd like to have a bit of fun with me discussing adult diapers & snatch at the same time :)

Anyway, that's my latest fitness revelation. Drinking water is part of helping out my body, and keeping it ready for all the lifts I plan on smashing over the next while, and apparently the byproduct of that is existing in a perpetual state of having to urinate. Probs going to have at least one incident, I can feel it already. And by "feel it," I'm referencing feeling like I'm going to piss my pants. Fuck my life...

Token water photo #drinkwater #whatever #peepants

Shit Yeah!!!

Every trainer has different tells when it comes to being stoked for their clients. Mine is pretty consistent. As soon as you hear, "shit yeah!!!" you know you've done something right, and today was a "shit yeah" kind of day!

I know my last post talked about what a lazy fuck I've been lately, but there has been the intermittent workout mixed in, and with that has come a bit of frustration. My frustration has been specific to my clean & jerk, or my lack thereof. Well, my lack thereof when it comes to clean & jerking 105lbs. It's been my nemesis. It goes a little something like this. I clean & jerk 75lbs. I clean & jerk 85lbs. I clean & jerk 95lbs. I don't clean & jerk 105lbs. I try one more time. I don't clean & jerk 105lbs. Actually, not even cleaning 105lbs throughout this disastrous sequence of events. And maybe it doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it has been legitimately fucking with my head. I over-analyze my technique, I get scared while I'm pulling the bar, and I feel like a giant fucking loser every single time the bar isn't resting on my shoulders. Moral of the story, it hasn't been playing out in an ideal fashion.

Today, I did a partner session, with Zeus torturing me and one of my fave people, NDG (I feel like nicknames are a version of anonymity!). I'm a fan of working out with NDG - she works hard and she's strong, and I always feel motivated around her. She also got me on to this tank top from lululemon that I'm pretty obsessed with, so extra points for that! Anyhow, so we got things going with some warm-up stretches that were oddly tiring and humbling, and then got into some barbell work, culminating in the almighty clean & jerk!!!

Apparently crushing a workout brings out my 4:20 eyes... #highonlife

What happened next, you ask?

I did some work at 85lbs. And I did some work at 95lbs. And it was feeling pretty good. So Zeus had me go to 100lbs. And we had success. Promising, right? I get the barbell racked to 105lbs., and crushed my first attempt at 105lbs., right? Not so much.

First try...fail. Second and third...fail. Fourth? Fucking victory. After taking a moment, as per Zeus' genius instruction, I pulled out a clean - not the prettiest clean - but a clean. And then I got set and smashed a legit jerk. How did I know it was legit? Cuz all I could hear was, "shit yeah!!!" And I was stoooooked! I'm still stoked, as I write this little tale of complete dominance! When I had a shower after training, no joke, I found myself grinning while reliving it in my head. And it was really great having such a supportive crew around me for it, to act like something that might seem inconsequential to many, was the most important things that had happened, if just for a moment. That moment was important, too, because the remainder of the workout made me contemplate suicide. In a good way, of course...

I guess I just wanted to follow up on a post of feeling like a lethargic ass with a post about feeling legit. Today was a good day. It was a "shit yeah!!!" kind of day... Something worth celebrating.

The Aftermath

It's January & Apparently I Think It's Still Christmas...

I suppose my writing of late is a pretty good reflection of my recent fitness habits, as well...

It's funny, people talk about how the holidays can really set you back. Perhaps I was never aware of it because I've never been someone who leads a somewhat healthy lifestyle until the past year and a bit. In all honesty, this was my first Christmas that coincided with a genuinely serious commitment to lifestyle habits, although based on the last few weeks, one could easily question that commitment. In a nut shell, Christmas seems to have brought me the gift that keeps on giving - gluttonous lethargy!

In all honesty, I don't know if blaming it on the holiday season really makes sense. I don't know if I needed a turkey dinner to be my excuse for acting lazy and eating shitty food. And it sure as hell isn't still Christmas time, and the struggle continues. Coinciding with Christmas was a family visit, bringing my parents and brother here for a visit. Paul & I did some partner training, and the result seems be a rediscovered interest in his own health and fitness, a catalyst that seems to have gained momentum, as he's maintaining a great workout regiment, c/o Zeus, and eating strict Paleo with wicked success. My parents also seem to have used our time together to reinforce their continued efforts to evolve their own habits, and they send me little updates regarding their eating habits, and how things are going. Keeping this in mind, it's pretty clear that the holidays don't need to be an excuse to go downhill. In fact, the opposite seems to be happening for the rest of my family (#biofam, not #fitfam), and I don't see why it should be any different for me. And when it is, the fallout is dangerous...

See, when I'm lazy or undisciplined, it's not just the physical results that feel like a punishment. The mental side is a fucking nightmare. I feel like such a loser when I don't have the basic willpower to sustain my supposedly established eating habits, eating habits that are crucial to achieving my health-related goals. And going to lift and then finding that I'm not as strong as I feel like I should be, or my technique doesn't feel right, or I can't clean what I know I should be able to...it all feels disgusting, largely due to the fact that deep down, I know that my habits are creating these problems. There's no great mystery, it's basic cause and effect.

Once upon a time, I used to exercise...

I guess I'm just writing this because I need to make a change, and I'd feel like an even bigger dumb ass if I wrote this and then did nothing. One could also argue that I could be a bit more forgiving of myself, but I find that to be a dangerous line to walk - kindness is important, but so are boundaries, boundaries that come with some form of consequence when you cross them. All of this being said, I'm looking forward to creating an environment of structure over the next week, because while I'd like to think a more general approach would work, it hasn't been working lately. So I'm going to sort my shit out, set some specific goals, work with my people, and be a less lazy, less complacent version of myself.

I know it's cheesy but in all honesty, getting back on track seems like a way better gift to myself than anything I got for Christmas.