Hitting the Mark

Inspiration has come to me in many shapes, sizes, and forms. One huge source of inspiration for me has come from Chris Powell. If you aren't familiar with Chris Powell, he is the celebrity personal trainer that specializes in transformations on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Weightloss. The show actually inspired me to begin my own personal transformation.

In one particular episode, Chris told one of his transformations to "get comfortable with being uncomfortable". How profound is that statement? Was it necessary for me to be uncomfortable all the time? Was I going to be miserable if I embarked on this journey?

Turns out that the answer is resoundingly, "yes"! Transforming my food choices, lowering my calories, and avoiding fast food shocked my body. Changing from white pasta and bread to whole wheat pasta and whole wheat bread made my tongue shout things like, "what the hell are you doing?" and "blech...that is nasty!" Almost daily I had growls coming from my stomach that could rival that of Mufasa.

Over the past few weeks, I have replaced the Mufasa stomach growls with the intentional Lion's breath growls of Yoga. I'm lucky in the fact that I have reached my goal weight without a routine exercise program. Most cannot. The time has come for me to exercise as well. I still remember the New Year's Resolution I made while in New York City on January 1, 2013. I do, really! And, I haven't forgotten! I want muscles.

Three weeks ago, I started going to a yoga class once per week. I figured, based on a typical yoga class demographic, that I could easily take on yoga. Boy did I miss the mark. Yoga kicks my ass. Some of the poses are so difficult that I can't get my body contorted into position. If I do get into position, my muscles are so weak that I have trouble holding the position. With the weak muscles in mind, Mark and I decided to hire a personal trainer for a couple of home workout sessions using our small set of handheld weights.

30 minutes later, Mark and I were slobberingly whipped, our bodies like limp noodles. We don't allow limp anything in our home, let alone our own limp noodle muscles. That was Sunday. By Tuesday, those limp noodle muscles were scrambling for cover. They, too, wanted to know "what in the hell do you think you're doing?" But, Chris said, "get comfortable with being uncomfortable", right?

All along, I've been missing the mark. I was wrong about my eating choices. I was living with the wrong concept of "the easier, the better". Now, I see that hitting the mark means that "pain is weakness leaving the body". We truly do need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I have. I think.

Smile boy! Geez

But now it's time to start hitting the Mark. Mark has been stuck for some time. He's discouraged. He doesn't understand how I've surpassed him when his highest weight was 42 pounds less than my highest weight. Mark has not subscribed to my theories yet. He does not believe that he has to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. The other day, he complained about his sore muscles on a Facebook post. Many came to his rescue telling him not to hurt himself with overdoing his workout. One word: trust.

Trust that I have Mark's best interest in mind. His pain is my pain, physically, emotionally, and deep down to the core of our heart and soul. Trust that we hired a trainer that does not want to see us hurt. Trust that 30 minutes is just about the right amount of time to keep us from missing the mark, but WILL keep hitting the Mark.