I tumbled off the lifting wagon, and fell into a cardio pit… It was fun, kinda; it taught me that I can do long periods of cardio without dying. Which I really assumed would happen with extended cardio!
I needed a break, I needed to reevaluate, I needed to find my bliss again.
This blog is about, well; Lifting with Lupus – what kind of person would I be if I told you what I was watching while I was sprinting…
My lil break did teach me, though. There is/was a strong part of me that wondered who I would be without powerlifting. It’s been more than a year since I was told to stop, but I still feel the pain. I go to the gym and I was lifting, but doing more reps with my 60 – 70% weight max was killing me. I didn’t know gym JJ without maxing out once a week and competing with my numbers, I didn’t know JJ without prepping for a competition and working out to… well, workout.
Working out to be healthy?!?! What the heck is that…
So I took a break… I tried different things and I learned a couple valuable lessons;
- I can do extended cardio without dying.
- Cardio still sucks, but I get to watch documentaries.
- I love yoga – I love the peace and strength within the movements.
- Lifting isn’t everything, not even close.
- My addiction to candy needs to stop!
- A balanced life of lifting/cardio/yoga makes me positively happy.
I found my bliss.
James has helped me streamline my lifting into 3 days – chest, leg and back – push, pull and press… He moves around with the reps so that I don’t feel like I am only doing reps on reps on reps. Cardio/yoga is additional 3 days sprinkled in for fun!
Reawakened.
Regenerated.
Renewed.
This break helped me to open my inner eyes and become aware of myself again. I am more than a competitor… I am a LILY… I am reborn within my lifting life – I talk all the time about how health is wealth, but I wasn’t fully practicing what I preach. Until lately.
Let me share. Yes I love lifting, yes it helps my body in so many ways… but I was living in the motions, depressed that I wasn’t prepping for a competition. NO MORE! Well, kinda no more…
I’m excited to announce, but it’s not like I’m counting down or anything…
73 days, 10 weeks and 4 days, 106,521 minutes, and 1,775 hours – until I get to marry my best friend. (yup James proposed on Sunday, at the zoo… on the bridge by the otters… where we had our first kiss!!)
Reignite! My renewed love for lifting + getting wedding dress ready = an amazing new chance to share my workouts, diet, lifestyle and my rebirth!
This will be fun! Tomorrow I will share where my current weight and measurements are and the plan to be wedding dress ready!
Notes to remember through this rebirth…. My Lupus has been bad lately, painsomnia has attacked my sleep, my asthma and allergies make normal living very difficult…. I’ve quite a few flares in my absence.
Stay tuned…. Tonight is leg day…. Let’s have some fun!