Yes, I walked to Acme for a watermelon!

So, the situation was this:
We were going to the beach for the day, and the kids wanted watermelon, but I didn't have any.  I also needed to get 50 minutes of steady state cardio - but if I waited until the gym opened to get that done, we wouldn't be heading to the beach til almost noon.
Sooooo, realizing that there's about a mile and a half uphill climb to get from here to the acme, I decided I would walk there to buy the watermelon and walk back.  The challenge on the way of course, was walking up hill the entire time.  And on the way back, well, I had this watermelon to carry!  It actually took an hour and 8 minutes, not including the time spent in the store - but it took care of both issues!!

And yes, I did it again today.  No, I didn't walk to get another watermelon!  I'll probably never do THAT again - the walk home really wasn't fun.  Today, the dilemma was needing to drop a car off for service, but also needing to get a HIIT workout in what was already a jam-packed day.  So, naturally, I dropped the car off, then ran sprints all the way home.  Both problems solved!

What's my point?  Many people use these types of scenarios as the perfect excuse to skip a workout.  But for me, and my current goals, skipping the workout is NOT an option.  So I get practical and a little creative about it - and get it all done!  You can too!  but you have to step away from the computer first ;-)

Everything is Relative!

So, while at the gym yesterday, one of the guys that I haven't seen in a while says to me, "I'd still love to have those legs of yours."
It's funny, I get this comment from men a lot.  I usually reply with something along the lines of, "you can have 'em", because I guarantee after one day of trying to find a pair of jeans that fit right, they'd be begging me to take them back!
Anyway, it made me stop and remind myself about how everything really is relative.  I go into the gym every day - and most days of the year I am trying to grow my shoulders and shrink my legs so I look like my upper and lower bodies actually belong to the same person when I hit the pool/beach in my bathing suit.
But on any given day, there are people working out trying to get bigger, get faster, get leaner, get stronger, lower cholesterol, lose weight, fight diabetes.  It's all relative.  So stop comparing yourself to others.  Get in the gym, and get focused on YOUR goals.

Now, back to me and my 140 day journey...15 days gone already!  Yay!  Scale is moving in the right direction, and aside from being hungry almost all day every day, I feel GREAT!  When I didn't lose any weight last week, I did have more calories taken away from me - which was really rough for the first 3 days, but then it got easier to deal with.  It's funny, because in the last week, I've had lots of situations where I could have chosen to stray from the plan...temptation all around me, if you will...but I've not had the interest at all.  People always act like they feel sorry for me "not being able to eat anything fun", but you know what - this is my sport. I have chosen it.  I am living it.  And while there are times when depriving myself from all my "favorite foods" is tough - for the most part, when I am in contest-prep mode, I feel my healthiest.  There is something to be said for eating clean 24/7 for months on end!  So, don't feel sorry for me.  I'll be rocking my bikini again soon and it'll all be worth it!

Want a peak at my week:
Day 1 - a High intensity interval training (HIIT) and a lift
Day 2 - just a lift (it's leg day - that takes a lot out of you - so I get more carbs too!)
Day 3 - steady state carido and lift
Day 4 - steady state cardio AND HIIT

then repeat...over and over and over and over...yep, that's right, no rest days!