Flex Time | Working Out Bummed Out
Do you know how to relax? I don’t! So if you do know, tell me how! I’m always so wound up, freaking about everything. I’m a Type A perfectionist, what do you want from me? I enjoy a massage once a month from Massage Envy. Every time I’m there my massage therapist asks what happened to me the last month. My neck, back + hips are always so tight that sometimes an hour long session isn’t enough. I could be with a significant other that I care deeply for + he’d still be telling me I need a chill pill. Napping on the beach, one of my favorite things to do, can’t even get me to settle in + appreciate the moment I’m in. Something is always buzzing in my mind even if my task list is all crossed off: family stress, boy drama, work frustrations, a friend’s pettiness, some jerk who almost hit me on the highway on my way to work… I could go on, but I won’t. The one thing that works (most of the time) to help me check out is a good workout. Whether I’m running on the treadmill at the gym, taking a class or doing a Beachbody workout in my living room, I know I can almost always start + check out for the next 30 minutes to an hour.
Unfortunately that wasn’t the case Saturday morning or last night at my Zumba/Zumba toning classes. Why? My best friend Nina who teaches the classes + made me love Zumba moves to New York today for grad school. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so freaking excited for her + even more for New York–it’s not going to know what hit it when she lands in about an hour. She’s a force ready to take on the Big Apple. But I’m going to be honest, at some point during my last two classes wither her, I completely checked out because I’m really freaking sad. We’ve been friends for years + shes my go-to girl. If I need something, shes 15 minutes away. So many last minute trips to Target, the mall, to get food. Not to mention shes the type of friend who looks into your eyes + sees your soul. Honestly I think she’s been a better friend to me than I to her which stinks but I love her so I’m very sad.
Knowing I checked out Saturday to the point that I stopped sweating + was just going through the motions quite literally, I tried to keep myself engaged by pep-talking myself through class. One of our Zumba friends from our Saturday class came to join us for Nina’s last class + we all started off with a great energy. No songs were new so I didn’t have that working against me. But again, after a really good start + lots of pep-talk, I noticed I wasn’t sweating anymore three quarters of the way through. It was all I could do to keep from crying. When it’s a boy thing, I can push through. When I’m dancing with the subject of my sadness, it seems that’s not the case. But my girl’s got to spread her wings. Her dreams called + she answered. I couldn’t be more proud!
I’ve been working on listening to my body when I work out, mostly for cycle + pain management reasons, but it seems I need to listen when my emotions are calling me. My new normal when I feel this kind of icky is to rock a low impact workout or some yoga to recenter myself. I don’t like to do that too many days consecutively though, because I love tacos + if taco-level calories aren’t going out, I can’t justify putting them in. I eat an awful lot more baked chicken than tacos but it’s okay… As much as these last two classes were ineffective for me, I wouldn’t have traded the time together for the world.
Today, though I’m very sad, I’m planning to get back to going hard on my Beachbody workouts, continuing to eat well 90% of the time + loving my people as much as they love me. So the next time you’re sad + need to workout, listen to yourself. If you can push through + do high intensity, fantastic! If not, that’s okay! But do something, even if it’s yoga or going for a walk with a friend. Getting active again + learning how to be effectively active was one of the greatest gifts I’ve given myself!
xo.
