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If you’re anything like me, it can take extreme measures to be “taken down.” I’m not very good at listening to my body. Well, wait, that’s not true, I’m very in tune with my body, however, I’m very stubborn and push through until my body  makes it nearly impossible for me to keep going. About 1:00 yesterday afternoon it hit me - that nauseated feeling and suddenly VERY tired. I figured I just needed a little nap, so I hit Seattle Sun Tan for a tan/nap. Still felt crappy. Being my only day off this week and my kids I had a lot of things planned to get done - errands, household chores, training, etc - there was no time to feel sick. I decided to power through it and head off to Barnes & Noble (where I was picking up a book for my suddenly-insect-fearing preschooler), Target and then Costco. I made it through Barnes & Noble, decided Target could wait and headed for Costco. You know you MUST be sick when you’re a hungry competitor cruising through Costco and none of the samples looks remotely appetizing. Oh wait! The Dave’s Killer Bread people were in the house sampling all of their various bread - toasted with butter - can’t lie, that hit the spot and made me crave more. I wasn’t even out of Costco when it hit me - this was more than just nauseas - nobody talk to me, everybody keep moving, I gotta get home!

If you’re crazy like me, the biggest concern you’re having at this moment is: how am I going to train like this???!! Well, obviously, Stubborn Julie, you’re NOT!! It was a rough afternoon and I’ll spare you the details, but needless to say, my arm workout and second round of cardio were NOT in the cards yesterday.  I was sure that this morning I’d be able to get up and go to work and train clients. As I got out of bed at 4:30am to get in the shower my body disagreed - not happening. I feel indulgent just laying around today, in my comfy PJ Salvage pajamas, drifting in and out of sleep and still wondering…should I try to do cardio today? When my logical mind answers…”Yeah, that sounds like a REALLY fabulous idea!” I even have to go so far as to call my friend and ask for permission to skip cardio…”do you think I’ll be okay if I miss a day?”

It’s so important for us to listen to our bodies and to give our bodies the rest they require. I am still trying to figure out what my body can handle at this point in my life. Last year when I was still at home with the kids and not working I could pull off the insane cardio sessions and lifts, but now that I am functioning on 5-6 hours of sleep my body just isn’t liking it so much. I’ve had more rest in the last 24 hours than I’ve had in the whole week combined. It’s 2pm and I still want to just SLEEP. I am resisting the urge to do some “light cardio” - I can’t remember the last time I did “light cardio”, perhaps during a pregnancy. I am forcing myself to rest and not worry about the messy house that surrounds me right now and all the laundry that needs folding.

I am working hard to convince myself that this stomach flu is not a setback but that it will give me a renewed energy for my training (tomorrow, I hope!) and on the bright side, this depletion and dehydration has been a nice little forced experiment to see how I’ll look final week. Totally on target right now - just need to hold here for a couple weeks then tighten it up just a bit more for showtime!

A little mantra from my friend & fellow bodybuilder, Jon Blodgett (don’t know where he got it or if it’s “his”), but I‘ve been revisiting it a LOT lately…

"Remember: One life, One body, One choice. So Train Hard, Eat Often and SLEEP TIGHT!!"

Stay healthy and stay focused and most importantly, HAVE FUN!!

~Julie~

Fearless, with cape in hand.

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