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“Ease off a bit while you reconsider how to reach your goal. You have more time than you think to plan your next move.”

So I planned a few moves…

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my many years of trying to do it all, it’s that if I try to do it all, nothing gets done.

I’ve taken a lesson from Leo Babauta and I’m simplifying things a bit.  I’m cutting out the time wasters and making room for quality in my life.  I’m cutting the fat both literally and figuratively.

A big time waster for me has been dating.  While companionship would be nice, it has been a hassle and a waste of my time thus far.  If there’s someone out there I’m meant to be with then it’ll happen when it should, most likely when I’ve reached a point where I’m satisfied with my self and my life.  After all, if we feel “unfinished” then we’re most likely to attract other unfinished people.  It may sound cold, but I don’t need another project.

My first step is cleaning up my diet.  I need to get off the starch.  Yes, there are people who are fiercely supportive of starch and I’m sure they’re off getting their pitchforks sharpened right now, but starch (not gluten, you protein haters) has been my drug of choice.  I’m an addict.  Once I’m off the starch, my mind clears, my ADD isn’t an issue and laser-like focus is possible.  I need a clear head if I’m going to accomplish my goals.

My second step will be to focus on my training regimen.  I Build muscle easily for someone my age (45) and building muscle increases metabolism, so the answer to cutting fat after my diet is cleaned up is to build muscle.  That means getting into the gym and pumping iron.  It’s a sweaty business but anything worth having is worth sweating for.

MY SHORT TERM GOAL
Before the end if the year, I will be in a position where I’m eating clean and training daily (and writing, of course).

MY LONG TERM GOAL
My ambition is to weigh 145 with 20% body fat (any less bodyfat is not recommended for women long term) and to self publish one novel every two months.

Let the simplicity begin!

Read about it here: http://lisapietsch.com/2012/11/18/from-crazy-train-to-back-on-track/

The problem is I have my kids and my parents staying here at the house with me and between work, meals, housework and giving the kids the attention they deserve, I just haven’t been fitting in my workouts like I should.

I’ve been doing well on my diet.  Frequent meals, keeping a lid on the garbage, protein shakes, taking Spark when I need an energy boost.  I’ve been doing great dietwise.

I just haven’t been to the gym.

And I miss it.

All totaled, I moved 27,600lbs and did 30 minutes of high-intensity aerobic work. Buh-bye stress!

This morning, I weighed in two pounds lighter.  Yeah…that’s how you de-stress.

Stress has a way of ambushing you and doing horrible things to your diet and exercise efforts.  There’s been a good deal of stress in my life lately, as happens with growth and transition.  Sure, it’s a pain in the butt to get through all the crap, but I usually come out the other side having learned something from the experience.  Well, I’m learning A LOT!

But the side effects are lost sleep, cortisol buildup, a distracted mind that wanders (tapping intensity from workouts) and a body that craves serotonin and will demand starch at every turn if that’s what it takes to get it.

It’s been an uphill battle lately.  I got back up to 170 this week.

I’ve been eating right and working out but the lack of sleep and additional stress took their toll.  Rather than losing weight like my diet & exercise program would have predicted, I gained.  Well, I’m back down to 167 today and expect to keep it dropping.

You see, I’ve made some decisions about some of the stressors in my life.  They’ll all be gone within the week.

Culture, perhaps?

If you want to be successful, surround yourself with successful people.

If you want to be fat, surround yourself with overweight people.

If you want to be fit, surround yourself with people who are fit.

My friend Warren (www.modelwarren.com) gave me a kick in the pants yesterday.  You see, Warren is a model, so being fit is his livelihood.  Warren’s current goal is an IFBB Pro Card.  Yeah, you could say he’s fit.  Warren was kind enough to point out the negativity in my post yesterday and that was just the kick in the rear that I needed to adjust my mindset and get my ass to the gym.  (Thanks, Warren!)

I got to the gym, had a great leg workout (they’re sore today) and felt much better.

When my son asked me why I went to the gym, I told him:

Exercising every day helps keep my bones and muscles strong and it helps me deal with stress so I won’t be grouchy all day.  (That last one is pretty important to me as I’ve had quite a few stressors in my life lately.  It’s also very important to my son.)

So why do you want to exercise and who do you know that can give you the kick in the pants that you need to stay with it?

Such was my night last night.

No sleep.  Lots of aggravation.  Tons of cortisol coursing through my veins.

Not only am I in the most foul mood possible but I haven’t the energy to even consider going to the gym today.  This cannot continue.  The dog must go home.

I am so tired.

I posted this photo of Nicole Wilkins, the current Ms. Figure Olympia on Facebook yesterday and stated this was my goal.  Assumptions were made immediately and the next thing I knew a friend was hammering on me about how I can’t let this define me, while some douchebag on Facebook was hitting me up to supply me with steroids.  WTF?  SERIOUSLY?

My physique doesn’t define who I am.  It never has.  The fact of the matter is, I’ve wanted a physique like this JUST FOR ME for over 20 years.  Unfortunately I got involved with men who were all too happy to tell me I was physically unattractive and overweight, but whenever I came close to a physique like this, they felt it was equally unattractive.  (It wasn’t until just this year that a man actually told me I was “beautiful” and I was so upset by it I had to pull over to the side of the road until I stopped crying!)  So I lived for a long time in damned-if-I-do-and-damned-if-I-don’t land.  The problem was I had the wrong people in my life.  I knew what I wanted but what they wanted was a subservient woman who stayed at home, attracted no attention and quietly let them ogle beautiful women because she felt completely inadequate.  Yeah, thanks to Al Anon, I’ve dealt with my codependency issues and no longer include people like that in my life.  The fact of the matter is I am a woman, a veteran, a mother, a writer, a multi-published novelist, a magazine owner, a Taurus, a single woman and a Texan.  NONE of those things define me.  There is no one word that will ever describe who I am except perhaps “Undeniable”.  I think for myself and have my own goals and aspirations.  Nobody has the right or permission to take those from me.

As for the steroid stud…

Steroids have not been and never will be part of my plan.  I want to build strong, beautiful muscle and sculpt myself to the form God gave me, not Frito Lay.  With the right nutrition and exercise I’ll do just that.

Goals are meant as guiding beacons.  Sometimes we reach them, sometimes we don’t, but we’re always better for having had them.

Success is a journey, not a destination.

If we look at the details, we’ll see that I’ve lost 9.36lbs of fat and gained 1.36lbs of muscle.

Yes, it’s great to lose fat and gain muscle, but this insanity that is my life (moving twice, getting a magazine started, losing my job and book sales when my publisher closed its doors, starting my own business, self-publishing my books, taking care of my kids every day, a broken foot and abdominal surgery) has really cut into my fitness goals.  Damn, that sounds like a whiner!

When would NOW be a good time to start?  NOW, of course!

I’ve got my Body-for-Life Success Journal fired up, a map laid out for what needs to happen today, this week and this month, quality childcare (in the form of my parents who rarely see the boys) and, blessedly, a completely empty house conducive to my being able to focus for once.

I have 152 days, 5 months, to make some magic.

As happens in my life, I’m coming down to the wire.