Life after Body for Life.

I've been thinking a lot about life after Body for Life. Here are my thoughts.

I'm not stopping just because BFL is technically over. There's no way I could. I don't even think I'll slow down. BFL is over May 1st. After that I plan on taking a week off. I thought about taking 2 weeks off, but wondered what I'd even do with myself. It's not like I'm going to sit around eating bon-bons and wasting time until I start again. It's not worth it. I would like a week though. Scott's mom will be in town during our last few days on BFL and then for the 4-5 days after we end, so it will be nice to not have to worry about fitting in workouts and stuff.

May 10th will be the new start date for the Aquabike I want to train for. The event is Saturday June 26th. That gives me 7 weeks to get ready to swim a 1500 & bike 30 miles. This is a stretch for me, but I know it's doable since it doesn't even involve running shoes! I'm a horrible runner and my knees are shot thanks to poor knee genetics and years of playing soccer and years of carrying around a lot of extra weight. Swimming however, I can do! I used to be a swimmer. A distance swimmer at that. The longest I've ever raced was an 800, so a 1500 will be a definite challenge for me. My goal is to complete it under 25 minutes. The 30 mile bike is also a stretch, but I've done it before. Granted, it was not in a race and it wasn't after I'd just swam a mile, but at least I've done it. By the way, is it just me or does swimming a mile sound like NOTHING!? I KNOW, it's not for the birds. I know it's a long long way to swim, but still it just sounds like anyone could do a one mile swim... like it's the same thing as walking a mile. It sounds like such a pansy distance. FYI in case your wondering a 1500 meter swim is roughly 62 lengths of a pool. Length=swimming from one side to the other, Lap=down and back.

During this 7 week training, I will basically be on a modified BFL workout schedule. I don't know exactly what this means except that we will still be working out 6 days with 1 free day and we will continue to workout with weights. I will most likely be subbing our 20 minute cardio sessions 3 days a week with swim & bike workouts for an hour each 4 times a week. However I can almost guarantee that none of which will involve a 4:30am wake up call. The pool isn't even open that early. Oh shit, wait yes it is. At 24 hr fitness... yeah, they're open 24 hrs. I was thinking of the rec. center that we used to swim at. Hmmmmm, so we'll see if I keep the 4:30 workouts. We'll keep that up in the air for now.

Scott has decided that he wants a 6 pack. He has never been able to get one, even when he was a teenager. Now that he's pushing 39 it's going to be even harder for him, but he really wants to see what his body is capable of doing when really pushed hard. You know what I said? Sa-weeeet! Do it honey, do it. Scott has always been thin, but he's always had a slightly soft mid-section (like yours truly) Even when we're in excellent shape, our centers are a bit pliable. It's just the way we were made. He's bound and determined though to buck centuries of genetics and try for the elusive six pack abs. I'm proud to report that when he flexes you can definitely see some definition peaking through. When we're done with BFL I'm totally ordering "Tan Towels" from HSN and tannin' him up so we can take our cheesy after photos. The ones where the before pictures are all soft, mushy and white skinned and then the afters are totally tanned ripped people! Ripped or not, we will be tan. Mark my words. Tan towels, you will be mine.

It's fun to think of the possibilities. 3 months ago Scott wouldn't have said he wanted 6 pack abs, but now it's like, why not? Maybe it's not achievable, but it's fun to think about trying for it and actually KNOWING if it's possible. We're so used to thinking certain things just aren't for us, but really I think we're all just ultimately afraid to even try. For me, it's not because I'm afraid to fail. I think that's sort of a cop-out. I think for me it's because I was just lazy. Sure I wanted to lose weight, but I never wanted to actually do the "doing" part involved. Now that we've been doing this, it's making me think of what I want to do with myself. This past Sunday I told Scott I wanted to lose 100 lbs. I know, I know. Part of me is all "wha?" But then the other part of me is like why not? Am I sure it's possible? Nope. Am I sure it's heatlhy? Yep. It's not like I'm saying I want to weigh 100 lbs or something. It's pushing my limits, but I want to try for it. Then when I get there I'll evaluate how I feel and if I think it's maintainable for me and my frame. Don't worry, I'm not planning on starving myself or losing muscle mass, I'm just trying to really be my best physical self. If I get to 100 lbs lost and realize it's just not something I want to try and maintain, then I won't. But what if I get there and realize that it's the perfect weight and that I feel incredible? What if I get there and am a size 8? What if I get there and I feel amazing and strong and confident? I would be selling myself short if I didn't at least give it a try, right? So I'm going for it. I'm sure some people will think I'm crazy. Just like some people think it's crazy that I want to experience natural child birth (not pregnant). I know it sounds nuts, but I'm just really ready to experience things. Painful, joyful things. I've eaten every feeling for so long that I right now I want to allow myself to really feal things. Good or bad, painful and really painful. I want to live.

So, that's the plan. I even have a tentative plan after the Aquabike, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. I think you've received enough input for like a month!

Congratulations-you made it to the end of this epically long blog post!