A personal training & food journal. Read about our weight loss progress at Train With Ron in Chicago, our nutritional habits and the life changes we're making to get in shape and stay healthy!

When Everything Else is Crazy, I Find Peace at the Gym

17th September, 2010 - Posted by Monika Arturi - Leave a comment

I’m just like you, I’ve got a hectic schedule everyday and it includes everything from work to personal to private madness. Sometimes I feel like the room is spinning and I haven’t even had a sip to drink. Some days are worse than others and those days … oh boy! I tell you …. You do not want to be on my bad side. I’m sure Dan will make a comment about that because usually, he’s right there for it. That’s alright, I’m there for his days too so it all evens out.

Ever since I started working out in the mornings I have had this wonderful thing to look forward to though. 3 hours to myself. I am waking up early and loving it because I know I will not be bothered by phone calls, emails or any other distractions. Everything is quiet and calm. I wake up at 6 am and get ready to head out the door. Some days I make Dan his breakfast and coffee before I go but I try and get that done at night. It keeps him eating healthy and that’s important to me so it’s not a stressful thing. I sneak out the door while everyone’s still sleeping and take the mile walk up to the gym. I take photos some days, mostly of the Sears tower and just random interesting or silly things I see. Most of those never make it past my private folder. I breathe fresh air, I jog or walk and I think about positive & happy things. This all gets me ready for my workout at Train With Ron.

Since I work from home, I do not have the typical office environment and well, lets face it … office politics and drama. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t miss the drama but the social environment is something I do miss on certain days. Especially those days when I forget to turn on some music to get the day going. I used to turn on the news but that is not conducive to a stress-free environment. So getting to the gym and having such an awesome group of positive people around me in addition to the most fantastic and effective personal trainers lets me have a little bit of that social atmosphere each day that I’m there. It’s similar because we’re all working, sometimes competing and also working together as a team. It’s made a huge difference for me because I have a tendency to hibernate.

OK, so back to the calm and relaxing regiment of my mornings. After the walk I go through my warm up at the gym and motivate myself to have a good workout to get the best out of myself. To not allow whatever stresses I may have to interfere with this very important thing I’m doing. The process of getting healthy. Everyday my workouts are challenging, tough and completely fun. Some days take more mental assistance than others but that is typical.  My quote the other day was “My mouth tricks my mind and my mind tricks my body”. May be silly but that’s exactly it. I may not have too much control over how I feel but I certainly have control over what I think and say. I am certainly not about to start enjoying to complain.

Once I am completely drained and the hour is over I’ll sit with Bob, Steve, Steph and others at the gym for a few minutes and talk about the many ways our bodies were challenged and who’s got the best tips for any soreness we may have. Oh yeah! Soreness … it’s the sign that it’s working, don’t be afraid of it.

The last hour of my morning is all about cooling off and having a little fun. I grab some coffee and some breakfast at either the Starbucks down the street or this great little local place called Jupiter that’s right around the block. I really need to make more of an effort to go there instead of Starbucks because I want to support our local businesses. After a leisurely walk home I grab Brady (our almost 4 yr old pit/lab mix) and head out for a walk or up the street to the dog park. I hang out with her, I let her hang out with the neighborhood dogs and then head home to get cleaned up and take the long commute into my office down the hall.

So there it is, my morning … most days …. and the rest is pretty much madness. I love what I do, don’t get me wrong. I am grateful that I get to do what I do from home. Web development and design on most days is fun and creative but as with any job, there is stress and, well ….. madness. I would suggest to anyone to try a morning routine to help you get yourself through it. Maybe it’s going to be a little tough at first. ESPECIALLY if you’re not a morning person. BUT totally worth it. Dan, this was not a comment for you. I KNOW … it will NEVER HAPPEN

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