Sunday 14 February 2010

Thank you

To all of those who have offered support & advice over Facebook and Twitter, Gym Ninja would like to thank you profusely.

To those who are unaware, Gym Ninja has been feeling overwhelmed lately (what is Gym Ninja saying? Of COURSE you are all aware as GN goes on about it constantly in this blog-sorry about that!) and it has all built up gradually until now, over the past few days, Gym Ninja has kind of lost the plot somewhat.

Not in a mental 'covering everything in tinfoil and only wearing custard yellow' kind of a way. More in a 'losing sight of the end goal' kind of a way... Trying to bottle up emotions and stresses is just never a good plan. There is only so long the lid can keep the contents from bubbling over. Gym Ninja has bubbled a few times this week. Then Gym Ninja feels a bit better. Then Gym Ninja supresses everything again, bubbles, feels better, supresses...and so the circle of stress continues. Possibly not the most fun time ever, nor fun for Gym Ninja's friends either. Sorry again about that! Normal service will be resumed at some point in the future....er....don't ask Gym Ninja for an exact day/date/year though eh?

So...Gym Ninja ensured that although her day today would be a Valentines Day free zone (!!) & full to bursting with study/revision/online tutorials/coursework, she would also make time for a workout. Remember, moving the body can often burn off a lot of the physical manifestations of stress, and distract the mind even momentarily...

 Just because life 'gets in the way', it does not mean you should abandon your fitness goals and regular workouts. At times like these we need to ensure we are in the best shape of our lives to cope with the additional pressures we are under.  So, Gym Ninja HAS To make sure that at least some of her workouts can be done even if pushed for time, and that healthy nutritious food and drink be ingested to ensure a strong body and immune system. Now is NOT the time to poison the body with nutrient-free junk food and/or alcohol.

However, Gym Ninja is off her food. What to do? Well, if you find yourself in a similar situation for whatever reason and your appetite dies a death, ensure you do not! Make time to pick nutrient-packed healthy natural foods. A small amount of these are better than nothing and will keep the body ticking over until the appetite returns. Gym Ninja is keeping protein levels high, ingesting complex carbs and fats for energy and of course supplementing with Promax protein powder mixed into porridge made with milk (for that feel-good factor).  Vitamin and mineral supplements are essential when eating is not as wide-ranging as it should be.  Oh and Gym Ninja is as ever, ensuring she does eat often (even if it isn't as much as she usually eats). It's not fair to take out her mental stresses on her body. What has her body ever done to her to deserve that eh? It's times like these that GN is using her Jack LaLanne Juicer to it's maximum. if yo cannot EAT the nutrients then drink them!

So...off to the Gym for an hour or so. Merely cardio and abs today though. Cardio to 'still the mind' and kick up the endorphins. Abs because Gym Ninja needs to work her abs!!! Once in the changing rooms, GN spotted this...

A jelly sweet cola bottle!
In the GYM changing rooms!
What next? A pie in the sunshowers? Spangles near the lockers? Chicken McNuggets in the sauna?

Why?

Gym Ninja pondered this whilst running (Fartlek training today with no pre-thought planned intervals as GN was too sketchy for that. Merely razzing up and down with the speed). Why spend time in the gym and then go and gobble some jelly sweets before you even leave the building?

Of course, Gym Ninja used to have a nasty evil sweet habit that she couldn't kick! Booze was eventually reduced to almost never. Chocolate Gym Ninja can take or leave (she once ate NO chocolate for 10 years!).  Cakes, pies and biscuits is something Gym Ninja NEVER eats anyway due to her wheat flour intolerance...but sweets? Mmmm, those lovely tangy fizzy Haribo that rot everything they come into contact with? Yep! Gym Ninja's Achilles Heel! Not a day would go by without some sort of sweet passing GN's lips. Yum! But it wasn't until she decided to enter the Maximuscle Body of 2009 competition that GN realised that in order to sort out her physique, she needed to sort out her addiction to those chemical and sugar laden (yummy) nasties! So...Gym Ninja quit. She now had a reason to quit as she had a GOAL. Maximuscle Body of 2009 and the best body she'd had!

Cold turkey!
Or cold Haribo.

NO sweets.
Cut down from a bag a day of whatever took her fancy to ABSOLUTELY zero! It is Gym Ninja's only way. She personally cannot possibly have them in moderation so had to cut them out completely.

Does she feel better now? HELL yeh!
Has she eaten ANY sweets since that day in May 2009 when she quit? No!
Was it hard? YES!
Has Gym Ninja been tempted t o eat them? YES!
But you know what? That moment eventually passes....now Gym Ninja doesn't have the energy spikes and dips she used to get from scoffing pure sugar! Now Gym Ninja has better abdominal definition (remarkable seeing as she rarely works her abs-but THIS will change Ninjarettes! GN will work her abs!!!). Oh and Gym Ninja has NO desire to eat sweets. The addiction (and that is what it is-a sugar addiction) has gone.

Hmmm..all of that from a cola bottle lying dead on the gym changing room floor.

So, maybe look at your addictions? See what you rely on at times of stress/boredom/lazy moments when you reach for the nearest thing. Are they really doing you good? Your body is made up of what you eat. Everything you eat and drink gets broken down by the body into its most basic chemical level and then these chemicals are used to rebuild and strengthen YOU!
Do you want to be made out of Haribo? You're gut will be made out of Haribo if you eat too many of them, mark GN's words!
Do you want to be made out of chocolate?
Vodka maybe? How strong will your body be to fight disease if you're fuelling up on Vodka? Huh?
How well do you think your immune system will be able to fight nasty bugs if it's partly made from chocolate?  How hot will your muscle tone be if your muscles are trying to rebuild out of substandard nutrients and proteins?
Yes, it's not strictly right OUT of chocolate in the chocolate form btw... Gym Ninja is simplifying it here, but effectively this is how it is.

So maybe today, you may want to stop and think for a second before absent mindedly snacking on that tube of Pringles crisps as you watch TV...??

Before Gym Ninja goes (what an odd blog today!), she'd like to suggest to anyone who is on Twitter, to follow  @RevRunWisdom. The guy from Run DMC? He is a wise guy! It's his tweets that often come at the right time to help Gym Ninja...

For instance...today as GN was in tears through stress and sadness, he tweeted this...


2 keys 4 those under xteme pressure:: #1) its ALWAYZ darkest b4 the light #2) Pressure is makin u in2 a diamon


See?

OK...so see you in the week Ninjarettes. Oh and a big thank you to @Ethel1977 and @martino_kernow for there support today. It meant a lot to Gym Ninja.

xx