Total Request Offday: The "Erin" Attitude

-----Administrative Note------

1FL (it's been awhile since I've used this acronym...) requested some topics for my Off Day Offerings (which have been lacking lately, i.e. I have not done them. I thought, THIS IS GREAT! I will revamp my Offday Posting. I want to answer *YOUR* questions. You can ask about fitness in general, weight lifting, cardio, health, diet, *MY* diet, Devon, personal training in general, emotional/social/physical aspects of weight loss, etc... The world is YOURS. If I don't know the answer I will do my darndest to find it. I will cite whether it is my opinion, what Devon says or what the internet says. I will attempt to answer all questions, but will filter as appropriate (sorry, Sean...)

So...welcome to TRO: Total Request Offdays!

The fine print: If no one submits questions/topics this post will be empty and thus very, very boring. And will most likely cease to exist. This offer may be used in conjunction with many questions. Not valid nowhere. Blog author reserves the right to not answer lame questions and publicly mock you. Having said that the only stupid question is one that was never asked (or something nice and encouraging like that). If you would like anonymity, that's cool, you can request it...I might even honor your request...maybe.

-----Administrative Note------

The first Total Request Offday post was submitted by 1FL. Here is the request:

The "all I do is win"/"I rocked it" . . . "half-woman, half-amazing" . . . attitude. How does one develop that? How do you attack the workouts? I think this kind of thing could be really useful.

Great question, #1 Fan Lynn! For me, it comes from two major places.:

First, I honestly think it is the way the good Lord made me. What I mean is, I love to say ridiculously egotistical things about myself then laugh hysterically. For example, when I complete aced a test (back in the day) or do something really good at work, I love to exclaim something like: "I am AMAZING!", "Wow! I never thought such awesomeness existed, but *clearly* it does.", or (an oldie, but goodie) "Who's the man? WHO'S THE MAN?!?! I'm the man...er, uh...woman." I am joking...mostly. Typically it makes those around me either laugh or roll their eyes. Either response is fine with me. It's a way for me to celebrate my small victories. I really feel that celebrating small victories is very important. Rarely, will other people celebrate your small victories for you--it's something you have to do for yourself. I think that a majority of people will agree that we are most very quick to notice/internalize/dwell on the bad things in life. What a sad existence we live if we don't give the good things the same amount of air time in our thought stream.

Second, and I hope this doesn't kick me off of the pedastal so many of you have placed me on (see #1 for why I wrote that...), I also believe in writing/saying things you maybe don't believe so much about yourself in the hopes that one day you will. This also applies to working out. If you don't want to, tell yourself you do. It's simple to do in practice yet difficult to get the motivation to do. Sometimes when I am lifting and I don't want to I start singing a song about being awesome in my head. This can range from "All I Do is Win" by various thug rap artists to "One Girl Revolution" by Christian Teen Punk Girl band, Superchick and many, many more in between. I home in on the power phrase, e.g. "All I Do is Win", remind myself that that is true then do it. When I am done, I am glad that it is over and sometimes even happy and pleased with the amount of weight I lifted/cardio toughness I did. I then repeat the phrase victoriously in confirmation. Frequently, this ends up in my blog. What the readers do not see is the poor attitude before hand. They only see the AWESOME.

I've also done this with my self-perception. I sometimes feel negatively about my appearance/personality/fill in the blank. I believe that this means I am human. :) Having said that, I don't want to be that person who complains about it all the time. So sometimes when I feel icky, I post that I feel awesome on facebook. Unsure why I feel the need to post at all, but I do. I haven't done this for awhile and I don't do it often...but it has happened. One that I think is hilarious happened a long time ago when I was just starting my weight loss journey (or maybe it was before???). I felt so fat. And I wanted to post that I was a Fatty McFatterson. It was just how I felt. However I did not want to actually post that, so I posted that I was a Hottie McHotterson (which I did not/do not actually believe). My friend, Tom, LOVED IT and TO THIS DAY calls me Ms. McHotterson. I. Love. It. (Tom, please don't stop now that you know the truth!!!!!).

I hope this sheds some light, 1FL. And I challenge all of the people reading this to channel your inner Erin when you need to kick some workout/diet/overall fitness/insert your struggle here butt.