Thanks, body!

[kalshassan]

I'm a medic, currently stationed in a corner of the world where you wouldn't vacation.  There's a gym, and since the end of last year I've been slowly making my way through it - some basic core stuff, then running, then winding up on Angry Birds here.

 

At the start of exercising, my BP was a perfectly healthy 125/78, not far off the textbook 120/80 that we class as "perfect".  I had a resting pulse in the mid 80s

 

Four months of regular exercise and eating cleaner later, just this week, I checked again.

95/59, resting pulse of 59.

 

This is awesome.  I'm no lighter than I was (which makes me a little sad), though people tell me I'm looking healthier, but I can do more exercise now than I could at the start and when I take my shirt off there's just the *hint* of definition in those shoulders.

 

This week I had an epiphany - body weight exercises: the success is failure.  When I pull on that bar and struggle to do 20 inverted rows, when I get to the end and my arms are *burning*, even better, when I aim for 50 pushups and my shoulders and chest give up at 48.

 

That's success.  That's me pushing my body as hard as I possibly can.  That's success and effort, right there.

 

And then tonight, I was finishing up on squats, I was pushing hard, sweat pouring off me, breath coming hard, when I stood up, I could feel my heart hammering in my chest. 
 

At the start of this process, that would have freaked me out "Shit...that's beating hard and fast...I can hear it in my ears..."

 

Now, I just think "Hey there, cardiovascular system."

Because for the first time my body isn't something for me to loathe.  It's my partner, I polished up its inner workings and now when I tell it we're going to do push-ups until my shoulders feel like lava and JellO, it doesn't say "Awwww crap...really...maybe I should make you stop early..."

 

Instead my heart, my lungs, my blood vessels all lace up their running shoes and say "Hell yeah we are...you want some extra haemoglobin on that?  C'mon big boy...let's WORK."

 

I have never.  NEVER felt this proud of my body before.  It's still wobbly on the edges and I'm no Adonis, but damn, the engine runs sweeeet.

 

 

 

 

 

Rah.

 

 

[EvillePanda]

Those are some impressive numbers.  Good job!

 

Learning to love ourselves is one of the hardest lessons, IMO.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised where your body takes you now.

[crazyjerseygirl]

This week I had an epiphany - body weight exercises: the success is failure.

This.  I need to remember this!

[IronGlider]

Rah! That's a HUGE achievement! Really motivational too, I like looking at my body in a perspective I can appreciate too (no matter my weight), really cool to see someone else doing the same. 

 

Keep rocking! ;-)

[IronGlider]

p.s. I like looking at this picture to place in in a state of awareness and control, I love this pic, almost as much as my avatar... almost!