Rethinking A LOT of goals

Hi guys! I'm sorry for my prolonged absences lately. They weren't intential. It was a mixture of a crazy busy schedule coupled with a whole lot of soul searching about my goals, my plans, my workouts and my nutrition.

As you all know, I've recently taken up weight lifting and I love it. I feel great, I'm getting stronger, I'm losing inches and I'm able to complete a full workout without spending hours at the gym. As you also know, I set some lofty goals at the beginning of the year. Those goals centered around endurance training/races and to be honest, I'm really rethinking those. Obviously, I haven't met, nor am I going to, meet any of the goals I set for races this year. About a month or so ago, I got really really frustrated and down on myself because I realized those goals were out the window. I wasn't sure if I was more upset that I wasn't going to get to do the races I wanted to do, or if I was upset because I'd set goals and hadn't reached them.

After quite a bit of soul searching, and some prodding from my husband, I realized maybe endurace races just aren't my thing? I'm still not sure if that's right or not, but I do know that right now I'm getting more enjoyment out of strength training than I am out of endurance training. There is one thing I do know: If I enjoy an exercise I will do it. If I do not enjoy it I find excuses not to do it.... Hhhmm.....

I started doing a lot of research about strength training vs steady state endurance training for fat loss and I've read a lot of great information (and a TON of conflicting information), I'm still sorting all of that out in my head, but once I do I'll write a more detailed post on my thoughts on this.

I know this blog post is all over the map, and for that I apologize, but this is how my brain has been working lately. My thoughts are all over the map and I've been having a hard time figuring out exactly where I'm going and what goals I'm reaching for. So, I've decided to chuck ALL of my goals. For now, I'm just working out. I'm doing what I enjoy and I'll see where it leads me. So this is what I do:

I lift weights three days a week. Heavy weights ~ none of these pastel colored Barbie weights for this girl. I'm currently up to 80 lbs on my lat pull downs and my seated cable rows. I can't wait to get to 100 lbs!! I'm doing lunges holding a 20 lb medicine ball and I shoulder pressing 20 lb barbells (in each hand). I have to say ~ this makes me smile more than shaving minutes off of my miles ever did!

On the days I'm not lifting weights, I'm doing HIIT cardio ~ High Intensity Interval Training. All out sprint for one minute, slow recovery pace for two minutes. This can be done with any type of exercise and that's why I love it. Run/walk, jump rope, bike, swim, elliptical, etc.... Right now, my favorite is doing the Jacob's ladder (if you watch Biggest Loser, you've seen this!) for one minute (as fast as I can) and then I walk the indoor track for two minutes. The coolest thing about HIIT is that you only have to do about 5-7 repeats and then you're done. You get all of the great calorie burning benefits for hours after your workout without having to spend hours working out.

Again, I realize this post jumped all over the place. I'm still figuring all of this out, I'm always a work in progress and I know I'll find a plan that works for me soon. For now, I'm off to make my menu/grocery list for the week and for the first time in months, I'm actually looking forward to it!
Cheers!