F.E.A.R. Is it Spoiling Your Training? - BodybuildingForYou

Hawkwind · #1 (**permalink**) 07-01-2007, 11:52 AM

F.E.A.R. Is it Spoiling Your Training?

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

Is it spoiling your training or diet?

My own recent struggles and subsequent epiphany on the matter prompted the above thought for me. I dwell on things, mull them over, chew them up, spit them out and then do it all again.

Thoughts like:
*Is carb cycling optimal for me?
*Should I change my macros?
*Should I change my routine?
*Am I doing enough cardio - not enough cardio?
On and on ad-nauseum my thoughts will circle and this is not even mentioning the days I get to thinking about my physique!

If there is one thing we women tend to do, it's to obsess about ourselves. And I think that for those of us that have taken to a lifestyle of lifting we have something within us that makes us take that obsession just a little further than the average woman. I've seen it with all of us. From the gals that train for body building or fitness competition to the ladies that just want to look as fit as they can be. Some of us just are not happy unless we can sneak a glance at our peers and 'know' that we look just a little bit better, a little healthier and little bit leaner.

So why does the acronym F.E.A.R. come to my mind?
Quite honestly I originally applied it to material used with study groups I led. In its original context it had nothing to do with diet and training...but I digress. So although the acronym may sound familiar to some of you. I'm using it in a slightly different context.

So ladies, be honest with yourselves here:
*How many times have you looked in the mirror and still saw the 'old' you?
*How many times have you cut back on a meal or two because you thought you were eating too much and would 'ruin' your diet?
*How many times have you added sets or reps to your training because you didn't feel you trained long enough or hard enough?
*How many times have you added more cardio?
*How many times have you stepped on the scale...knowing that it doesn't differentiate between fat and muscle? (Even the scales that are supposed to often are incorrect!)
*How many times have you let 'old' images of yourself interfere with your progress?

I ask you these questions because I've done it myself. I have literally sabotaged all my hard work and good intentions at times by allowing "False Evidence to Appear Real!" I realized recently that I needed to relax, step back and critique myself and my training and diet from 'new eyes'. Not the old jaded eyes that only see the spot on my lower abdomen that just won't come in fast enough to suit me or the old jaded me that insists on stepping on that scale even though I've lost enough clothing sizes the past couple of years to keep Target, Alloy, and Victoria's Secret happily in business whenever I need to buy nearly a whole new wardrobe.

So ladies, do you really need to skip that meal or eat less? Do you really need to add in a couple more reps or sets? Do you really need to add in more cardio? Yes, I know that we are always going to be 'tweaking' our training. There is just something about the lifting lifestyle that keeps us searching for our image of perfection. Yes, our goals and needs are going to change. But how much of the tweaking is motivated by F.E.A.R.?

Sometimes we need to step back a bit, relax and enjoy our progress.

Don't let F.E.A.R. spoil your training and diet. You have come too far in this journey not to allow yourself some of the rewards that come with a job well done in the gym and in the kitchen.

Happy Training!
~Hawkwind~