"Cheat" and Off Days..and some more

So I have learned from my trainer that everyone needs a day off or a so-called "cheat" day.  Where you ignore your diet and your workouts for one day a week.  It allows your body, mind, and muscles to totally recoup from the weeks workouts and get ready for the upcoming week.  It also allows your to "cheat" on your diet, so that you don't go completely crazy from being so strict with yourself.

Of course, I have been making myself participate in these days and most the time I embrace them, but there are some days (like today) when I feel guilty about not working out or sticking to my diet.  Am I the only one with these thoughts??  Which is why I try and remind myself that these days are not making me weaker, but making me stronger.  I know it is because this thursday when I was at training we took measurements and I have put on 4 lbs, but lost inches everywhere.  Which means I'm losing fat and putting on more muscle- which I'm TOTALLY okay with.

This putting on muscle reminds me of a few blogs/facebook pages I have found and am completely inspired by.  One is "Strong is the New Skinny" and "Girls Gone Strong".  I love these because they are all about promoting women's strength as beautiful and sexy.  They aren't showing pictures of anorexic looking, 90lb, 6ft models.  They're applauding women throwing up weights with the guys, completing marathons, and living life to be healthy and happy.  I'm so glad that these are becoming a more common sight because I grew up short and stalky because of my genetics and never thought anything was wrong, but everyone in all the magazines and other places said you had to be extremely tall and skinny to be pretty.  I noticed very young how it affected young girls because I was in dance class growing up and girls when I was 10, 11, and 14 were talking about how they needed to lose weight and were too fat...REALLY???  We didn't even have boobs yet and girls wanted to go on diets?  That's why people like the ones running the blogs/facebook pages from above inspire me because I don't want little girls to ever think like that or if I ever have a daughter I never want that to run through her mind either.  These two pictures (from the mentioned pages) really explain the need for us to praise the strong, healthy women over stage models, not just for us, but for girls still to come.

Well enough with that rant...my last subject: expanding my name and contacts with the fitness/ nutrition industry.  Like, I had mentioned in a previous post I want to start spreading my name out in the fitness community, so first off I am going to be a spin instructor starting next month (CAN'T WAIT) and until I can actually start personal training once I get my certification I have started this blog and now have a twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/HardbodyMaureen...so please "follow" it and share this with people you think might like it!

Til next time!

Mo