I can do this.
I can do this.
I can do this.
I have been repeating these words to myself since my very first class this morning. I didn’t sleep enough or stretch enough yesterday and my body is feeling it today. Muscles are tight, I’m tired, and everything is a struggle.
But at the first sign of resistance in lower body conditioning I starting telling myself, “I can do this.”
Each time it felt too hard to keep working a muscle I repeated the thought until I made it through the set. In kickboxing when I didn’t think I could make it through another round of jabs I repeated the thought until I hit every punch at full strength. I can do this. I can do this.
Normally I’m not one for mantras. But that might be a reason why I don’t push myself. I often lose the mental game and say, “You know, you’re right body! I am tired! Let’s quit now before it gets too hard.” I don’t often tell myself I can do it. I let the sissy muscles who want to rest control my thoughts instead of letting my thoughts control the muscles.
But it turns out I do have control of my muscles. I can tell my body what to do and even if its hard it can do it. I can push through the struggles if I tell myself I can. Saying “I can do this” didn’t make it the work today any easier. Those words weren’t a magic pill to make exercise fun and easy on a day when my body was rebelling. But they did keep me going instead of giving up. They did push me past the point where I could have stopped.
So, yeah, I can do this.
And so can you.
We just have to remember to tell ourselves that sometimes.
Meals:
Not pictured: 1.8 oz hazelnut chocolate bar. Yums.
Moves:
1 hour lower body conditioning class
45 minute kickboxing class
30 minutes on stationary bike
1 mile walk moderate pace
30 minute Zumba class
1 hour candlelight yoga class
I’m a runner, so this mantra is quite familiar to me! You can always go farther, even if you don’t think you can. You can do it! =)
I never had a doubt…
I read that Little Engine That Could book when I was young and the message still reverberates with me: if you’re a train and you think you can do something, something good happens at the end… (okay, I’ll admit that I skimmed through it).
You can and you are doing it! I am so glad you are doing so well. You are an inspiration.
You CAN do it, Mary!
Have I mentioned how awesome I think you are?
:)
I love your attitude and optimism. Yes you can!!
YES YOU CAN!
(We? Obama love.)
The zumba and candlelit yoga class sound amazing.
When I’m tired, I think that it’s the hardest for me to keep going. That’s when I want the caffeine, which leads to wanting something else to go along with it, which leads to not wanting to exercise, which leads to a downward spiral… It’s a little bit different type of “tiredness” than what you’re talking about, but I can still relate to it– just a different way. :-) Exercising helps with not being tired so much, but there are occasions that despite the exercising that I don’t fall asleep right away. And then it gets really tricky not to hit that snooze button in the morning, and reset the ‘ol alarm. Thanks for the post.
YOU ARE DOING IT! Say that to yourself. Not that you can.. YOU ARE.
I am doing this! I am doing this! Hear me roar! See me sweat! I am doing this!
M
Hey there,
I really like that idea of chanting. I always do it to pump myself up when I’m nervous but have never thought about it in terms of pushing myself. I’ll give it a shot, for sure.
T.
I LOVE what michelle added as that was entirely my thought as well.
My running mantra was I CAN DO THIS until this past weekend when I realized, whether I EVER DO A RACE or not, I AM doing this.
Im a huge fan of mantras when doing things Im not a huge fan of :) it’s such a great mind distractor for me.
go Mary, go Mary! (get your groove one…it’s your birthday!)
Are you singing yet?
You are doing it and doing a damn fine job.
(and seriously, your pictures are making me HUNGRY!)
THANKS EVERYONE!! :)
I agree with the others.. YOU ARE DOING IT! Amazing stuff! Candlelight yoga? That sounds calming!
You ARE doing it, and you ARE awesome. You’ve added inspiration to my day.
Thanks for the reminder. Really. Coz if it were me I would say, I can do this tomorrow! hehe So thanks for your optimism Mary.
@Margie
MARGIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so glad you commented. I miss you. :( Hope Seattle is nice right now! :)
Mary, I agree with everyone else, you CAN do this! That’s right, you CAN do this! I have no doubts in my mind. You are in control, and the muscles can do nothing about it.