This Conversation

The hubby and I were in a discussion yesterday of how our eating habits have drastically changed or rather how we decided to change our eating habits. If before chips and soda were a staple in our kitchen, now, vegetables and lean meats take their place. Of course we do enjoy a bit of blueberry cheesecake maybe once or twice a month, but our bodies and minds have adapted to this new and better homeostasis we decided to create. I emphasize the word "decide" here to signify that the positive changes we have seen now  did not come out loftily. It was an everyday willful and conscious act on our part. Every time we held food and drinks to our mouths we asked ourselves, "Will this sustenance give us long-term benefits or will this only give us a temporary high?" 

Aside from nutrition change, we decided to become fitter and  stronger by doing CrossFit. As with our nutrition overhaul, everyday that we find ourselves slacking off in doing workouts, we remind ourselves, "Everyday we decide not to sit on our asses is a day we give ourselves a fighting chance to live a day longer and stronger." 

More importantly becoming fitter and stronger physically has significantly impacted our brain's executive functioning. We think and work more efficiently. In my case, the length of time planning out student activities have been cut into half from how long I use to achieve it before. Also, I am able to act on the fly in dealing with various situations that require an immediate change of plans, whether it's dealing with parents in school, mentoring teachers or handling students.

Many have remarked how much different I look now, how slimmer I am and how my body has turned into this and that, what persistence and courage I have to pursue and withstand the pain and intensity of CrossFit. And every time I hear them say these things,  I wish we had enough time to talk about all that I have written here. But there never seems to be enough time. Or at least there never seems to be enough time for me to convince them to decide to make better choices in eating habits and exercise.

The decision to change  after all is highly personal and largely depends on one's motivation. 

So why am I writing this post along with a photo of me taken October 2013 (left) and December 2014 (right), before and after I decided to overhaul my eating habits and be more active by doing CrossFit? 

One, to generate, not "likes" but to welcome and encourage a positive discussion and continuous discourse on the very thing I am bent on sharing especially to people who matter to me, friends and family-- the love of not just CrossFit, but fitness and health. Let's start with our motivations. Mine has always been my boys, Garret and Morgan. What's yours? 

Two, perhaps in the process of discourse, I can convince just one or two people to start rethinking their lives in the way they feed themselves and in the way they treat their bodies and their minds.

Finally, I am writing this to affirm and celebrate how far I have come in terms of nutrition and health. I  eat better now. I am healthier now. I am stronger now, physically and mentally. This is not to say that the work on myself is done. It never is. While I do not and will never strive for perfection, I do aim for progression onwards to the fulfillment of my ultimate genetic and psychological potential. I work on myself constantly to bring out the best of my humanity, to be more human. Because isn't this the reason why we are given this one life?

Whoever you are reading this, whether we are acquaintances, friends or family, I do want you to be healthier, stronger, better. Because when you become healthier, stronger, a better person, the people around you, friends and family will hopefully be inspired to better themselves, our community then becomes better. So when that happens, slowly but surely, our world will become better. And who wouldn't want that? 

So let's have this conversation. Because this is where change begins, when we begin to talk openly about things. Things that do matter-- Fitness, health, living the life we are meant to live.  Or we can talk about clothes, a great selection of basic dresses, for starters, if that's your primary motivation to start having an active life, so you can fit into clothes you would like to wear. You matter. Tell me what you think.

"Investing on yourself is the best investment you will ever make. It will not only improve your life. It will also improve the lives of all those around you." - Robin S. Sharma

One Year Later

July 5, 2015

Today last year, I finished my elements classes in CrossFit Pintados. I pause and reflect on what CrossFit has brought to my life in the past year. Obvious questions come up such as: Can I now do a proper push-up? Can I pull myself up without the help of a band? Can I now do double-unders? Can I now do the movements as prescribed? Truth be told my answers to these are not yes.

There is no harsher critic than myself. So I am not at all elated with this fact. And frequently I succumb to the temptation of comparing myself with other CrossFitters who started last year as well, which clearly does not do me any good. 

However, I am reminded of the reason that I decided to do CrossFit. Having survived the most devastating typhoon recorded in history, I saw this as a second chance at life. What was I going to do with this second chance the Universe so generously gave me? I decided to overhaul my life starting with the way I took care of my body. I decided to give myself a physical, emotional and mental transformation.

For myself but most especially for my family. I found how CrossFit has become a medium of many all around the world to change their lives for the better. I said to myself, "I want this. I will do this. CrossFit is my second chance at life." 

So perhaps the more important questions I should be asking myself a year after are these: Am I now a better mother, wife? Am I now a more efficient teacher? Am I now a more compassionate leader in our school? Am I now a more discerning mentor?  Am I now a realer friend? Am I now a better person than I was last year?

Because the very essence of CrossFit has always been virtuosity. In gymnastics it is defined as "Doing common things uncommonly well."  In real life,  isn't it simply the fulfilling of one's daily roles in life exceedingly well?

So a year later I find myself in the company of our grade 1 and 2 students facilitating their functional movement exercises basked in their energy, excitement and enthusiasm. I find myself with our preschool, elementary and high school teachers striving to be a better leader by exemplifying optimal health and a better lifestyle, one squat at a time, one better nutrition choice at a time. I find myself collaborating with parents with more verve, vigor and with a no-nonsense attitude while striving still for that much needed empathy they need, we all need. 

 

One year later, I find myself nourishing real friendships, those that give value to my soul, those that only make me want to better myself even more. I find myself seeking for those singular, soul baring and spirit nurturing conversations while discarding those that are just noise. I find myself, reaching out to people sharing my experiences that may help them in their own lives. 

I find myself 365 days later with my life partner in invigorating discourses on various matters that are elemental in our life,  in the shooting range honing and distilling my skills in weapons manipulation, body mechanics and sharp mindset, in a two-hour Combatives Training learning how to protect myself and my family in an unfortunate event of a threat.

 

One year later, I find myself always in the present moment with our two very special boys, me deciding to  take the reins of their education, maximizing every opportunity available to us so they can optimize their potential. Today, one year later, I find myself celebrating the very essence of who they are every single day but now more intensely than ever before.

 So as I have asked myself days before I turned 31 years old three years ago, I ask myself now the most important question of all: Am I a better person than I was the year before?

Truth be told, I feel it in my bones and with every fiber of my being that I am. But more importantly, I know that I still have room to grow. I still can be better. Every day. Every year. For the rest of my life.

"No matter what happens in your day, bounce back. Winners aren't people who never hit the floor. Winners are people who didn't stay there." - Lisbeth Darsh