Reality Check.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of playing in my college volleyball alumnae tournament. I was very much looking forward to reuniting with my teammates, seeing old friends, and visiting some of my favorite restaurants. Wyoming meat… delish! I was worried how well I would perform given that I’ve gained 20lbs since playing and let me tell you I was a machine back in the day! I was able to perform 3 a day workouts weeks at a time and play in two hour matches without breaking a sweat (not true, I sweat profusely but you know what I mean)! I had slimmed down to 165. I was toned. I was eating right, sleeping well, and I felt incredible! Keeping that in mind… the first night of playing, coach told us she had jerseys for us to play in. I was thinking a cheap little t-shirt that said “CWC Alumnae” and the year we played. I was wrong. L They were our old college jerseys. You would think I would be excited to represent #14 again. More like embarrassed! That aside, had a great first night and played better than expected. Next day – start of local volleyball tournament. During pool play we played a total of 3 matches (best two out of three). It was at this point that I started feeling sore. Tournament play, we played 6 matches (1^st match best two out of three to 25, remaining matches best two out of three – 21 first two games, 15 third game, no cap). Imagine with me… bearing an extra 20lbs while attempting to jump A LOT, feeling a bit rusty - having not played volleyball for months, and wishing you had packed an inhaler for your athletic-induced asthma (which is at its worst when you are out of shape). By the last game I could barely clear the net and it took my body three full days to recover from the soreness. Reality hit me hard! I am in horrible shape! I keep hearing from people who have had dramatic transformations that the key to getting healthy is reaching a breaking point. I am not sure if this is mine, but the words escape me for how disappointed I am with myself. I am in control of me, and I should not have let it get to this point. I was reminded this past weekend of what I was once capable of doing and now, more than ever, I want to get back to the old me and even go beyond that.

If there is any advice I can give to those of you out there who, like me, feel as though you are struggling just remind yourself how incredible you are. The human body is a machine and we are capable of so much more than we could ever imagine!

As a side note, I know the focus of my reinvention is placed heavily on my body. However, I have made other efforts to help the process along that I feel I need to share with you. As an example, I have made a conscious effort to paint my nails more frequently. Something about manicured nails just feels more put together. I recently changed my hair style to a lighter, summer color. I am attempting to change my wardrobe up a bit and try new styles, and I am also working on my diet. In the near future, more emphasis will be focused on healthy eating habits and what I am doing specifically to help my body. I am a work in progress, but I know once I put all the factors of this equation together I will have an awesome final result.

Stay strong, fight on.

-Darbs