Vacation authenticity
The refrigerator was stocked with yogurt and low-fat milk and fruit. Smoothies became the order of breakfast in the morning, which, when made with a scoop of chocolate protein mix, became the better way to start the day eating on the go.
"Our kitchen is always healthier when you're around," my sister-in-law said to me.
That's much better than the sideways glances and comments about "oh, that weird stuff you eat" which I often get from others in my long-time circle of family and friends.
Last week brought a mix of the newly popular "staycation" and "fauxcation"-- as in taking your time off from work and making it fun without the cost of a traditional vacation. So I packed up my car (including my bike and the stationary trainer) and set off to visit my younger brother and his wife for the week. I would be leaving my house (the fauxcation" part) but once at their house would really just be camping out not doing very much but enjoying time off (the "staycation" part).
The plan had always been to continue training during this week, continuing to prepare for the Miami Half Marathon in January. But sometimes doing your normal routine in a different place is all you need to smile a bit more and make that "normal routine" not seem so routine.
My introduction to workouts in Binghamton began on Monday at a lunchtime swim at the university's recreation center pool. For $5 visitors could use the on-campus facilities. The undergraduate lifeguard thought I was a student myself and with that start to the week, well, how could I have anything but a great time.
The pool was small and slightly crowded and I sacrificed some quality of the workout in order to adjust to my new surroundings, but the swim felt good and the little quirks (like getting gently knocked in the head by a woman who insisted on doing the double backstroke every other length) made me laugh in the water.
Running was also done on campus, which had more than its share of hills, and the new scenery was refreshing. Bike workouts were done in my brother's basement on my stationary trainer, and for a week, singing out loud to my iPod while I clicked up the gears for strength intervals startled the dog instead of my landlord.
My brother returned from the gym one night to announce had completed a new personal best distance on the treadmill while my sister-in-law, who also did a new personal best, asked me some questions.
And the beautiful thing was the nature of my "influence" on two people so very dear in my life.
All three of us joked during the week about "guilt" and "judgement" because, well, there was none. They could have sat home every night eating two bags of chips, a half gallon of ice cream and two liters of soda pop and it would not have mattered one bit to me. They get to manage their own lives.
Just I like get to manage my own.
And managing my own life means training. Managing my own life means eating a certain diet which may be unusual to others but is enjoyable to me.
I don't ask others to follow my exact lifestyle.
My brother and sister-in-law want to be healthy and happy and enjoy doing the types of things which actually make them happy and healthy. Neither of them are signing up to do any triathlons or marathons. Nor are they becoming vegetarians. They have their own lifestyle goals.
But when you start living a life which makes you happy, others notice. We like to be around people who are joyful. We become inspired by them. Sometimes we go so far as to say that we get motivation and courage from other people. But really we don't. Things like motivation and courage and even inspiration are actually inside jobs. What we get from others is a model. What we get from others is joy and love and unconditional acceptance. And being surrounded by that makes us want to live our own best lives, however that may look.
Being authentic isn't just the best way to show up in our own lives, it's the best way we can show up for one another.
--- Amy Moritz
Follow Journey to the Finish Line on Twitter at www.twitter.com.amymoritz
