A New Challenge and a New Direction - Body Building

Whether you are an athlete with your fitness goals, a fitness fan or just an everyday person who likes to keep active, no one likes to hear that their activities and what they love have to be reduced.

I have had over a year and a half of on and off pain, frustration and confusion and after an MRI last month i finally had my answer... 'a high grade almost full thickness tear of the central band of my plantar fascia'. It is great to know what is wrong instead of battling what i thought was a more simple (yet complex!) plantar fasciitis. My heart sunk when the doctor said it was the most impressive plantar fascia tear he has seen, 'well there goes any hope of track running this season!' The ultimate treatment is of course REST. I know i need to be strict on myself and restrict my exercise to swimming, weights and limited bike riding to make SURE i give it a good chance to heal while still having some form of fitness. I could have had a moon boot for a few weeks to take the load off my foot but i opted to reduce my exercise so maintain some fitness while it would take a longer to fully heal. Fitness is my what makes me feel me and i do not feel myself without it.

The Dreaded Tear

It has taken me a good month to realise that my hopes of catching the end of the running season this summer are out. It will take at least 4 months for this to heal enough to run again given the high grade tear and my decision to not have the moon boot. In terms of fitness i have 2 paths i can take:

1. I can wallow in my self pity and think about how much i miss my running or...
2. I can take this opportunity and invest it in another goal to make my body the strongest and leanest it has ever been!

I have my running goals which i am not ready to give up yet and will put these aside for the future, but maybe this is a chance.... To BUILD MY BODY and become STRONGER!! This has been a goal at the back of my mind for about 2 years now, i do some weights yes but not enough to build and tone myself as most of my effort has been invested into running, university/work and general life.

However building a body is so much more than the sweat and the weights, over half of it is diet. So my second opportunity and challenge is while i am learning about Raw foods is to incorporate the right ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats for body building into as high a raw food diet as i can. Is this possible?? I do not like taking artificial protein powders and supplements, yes there are groups of us out there that need them but i believe with the right diet we can acquire all the nutrition we need in our food. We are all individual and no matter what diet you are on it is important to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY to find out what your body needs in order to function to the best of its ability. 

My decision to body build has come of course in December with Christmas and all its festivities around the corner. But there is no time to start like the present! How will i start? Well i am onto my raw food nutrition and have been reading my books and sites to help devise raw meals and their nutrition content, but i have also noticed a personal trainer at my local gym... maybe its time i had a little word with them about my goals and working with my rehabilitation. 

I must remember that the ultimate goal is to heal my foot, but while that is happening and i listen to my foot and my body there is no reason why i can't take this opportunity. Life is funny how many small things can add up and help lead you to make a decision, maybe it is a sign that this is what i am suppose to do?

Well i am doing it, HERE I GO!!!

A new challenge and a new direction, BRING IT ON :) 

Rockin Raw

xox