The Halfway Mark

I haven't blogged about my training in the last week much, if anybody has noticed.

I've now been here for 50% of my stay, almost, meaning that I've been here about six weeks......

I've been thinking a lot about my training and my goals, and I've come up with a new outlook.

I've basically had to; about 2 1/2 weeks ago the weather started to change, and at some point, so did my sleep pattern. My old arch nemesis, insomnia, came back to pay me a visit.

I've always dealt with sleep issues. Here, for sleep issues, they give you either Valium or Xanax, neither of which is preferable. I found some extremely weak muscle relaxants I primarily took after sampling the others, but I hate taking anything - it always seems to have a negative effect in some way.....

When I train on no sleep or too little sleep, I almost always hurt myself, and I've seen too many people hurt themselves with one wrong lift of the weight or one bad kick that I don't want to have it happen to me.

In a nutshell, though, it's hard to say "I'm gonna" and "This is my new plan that I'm going to stick to" when you don't know if you are going to sleep that night, or for two nights in a row, etc. And then you feel like a failure, which is even worse.

For three nights last week alone I didn't sleep at all. It was a nightmare (no pun intended). Since this Friday I've only slept about 4 - 5 hours a night, and last night, only 2.5. I won't train on zero sleep, but I am still training at least once a day (the afternoon), but the last 3 days have been very hard, complete with dizzyness and total fatigue. I'm eating like a pro again, after a week of playing around due to hormones (LOL, sorry), and it feels great, like I'm "home" again.

It doesn't help that there is something going around the gym, and my neighbors had it. I don't seem to "get" get what everybody else gets, but I will get a symptom or two (knock on wood). My eyes were messed up for about 2 days, for example. And I have felt wiped, of course, but then again - as you well know by now - I'm not sleeping. When I think I might be susceptible to something going around, I generally will start loading up on garlic, white onion, cayenne pepper, water and young coconuts, and I just don't get anything too bad........ Works like a charm!

So, even though in spirit I want to be at every single training session, I'd be a fool to in my condition half the time at 7am, etc. But here's what I've realized in the last week: right now my goals are fitness. I LOVE Muay Thai, and I want to spar more and know the Wai Kru....eventually. But for right now, especially considering where I've been and what my goals are, I'm okay with not doing every single thing. I want to work on my technique as much as possible, as well as my fitness. The rest will come in time, I don't have to master it all TODAY, especially because I don't have a desire to fight for a very, very long time (if at all). I love the self-defense and the daily challenge it is, and the workout I get doing pads and training. Plus, it appears I'll be able to come back soon and/or continue with Muay Thai, so all in good time - not that I am using that as a reason to "slack".

But the Muay Thai, even twice a day, is not enough for weight loss. Especially when dealing with stubborn, "stored" fat. Personally, I've gained back a couple of the kilos of what I've lost due to hormones, but that actually is going to "help me" with my Biggest Loser contest, so I suppose it's alright, LOL! As a woman, I can just expect that to happen no matter what country I'm in and what exercise or diet I'm doing, I reckon. But due to the chronic but sporadic insomnia, I've stopped training twice a day and stopped running in the mornings.

I pretty much only want to be doing these things, too, which is what is really upsetting. Tonight I am trying a new sleeping aid and I am going to start eating even lighter (but still sensibly). The weather is still transitioning, but I'm adjusting to by now and we've had some relief due to the rains.

My goals now at the 50% mark are to OBVIOUSLY get as good a grip as possible on my sleep, and to add more cardio and weight-training to my routine. I love doing two trainings a day, but even one, as long as I'm getting a lot of cardio and weight-training, is sufficient. Still, ideally, I can do all of the above.

My fitness has come along enough that I can make the five rounds with the trainer (even Fin, the greatest kick-nazi around, and so fun you won't realize you're doing them....well, almost) and my form is improving daily - especially with guidance from fighters like Lindsay. I'm proud of that; even if my weight hasn't changed TONS in six weeks, I've missed a little time here and there and I'm building muscle and endurance. My fitness has improved still (as has my Muay Thai, obviously), but I miss the intensity of what I was doing before, honestly, and the faster results.

You can do a LOT in six weeks, and it at least feels like I am entering a very good place right now after this temporary hurdle - especially with our contest going on. I'm trying out a new antihistimine-type sleep aid, my hormones should be balancing out soon (training in Thailand really threw them for their money), and I'm looking forward to my first big night of sleep in about a week, roughly. If all goes well, I'll be up and at 'em in no time.

For cardio I plan on hiking on a treadmill, at a very steep incline. And maybe going for a walk/run outside, again, at another time. I miss that. The weight training won't be super involved; doing squats, lunges, more intense ab work, and some arm exercises should do the trick. If Lindsay's up for it, I'll do it as personal training with her. But I'll have to check her schedule and availability.

I'm excited to rock it by doing all I can do in a day versus focusing on what I couldn't do for reasons that feel out of my control. I'm proud of what I've accomplished, and I can still get a ton accomplished in six weeks, my kick alone has improved a million times over since my arrival, big time!