What I’m Giving Up for Lent?

What I’m Giving Up for Lent?
This past week being lent and the opening of The Passion of Christ (which I probably won’t see, mostly because I can’t bear watching physical violence and I’d be a total wreck during and afterwards). Though I am one who abandoned the Catholicism I was raised in, it does still haunt me.
Don’t worry I’m not going off into religious rantings. …
Having recovered from my trials and tribulations of January I headed into February with a revived passionate verve. I was finally over the lingering cold and ready for action. I broke into the workout regime, gently not expecting too much of myself after an almost 3 week hiatus. The passion was glowing, a light ember within. As the week wore on and I continued to beat my expectations. I tried a little harder and while I was at it added a new cardio regime called High Intensity Interval Training. It is exactly what it sounds like and it can be accomplished in 20 minutes. (I explain it in further detail in the next article)
Now one client in particular to whom I will give the name Jackie has been working with me since late summer and while making excellent fitness gains has not lost the weight she has set out to. In fact she has gained a pound or two. So while working out this new cardio regime I invited Jackie to join me With the cold weather still lingering, we tended to use her gym more often than not, which is why no one else has been invited.
So week one Jackie and I do cardio 3-4 times as well as the workout regime. The second week yours truly is feeling infallible. My passion is a red hot ember and I’m out to save the fitness world. If Jackie isn’t getting motivated to do her cardio one day I jump in and do more to get Jackie fired up. The upshot of Debs passion being, Deb works out 3 times plus 6cardio days, Jackie 2 workouts +2 cardio. For all my efforts I now have a low grade cold again and have to take myself out of the workouts for an entire week. I was just trying to do my best and be my best and I ended up flagellated. I realize now I can’t save the fitness industry.
So for lent I am giving up passion and giving into practicality. The following article will address several more issues regarding “Passion”, its problems and how to avoid them. I believe there is a place for passion, it will haunt me and drive me as friend and foe for the rest of my life, like my Catholic roots.
Meanwhile a number of clients have been expressing their need to do cardio for weight loss. Once the weather gets a little warmer I will be organizing groups and times when we meet in the park to do collective cardio conditioning. We’ll basically be broken into groups of walkers/fast walking, walker/runners, and runner/sprinters. I will keep everyone posted about the details. Please email me at [e-mail] to hold your spot. Everyone will be thankful that I have learned my lesson and not drive them too hard.


Deborah Caruana RN, AAHRFP, NASM, ACE,
www.vitalsignsfitness.com
email [e-mail]