Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Newest Addiction and it Involves Hitting!

Ever since I had that horrible knock-me-on-my-heiny mono this summer I have not been very motivated to exercise. I am busy with the boys, life, and the computer so I keep on putting it off. "Tomorrow I will start exercising" I tell myself as I sit on the couch watching Netflix for hours while crunching on chips and chocolate-covered almonds.

I am pretty lucky and I don't gain much weight when I stop working out, but I get flabby and a bit bloated. Sorry, I refuse to post a photo even though I have one of myself in my undies for motivation.  One look at that photo will usually damper my snacking a bit.

Exercise also works like a mild anti-depressant/anti-anxiety drug for me. If I stop working out I start getting easily overwhelmed. I also feel lazy and tired and about twenty years older.

So the other day while I was hanging out in the backyard with the boys rereading The Stand: Expanded Edition for the third time, my husband (who works out several times a week and is in amazing shape) brought home his new toy.

I took one look at his new punching bag, stand and gloves and scoffed "What in the world did you buy?  You are never going to use that".

I have since eaten those words (which are much healthier than the chips/chocolate I was snacking on earlier).  For a lark I put on those big black gloves and gently hit the bag a few times.  "Don't hit like a girl!" he told me.  So I pulled back and gave that bag my everything. That bag was every horrid boss I had ever had, every mean girl who threw a ball at me in dodgeball, every crazy driver that cut me off while they were texting. 

And it felt AMAZING!

Since that mind-blowing day I have been hitting our "gym" daily (elliptical, exercise tapes, weights, and that lovely punching bag).  And I am starting to feel like my old self!  Who knew hitting something could feel so good?

I used my Grainy B&W action on that image and also a B&W texture from Chasing Dreams newest texture set, France. 

14 comments:

  1. dude! THAT. IS. AWESOME! I need one of those... I have the elliptical and the DVDs... I just need to get motivated. Clearly I need a picture in my undies, cause I know that isnt pretty. Im like you- the flab occurs. ugh.

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  2. This sounds great, but I so can't imagine you doing it. LOL I need to get something like that for my older boys, so they won't hit each other, and I would probably get rid of a lot of pent up stress too.

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  3. Amanda, I never thought of myself as enjoying boxing either! We are going to get some kid gloves for the boys. Oh, it helps so much with that pent up stress!!!

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  4. Amanda, I never thought of myself as enjoying boxing either! We are going to get some kid gloves for the boys. Oh, it helps so much with that pent up stress!!!

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  5. I take a kickboxing class taught by a boxer at our local Y. It is an amazing workout and great stress relief! We also have a bag and gloves at home for when someone needs a little *timeout*!

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  6. hehe. How funny!!

    maybe I'll need to take up boxing... and beat up some old memories! lol!

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  7. Now that is funny! I would never have thought of that as pleasant exercise but I like the idea of pretending it is everyone you have ever had a problem with!

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  8. That does seem like a lot of fun! I think at first I would be self concious of how I looked! LOL. But I can totally see myself loving it!!!

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  9. I used to do Krav Maga which included punching and kicking pads held by another person. Even though I wasn't hitting the person, I was "hitting" the person, and it was pretty freaking awesome for stress relief.

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  10. Oh I envy you! I take a cardio kickboxing class and LOVE it! Enjoy it.

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  11. a puncing bag has been on my "wishlist" for many years. Maybe it its time to do something about it:-)

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  12. My boyfriend has practiced boxing, MMA and various disciplines of Karate for a very long time. He recently bought a house and canceled his boxing club membership in favor of a home gym. He's been teaching me how to box in the garage. It's so much fun.

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  13. I totally agree! I take Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) and there is something so satisfying about punching, kicking, and throwing elbows. It's a great stress reliever and incredible workout! The gym I go to has kids' classes as well so it's an entire family affair for us.

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Rita