The Short and Sweet (…or perhaps the long and sour?)

First Things First:  I Am Not Trying to Re-Invent the Wheel.

First of all, I'd like to start off by saying that all I know is a mixture of what I've read in books and the interwebz, and just my own knowledge of common sense health and fitness throughout my life as an active person.  So what I share in this blog should not be taken as science or fact.  This is a journey for me to set aside my stubbornness and start doing things different so that my body starts to reflect the efforts I've invested into it for a long while.  I will suggest exercise routines and other health/fitness tips and tricks, but obviously you should consult a professional before starting a routine of your own.

So Now That That's Out Of The Way, Just Who the Hell Am I?

My name is Megan and I've been half-assing myself for 28 years.  On January 30th, 2012, I made the executive decision to quit cheating myself and finally do what I know needs to get done in my quest to achieve the fitness goals and performance I've expected of myself for nearly 2 decades.  I've always considered myself healthy, active, and [for the most part] an athlete. I played sports growing up and even a couple years of soccer in college. After blowing my knee out in a post-collegiate soccer league, I picked up beach volleyball and ran with it. To add to my list of fitness feats, I've trained for a triathlon, a half marathon (my knee won't let me run long distances), and even a total body year-long boot camp designed to get me prepared for the police academy. (Don't laugh; I at one point aspired to join the FBI and wanted to wet my feet to see if I could handle it before diving in head first!).

In addition to this, I have eaten a relatively healthy diet my whole life. I'll imbibe a little too much here or there, and have been known to be seen in a drive-thru once or twice a month... but hey, I go to the gym 5 days a week and play sports on the weekends, so I should be able to splurge occasionally, no?

So please somebody tell me why I have ALWAYS been disappointed by my performance, recurrence of injuries, lack of energy - and most importantly - why my body doesn't look like the elite athlete I feel like I work so hard to be?????  Yes, I understand genetics play a part in this, but my dad is an athlete and my mom is totally average, so I really have nothing there to suggest I can't get rid of the problem areas that make me look like I haven't seen the inside of a gym in 2 months. No, the problem is in my very flawed approach to health and fitness.  The things I eat, the way I workout, the way I don't pay attention to stretching and mental focus… all of these things have prevented me from being the best I can be, and I've stubbornly made excuses all along because I've been too proud to admit that I simply have been doing it wrong.  For a VERY long time.

The Inspiration for The All-Natural Athlete
After several years of slow-and-go, I decided this year that I want to do my best to get a women's rating in volleyball sometime before I turn 30. This gives me two years. But more than that, I want to say that I gave something my 100% all, put my stubbornness aside and took a long hard look at what I was calling "healthy living". Am I really as healthy as I think I'm being? Am I really working out the proper way? Am I really feeding myself the proper nutrition? Am I really nurturing my mind the way it should be? Because let's not fool ourselves, goals of any type - but especially athletic ones, I feel - are VERY mental in nature. Am I truly aloof, or have I just been underestimating my ability to control my mind and achieve the focus I need to be a successful athlete?

Maybe it's because it's 2012 (the world's supposed to end, right??) or maybe I'm just tired of being subpar and making excuses for myself.  All I know is, now is my time.  I want to be able to look myself in the eye and know without a shadow of a doubt that I did everything I could to be the best I could be - that I gave my body the best nutrition, trained the hardest, cared for my body with as much preventative measure, and treated my mind with as much respect as my body when it came to transforming myself into a well-oiled machine.  I want to give this the most honest and fully-committed effort I can, while I am still young and able. I don't want to have any regrets, or to look back on my life with disappointment that I was fooling myself into thinking I was something that I wasn't. Whatever success or failure I experience in my life, I want to know that I did absolutely everything I possibly could to be the best athlete I could be, while treating my body and mind with all of the respect and appreciation that the human body deserves.
What I have already experienced and learned in just the first 6 weeks of this program has changed my life forever, and has been nothing short of awe-inspiring. I intend to follow this for 6 months (REAL RESULTS DO NOT HAPPEN OVER NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and possibly, for life.

My Philosophy and Approach

I do not believe in gimmicks.  I don't believe in pills, the Ab Lounge and lemonade + cayenne pepper cleanses.  If those worked for you, great!  But I don't want some quick and flawed "fix"; I want to change the way I live my life, change the way I approach consumption, and change the way I experience existence.  So I am doing things the "all-natural" way:  proper nutrition, proper exercise, proper rest and the good common sense mother nature has provided us with.  This will be a slow-burn with the idea being that by June 30th (6 months in), I very well could be in the best state of being I have ever, in my life, been.  To me, I can't think of a more rewarding and exciting challenge to take on.

Your comments, criticisms, suggestions and tips ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME.  My hope is to learn as I work my way thru undoing all the bad habits that modern American culture has instilled in me, in my pursuit of an all-natural lifestyle and fitness done the right way.  Hopefully we can all benefit together in this process :)