What Next ???

There is this thought that lingers in my mind every now and then. I sure have had my struggles but have managed to pull myself through, all this while. I have to agree that this has been the most difficult of battles I've had to fight  and I am sure I am gonna have to wage this battle many more times in the years to come, just that the arena might be a different one each time. 

When everything seems to be going just fine, life springs in a beautiful surprise in the form of a "What Next ???" question. Life would be boring and monotonous with out these little challenges. Now that this question has come up again with my blogging (what should I write next) I thought it would be perfect to write about one of earlier "What Next" fights.

"What Next ? - The question that deserves some thought"

I started my workout and diet regime early 2007. Progress was slightly slow cos I was learning things the hard way, no proper direction but I was getting my workouts done and so was able to see that I was losing weight and was getting into some shape. Slowly but Surely. 

In a years time I had lost almost 40 pounds (18 kgs) . The fact that the weighing scale was reading 40 pounds less than what it used to, gave me a lot of motivation to keep going. I started to check my weight once a week then a little more often just to realize that there wasn't any change from last time. That was the moment when I was like "What Next", where am I headed next what do I do to keep this going. For some reason I was not convinced or happy with what I was doing, I needed a target a goal to work towards. 

I pondered over this for a bit, fought with myself cos a part of me was like " do what you are doing you are getting fitter everyday, why do you need a target etc" but I really really wanted something to work towards and Eureka there was the answer. I never thought I would even be contemplating about this but I was happy I did. So on a hot Summer afternoon in Alpharetta GA, I started my "Quest six pack abs". I always tell people not to set any targets and the whole intention is not to loose sight of the fact that all the fun is in the process of getting there. And it does not stop even after you get there as a matter of fact you never stop.

Quest Six Pack Abs

I was all rejuvenated again, started changing my workout routine towards this. Read a little more, altered my diet, lowered my Sodium intake considerably, little rice became no rice, lots of fruits, salads, lean meats became the name of the game. I started enjoying a little bit of cardio followed by strenuous workout for the abs everyday. 

Learnt that the abs are fast growing muscles unlike the biceps, shoulders etc. So I was happy that I could workout my abs how much ever I wanted without having to give them rest to recuperate. Also cos the abs are basically a combination of the muscles the upper abs, lower abs and the obliques my crunches and my leg lifts were the focused on working out all of them everyday. I started doing a lot of cycling crunches, stand up crunches, got myself a chin up bar and was doing my leg lifts suspending myself on the chin up bar. The lower abs are the toughest so suspending the body completely on the chin up bar while doing leg lifts helped me work them out better.

Started feeling great about myself got addicted to the "fire in my belly". Six months may be little less I started seeing a nice distinction of my abs for the first time, felt awesome. Then on there was no stopping, kept working on the abs increased my cardio a great deal and all this has only given me very distinct ab definition that anyone would love to flaunt. With a stronger core, the fitness levels have gone up like crazy. 

The answer to this simple question, "What Next?" gave me a great looking body, amazing fitness, great mental stability, a never say die attitude and a happier me. Now I feel it was worth every minute of time spent pondering over for an answer. 

Make the best of every opportunity to challenge yourself and trust me you will be happy you did.