I have a love-hate relationship with working out: I love it when I do it, I hate it when I don’t. For last eight years, I have gone no more than two weeks straight without some sort of workout or training session. So it’s definitely been coded in my blood to just… go.

And I’m very proud about that aspect about myself. I’ve been on the receiving end of unnecessary fat jokes and comments from friends, family, and strangers for two decades. And it really sucks, by the way. I’ve been able to look back and laugh about those moments now, but trust me when I say that it took some blood, several tears, and a whole lot of sweat to get to that point of acceptance. And, if my calculations are correct, if I averaged a safe bet of four workouts a week for the last eight years (416 weeks), that amounts to 1,664 workouts.

And after 1,664 workouts you would be easily led to believe that I am some chiseled out monster that eats dumbbells for breakfast, flosses with jump rope and lifts cars with my eye lashes. If you do, thank you for the wonderful compliment.

But I’m not. While I have lost a lot of weight, I’m not where I want to be (yet). The problem I’ve always had is that I plateau, quite honestly more than anyone I know. I have hit wall after wall after wall, I lose focus and I find myself taking steps back for several weeks and/or months. I’ll buy one too many Cadbury Eggs bags at Target post-Easter sale, add three too many cheat meals during the week because I feel I deserved another, visited my parents and ate too much of that oh-so-good comfort Filipino food, or had myself too many packs of peanut M&Ms, thinking that eleven burpees would burn it all off.

True story – it takes eleven burpees to burn off ONE peanut M&M. The moral: chose portion control, or suffer the consequences.

Then there’s that crazy thing called life, too. Sometimes it just sucks you dry, and other times you’re having just too much fun. Either way, too much booze is involved, and that’s where you can blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-a-alcohol.

You may also believe that I am knowledgeable about everything health and fitness. I am not this, either. I have many close and successful friends in that field, and I’ve picked their brain for years learning and understanding what works and what doesn’t. I have not earned one certification, and never will I consider myself an expert. But I understand what I need, what works for me, and what it’s going to take – for me. And recently, I have gained a much better understanding of when to slow down. You can’t always go pedal to the metal. You get hurt (as I have plenty of times), and you are shelved for days or weeks, and all the momentum goes out the window.

That’s where the wall appears. Then, boom. Right to your chin. The wall’s in the car, you on the ground, tryin’ to figure what the f%$# just happened.

And I did run into that wall last week. The good thing is, it didn’t knock me backwards. I couldn’t get over that 5AM alarm, but I eventually got something in later in the day. While feeling like you’re staying put is not the greatest thing, there is a win in holding your ground. Once you can weather the storm, you can move forward once more and continue to chase that burn.

And when you start naming your workouts, that’s when you know you’re having fun and you’re on board the right train. Take today’s session, which I aptly titled The ABC’s:

A. 3:14 minute cardio warm up (row machine)
B. Shoulder stretch routine with broomstick
C. Hip rotations and warm up
D. 21 reps barbell thrusters @75 lbs
E. 1 minute plank
F. 50 crunches
G. 18 reps barbell thrusters @75 lbs
H. 1 minute plank
I. 50 reverse crunches
J. 15 reps barbell thrusters @75 lbs
K. 1 minute plank
L. 50 scissor kicks
M. 12 reps barbell thrusters @75 lbs
N. 1 minute plank
O. 50 bicycle kicks
P. 9 reps barbell thrusters @75 lbs
Q. 1 minute plank
R. 50 oblique crunches (left)
S. 6 reps barbell thrusters @75 lbs
T. 1 minute plank
U. 50 oblique crunches (right)
V. 3 reps barbell thrusters @75 lbs
W. 1 minute plank
X. 50 hip bridges
Y. Cool down
Z. Leave no doubt: take a photo to prove you’ve done your ABC’s

One last thing – how many Jamie Foxx references did you catch in this post?