[JerseyGirl69]

Exercise and training have shown me parts of myself I didn't know well.

I am:
The Good
Conscientious
Committed
Dedicated
Hard working
Encouraging of others
Athletic
Persistant

The Bad
a Perfectionist
Self Critical
Have abandonment issues from my dad's death (I suspect)
Emotional
Needy
Hurt
ETA: Impatient
I'll add to the list the more I come up with, but gotta run for now....

[Spinymouse]

This is a great idea for a thread! I am looking forward to see the responses. JerseyGirl, I think being a perfectionist could be an advantage when it comes to exercise, if you are a perfectionist about exercising with proper form and following all your training recommendations!

I have just started to work out again after several years of flakiness. So I haven't had a lot of time for learning yet, but I will say:

The good: I am a perfectionist in that good kind of way, with wanting to do all the exercises meticulously perfectly. Also I am interested in learning more, more, more!
The not so good: I can fall into slumps of laziness and rebelliousness and feelings of futility. The rebellious part is something that I can tweak, I think, and turn it into an advantage. If I can be rebellious against the laziness!

Thanks for giving us something to think about!

[JerseyGirl69]

My trainer is working on my head for how I perceive things. I get pissed that I can't do stuff or find it really hard. Today we were doing sprints that I think amounted to 100 yards (back, forth, repeat further, you get the idea) and it winds me, and that scares me and makes me mad. He pointed out anyone would get winded doing it and that's why certain times players are pulled out of a game (he's a man, he used a football reference ; P ) they too get winded.

Today we tried the Roman chair. I could barely do it. I wanted to cry. He pointed out he was assessing ability, not expecting it yet.

But I just get mad that I'm not there yet. Oh, impatient, that's one to add above.

[Lifeguard]

JerseyGirl - I get the frustration of not being able to do something you feel you should physically. When I started squatting I REALLY struggled with my form. For weeks I was squatting with the broomstick just working on form & had to bite back tears more than once. But pushing myself to deal with instead of giving up I think was really good for me. And yeah, squatting is still my worst lift, but I'm working on it.

I love this thread though!

Good stuff:

-I'm competitive, against myself & others
-I'm strong, physically & mentally (something I would not have said a year ago)
-I'm not scared to push my limits
-I can make good friends still (I've never really felt I was very likable - long story, but I've made good friends with my trainers)

Bad stuff:

-I could become an exercise addict - but honestly in my mind it is a stretch to call that bad. My DH would disagree! I can be a little OC at times.

[ViolinJenn]

Excellent idea for a thread!

The Good:
Hardworking
Commited
Athletic
Competitive
The realization that I'm stronger than I ever thought I was (physically and emotionaly).
That I CAN do this!

The Bad
Perfectionist(If I don't look like a lingeri model I'm not good enough. I'm working on this one!)
Impatient
Have self concious of abs(convinced that I need skin removal surgery after loosing 90lbs.)

My trainer has been great! He convinced me that I need to just focus on changing my body composition vs. focusing on the scale. My big freakout now is that I just met this guy, we live a bit of a distance(45min or so by train) and I don't want it to interfear with my gym workouts. I'm currently in the gym 4 days a week for about 90min. I do want to streamline them a bit, there is more to life than living in the gym, but I don't want to gain the weight back either! Any suggestions?

[sportmom]

Invite the new guy to join YOUR gym to see you!! DOes he work out also? If you could somehow get to the same gym (maybe one in the middle?) that would be great!