Fun Friday?!

Today has been an eventful day. It started with a 5am Fun Friday Workout. For those of you who are not familiar with Farrell’s eXtreme Bodyshaping. We workout six times a week – MWF are fitness kickboxing workouts and TThSa are strength training with resistance bands. On Fridays, our kickboxing workouts are slightly different from the normal workouts in which we partner with another member.

Today we did line drills. Basically, there are rows of punching bags and we go down the line executing a specific kick, punch or combination, and then we run back to the start of the line. We also do different body weight exercises in-between such as pushups, squats, etc.

With the start of a new session, we haven’t done this particular type of workout in a few weeks. I was reminded today of the importance to CHANGING IT UP! I am sure you’ve heard of muscle memory. While there are many benefits to this, we get the most growth and increased fitness when we challenge our muscles with new movements.

After class I was faced with a little bit of anxiety. You see, I left class knowing that in a few hours I was going to lose part of my toe. I know that sounds weird, but I had a mole on the bottom of my fourth toe removed. Two years ago I noticed a splinter – or so I thought – on the bottom of my toe. After trying repeatedly to remove it, I soon realized that it was NOT a splinter. Over the next 2 ½ years, this “splinter” grew to the size of a pencil eraser. It was definitely suspicious looking and strange that it grew so rapidly. But...I ignored it.

You may have seen a YouTube video titled, “Dear Sixteen-year-old Me,” floating around facebook awhile back. If you haven’t seen it. Check it out HERE. It was definitely an eye opener for me. Anyone can be at risk for melanoma, but especially being blonde (naturally! – I did recently dye my hair dark) and having fair skin, it was important that I get it checked out. Sure enough – they wanted to remove it for further testing.

Today was the day. I knew it was just a minor surgery, but I was still restless knowing that someone was going to cut me! YIKES! The surgery lasted around 30 minutes and I am thankful that many people were praying for me. The worst part was getting the shot of anesthesia and the pressure I felt as he removed the mole and stitched it up. I joked with my friends that I am now a part of the stitches club!

I am now at home resting per Dr.’s orders. And, while I hope to make it to resistance band training tomorrow and next week, I know I am going to miss some kickboxing. So, my challenge today, is to do EVERYTHING you can to be healthy. Make smart choices with your foods, be active and truly LIVE AT LEVEL 10. I am only going to miss a few workouts, but I am reminded that you NEVER know what will happen in life. Be healthy and be active while you can. STOP the excuses, because you CAN do it!

I return in a few weeks to have the stitches removed (which I haven’t even seen yet!) and receive my results from the lab. I will let you know the results when received.

I am doing this and SO CAN YOU! Make it a Level 10 Day!