"49% Less Than Half Ain't Really Much Of Nothing..."

Confession time: I've been half-assing it. Yep. I'm owning it. Let's get all the excuses I've been using out of the way with: "work is crazy," "I'm traveling like mad," "when I'm not traveling I'm catching up on everything else," "the hotel has a crappy gym, I can't stick to my routine anyway," "I didn't sleep well because I was at a hotel so I need the extra sleep this morning instead of working out," "I don't have any fresh food in the house from being gone so much, there's no point in restocking the groceries anyway, I'm about to leave again," "I finally have a night off' I want to celebrate!" - I'm slightly purged, but there's probably forty-five more cop outs that could be added to this list.

That said, I put my best foot forward today. And for that I'm giving myself a pat on the back. I packed my latest installment of Oxygen magazine - I did it half-heartedly. As I sat on yet another airplane, I cracked the spine and felt annoyed by all the "you can do it" messages and hard bodies. I was just deflated. I kept reading and there was an article from a fitness idol of mine (in her mid-thirties) talking about how hard it was for her to learn the art of self-control and the true meaning of commitment - in her case she was applying this to health and wellness and relationships. This I can relate to.

I arrived in NYC somewhat refreshed and recommitted to take advantage of the hotel gym and find something more healthful than bar grub for dinner. As I cranked out a kick ass workout in the somewhat limited fitness facility in the hotel, the tune posted above came up on my iPod. Regardless of how you feel about Norwegian, electronic dance music - I happen to love it - what I took away from this song today was the whole idea about giving less than your best. Hell, not even close to your best. As Royksopp says:

"Fourty-nine percent
One percent short of half
And less than half
Ain't really much of nothing."

I realize this is the mode I operate in far too often. In terms of the equation of health and wellness, I've got a part of it on lock down: exercise. What I don't hold up to nearly as well, is what goes in my mouth (I'm looking at you portion control, junk food and booze). That said, I'm always fighting the uphill battle of just maintaining where I'm at and never progressing to the next level. That's what's next for me.

As for today, it wasn't a 49% day. I'd give it a 75% and that ain't too shabby.