There's nothing like that high you get after a really solid, sweaty workout. More often than not, that feeling of accomplishment and self-satisfaction takes you straight through the day 'til your head hits the pillow.
Stage 1: When your kickboxing instructor tells you that your high kicks are the best in the class, you channel your inner Lara Croft and give her everything you've got.
Stage 2: When you walk out of that class, you instantly know what's on the horizon: You are going to FEEL those kicks. It's much more fun to anticipate a second date or a visit from the Tooth Fairy than delayed onset muscle soreness.
Stage 3: You wake up the next morning, and you know it's there before you even move an inch. To say you feel like you got hit by a truck, well, that's the understatement of the century.
Stage 4: Your first step towards the bathroom hurts. Is this what childbirth feels like?
Stage 5: Changing clothes is like going through an obstacle course. Putting on a T-shirt requires lifting your arms above your head, but lifting your arms above your head makes you think they're going to fall off. You contemplate leaving the house sans bra, in the clothes you slept in.
Stage 6: Getting down the first set of stairs is like conquering a marathon—except at least when running a marathon, you have some super motivating playlist. And speaking of running, maybe you just won't ever exercise again.
Stage 7: You somehow make it to work. When you drop your pen on the way to a meeting, you have to ask your colleague if she wouldn't mind picking it up for you, because you literally cannot bend down that far. *Blush*
Stage 8: You make a quick trip to the grocery store on your way home from the office, and of course the cereal you love is only on the top shelf.Of course. You leave without your cereal, your head bowed down in sadness.
Stage 9: You wake up the next morning eager to put yesterday behind you, but—is this for serious?—you actually hurt more.
Stage 10: Towards the end of the day, the more you move, the less it hurts. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's walking in heels without looking like a wounded fawn.
Stage 11: Finally, you're back to feeling like a boss. When your favorite kickboxing instructor asks for more oomph, you take a deep breath, shudder, and then go for it.