Reflection on Week 2 of 52

This past week went really well, my plan was not that elaborate and I didn't stick too it real close, but overall, I feel like I accomplished something. My plan for last Monday was to walk 30 min, 15 min stretch, 5 push ups, 10 side lunges, 10 front lunges, free weights. I did this, except the push ups, but I did add 10 crunches. Tuesday I accomplished that 1 hour yoga, but the walk was only 15 minutes after work with the dog. On Wednesday I walked 30 min, 15 min stretch, 10 side lunges, 10 front lunges, free weights, but no push ups as planned, added 10 crunches though. Thursday I didn't do the 1 hour yoga or walk 3o minutes, instead I road my bike to work, which was a total of 45 minutes. It's been so nice out, I decided I wanted to jump on my new bike. I haven't ridden to work since this past summer, so it was a bit of a workout. Friday I was derailed by my emotions and come that evening, just as suspected, Mother Nature came for a visit. However, I still went for a walk that Friday evening and on Saturday morning. I didn't do the 15 min stretch, 5 push ups, 10 side lunges, 10 front lunges, or free weights on Friday. Saturday we didn't end up hiking or snow shoeing 1.5 hours, nor did I do the am or pm yoga, instead we went for a 40 minute walk.

Today, Sunday we went for a 30 minute walk, we're thinking of going for a bike ride later. I ended up stretching for about 15 minutes and did 20 crunches, not too bad since today I was just going to do reflection. I think I'm off to a pretty good start. I didn't stick to the exact routine and ended up moving some things around, but whenever an excuse came up in my mind, I really recognized it. I wanted to understand WHY I using that excuse and HOW I could work through it and throw it to the side, ignoring it. Some excuses that came up this week: too cold, it's the weekend, it's Friday, I want to sleep in, cramps. Ever had these excuses yourself? Ha LOL! Most likely, huh? It's my challenge to laugh at these excuses and keep to my routine.

The meal plan for last week went really well. We had salads as planned for Monday through Thursday. Friday night we didn't end up grilling pork chops. I made a pasta we needed to use up. Tonight we're having grilled pork loin, which will provide a good amount of left overs for this week's salads. Saturday we ended up going to Olive Garden because we had a gift certificate. I think my eating habits really could have gone better this past week. I need to work on less cheese and less salt intake. I noticed I use a lot of these. I did get my 64 ounces of water in everyday, but I counter acted that with a glass of wine or a gin and tonic a few evenings after dinner. Well, baby steps is what I'm telling myself. Baby steps.

I noticed that my back felt looser and my muscles started to really relax. I love when my back cracks loosely, the pressure is gone. Like they say in yoga "Your only as old as your spine is flexible". Next week I need to do more. I can take more. I need to start more aerobic, like interval running, which I love. Dan and I talked about it today on our walk. I told him I needed more of a challenge, like when we trained for those races. The problem is taking the dog because he loves to stop and pee on everything and sniff everything. Which is not a problem when leisurely walking, but it is a problem when wanting to follow intervals of running and walking. So, we decided that we would workout without him in the morning, three days a week and walk him after work on these days instead. We like to go out to get air before dinner anyway and walk around the park, so this will work out well. On the Tuesdays and Thursday before I do yoga, we will walk him 30 minutes in the morning. This way he is still getting outside and I (well, we, Dan and I) can have some time alone getting our workout in.

That's another thing. Dan and I exercising together. I used to work out on my own until about 2 years ago when I begged Dan to train for a 5K with me. He did and he loved it. He loved it so much, we ended up training for a few more 5Ks and also for the Boulder Bolder 10K. He is really good at running, his times always improve, mine do to, but I think he would do a lot better without me holding him back. So I deal with that feeling when training with him, always thinking I am going too slow, when running really is an individual sport. We talked about that and he doesn't think he would even train unless I was with him, so that made me feel better that he didn't think I was holding him back. I am more like his motivation to get out there and actually do it. Plus it is easier for him to run because I weigh a lot more than him, so in actuality I have to work twice as hard to keep up. We'll see where this takes us. I like that he wants to workout together, it's sweet. I also like that he respects the need that sometimes I just want to go alone too though. We're going to take it week by week. Baby Steps.