After 62 days, I took a day off from working out. It came at the end of one of my busiest weeks, and I was in the middle of the CFRE review course. My foot was seizing up a bit from sitting in conference for 2 days straight. Since I was in pain, I decided it was not worth making it worse.
Days 2 and 3 for the year came the next week, more from exhaustion than anything. Days 4 and 5 (yesterday and today) came from an early attack of spring allergies. When your head feels like it's going to pop off, a walk outside is the last thing you want to do.
Despite the 4 days off in February, I still managed 869 minutes of activity, 2260 for the year so far. That's about 37 hours! My average is still about 38 minutes a day, so that dropped about 6.5 minutes
On the weight loss front, needless to say that's been a challenge too. I've had several patches this month where I was busy and decided not to watch what I ate. Combine that with being sick and not wanting to eat (and not judging myself for what I did when I did), it all evened out. I bloated back up to 154 for a while but that was water retention. I'm back to 150.8 as of today.
So what does all this prove? It's OK to be human. It's OK to take a break. Sometimes, your body forces you to (as it's done for me the last 2 days). Other than not running a race this month due to healing, I'm not that far off my plan for the year.
So why am I so hard on myself?
Dr. Oz tweeted a great article from the New York Times citing research that shows we should show ourselves more compassion. Basically, it states that we aren't perfect, and instead of being hard on ourselves for it, we should show ourselves sympathy like we would someone else in the situation.
So I'm going to focus on the positives. That 5 days off for the year is still less than where I was this time last year. And I'll be back to my activity level soon enough. The break is actually making me appreciate what I had. I miss yoga. If I feel up to it, I may go this weekend and just avoid any poses that hurt or strain. And yes, my schedule was crazy last month. But March should be better (after Saturday) and hey, I took the review course, so I'm one step closer to my goal of becoming a CFRE this year.
After all, life is a journey, and sometimes, the detours are worth it.
Spot on Lisa! You are so strong! But the one thing I worry about with you is your goal to workout every day. It worries me because it sounds like me - obsessive compulsive. I strongly suggest that you concentrate more on overall time - not daily time. I judge my workouts weekly. A weekly goal as opposed to a daily goal is so much easier to hit. You can work out in and around the daily speed bumps and still hit your weekly goal and feel great - instead of stressing about not meeting your daily goal. But, if you insist On pursuing a daily goal - can you do good ol' fashion push ups, sit ups, crunches, or other calisthenics or even yoga for 15 minutes in your living room - to avoid allergens during spring/fall. What I'm trying to say us you are so awesome! You are thinking through and re-analyzing goals and working to be kind to yourself. You truly inspire me!!
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