I’ve made it through the first week of adding exercise into my life!

The first two days went smoothly. I was excited to go to the gym and felt proud that I had done my workouts and gone for a walk each day while being mindful of what I ate.

Day 3 was challenging. There was some landscape work being done at my house that I was supervising from the front step. Meanwhile, the chatter in my head was debating what to do about today’s workout. I had done two days in a row, surely it was fine that I made today a rest day. After all, I didn’t want to overdo it right from the start. It was nearly 2 p.m. and it was too late to go to the gym. Yes, today would be a rest day. This back and forth crazy talk in my head continued until 2:45 p.m. when I put on my workout clothes and grabbed the car keys! I drove to the gym and did my workout. I even went for a walk afterward.

It’s funny how I can talk myself into or out of many things. The notion of exercise seems to enhance my most creative reasoning arguments for or against actually performing physical activity. It’s a good thing I can laugh at myself.

Day 4 consisted of more landscaping supervision, which I am now an expert. I did get off the step and do some work in the garden beds too. Today I was physically drained and feeling a little off. I have these kinds of days now and then. I did take today as a rest day and went to bed early.

It’s the weekend, I was still feeling a bit off on day 5 but started feeling energetic by evening and did my full workout at home. Thank goodness! By this time I’ve usually fallen off the exercise wagon. Spent the evening stretching and rolling out the tight spots. I’m getting through my workouts easier and feel like I know how to perform the exercises well.

Feeling back to normal today and full of energy on day 6. Washed windows, pruned a hedge, and went for a walk. This energy is likely coming from procrastination mode. I’m in the process of a career change and looking for work. This process wears on me and is an area of stress that I have to be mindful of because it can really drag me down. I’m doing my best to stay aware of how masterful I am in procrastinating and break the career search into manageable tasks. My workout went well today, maybe it was because I was feeling procrastination taking over and put all my energy into working out. At least I know that exercise helps to calm my nervousness.

I kept my meals simple this week as I’m trying to be creative and use what I have on hand before shopping. It’s been quinoa, simple salads and vegetables, chicken breast, fruit, yogurt, and oatmeal. I’ve discovered in the past that I don’t do well with adding extra protein, I gain weight when I add more than I normally consume. The key for me is portion control and that generally means measuring to be sure I’m eating reasonable portions. Eyeballing portions leads me down the path of overeating.

It’s been a good week overall. I’m proud of myself for doing the workouts and stretching. I feel the squishiness firming up and feel stronger already. Now the tricky part, to keep exercising!

This week I’ll share some recipes that I enjoy and what I do to place a few meals in the freezer each week. That way there’s always a meal on hand to heat up when I don’t have the time or energy to cook.

Ciao!