Confessions of a Sidetracked Fitness Program

What is it about summer that totally obliterates anything that resembles a routine?

I had all these glorious plans of what I would accomplish over the summer.  I mean, I would have all this extra time because I wasn't spending the majority of my day teaching, planning for teaching, or correcting my teaching.  There would be HOURS added to my day.  I would get so. much. done.

Then there was the reality check.  The summer was speeding by.  Not only was I not getting "so much done," I was actually falling behind on what I had been doing.

How does it happen?  The haphazardness of the summer "routine" had us spinning in circles.

One area that really got off track was my fitness routine.  I had all these plans for reaching and obliterating my fitness goals over the summer.  Instead, I hardly even managed a decent workout.

Sigh...  And then, we went on vacation.  And camped.  In a remote place.  Really remote.

Have you ever tried to keep 6 people fed who are expending enormous amounts of energy swimming in the surf and running around on the beach all day?  It took about two seconds to run through all the healthy food I had prepared.  I don't know about you, but I didn't relish the idea of spending my vacation grinding grain between seashells and kneading it into healthy breads.  Our diet suffered -- a lot.  We ate convenience foods almost the entire time.  My kids were thrilled.

I ate what they ate (which I haven't done for over 8 months).  By the time we got back, I could tell I hadn't done my body any favors.  I immediately cleaned up my diet and got back to super clean eating, no sugar, no processed foods, lots of fruits and vegies and lean proteins.  But I still needed to get my fitness program up and running again.

I did that this morning.

I knew that "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail" so I took a week to map out what I was going to do and how I was going to make the time to do it.  Sticking with a fitness program has never been my strong suit, so I did some research and found a program that was working for a lot of people and that had a support system built in.  I launched into my new workout program very early this morning.  If I am able to stick with it, anyone can.  I will save telling you more about the program until I know how well it will work.

Tomorrow morning I start my running program -- again.  I have a love/hate relationship with running.  I love the quiet solitude, and I love the idea that I am a runner.  I want the endurance that running brings.  I don't exactly like the actual running.  Go figure.  Maybe it's that fact that I feel like I'm going to die.  (That will go away, right?)  So why do I get up early in the morning to run?  Because I like being a couch potato even less.  And because if I get up early enough, no one will be awake to see my sweaty red face and hear my desperate panting for breath. There are benefits to being an early riser.

Here's to getting back on track,

Angela