Sending those excuses where the sun don’t shine!
I promised myself, after I found I was falling into really bad habits, that I would do a reset and get back on track. I’m like the Nike ad now. Day one was reasonably successful. I did get up when the cats started getting obnoxious (what better alarm clock than a cat who wants their breakfast?) and didn’t drag my tushie around for hours until I’d wasted half the day. I was even out of the door in time to run into a dance friend who talked me into taking the Pilates class. So far, nothing hurts. I can only hope it lasts!
As I have to go out and pick up my produce box tomorrow and drop another package for my son-in-law at the post office (that’s a weight lifting job in and of itself!), it seems only reasonable that I hit the gym again and do the chest and tricep workout I didn’t get to today.
New habits are easier if we take them one day at a time.
Yes, I’ve set this habit before. And yes, it fell by the wayside when I either got lazy or busy with other things. Most often, it was the former, I have to admit. But I’m becoming increasingly unhappy with my lack of stamina and saggy dragginess. I know that the healthy eating alone will not tone my muscles as they need to be toned. As my friend pointed out today, I really do feel better after I work out. My skin is healthier, my stamina returns, I sweat out toxins…nothing but benefits arise from just getting out and moving my body for an hour or so. Sad to say, the dancing is not enough, even if I went five days a week. There are some things that only pumping iron will do, and my aging body needs those things.
I had to laugh, though. The Pilates teacher told us that exercise reverses the aging process so by the time we left her class today, we’d be younger! Now, it’s true that none of my dance friends look their age because, one way or another, they get regular exercise. But being the analytical sort, I have to ask the question: Do they look younger because they exercise, or do they feel younger so they’re more inclined to exercise? I just love “chicken or the egg” puzzles because a smart person can argue either side convincingly.
So, measurements were taken and recorded on MyFitnessPal today, food was put in as best I could since it’s hard to gauge exact quantities on homemade dishes. I even got a little bit of work done on my copywriting class. It’s clear that the little attitude adjustment I gave myself is already bearing fruit. Yet still, it has to be one day at a time.
I’m going to do something novel and keep this really short tonight, avoiding throwing topics around like confetti. I had a few ideas for topics earlier today, but they seem to have left my brain for now, but I’m sure I’ll retrieve them in a day or two, so be warned!
My gratitudes tonight are:
1. I am grateful for a successful first day of resetting healthy habits.
2. I am grateful for my surprise in tomorrow’s produce box. I never know what they’ll contain until I get ’em!
3. I am grateful for all of the small things I accomplished today.
4. I am grateful for a lack of pain, even if it’s only temporary.
5. I am grateful for abundance: energy, motivation, inspiration, health, family, friends, love, joy. harmony, peace and prosperity.
Namaste
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Well done for resetting the habits. I hope you stick with it. I can be the same with resetting habits. I start off well and then they fall by the wayside as other things crop up.
Some of the habits I’ve set have stuck, and for that I’m grateful. Others have to be set and reset and reset again. It’s a lot like quitting smoking. I quit several times before the day I was standing outside of the club where I dance and realized that the smoking was interfering with my dancing. That was it. I need to find the same thing with my workouts. Not working out is definitely limiting me somewhere else. Once I find that something else, I’ll probably find the motivation to stick with it, no matter what. I think life is about determining what is most important to us. then doing everything in our power to ensure that we have it.
Your list of gratitude reaches its peak with number 5. We should take note of every moment in our day and appreciate what we really have instead of what we do not–even saggy dragginess. I can’t exercise much because of painful hips and a crooked leg, but I maintain a daily schedule of doing what I can. It’s working. And I don’t have pain when I’m asleep. That’s my biggest gratitude.
I got into the habit of including 5 in every post, but you’re right. The true list is infinite. And the fact that you can focus on the blessings in your life while being in such pain is an inspiration to the rest of us whose challenges, at least physically, are so much smaller.