Resolution 2014: Week 3 Check-in and How to Avoid Failure with Grace
Week 3 was the toughest yet, time management-wise. I worked out four days of seven, which isn’t where I wanted to land. However, there are a couple of pluses: I didn’t take more than one day off between workouts, and I kept up my Couch to 5K training.
Why did I lose two workouts this week? One was the MLK holiday, which was too much like another weekend day. The other was a too-busy workday that included a meeting over the lunch hour, which has become my normal workout time. There’s really no excuse, though – I could have and should have found a way to work in some exercise on those days.
Weekends are actually the hardest right now when it comes to working out, which probably sounds counterintuitive. I don’t have to work – I should have plenty of time, right? But E is usually at the library or coffee shop working on his graduate thesis, which means I have L to myself. And I therefore have only one window in which to work out: nap time. Of course, there are usually five other pressing things waiting to be accomplished when I’m toddler-free, so it becomes a juggling act. And sometimes, it’s exercise that lands at the bottom of the priority pile. I usually treat Sunday as a rest day and work out on Saturday, which I did this week. But that extra weekend day last Monday got the better of me. It’s okay, though – because it’s a new week.
Here’s the thing: with fitness and nutrition, there’s never an all-out failure. Today is always a chance to start over, no matter what yesterday looked like. A missed workout or two, a bad meal, or even a whole day of not eating well should not be allowed to derail you. The best thing you can do is say, “Okay. That wasn’t great, but it’s over. I don’t have to take it with me into today.” The Bible says that God’s mercies are new every morning, and that counts in every area of our lives. So when you stumble, you have to allow yourself grace and a fresh beginning.
I completed Week 4 of the Couch-to-5K training app, and I’ve decided to repeat it this week. It was a bit challenging, and I want the longer intervals to feel easier before I move on to Week 5, which ups the ante with a full 20-minute jog. I’ve done less with my push-up training, but I’m not concerned about that. I want to hit my 5K goal first, and then I’ll focus more on my strength goal.
So here I go, into Week 4. This is the last week with my Beachbody accountability group, and I’m determined to make it count. I haven’t weighed or measured this week, and won’t until Feb. 1. I’ll admit, I’m a bit afraid of the scale. The pounds don’t move out as easily as they did ten years ago, and I was hoping to lose five this first month. At the same time, I feel myself becoming more fit, each exercise becoming easier bit by bit, my body becoming stronger and more flexible. I keep telling myself to focus on those results, because they matter more than the scale. And if I keep pressing on, what the scale says will eventually come in line with the rest. It just might take longer than I’d prefer.
How are you doing with your health goals as the first month of the year comes to a close?
