Commiting to Consistency - Lets make it stick!

Today I had the day off to take care of my son who was sick. I took it as an opportunity to get a soft start on some of my goals. I looked into a couple of options for my fitness goals. First I thought I would do the empowered abs program. I laid out mat and got started doing the exercises. One set in baby started crying. After tending to him I tried the next two abs body weight exercises. One of them was very uncomfortable and I realized this program wasn't going to work for me. I am just not a fan of bodyweight exercises like that.

baby png from pngtree.com/

I didn't let that stop me from doing my exercises for the day. I decided to take a walk. The rain had stopped (it was a thunderstorm). In the past I had walked a mile around the neighborhood with the stroller, which is 3 laps. This time I decided to challenge myself and walk with baby in the Moby wrap (baby carrier). I thought it would be comforting to him and would also give me some more strength training. He weighs almost 19 lbs now. I needed to get 30min of exercise in for the healthy lifestyle tracking (more on that later). So I did 4 laps (1.5 miles) instead of my usual 3 (1 mile) to get 30min. And the average speed was was actually .3mph more than usual even with the extra weight. I could definitely feel like it was more of a workout with carrying the baby. But it wasn't too much just a little more strength needed, rather than a leisure stroll.

My walk workout summary

So at work we have a healthy lifestyle incentive program. If you workout 90 mins a week basically 30 min three times a week, you get $5 off your insurance each pay period. This is my accountability.

July 6 first entry 30 min

So instead of doing the bodyweight exercises (abs program), I looked on YouTube for some rowing exercise plans to loose weight. I know I like this form of exercise and I feel it is the best option for me to do something I enjoy and is effective. It is a full body workout. And if I am at the gym and have some extra time I can do some arm strength workouts as well.

I took a screenshot of the YouTube example rowing workout

So this program seems like I could follow it. I don't have to watch a YouTube exercise each time, I just follow the simple plan and do it. The program alternates from a HIIT (high intensity interval training) one day and a steady row the next day. With four days of active rowing and 2 days of leisure exercise such as walking or hiking. And one rest day. I think I would like to go to the gym M-T-W-TH, 4 days in a row, so I have Friday to get ready for sabbath. If I have a week where I have counseling on a Tuesday I might switch my gym day to Friday (sunset) time allowing.

Last quarter I had the intention of doing the healthy incentive program, but didn't follow through. I did go to the gym several times but not consistently. And I forgot to track it on the sheet. Also on days I missed, I kind of felt oh well I missed it this week so I guess that's it... And kind of gave up.

I need to think of the reasons why I wasn't able to have consistency last quarter.

There are barriers to my consistency that I need to accommodate for:

Challenges I have with making it to the gym are:

• Packing my gym bag the night before
• Arriving and leaving work at the correct time

So part of packing my gym bag the night before is going to be a part of my nightly routine that I am trying to develop as part of the flylady system (more on that in another post). These routines are developed to help get in the habit of doing things on the regular so you don't get bogged down when it piles up.

Some of the things I am utilizing for tracking my habits is an app called "Habit now". I am still playing with it to see how I can best utilize it. Currently I have habit tracking for night meds at 9pm and bed time at 10pm. I'll have to see if I can add some of the flylady routines in there. But so far it had been helpful with reminders and tracking if I did it. I just added tracking for clocking in at 8am. Waking up on time has always been a problem for me. I have the tendency to press snooze and lay back down. THIS IS A CRONIC PROBLEM for me. Developing those habits of taking my meds a 9pm or earlier and start winding down so I can fall asleep at 10pm is so important to starting the next day right. Lately I have been needing sleep aids to help me fall asleep and I don't take it right off the bat so it will be 11pm and I'm still not asleep when I finally decide for that extra boost with the additional pill. It is all a part of my bipolar illness.

Well that was a lot to post about, but I know it is helpful writing it and tracking it. It is a form of accountability and also helps me get in the right frame of mind. If I discuss my goals iny blog it helps me process and see how I am doing.

Until next time, Keep being determined 2b determined to find excitement in the mundane!

Kindling the Fire of Existence

This is the beginning of a journey.
I am embracing life. I realized that life is what you make of it, and my life right now isn't much. And I am the only one who can make something of my life. It takes effort too. I am ready to embrace that effort - to kindle that fire.
For awhile I have been kind of sedentary, not caring about much or doing much. I am now recognizing many things I want to accomplish like exercising, sticking to an acne regimen to clear up my skin, watching my diet, reading - fiction, the Bible, educational material, and practicing and developing my artistic skills. All of these things, goals you can call them (I never liked the idea of a goal though), require consistency - a trait I don't naturally have. It is something I have to gain through desire, determination, and commitment.
Motivation is hard to come by. It is my motto of the season to find excitement in the mundane. This is the only way I believe I can conjure up some motivation to do all the things I need to do for a better life but don't want to do. It is about convincing myself that I want this. I am not determined, but I want to be. I want to be determined, I want to be consistent. I need to be. All of my goals are nothing without consistency. If I do not exercise everyday or wash and treat my skin everyday there will be no results. So, as much as I want to be lazy and skip it one day, I can't. In this blog I am going to document my efforts to accomplish these things. My hope is that having this blog I can reflect on my struggles and have a sense of accountability, and maybe one day someone will read this when I have succeeded and I can be an inspiration. My goals are small and simple, but my goal is more about gaining an attitude - the determination and commitment. With determination and commitment I can accomplish any other goal that I may come up with.