Well... I have to admit that I didn't do as much walking this past week as I should have. I met my 10,000 step goal each day during the work week (there was a day that it just barely happened) and I didn't get any where near the step goal yesterday or today. I need to work on some way to get my fight/drive back. Granted, I don't want to be someone who obsessively walks but I know that I need to do something.
Because of this struggle, I haven't been excited about looking in the mirror and everything in my closet has made me feel even more blah (even though I have some fun clothes in my closet). I questioned my sanity in buying some new clothing items since I'm not happy where I am with my body but I know that I needed to get some new pieces to get me past this feeling (I hope). Maybe one of the things I need to think of is a profound statement my cousin's daughter has said (she's 5-years old), "sometimes you just need to be fancy" and she wears a string of pearls. Sometimes the best statements come out of the mouths of kids... I think I need my own strand of (faux) pearls.
Part of my frustration with getting my steps in has been working about 12 hour days again this past week at work. The school we work with is on Spring Break so that means we're open from 7 am - 6 pm since they're closed. I've been getting to work at about 6:30 am daily and most days leave after 6 pm (all but one day when I had to leave work at 5:30 to make it to a dentist appointment). This upcoming week, I'll have the same schedule (including another dentist appointment for a small filling I need to have done but as of right now I have an appointment during the work day where I'll go to work, go to the dentist and then head back into work). I'm kind of looking forward to getting back to what's become my new schedule 'norm' (9-6) and I can try to work out again in the mornings before work. We'll see how that works out though...
I'm hoping that if I start a fitness routine before work again, I'll be able to get some better sleep at night. I've been tracking my sleep habits for a month and there are nights I average 5-6 hours a night and my sleep can be very restless at times. I know that this needs to change. I'm not a big tea drinker but my Mom suggested that I might try a cup of chamomile tea before going to bed and seeing if that helps. I figure that might be an inexpensive place to start anyway (that or I just completely wear myself out with my work outs)...
I do have big dance performances the next three weekends so that gives me something to work on. This upcoming weekend, I have a performance with the troupe (including a solo that day) and then the following two weekends I have solo performances (the first one the person who's organizing the show sought me out to solo and the one after that I had to request to be a soloist and the organizer agreed). For the performance this coming weekend, I don't know if I'm going to use my new sword or not because it's an outdoor show and I really don't relish the thought to set my brand new sword on the ground (there is a place in the music where I set it down, dance for a bit without it and then get the sword back). Members of my troupe have been begging for me to use it (and I really have been dying to dance with it) but I don't know if I'm quite ready to use it yet. It is a little bit heavier than my other swords (it's made out of brass) and I don't want to hurt my neck if I have these other shows coming up and I'm not ready physically to use it. Using the new sword would definitely help me to feel fancy I think though... =)
Well, my dear readers, I think in an effort to let myself be fancy (and to work on my muchness/flying my freak flag) I'm going to do something like paint my fingernails some weird color before I go to bed tonight. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead and try to find something to help you feel fancy. =)
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Walking obsessed?
Most of the time, weekends are for relaxing and taking the opportunity to de-stress from the work week. That wasn't necessarily the case for me this weekend... Yesterday when I woke up, I was planning on having a lazy day. I was going to start my day by relaxing in bed and reading before getting out of bed. That didn't happen. I heard a voice in my head telling me I could relax and be lazy after I got up and worked out. I don't know why I suddenly had the desire to work up but I decided to get up, put on my workout clothes, get a new set of headphones (because the ones I had didn't fit very well on my ears), and I went to the beach to walk the bike path. I had never been along that particular path so I didn't really know what to expect... I was in for a huge shock!
While this path had absolutely beautiful views of the waves crashing onto the beach, it also had a winding path along a huge hill. I put on my new headphones, turned on the music and tackled the hill. When I made it up and over, I looked back and felt pretty good about my accomplishment. Then I realized I had to go up that hill again to get back to my car... I readjusted my headphones, selected a song with a good beat and I started to walk. It started with me just putting one foot in front of the other and it turned into me walking at a pretty good pace up the hill. By the time I made it back to my car, I felt utterly exhausted but proud of myself too. My walk was just shy of two miles and helped me get that much closer to my goal of 10,000 steps for the day.
After my excursion yesterday, I thought I might be able to have a little bit of a rest day today. Not so much... I started out first thing this morning as the substitute belly dance instructor in a nearby town. This class is always a lot of fun to work with and today was just as much fun as the other classes I've taught for this particular dancer. I had a total of six ladies in my class and they each approached me after the hour and a half class to tell me how much fun they had this morning. A few of them even asked me when I would be back to teach again because they enjoyed my class so much! That made me feel really good. =)
Once class was taught, I headed to church to sing in the choir and then had an errand to run. By the time I got home though, I had it in my head again that I needed to go walking. Yikes! Am I turning into one of those people who feels the need to work out?! Oh, the horror!! =) After walking up the 'mountain' yesterday, I opted to walk today where the ground was more level. Not far from the studio where I dance, there is a big lake (which is by the ocean) which is where I decided to walk today. I ended up walking around it twice and it was just about two miles. This weekend was actually the first weekend since I bought my activity tracker that I was able to 10,000 steps both days of the weekend. Up to this point, I have been able to manage 10,000 steps each day during the work week but not on the weekends; this weekend was different. Granted, my knee is not very happy tonight but I'll survive.
I'm hoping that my knee will feel better tomorrow since I have a full upcoming week at work (the next two weeks actually). It is that time again for spring break and the kids here actually get two weeks off of school. Since they're out of school, that means my building will be open from 7 am - 6 pm for the school-age children. We have a fun theme planned (we're doing our own version of the Olympics) and I'm hoping the kids enjoy the things that we have planned. I have been trying to find time each day to leave the building and, if nothing else, walk around the block. I think I will definitely try to find time during the Olympics to take those "sanity walks" as I've been calling them.
I'm working on not becoming obsessed with walking or working out but I know that's easier said than done. I know it's good for me to be working out and getting out there and doing something for me. The trouble is, I often burn out because I focus on not seeing immediate results. I have been reminded before that I need to realize that it took time for my body to get to this point and it's going to take time to accomplish the goals I have set for myself. I just don't want this to end up as one more time that I quit working out because of time. I have to keep reminding myself to just take it one day at a time...
Well, my dear readers, since I had a pretty physical weekend and have to get up early for work tomorrow, I should probably bring this to a close for tonight and think about heading to bed. I hope you have a fabulous week, my dear readers and I hope to see you back here next week! =)
While this path had absolutely beautiful views of the waves crashing onto the beach, it also had a winding path along a huge hill. I put on my new headphones, turned on the music and tackled the hill. When I made it up and over, I looked back and felt pretty good about my accomplishment. Then I realized I had to go up that hill again to get back to my car... I readjusted my headphones, selected a song with a good beat and I started to walk. It started with me just putting one foot in front of the other and it turned into me walking at a pretty good pace up the hill. By the time I made it back to my car, I felt utterly exhausted but proud of myself too. My walk was just shy of two miles and helped me get that much closer to my goal of 10,000 steps for the day.
After my excursion yesterday, I thought I might be able to have a little bit of a rest day today. Not so much... I started out first thing this morning as the substitute belly dance instructor in a nearby town. This class is always a lot of fun to work with and today was just as much fun as the other classes I've taught for this particular dancer. I had a total of six ladies in my class and they each approached me after the hour and a half class to tell me how much fun they had this morning. A few of them even asked me when I would be back to teach again because they enjoyed my class so much! That made me feel really good. =)
Once class was taught, I headed to church to sing in the choir and then had an errand to run. By the time I got home though, I had it in my head again that I needed to go walking. Yikes! Am I turning into one of those people who feels the need to work out?! Oh, the horror!! =) After walking up the 'mountain' yesterday, I opted to walk today where the ground was more level. Not far from the studio where I dance, there is a big lake (which is by the ocean) which is where I decided to walk today. I ended up walking around it twice and it was just about two miles. This weekend was actually the first weekend since I bought my activity tracker that I was able to 10,000 steps both days of the weekend. Up to this point, I have been able to manage 10,000 steps each day during the work week but not on the weekends; this weekend was different. Granted, my knee is not very happy tonight but I'll survive.
I'm hoping that my knee will feel better tomorrow since I have a full upcoming week at work (the next two weeks actually). It is that time again for spring break and the kids here actually get two weeks off of school. Since they're out of school, that means my building will be open from 7 am - 6 pm for the school-age children. We have a fun theme planned (we're doing our own version of the Olympics) and I'm hoping the kids enjoy the things that we have planned. I have been trying to find time each day to leave the building and, if nothing else, walk around the block. I think I will definitely try to find time during the Olympics to take those "sanity walks" as I've been calling them.
I'm working on not becoming obsessed with walking or working out but I know that's easier said than done. I know it's good for me to be working out and getting out there and doing something for me. The trouble is, I often burn out because I focus on not seeing immediate results. I have been reminded before that I need to realize that it took time for my body to get to this point and it's going to take time to accomplish the goals I have set for myself. I just don't want this to end up as one more time that I quit working out because of time. I have to keep reminding myself to just take it one day at a time...
Well, my dear readers, since I had a pretty physical weekend and have to get up early for work tomorrow, I should probably bring this to a close for tonight and think about heading to bed. I hope you have a fabulous week, my dear readers and I hope to see you back here next week! =)
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