Week 26 - Finally figuring it out *hopefully*

 

June 22 - 

14,147 steps

 Well, I did it! I finished a 5k this year. I completed it in a little under an hour and that was with some light jogging. Toward the end, I was really kicking myself for not preparing more. I will do better for the next one that I participate in, though I don’t know when that will be.

 I am thankful for my friend and former co-worker who doubled back at the end of the race to make sure I was okay and to finish it with me. That meant a lot to me! 

 I spent most of the remainder of the day walking around the festival that was hosted in my town with my youngest son and two of his friends. They all had a good time and I’m sure they’ll be making plans for next year. LOL!

June 23 - 

1,449 steps

Sunday is a rest day. Full stop. 

I am SO sore from yesterday. I don’t want to move. Also, I think I may have suffered from a little bit of heat exhaustion on Saturday so I’m really trying to baby my self to make sure I’m okay.

June 24 - 

N/A - Didn’t wear my watch

I have no idea what I did on Monday. It’s been super hot, so I imagine I just stayed inside all day and worked on things around the house. The little one had a rock painting event at the library today at like 3 pm. And THAT is when I realized that I didn’t have my watch on. You would think the white stripe on my arm would remind me, but no. That’s WAY too obvious. 

June 25 - 

2,832 steps

 Today was a pretty lazy day. The little guy was supposed to have coding at the library, but we worked on other things around the house instead.

 Before bed, I was scrolling on my phone (shocker) and while on YouTube, I was shown some videos of people who are much better at exercise and being dedicated to exercise than I am. One of such videos shared an idea that I will be following for the next 75 days. Okay, there were two of them, but the first one is the one I want to talk about.

 I have been paying for a gym membership (at a discounted rate thanks to my income and household size), but I rarely use it. I talk myself out of going constantly! The automatic withdrawal does not motivate me to attend, for some reason. Anyway, the video in question was from the perspective of a mom who struggles with a lot of the same problems I do, like paying for a membership, following through for a brief period of time with a friend then giving excuses, etc. And she found that instead of rewarding herself for completing a work out, she was more motivated when she was to have some kind of punishment, especially a financial punishment. Now, I’m sure you’re thinking to yourself, “Crystal, you’re already financially punishing yourself by paying for a membership you don’t use.” And I would agree with you on that, but again, my brain has already deducted that amount from my monthly paycheck so I don’t even think about it. (Girl math, am I right?) Anyway, back to the video. The lady in the video said she talked to a sibling that works out with a group of friends, but if any of them backed out, they had to pay money into a pot that the group would later use to do something fun with. Well, that sounds great, but I’d make it a point to donate money to have fun. * shrug * I know myself. But, she decided to modify his plan to be more inclusive for her life as a mother. So, she and a friend of hers joined forces to keep one another accountable. They have agreed to exercising 5 days a week with 2 days off, of their own choosing. In addition to 2 days a week off, they have 5 “sick” days. Those days can be used for their kids or themselves, as we all know kids can somehow throw a wrench in the best laid plans. If they go beyond their “off” days, they must pay $2 to their pot of money. She didn’t go into what they’re doing with the money, but I really liked the idea as a whole. So, I asked friends if they’d be interested and I had one agree to the plan. We kept the $2 “punishment”, but we are going to be donating the money to a charity of our choice after 75 days. 

 I selected 75 days due to a different series of videos I’ve watched, but I won’t go into that idea here. I’m hoping to post all of that at a later date. 

June 26 - 

7,261 steps

 Today starts the tandem challenges that I have decided to do. I had one friend that agreed to participate and I am looking forward to watching our progress! I made it to the gym this morning and spent some time on the treadmill and one of the weight machines that I really like. It helps with back strength and since I know I have back problems, I thought it would be a good place to start. I’m considering attending some of the classes offered to members, but we’ll see how I fare in being committed to that. Overall, it was a good experience and I’m glad I did it.

June 27 - 

10,112 steps

 I went to the gym again today. I put in some time on the treadmill, but also did some weight training. I’ve decided to pick a portion of my body to focus on for a week at a time. So this week it’s my back. Other muscle groups will be included due to the nature of some of the equipment, but the primary focus is my back. The gym I have a membership to has an app, which I try to use to keep track of my workouts. I don’t really like walking around with a little notebook and pen. I also have a terrible time remembering the specific weights I use on machines in addition to sometimes failing to remember what machines I use. I’m just a ball of problems. LOL! Anyway, I used the search function to find ways I can work my back muscles using the machines, but not the free weights. I’m just not confident in the free weights at this point. I’m sure I’ll work up to it, as I have worked with them in the past. I found 5 different machines or modifications on machines that work back muscles, and a little bit of core and arms. So I went to work doing 3 sets of 10 reps on each machine at weights that I feel are comfortable, but do stretch my ability just a bit. I felt so good after working out. I swear, I need to bottle this feeling and take a whiff of it when I’m talking myself out of exercising. 

 I have found that I do struggle to meet the recommended 10,000 steps a day, even when working out. Tonight I had to do a 25 minute walk in place video to complete the step count. While doing that, I realized that the sedentary walking (because I don’t know what else to call it) really messes with my hips for some reason. I tried walking around my room (sorta helped) and changing the stance that I was walking in (didn’t do much). So, I think I’m gonna have to skip out on those types of videos until I either build up my hip strength or shed some of the excess weight that may be bothering my hips in that situation.

 In addition to my 20 minutes of exercise (minimum), I’m also dedicating myself to reading a minimum of 10 minutes per day and drinking 64 oz of water. So far I feel that these are obtainable goals. That’s all part of the other challenge I’m going to attempt, so again, I hope to post more later on that.

June 28 - 

7,604 steps

 Another day, another trip to the gym! I did a treadmill workout with rolling hills (varied incline) and a speed of 2 mph. When I’m on the lower inclines (0-1.5%) I almost want to break out into a run. But the higher incline (3% specifically), really gets my blood pumping. I don’t want to keep it at a 3% incline the entire time, as I like the variation, but maybe I’ll up the speed in a week or so and see how that works. I don’t want to overdo it and injure myself.

 Speaking of injuring myself, it appears that the hip problem is a little more intense than I thought. After sleeping last night, I woke up with pain in my left hip. However, I’m not going to let that deter me from working out. I’m just going to move at a pace that helps my hip feel better. I clearly sit TOO much and my body is upset with me for moving now. The pain has also started to radiate up from my hip into my lower back, but only on the left side. I’ve found that some stretches help, though not much yet. Honestly, the only time my hip and back aren’t bothering me is while I’m walking. Get it together, body!

 I again worked on my back muscles and I really like the idea of isolating a specific portion of my body for a week at a time, as opposed to switching it up daily. This may not end up being the way I continue to do my weight lifting, but for now I think it’s a positive.