6 Month Fitness Project

Days 24-34

During the past ten days I've exercised most days. Some days walking almost two miles, some days one mile plus, and when it's been raining I've ridden the airdyne exercise bike. Some days I've used the bike and walked too.

My going to bed time is still erratic.

I've eaten healthfully, drinking lots of water.

I'm glad I'm making this a six month project, finding finding I'm going up and down in my adherence to fitness activities, and making corrections when I get a bit off course.

Days 22, 23

Walked two miles, airdyne biked, ate well, still not going to bed early enough. Bummer.

Days 20, 21

I've been exercising, but not as much as I want to. The snow is off the sidewalks again, and this should be the last of it for the time the project will last. I've been doing some dancing to recorded music, and airdyne exercise bicycling. Tomorrow I intend to walk outdoors, probably two miles of it.

Now I want to work on shifting my regular bed time to an earlier hour because I think that will help me fit my intended exercise into my daylight hours better, and also make my mealtimes more regular. It's surprisingly difficult for me to make that shift. I thought it would be easy, but it hasn't been.

Maybe part of why people have difficulty getting fit is that there are a lot of pieces to the project that they don't realize are a part of it, like regular meals, regular bedtime, and other items, even things like clutter in their home or in their TV viewing or online browsing could be getting in the way of their fitness producing actions.

Day 19

It's supposed to be Spring where I live, but there is a considerable amount of new snow sitting on the sidewalk this evening, so no walk outdoors. I did ride the airdyne bike, and it felt good. Also did most of the other things that are in my fitness program at this point, and think I'll even get to bed earlier than usual. I feel successful.

Tomorrow, I hope to do even better.

Days 13-18 Time Off

I haven't posted for five days. Just didn't do it, though I did do my fitness actions, somewhat to a fair amount. I drank the water, got exercise, and ate pretty well.

But I did not write here, and really, I didn't go full steam ahead on my other fitness project objectives.

I thought about it a lot though, about not writing the daily journal entries and also about sort of taking a mini break from the project. And the more I thought about it the more I thought it is a good thing to do, to have a time out from the project occasionally. To expect to do that, not look at it as "falling off the wagon" or as making a mistake or misstep, but as a natural ebb and flow of attention to a project. Any other project does not have to be a 100 percent of the time effort with no days off. This one doesn't have to be that way either.

Though I was a bit uncomfortable doing it, I think it's really a good thing, to have some spaces in the project for letting it go for a day or a few, to take a break, have a little vacation. Then, when one is ready, go back to it, pick it up, and continue on for the rest of the six months.

This is a project, not a forced march, not an ordeal, not a marathon, just a nice project to do because you love you enough to get fit. And since I love me, I'm continuing the project, and writing about it.

Day 12

I was sore and tired today, felt sluggish and slow. I suppose some of that is from doing exercises I'm not used to doing. Maybe some is from a weather change from warm to cold. I suspect weather sensitivity affects most people to some extent, and others enough to interfere with their fitness activities. At least, enough that they need to expect less of themselves when under the influence of weather and weather changes.

Several people have told me recently that they feel tired, sleepy, and a bit less mentally sharp than usual. We're in a seasonal change now from Winter to Spring, going back and forth from cold to warm and now back to cold again. I think that's it.

It's tempting to accuse oneself of being lazy and looking for excuses for not doing one's intended exercise, and maybe that's true sometimes. But, I still believe that we need to be kind to ourselves about any lapses or slowdowns in our performance of what we've thought we'd do on a particular day. We don't know everything, and don't understand all the factors and elements that can get in our way on our fitness project.

Why not make a place for them, build in some extra space and allowance for variation? As long as we know where we want to go, and how we intend to get there, speed can be variable.

Day 11

I'm writing this a day late because I decided yesterday evening that I could stay up and write my fitness project journal posting, or I could go to bed earlier and thus help me shift my inner clock to a more useful time profile. I opted for sleep.

However, this evening, I'm back at the computer at nearing 2 AM. My, this is not easy to do, shifting one's body clock back where it belongs. Either that, or I'm very inefficient.

The rest of my intentions worked out pretty well yesterday. So I'm pleased that I'm succeeding at least partially at what I'm hoping to do.

Day 10

I used my new form 6 Month Fitness Project Daily Sheet for the first time today, and found it very useful and satisfying for keeping track of what I want to do, and what I've done toward fitness today.

It shows me exactly where I've succeeded. Looking at it this evening, I felt good about what I'd accomplished, and not disappointed that I'd not done more. There are so many action choices on the form that it's unlikely anyone will choose them all on any one day. That means we can be successful no matter how little or much we do.

There are spaces for five intentions to be listed for the day. Please don't think you need write fitness actions on all five lines. You might also use some or all of the lines to write intentions for actions or states of mind that are not directly related to fitness, and check or circle the fitness related items below the intention lines as a way of indicating you've done them.

Day 9

Today I've been thinking about timing. Personally, I don't like to think about time, don't like schedules,  feel boxed in and harassed by them. But, I notice that exercise/fitness action done earlier in the day tends to be more comfortable, and tends to actually get done. Whereas, such actions, if not done earlier in the day tend to be displaced by other things until the evening, and then until late in the evening when one should be sleeping.

There are more reasons than that to do physical exercise earlier in the day, it raises the metabolic rate so that one burns calories at a higher rate the rest of the day, it energizes the exerciser so that one is more awake and keen the rest of the day. And, it just plain makes a person feel good.

Early to bed, early to rise, early to exercise,
makes one happier, fitter, and in the right size.

Day 8

Today has been low key. I've enjoyed being peaceful and relaxed and doing what I want to at the moment. I think that's an important element in this project. Becoming fit isn't just about muscles and weight and eating and sleeping and exercise. There's an inner game of fitness too. Without inner fitness, which I take to mean peacefulness and calm along with energized and lively, the more obvious and specific actions and outward appearance will be more difficult to attain and maintain.

I also began reading a new book that looks like it's going to be a good one, which I'll share more about soon. It's Mariel Hemingway's Healthy Living From The Inside Out. I've added it to the sidebar book recommendations that have clickable links to their pages on Amazon.com.

The book fit so well with how I felt today, peaceful, relaxed, unpressured. I have been wanting to write about how important those states are for wholistic and personally ecological fitness.

Here's to a peaceful day, every day.