At the moment we're experiencing one of those in-between kind of times. Whether you're on holidays or have to work, it just seems like suspended animation. Well, it does to me, anyway.
Christmas wrap-up ... I ate, and drank (but not too much!) and exercised (but probably not quite enough!). I was quite proud of myself in the eating department, actually. I paced myself at meals, never ending up so full I could barely walk (which sometimes featured in past years!). I made sure to eat just as many veggies as meaty/carby items where possible. I didn't snack between meals. (It's amazing how one lolly can turn into twenty!) When going out to eat multiple days in a row, I made sure to alternate lighter meals with full meals. My Mum is a vegetarian and she always makes very healthy meals and salads when I visit her house, and I was very grateful for that. A short time-out from meat over the Christmas period can help to stop a person from feeling too heavy and sluggish.
Speaking of exercise, I've done more incidental exercise in epic shopping trips and walking to functions than I have actual exercise! Though once the holiday period began, I made a bit more commitment, well temporarily, anyway! I did one of my aerobics DVDs (called Getting Started). I haven't done any of my aerobics DVDs for such a long time, and I'd forgotten how much fun they are. Not to mention the endorphins that make you feel so good afterwards. It also made me think about how far I've come, despite my reduced fitness this year. The aerobics section of the DVD is about 25 minutes long, with an introductory section that goes for about 8 minutes. When I first got the DVD, about 7 years ago, I could barely even make it through the intro. Now, I can make it through all 25 mins without too many problems. Yeah, it was a little harder than when I was at my highest level of fitness, but I did it!
I rock.
In more recent news ..
That was before Christmas. More recently, I determined to build on this and do even more activity. However, Body has thwarted me again. At the start of my 4 days off over New Year, I woke up yesterday (Saturday) morning to find I have a cold. Not only that, but my hip has been sore again, to the point where I had to take some painkillers yesterday afternoon, and no matter how I stretch it, it won't ease up.
Mega pout.
But... I'm taking it easy, taking care of myself, not beating myself up, all of that yadda yadda boring stuff. *sighs* It's still very frustrating though.
You see, my main motivating factor in my exercise points programme lately has been earning enough points to be able to place one more order with YesStyle before the end of the year. If I place one more order, I'll qualify for Silver Club membership next year. I was planning to work hard to earn the 600 points I need. Currently I still have 121 points to go, and I only have 2 days (well, 1 1/2 days technically) to earn them! So frustrating!
Many people may think - why not just buy the stuff anyway? Why bother torturing myself with a self-imposed regime that I could break at any time I wanted with no consequences! I have two answers to that:
Firstly, it's really been helping me to develop my self-discipline. I'm so used to just doing whatever I feel like, and conversely not doing anything I don't feel like doing. But for my health, fitness and life in general to be the best it can be, I just can't keep coasting along like that. Hence the rewards programme for doing things I may not feel like doing (it includes things like eating healthy, healthy behaviour and doing housework as well as exercising).
Secondly, there are consequences. I have a bit of a guilt problem. Whenever I buy something 'just for me', I always feel so guilty about it. I can't really enjoy it because I feel like I don't deserve it. But now with the programme, I can say to myself, "no, you do deserve it, because you earned it!"
Anyway, you can probably tell I've been doing the kind of introspective thinking that I tend to fall into at this time of year. Will we be seeing New Year's Resolutions soon?? *shudder* I don't believe in them, but I do believe there's always room for improvement.
