Between my road trip and then the rotating cast of characters we had in and out of our house as soon as I got home, my routine has been thrown solidly to the wind. This week, I began to reclaim it.
I started by focusing on 5 main areas and let everything else fall into place.
Exercise + Fitness
I got out of the habit of running while I was on the road, and I had been desperately trying to find a groove again once I returned, but it wasn't consistent. I did a few FitStar workouts in various airbnb stays and hotel rooms, but once again, it didn't follow any schedule. I was really happy, however, with how this last week went.
I ran three times, on Tuesday evening and Thursday and Sunday mornings. I did two FitStar workouts, on Monday and Wednesday. And I went for two walks with my mother, on Friday and Saturday mornings.
Switching up what I was doing helped keep me motivated, and I felt so good each day after I walked / ran / worked out. This is going to be the toughest thing to keep up with while I'm in NYC for 5 days at the end of this week, but I'm proud of the foundation I'm slowly building.
Sleep
One of the main reasons I wasn't exercising consistently was because I wasn't sleeping consistently. Some days I would get in bed early, but then I would get distracted online or watching Netflix, and then I would end up not sleeping until late. As a result, I didn't have the energy or the motivation to get up early to run or work out, so I would end up sleeping late and then not doing anything. It didn't help matters that the last 3 weeks were the hottest we've had all summer, so that made me even lazier and more tired.
This last week, I made it a point to have more consistent bedtimes. This led to my being able to wake up earlier and to run or work out before beginning my day. And if I stayed busy throughout the day, it was much easier to fall asleep at night.
Reading
My sleep - and therefore my waking - depends a lot on my reading habits. I always sleep best when I am able to read in bed for 20-30 minutes before sleeping. It helps calm my mind and slow me down, and I love getting lost in a story. I made it a point to focus on allowing myself that time to read while still making sure I was sleeping at a proper time. And in the process, I finished my book!
Limiting Computer Time
I know how silly it sounds, but putting a control on how much time I spent on my computer really helped recenter myself this week. My main rule is No Computer After 9pm. It's shut down and put away, and I don't turn it on again until the next morning. It's far too easy for me to get caught up reading travel blogs and sports articles and creating wish lists on Amazon, and then suddenly two hours have gone by and I have not accomplished anything. So now I turn it off so that the distraction and the temptation are gone. Doing this also makes me more productive with how I use my time on my laptop, so I tend to not waste my time roaming on the interwebs the way I used to.
Eating Better
I'm not one for crazy diets that involve suddenly cutting out certain foods and amping up on others. I also don't like to deny myself the foods that I like. If I cut Chick-fil-A out of my diet, you don't want to be around me. But I cut back on things like Chick-fil-A, like Dr Peppers, like those Ferrero Rocher chocolates that my mother and I like so much. I am much more a fan of Moderation is Key, wherein I eat smaller portions more often throughout the day. This always ends up in my consuming more fruits and other healthy snacks, so it generally works well. And the better eating and smaller portions combined with the better sleeping and exercising mean that I feel better about the occasional Chick-fil-A splurge [hey, they have chicken 'n waffles now. there's no keeping me away from that].
Now, my routine is still not perfect, and it's sure to be disrupted again this week when I head out of town for 5 days, but it felt so nice to have these 7 days to begin getting things back in order. There's a long road ahead to getting back to where I once was, physically and otherwise, but it's a start.
other highlights included: more hanging out with baby Lena; NFL started regular season games; wrote a few cover letters and applied for a few jobs; Rhodes Field Hockey game and fundraiser for St Jude; finally got to meet Hayden, fellow Jamaica Tripper and new first year at Rhodes; lots of tennis watching; finally finished Americanah and began reading Orphan Train; discovered the loveliness of Republic Coffee; lunch at Golden India; upgraded my credit card so I can finally start getting some rewards; jumped on the tumblr bandwagon [I know, I know, only about 6 years late to the game on this one].
It may not sound like much, but I thoroughly enjoyed this week, and I'm looking forward to more like this one.
xx
I started by focusing on 5 main areas and let everything else fall into place.
Exercise + Fitness
I got out of the habit of running while I was on the road, and I had been desperately trying to find a groove again once I returned, but it wasn't consistent. I did a few FitStar workouts in various airbnb stays and hotel rooms, but once again, it didn't follow any schedule. I was really happy, however, with how this last week went.
I ran three times, on Tuesday evening and Thursday and Sunday mornings. I did two FitStar workouts, on Monday and Wednesday. And I went for two walks with my mother, on Friday and Saturday mornings.
Switching up what I was doing helped keep me motivated, and I felt so good each day after I walked / ran / worked out. This is going to be the toughest thing to keep up with while I'm in NYC for 5 days at the end of this week, but I'm proud of the foundation I'm slowly building.
Sleep
One of the main reasons I wasn't exercising consistently was because I wasn't sleeping consistently. Some days I would get in bed early, but then I would get distracted online or watching Netflix, and then I would end up not sleeping until late. As a result, I didn't have the energy or the motivation to get up early to run or work out, so I would end up sleeping late and then not doing anything. It didn't help matters that the last 3 weeks were the hottest we've had all summer, so that made me even lazier and more tired.
This last week, I made it a point to have more consistent bedtimes. This led to my being able to wake up earlier and to run or work out before beginning my day. And if I stayed busy throughout the day, it was much easier to fall asleep at night.
Reading
My sleep - and therefore my waking - depends a lot on my reading habits. I always sleep best when I am able to read in bed for 20-30 minutes before sleeping. It helps calm my mind and slow me down, and I love getting lost in a story. I made it a point to focus on allowing myself that time to read while still making sure I was sleeping at a proper time. And in the process, I finished my book!
Limiting Computer Time
I know how silly it sounds, but putting a control on how much time I spent on my computer really helped recenter myself this week. My main rule is No Computer After 9pm. It's shut down and put away, and I don't turn it on again until the next morning. It's far too easy for me to get caught up reading travel blogs and sports articles and creating wish lists on Amazon, and then suddenly two hours have gone by and I have not accomplished anything. So now I turn it off so that the distraction and the temptation are gone. Doing this also makes me more productive with how I use my time on my laptop, so I tend to not waste my time roaming on the interwebs the way I used to.
Eating Better
I'm not one for crazy diets that involve suddenly cutting out certain foods and amping up on others. I also don't like to deny myself the foods that I like. If I cut Chick-fil-A out of my diet, you don't want to be around me. But I cut back on things like Chick-fil-A, like Dr Peppers, like those Ferrero Rocher chocolates that my mother and I like so much. I am much more a fan of Moderation is Key, wherein I eat smaller portions more often throughout the day. This always ends up in my consuming more fruits and other healthy snacks, so it generally works well. And the better eating and smaller portions combined with the better sleeping and exercising mean that I feel better about the occasional Chick-fil-A splurge [hey, they have chicken 'n waffles now. there's no keeping me away from that].
Now, my routine is still not perfect, and it's sure to be disrupted again this week when I head out of town for 5 days, but it felt so nice to have these 7 days to begin getting things back in order. There's a long road ahead to getting back to where I once was, physically and otherwise, but it's a start.
other highlights included: more hanging out with baby Lena; NFL started regular season games; wrote a few cover letters and applied for a few jobs; Rhodes Field Hockey game and fundraiser for St Jude; finally got to meet Hayden, fellow Jamaica Tripper and new first year at Rhodes; lots of tennis watching; finally finished Americanah and began reading Orphan Train; discovered the loveliness of Republic Coffee; lunch at Golden India; upgraded my credit card so I can finally start getting some rewards; jumped on the tumblr bandwagon [I know, I know, only about 6 years late to the game on this one].
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| [pretty sunrise as i was going for my run thursday morning] |
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| [jersey is ready for a great season] |
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| [republic coffee on a friday afternoon. i think i've found a new office] |
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| [beautiful afternoon for a field hockey game] |
xx
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