My Journey With Health And Fitness – Getting Back To My Routine

I have to say it was hard leaving the condo in Mexico this time. We had been there for 3 1/2 weeks and the weather was beautiful. Moreover, this trip we spent more time with our friends than we have in the past. The downside to this is that we tended to eat out more than planned. The upside is we now can say we have a pretty good social network at the condo and we are already planning for New Year’s Eve.

The challenge I find at the condo is I tend to get off my routine. I always start out with the best intentions but the longer I stay there the more I let things slip. It starts with getting up later each day. Then, the workouts start to get shorter. Next the food starts to get less healthy (trust me I ate more bacon on that trip than I normally do all year). In my defence I was better at healthy breakfasts than other meals. Then the snacking starts. Sigh, 3 1/2 weeks just gave me too much time to falter.

Yesterday I stuck with my resolve to get back to my routine. I diligently got up at 5 am and started my day with a healthy breakfast (oh and finally proper milk in my tea). I’m still recovering from an ankle injury so opted to hold off running for another week. However, that did not stop me from doing a brisk 5k walk first thing. Later I walked to the meeting point for the weekly walk with the seniors. I managed to accomplish 20,000+ steps and meet all my zone minutes.

Today I started out the same with a good breakfast (first time in a month I have had oatmeal) after having gotten up at 5am. This was followed by another brisk walk where I really kept my heart rate in a good zone. Later today I plan to do another 5k walk as I head uptown to vote in the advance polls. On top of that I have 2 more healthy meals planned and am avoiding any snacking.

In order to get myself back into my routine I knew I needed a plan. So, I started out by sitting down and planning my week. This included determining how I could ensure my workouts fit into my calendar as well as doing some meal planning. I’m pretty confident by time I get through this week I will be back to being focused and determined to keep myself healthy.

I don’t feel bad about falling out of my routine. The important thing is being back on track and staying there for a while.