My Journey With Health And Fitness – Back To My Routine

Today I did an awesome walk. I can’t remember the last time I was able to walk the promenade down at the beach but I so enjoyed it. There were the regulars who stopped to ask where I have been. There was a couple of eagles coasting on thermals. I loved watching a dog having a blast running into the ocean to play in the waves. It was so much better than the walk I did on the dreaded treadmill yesterday.

I find I am most successful when I keep myself on a set routine. That means I am up at the same time every day, have my breakfast then head off for my classes. I do this Monday to Friday at the same time then head out for my walk. While a few days this week I have had to split my walk up due to either timing of meetings or volunteer work or the weather. That’s ok as long as I can try to get my first walk in starting at 7am. Saturdays are a little different as normally (weather dependent) I do my walk at 5am and then my class at 8am. Sundays the goal is at least a 1 hour walk 1st thing in the morning but I am going to try this week to add a recorded class which I can do in my basement.

Routines are very important to me. I have always been like that in terms of the order I tend to do things. I have a routine of what I do after getting out of bed in the morning and before going to bed at night. I have a routine as to how I handle the work for my monthly clients. I have a routine of how I do taxes for my clients both paying and volunteer clinic clients. I even have a routine as to how I pack to go to/from the condo. I just find that it helps me to make sure I get everything done.

When it comes to my health and fitness, routine is extremely important. For example, I woke up exhausted this morning (I haven’t been sleeping well despite the lack of wine) and almost went back to sleep (I try not to never hit snooze). Then I reminded myself of the commitment I have made to get myself back to where I want to be and I can’t do that if I miss a class simply because I am tired. For me it is almost like mentally checking off boxes each day to confirm I have done what I had set out to do. While I am better at being a little flexible when things go south, it’s that start of the day that is so important to me.

So I am back to my fitness routine and it feels good. It feels even better that this morning I did a 2 hour walk which I haven’t done recently. On top of the long walk, it was also the first time in a long times that hills were involved so that made me feel even better. Here’s to sticking to this routine for the next 6 weeks then adjusting it for Mexico. The next trip I plan on following a much better routine than the last trip.