My Journey With Health And Fitness – Finding The Time

I cannot believe I am starting my 4th week in Playa del Carmen and still have 6 weeks to go. What I am really happy about is that since I arrived on April 2nd I have not missed a single day of working out. I acknowledge that a couple days it has only been an hour of walking but still I haven’t fallen into that complacent trap that admittedly happened the last time I was here. As a matter of fact, these past 2 weeks I have been pushing myself harder than I ever done have before while at the condo. My husband arrives later today which will test me some because he will try and cut into some of my fitness time. I’ve decided I just need to stand firm on the fact that this is what I have needed for a long time and I want to keep it up.

My fitness centre posted the following on Facebook today, ‘You don’t need more time, you just need a plan’. It further went on to say ‘Let’s find a routine that fits your life, not the other way around’. I thought about that for a moment and realized that is really what I have done. Now don’t get me wrong, if you work fulltime, have kids, aging parents, etc you likely don’t have the time I do to do 20k steps most days. Moreover, I realize that not everyone is crazy enough to get up basically in the middle of the night so that they can get in several hours of early morning workouts to start the day like I do. But you know what, I agree, it is about finding your time flexibility and making a plan.

While I am here at the condo my plan changes dramatically. Normally when I am home I start with a 5:30am fitness class followed by a 2 hour walk (after a brief rest and rehydration). Then I will try to fit in another hour walk sometime during the day working around work for clients and volunteering. Saturdays my class isn’t until 8:00am so I do a 2 hour walk before heading off to class. That all changes when I am in Playa because of 1) the time difference and 2) the weather.

And so I have to change my plan while I am here. Since the weekday early morning fitness classes don’t start here until 7:30am, I still get up early and do an 1 1/2 hour walk before class. I then, immediately after class, get in another 1/2 hour walk so at minimum I am doing 3 hours a day during the week. Saturdays the class doesn’t start until 10:00am Playa time which is just too late in the day for me. Since I do a bit less on the weekend I still get up early and do a 2 hour walk though try to get a little more walking in later in the day. I will also note that Monday/Wednesday/Friday I put some time in at the local gym so that I can do a workout with heavier weights (remember the ones I have in the condo are only 10 lbs).

Now that explains the time issue but this time of year the weather is also a major factor. My goal weekdays is to get in 3 hours of walking. I used to do that all the time at home (though had slacked off the past few months and cut it down to 2 hours a day) by doing a 2 hour walk then later in the day another hour walk. That is simply not possible here because of the heat. I do my first walk at 5:30am when it is a ‘cool’ at 25 degrees Celsius. By time I do my 1/2 hour walk after the fitness class it is in the high 20’s and will by 10am be reaching 30+ degrees. And so, to get in the rest of my walking I do 2 other 1/2 hour walks as that is about as much as I can handle in this heat. So far it has been working and I hope it continues.

For me, I find the time by finding the flexibility that I need to get it done. I acknowledge that if you had told me even a few years ago that I would be at the point that exercising would take over my neurotic need to always have a fixed schedule I would have scoffed at you. Now, my priorities have shifted to my own fitness and personal health. I kind of like that shift in my thinking.