Time For a New Default...

Time to do a schedule check-up!

I posted my weekly weight update this morning and was once again grateful that we DON'T actually get what we deserve often in life!  With the amount of fast food I consumed this week...and the much lower than normal amount of working out I did, I'd say I'm pretty blessed to have only gained one pound!  But as I reviewed my posts for the week, I also noticed something I wanted to share because it may help us all on this journey...

Many, many times when people ask how I'm losing this weight and I tell them diet and exercise, the very next words I hear are, "I know I should exercise, but I just never find the time."  I smile, because that's a feeling I used to have myself.  I usually come back with something like, "Just start moving a little more each day and you'll surprise yourself at how you make the time."  And honestly, I DO believe that.  Exercise is addicting!  It's gotta be something with the endorphins it releases...but it comes to the point that it really does feel AMAZING...and then you make the time in your schedule so you can get the "fix" it brings!



This week, though, I lived a decidedly "Old Angie" pattern of life.  I was horribly busy...suffered from headaches and body aches much of the week...had little "extra" time during the day...worked until 9:30 or 10:00 most nights...and ate horribly and worked out little!  Now, for years...that was my life!  But for the past 15 months, I've been learning and doing new things.  So why did I revert so quickly?  My theory is that is was my default response to stress.

When the stress of the week started closing in around me, my brain went into crisis mode.  Nobody thrives there...we just survive. We do what we have to do to hang on and make it through. We don't make time for things that are important...only thing that are urgent.  (There's a HUGE difference in those two things, by the way!)  I did make it through the week and met all the demands I had on me, but I didn't take care of myself.  I got my work accomplished, I did the best I could to lead Vacation Bible School, and dealt with several ongoing issues at home successfully.  But I didn't eat well and I didn't exercise well...which is my personal default to stressful situations in my life...and the scale showed me that this morning.

So, how do I plan on fixing this?  Change the default!

The first place I'm going to tackle this is in my workout schedule.  Right now, I could tell you this week when I plan to workout, whether it will be at the gym or the pool, and approximately what time of day it will be. But what I lack in that is a plan for exactly what will be accomplished in each workout. Will I target resistance training or cardio?  How many intervals am I going to shoot for in the water?  How much weight will I try to lift?  How many ab crunches is the goal for the week?  Without knowing the answers to those questions, I am very likely going to judge the success of my week by whether or not I showed up for workouts.  That's not enough. Not nearly.  The plan for those workouts is what needs to become my new default.

If stress starts pressing in on me this week like it did last week, and I don't have time to figure things out, I have to go back to what is routine.  And without a specific plan, my workouts are not routine.  So that's my goal for this week.  I'm going to get very specific in my workout plan and start the process of making it my routine.

I'll keep you updated on how this goes, whether it's the fix I hope it will be to help me find a new default during stressful situations.  Hope you have an amazing week!!!