Still -- Scratch that: Not Standing Still

This is the blog post I wrote at around 6:30 p.m.

I did not make it to the gym today even though I had already taken yesterday off as a rest day. I just could not tear myself away from my writing. I definitely made a lot of progress (finally) on my thesis, but still.

I know that I said I wouldn't be too hard on myself for the next two weeks in terms of getting to the gym because of my upcoming deadline. Until October 1st, the PhD has to take priority. I know that skipping one workout in the grand scheme of things is not the biggest drama in the world - and it's not like I added insult to injury by eating crappy food.

Still.

I've read other people's blogs when they say that they couldn't make it to the gym and I know what I think to myself - Why not? How are you going to make progress if you don't make changes in your behavior?

Today I'm thinking those thoughts about myself.

I have to move on. Dwelling on this is not going to help me burn any extra calories or get any more writing done. Think bigger picture, right? Not exercising today does not mean not exercising ever. It just means that today it didn't happen.

Still.

Even typing those words irritates me. My exercise goal for this week (according to my new plan) was to hit a total of 8-10 hours of exercise. I only managed 5 this week (9 if you include Thursday night's dancing, which was definitely some serious cardio!) Granted I gave myself an 'out' by saying this 8-10 hours was the ideal ... but I don't like the idea of giving myself an 'out' ... this is a very important goal -- I guess for the next two weeks the goal of finishing up my thesis is more important.

Gosh I sound like such a drama queen. Well, the day is pretty much over over here. Tomorrow is another day, the start of another week.

*******************************************

It is now 8 p.m.

I couldn't stand the fact that I didn't get a workout in today. I thought to myself, 'I may not be able to fit in the time to drive to the gym, workout, shower, drive back, and still eat an early enough dinner (we're looking at least 2 hours) BUT I've got everything I need to do a good workout at home.

I've got my jump rope (not this one which sucked) for cardio, my resistance bands for - well, for resistance training of course, and my sit-up bench for my core work ... and even without those things I've got a bunch of exercise DVDs that I used to use ... and even I didn't have any of that, I know that there's a ton of stuff I can do at home without equipment (like the Dreaded Workout I did while I was in London).

Anyway. The bottom line is that I wanted to workout. I could not let myself NOT workout. My irritation towards not exercising would have interfered with my studying. It just goes to show that if you really want to do it, you'll find a way. The PhD is definitely a top priority, but it doesn't mean that I can't fit in some sort of exercise. Something is better than nothing.

So what did I end up doing?

I've been trying to work up to 6 minutes straight jumping rope (part of my boxing training program - not professional, just for fun) so I had another go at that. I did the total 6 minutes but not in a row - The longest I could manage was 1 min 15 seconds ... who knows how long it'll take me to reach the 6 minutes!

I followed that with a 50 minute workout (using this DVD), and ended with 50 sit ups on my ab bench.

Total time: 1 hour

NOW I feel like I had a really productive day.

Smiles all around!