Day 5

Day five. They, the all knowing "they," say it takes two weeks to form or break a habit. I'm five days in and starting to feel that questioning feeling I get with any new goal or change. It looses its magical 'new' feeling, and starts to feel more like work. Thoughts of stopping, changing my plan, making it easier; essentially cheating, start to surface. I will not cave. This is precisely why I am doing this 40 day challenge. To break that nasty habit of wimping out when things get hard.

I trained today for the first time in a week or so, and man did it feel good. Actually, it made me want to puke (FYI: Doritos before a grueling metabolic workout is not a good idea). Regardless, much like finishing a paper or finally getting that laundry folded, its simply done. All the dreading and obstacles are only in my head. It takes 40-60min to work out. I have the equipment In. My. Living Room. There are no excuses.

It seems I missed part of the Day 3 yoga mission and over-simplified things - I like this new found mission better:

In your notebook, write down everything, yes everything that goes into your mouth. Write one, brief summary of how you would characterize your eating for the day. Make time for exercise that burns calories. Build in a minimum of 30 minutes per day to your schedule for the next 7 days. Each night in your notebook, chart out your food/exercise balance for the day.

I will be implementing these starting tomorrow, as I cannot remember everything I ate today. I will be using my school agenda to record my food instead of a notebook to help me keep track of days. For the 30min of exercise, I will not be counting 'transportation' time (riding my bike/walking to work or class) - this exercise needs to be deliberate. And I am not sure I'll be charting my food/exercise balance for the day, but will see how it goes.

Getting back to the regularly scheduled missions/challenges:

Day 5 Yoga Challenge:

Notice your speech patterns. Use words that describe YOUR OWN FEELINGS rather than HOW YOU BELIEVE OTHERS INTERPRET YOU.

This challenge will be an eye-opener. I am very guilty of censoring myself around others, not giving them even a chance to react to my genuine feelings/thoughts/opinions. It is becoming exhausting and damaging on both sides, so this challenge will force me to focus on changing those patterns. I have begun expressing myself more deliberately in the past few weeks, and will continue to do so. It is ridiculous to expect an honest opinion or reaction from someone when I am not being true to myself.

There is a reason I am such a book reader. I am fascinated and captivated by the lives and thoughts of others, so eager to dive straight into the mind of someone else. When it comes to my own mind, I tend to let it drift, paying it little attention. It is time for me to find my own voice again.

Day 5 Training Mission:

Go to the gym. Get on the treadmill and crank up the incline. Now walk for 20min. You have just discovered one of the most effective forms of "cardio" in existence for bodybuilders. You'll be sucking air and sweating, while at the same time hitting your glutes, hamstrings, and calves with a new stimulus.

Oh Shugs. Perfect! I will be doing some cardio tomorrow, and this will be the perfect addition to a tabata session on the bike. (I do mine for 2 8-set cycles, so it lasts for 20min total - Rah!) These uphill walks will also be a nice antidote for the treadmill running I have been doing that neglects the posterior chain - the treadmill pulls you, essentially cutting out your glutes and hamstrings from the running equation. Will report on how awesome this uphill walk feels tomorrow.

A picture as promised, taken last month from my balcony... Welcome to Waterloo.