Weeks 9 & 10 In Review
Hello again! Did you miss me? Well, I didn't write last week because I had the good fortune to spend a long weekend in Tuscany with friends, and that trumps just about anything else I could have done instead. That said, however, both the trip and my return home involved some interesting personal observations and discoveries. As much as I'd love to write all about San Gimignano, Greve in Chianti, and Florence, that's not what we're here for, so this will be a different kind of story telling.
Week 9 was a pretty good week as far as the program went. I got out and about a lot more and was feeling great as we headed into the weekend. The end of week 9 required both measurements and photos, and I'm happy to say that additional progress has been made. The grand total at the end of Week 9 was a loss of 3.2 pounds and a little over 9 inches. Wahoo!
Based on my travels and the way I was feeling physically, I was prepared to see a reversal of that progress in Week 10. Obviously not a complete reversal, because it was only 5 days of being off my routine, and we did a LOT of walking during that time. However, after we returned I found myself having some difficulty prioritizing all that needed to be done. And as is typical for me (and probably many of us), I told myself I would do my workouts after I finished this or that, or I would double up on them the next day. Which of course didn't happen. At the end of the week I found myself wishing I had remembered the phrase we hear on airplanes: "Be sure to secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others." It's absolutely applicable to self-care, and something we often forget. I didn't want my house to be untidy because people were coming over for dinner; I had these things that needed organizing (and have for months, but I needed to do them right then); I had emails to write; I had shopping to do; etc., etc. As is typical for me, my To Do list seemed much longer than the number of hours in the day, so my workouts were set aside as a consequence.
When I look back on it, I realize that I still have a habit of thinking that anything that may affect others needs to be put first (even though our friends probably couldn't have cared less if the apartment wasn't completely tidy or whether our hiking maps were organized and put away), and things that affect only me can be set aside for later - for when there's "extra" time. I'm definitely better about prioritizing my own needs than I was before, and have been pretty good about sticking to my schedule. But the reality sets in when there are multiple priorities that may conflict with each other. And the truth of the matter is that I'm pretty sure I could have done just about everything AND my workouts, but again in true form, I spent so much time thinking about whether I could do everything that I didn't leave enough time for actually doing everything. I still have some work to do there, but at least now I'm more aware of it. And being able to "Notice and Name" as per our lessons, means that I can actually do something about it. Old thoughts and behaviors run deep, truly, and it's not easy to change. But change I must if I want to reach my goals.
And just for the record, I did enjoy some successes over these 2 weeks. As mentioned above, we did a lot of walking (about 10 miles a day), and twice we went out for a power walk in addition to all the wandering and exploring. Also, I did manage to get through the entire trip without over-indulging at my meals, and we had gelato only once in spite of several other opportunities to enjoy it. Most importantly for me, I had the chance to eat a lot of pasta and bread, which I did not do. Since I'm allergic to gluten it is a silly thing to indulge in, but since we're in Italy and the pasta and bread in many restaurants are fresh and home-made, sometimes I do anyway. Fortunately, in Italy the pasta and bread aren't made with "garbage" ingredients like in America, so I don't usually have a bad reaction to it like I do in the US. However, an allergy is an allergy, and stimulating it isn't a wise thing to do. And this trip I didn't indulge at all. We even brought our own gluten-free bread to the wine tasting we went to, which made it all the more enjoyable. Anyway, all that to say that I didn't overeat, I ate mostly healthy stuff, and didn't indulge in the tempting goodies that were available to me. Except wine, of course, and since we were in the region where Chianti is made, and since Chianti is one of my most favorite wines, and since we were doing a vineyard tour and wine tasting, well... Actually, that statement isn't entirely true. Our first night in San Gimignano I did manage to stay up late having a lovely conversation with my friend's mother about all kinds of interesting things. So late, in fact, that my friend had to come downstairs to shoo us off the balcony (after her husband had already tried once), and then later to the living room to make us finally go to bed at around 1:30 a.m. But other than that, I was well-behaved, I swear!
So now that I've had an opportunity to review and reflect on the past couple of weeks, I'm forming a strategy for the coming month. And I need a strategy right now, because we'll be heading off to Sicily for 6 days starting October 7th. Then, 10 days after we return my step-daughter is coming for a visit, and I know we'll be doing some serious shenanigating while she's here because that's just what we do. It is unavoidable, and thankfully so. Which means I need to find some balance in there somewhere.
I think my first priority has to be maintaining a balance with what I'm eating and drinking. No matter what, you just can't out-exercise a bad diet. I do eat healthy stuff most of the time, but at some point I'm going to have to cut back on the number of nights per week I have wine. Since I live in Italy that almost sounds sacrilegious, but the reality is that I can start by having it only on weekends instead of a glass or two with dinner every night. Moderation is OK, but the physical effects of alcohol over time are undisputed, so I'll eventually get around to honoring my body's needs in that respect. Eventually.
The next priority will be maintaining my workout routine. My coach introduced me to a great app called "7 Minute Workout," which I can't wait to try. It uses only body weight and a space as big as your body to complete the workouts. I plan to use it while we're in Sicily (and I've asked Ian to help me stick to it). I brought resistance bands on the trip to Tuscany but felt awkward trying to figure out how to do a meaningful workout with them on a hard floor and in a fairly small space. In front of everyone. This app sounds more portable and more thorough than anything I would have attempted with my bands. And I still can bring my bands to Sicily because they really don't take up any luggage space. Will let you know how that goes.
Lastly, I haven't done any tapping in a full week, and I really can tell the difference. I promised myself a 30-45 minute window to do some tapping today (after I'm done writing this), because I really miss it and there are lots of different things to tap about. It felt like an awkward thing to do, again in front of others, but hindsight is always 20/20. I've downloaded a Tapping app by Brad Yates on my telephone, so there's no reason I couldn't explain to my friends what I'm doing, or at the very least excuse myself to the bathroom to take 5-10 minutes privately to do it. It's absolutely portable, and I have earbuds. While we're in Sicily it will be easier, as Ian has done it before and understands what it's all about. I don't know why I felt embarrassed about it in Tuscany, but I'm going to have to get over it so I don't end up restricting myself (or sacrificing something important to my well-being) when I'm traveling or visiting others. Lessons learned.
So, that's the overview of these 2 weeks. To start week 11, I got out for a run this morning in the blissfully cool and comfortable autumn temperatures, and am now caught up on my lower body workouts. I even did some laundry and had an Italian lesson, and after a nice lunch it's still only 2:30. Productivity feels really, really good. I know that I can manage social time and my other responsibilities, and now I know that I can manage travel a little better too, so having found some clarity there is another positive accomplishment. I'm so grateful to this process for teaching me to be patient and compassionate as I make mistakes; and for teaching me to simply observe those mistakes and make the necessary adjustments without chastising myself the entire time. Without mistakes we can't grow, and without growth we can't accomplish, and without accomplishment, we can't really thrive. Whether those accomplishments are simple or grandiose isn't important; the only thing that matters is whether you feel happy and fulfilled when you've made them. We're so caught up in needing to do more, better, faster, bigger, etc., that we forget it's usually the simplest things that are the most meaningful. I'm getting there, and I'm thankful for that. This journey is really, really cool.
Looking forward to another great week, and will check in with you later.
Have a health of a day!
Juli