Day 220 – Week 32 – 32 mins
I am very proud of myself for doing my full 32 minutes today. It seems harder and harder to achieve my full quota lately, so I am celebrating whenever I manage it.
They key to success? Letting your mind let go of all the other million and one things you need to do, breathing deeply and giving yourself that time to concentrate on your health and fitness.
Oh – I know it’s hard – as you exercise away in your living room, thinking you should be in the shower already, because you could do with being at work a little earlier today, and then you notice a big smear on a photo frame on your mantlepiece and you think how much you’d like to clean it off, and then that reminds you that you need to buy a new photo frame because you have that photo of your niece and nephew that is still sitting on the shelf frameless, and then you remind yourself you have to take some fish out of the freezer for dinner when you next go into the kitchen, and in fact you really should write a shopping list as there’s a few things you need on the way home, and you musn’t forget that letter you need to post on your way to the train station this morning, and the DVDs that have to be taken to the video shop….
Sound familiar? No wonder you are tempted to cut your exercise short and get on with some of those jobs spinning around in your brain…
But don’t….
Be still….
And give yourself a 32 minute investment in your health. Remember what we said at the beginning of all this? For this year – doing this exercise is the only thing you absolutely MUST do each day….
Breath deeply and cocoon yourself from everything else that is demanding your attention….
Suzi
Day 219 – Week 32 – 32 mins (5)
Well – we seem to be experiencing a serious dip and lack of motivation here, as I again only managed five minutes of exercise.
But this is the truth of it. Unless you are some gold medallist machine type, I’m not sure it is possible to keep 100 percent motivated ALL of the time, day in, day out, every single day of the year.
What I do know – is that despite my many under performing days – I have definitely been more active in the last 219 days than I have at any time in my life since I was 18 years old. This should not be underestimated, even though it falls short of what I would love to be achieving.
And every night I can believe that I will be back on track the next morning!
Suzi
Day 214 – Week 31 – 31 mins
Actually enjoyed working slowly and steadily through my full 31 minutes of stretching and strengthening today.
Some things are getting much easier – like the crunches, and toe-touching. Others are still pretty tough, like my mini-planks. I can still only do about 35 seconds for each one, but I guess at some stage it will improve.
My routine is starting to include a bit of light weights work, with a couple of small dumbbells I had lying around. And I’m pleased to see a bit more muscle definition in my arms – though thankfully, Arnie Schwarzenegger I am not!
Suzi
Day 213 – Week 31 – 31 mins
I really resisted going for a run today, but when I did, it was worth it.
It was a stunning autumn day – cold and crisp.
Remember, it is always worth it to get out there and give your body the attention it deserves – whatever it is screaming at you before you do it. It will thank you in the end!
Suzi
Day 212 – Week 31 – 31 mins
Well at least I managed a full 31 minutes today – though now that there are 31 exercises to remember, I often have a bit of a blank about what to do next. There I am, moving along at a nice steady pace through the various exercises, when I realise I have eight minutes left on the timer, but can only think of three exercises left to do!
Then I have to stop the timer before I panic, and go through it all again in my head and try and remember what it is I have forgotten. If that fails, it means pulling out this ‘exercise at home’ book I use for inspiration.
Then, with a bit of luck, I see the ones I have forgotten, curse my memory, wonder how on earth I could forget The Plank, set the timer going again and then finish it off.
No one said I’d have to exercise my memory as well as my body as part of this experiment.
Suzi
