Anchors

I’ve drifted a bit in the past few days. After going hard last week with weight lifting, Zumba, yoga, and basketball, my body was telling me to rest. I figured that Friday would be a good day to take a break from the gym and let my sore muscles do their rebuilding thing. As it turns out, I had to move boxes to storage, at least one of which was very heavy. So instead of resting, I got another workout. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I had actually eaten food and drank water properly. Like many moving jobs, I severely underestimated the amount of time required, and I didn’t get the nutrients I needed. Actually I ate and drank less that day than I do on most days (not a good idea). By Friday evening my body was spent. I knew I would need some time to recuperate. I was hopeful that I would make it to my basketball appointment the next day, but I wasn’t certain it would happen.

When Saturday morning rolled around, I was done. Done and done. My mind told me to get up, to go play basketball and get to the rest of the appointments I had for the day, but my body said “no sir!” Even when I managed to pull myself together late in the afternoon, I was physically drained and had a headache (common indicator of dehydration). I drank water and got some food in my system, but I didn’t do much else. Once I got the strength to really get it together, I made it out to an evening appointment and returned home soon thereafter.

Since then I haven’t been to the gym or done any exercise. My gym partner cancelled on Monday, and I decided to give my body an extra day of rest. Then I decided not to hit the gym this morning. In my desire for food on Saturday I grabbed that which was readily available, which was not healthy at all. I feel like I’ve fallen off the wagon with my eating habits, and getting back on is a challenge. It’s easy to let circumstances serve as an excuse for drifting away from our goals. That’s why I’m glad I have some anchors set up.

Tomorrow morning I have Zumba, as well as a scheduled gym session in the afternoon. I might miss the gym session due to things going on at work this week, but I know that even if I fail tomorrow, I still have yoga on Thursday. If yoga doesn’t work out on Thursday, I have basketball on Saturday.

These are my anchors. I’m glad I have them because I know that I can drift for only so long. I have partners for most of the scheduled activities so that adds some accountability. I’m not happy with myself for slipping over the past few days, but I look at it as a minor setback in the grand scheme of things. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Actually the past few days have helped me narrow my short-terms goals. I realize that I want to focus on burning fat and dropping excess weight over the next 6-8 weeks. Having this short-term goal has allowed me to refocus myself and think about what steps I need to take to achieve it. I need to reduce my bad fat intake  (even more) and increase my cardio. I also need to do more studying about how to get rid of fat in a healthy and sustainable way.

If you feel yourself drifting away from your fitness goals, drop some anchors into your schedule. Sign up for some kind of exercise class that will keep you active, even if it isn’t exactly what you want. Better yet, sign up with someone else so that you’re less likely to miss the class when things get busy (as the inevitably do).

With your anchors firmly in place, you’ll reach your goals faster than letting the winds of the moment guide you.