Two days ago, my wife and daughter went to visit a family friend for a few days, and will be returning tomorrow. So I’ve been on my own, and let me tell you, things have been pretty crazy around here. Going to bed earlier, eating in silence, staying at the gym longer than usual. It’s been a real party!
One thing I have noticed is a waver in my discipline. When I wake up at 5am, I don’t have to creep around the dark apartment. I can turn on the lights and make as much noise as I want while preparing oatmeal and getting ready to leave. Being more comfortable has led to me taking longer to walk out the door though. Then as I go through my workout routine, I find myself taking longer rests and having an overall slower pace, as I’m not rushing to get home before my daughter wakes up. The same things happens when I get home, shower, and eat my next meal. I’m taking my time.
Having my family around forces the discipline. To get everything done and spend time with my girls, I have to stay on schedule. When things are more relaxed, so am I. We often think of constraints as reasons we can’t get things done, but they can also be the forcing mechanism that keeps things moving forward.
I miss them, and can’t wait until they’re home.
“Do You Like Doing Shoulder Shrugs?” -Shrugs Shoulders-
The exercises I’m doing tend to fall into one of three categories: the ones I love, the ones I hate (in a good way) because they’re hard, and the ones I am just sort of ‘meh’ about. They don’t feel extremely effective, and while I am physically pushing myself doing them, they are just sort of blah.
Shoulder Shrugs fall into that last category. They have such a short range of motion and feel awkward. I do them diligently, but don’t love them. Whenever I feel my enthusiasm drifting, I just imagine The Rock yelling at me to FOCUS!
Value of Food Prepping
Eating like this for the last 26 days, I’ve really come to appreciate the benefit of prepping all my food in advance. By spending a little over an hour cooking, I don’t have to worry about making food for 3 days. I don’t have to decide what I want to eat at each meal, since it’s already prepared. And there is no temptation to make poor eating choices, since I made the decision about what to eat days before I was hungry.
After this challenge, I will definitely be making more food in advance. Considering I won’t have to prepare 16 meals at a time, it will seem like a piece of cake!
Daily Stats
My battle to keep the cardio intensity up continues on. This was one of the most intense settings I’ve used so far, and never cracked 150BPM.