I had a feeling that writing a letter each day and doing an intense workout program that requires 60-90 minutes of exercise a day would leave me little energy or time for blogging. Boo to that because I like to blog. It really helps me get my thoughts out, processed and gathered.
So, I'm going to take that into August as part of the August Challenge.
Most important thing I have to remember to mention: what's different from the lack of blogging in July than in May, and even June? I have been busy and worn out from doing really well in my challenges this month and have not done well at making time to blog. In the past, the absence was due to a lack of success that I didn't want to face. For that, I'm proud.
So, let's recap:
July Challenged me to write letters, once a day. I think I did well at that. I missed a few days here and there, but I didn't skip the letter, instead, I just wrote two the next day. I did falter at the mailing of those letters somewhat, however. i.e. There will be a good 8 people receiving theirs in the next week because I have forgotten to mail the ones I've been writing since last weekend. Brilliant. And everyday I've said "TODAY I'm going to mail that one/two.three and today's." And then I didn't. Repeatedly. Best part: I even bought a roll of stamps to prevent the issue. Good Lord my follow through is lacking!
But writing those letters was good for me. It was nice to make contact with people, because I'm really not good at it. 90% of the letters were filled with positive things I wanted to say to the person and it's always nice to say and hear good things to good people. The ones that had some harder things to say were also well worth it because they ended up being very therapeutic.
July was also the first 30 days of P90x. Holy hell, that shit is HARD. I'd say that in many ways I was incredibly successful, in some ways I was more successful that I expected of myself, even In a few ways, however, I wasn't as successful as I'd like to be. But overall, I worked hard on giving myself a break and just keeping myself going, continuing to push myself, even when I didn't do my best.
If I was being honest, I was worst at 2 things about P90x this month:
1) Exercising every day was sometimes more than my body or my schedule would allow. It took me 31 days to complete 28 days of workouts which means than each week I took a second day off. And I needed it in every one of those days.
2) Pushing myself through the exhaustion. There were days that I had no energy and was so tired and instead of pushing my mind through that, I gave in to the excuse and cut the workouts short. And yes, I said that right, my MIND. Because I know that my body was tired, exhausted, run down, but it would have made it through. It was my MIND that I couldn't push.
But being able to say both of those out loud to myself - which I did about 10 days ago and then really shifted my mind - makes all the difference. I will be making my mental toughness priority #1 this month. It will make all the difference to be able to push my mind through when my body is tired. But those are the only real downsides, I believe.
Generally, I love P90x. The motivation I get from seeing the day-to-day success is really important for me. Being able to do more reps, more resistance, get farther into an exercise, complete a whole workout and do things more intensely shows me I'm making progress and it keeps me working.
Losing inches makes a huge difference, too. Today I took my weight and measurements for the 30 day mark and it's pretty damn good. I have lost 5 total pounds including lots of fat added to gained muscle. I'm lost almost 14 inches from around my body which is AWESOME! Just goes to show how much tightening my body had to do. :)
Most impressively in the inches has been that I've lost 2 /12 inches in my high waist, chest and hips. I've lost 3 1/2 inches across my midsection and another 3 3/4 inches between my thighs and arms. I. WILL. TAKE. IT. I can't wait to see that total inches lost number be closer to 30! :) And, of course, I'm hoping this next 30 days will bring a loss of at least 10 pounds, but we'll see, right? I don't want to set myself up for disappointment by any means by having unrealistic goals.
The fun part is that tomorrow starts the next 30 days - or 4 weeks, really. That means a different set of exercises, including a few that I haven't had to do yet. Good for my attention span, in particular, as I was beginning to get a little bored. And also new nutrition plan. Again, good for the boredom that was multiplying towards the food I was eating. Looking forward to new foods, different meals, new recipes, different portions.
Some of the best things this month, however, have had nothing to do with my efforts in my July Challenges. The relationship with The Mister has been amazing! We are in a great place, and I'm more in love with him than I ever have been. Throughout my work in this, especially P90x and nutrition, he has been amazing, caring, supportive, encouraging. It has made such a difference to know that he has my back. He is most definitely the love of my life. My Love.
Also, my kids have been great. They give me space to do my workouts, they do some with me, they eat the food and make efforts to be more conscious of their nutrition and health. They are an amazing group of kids, all wise and caring and funny beyond their years. But this month has really illuminated that for me. The Princess even got involved in the letter-writing, herself writing 5 letters to people to tell them how much she loves them. Sweet!
I really love and am feeding off the changes and improvements I'm seeing in myself and therefore, my relationships. It's such a great force and momentum to move into the next month with.
So: grades for July!
========================================================================
Let's talk about August, now.
Again, I plan to have more than one Challenge. I don't think it hurts to push myself in more ways than one and each of them have their benefits and challenges for me. So ...
So, I'm going to take that into August as part of the August Challenge.
Most important thing I have to remember to mention: what's different from the lack of blogging in July than in May, and even June? I have been busy and worn out from doing really well in my challenges this month and have not done well at making time to blog. In the past, the absence was due to a lack of success that I didn't want to face. For that, I'm proud.
So, let's recap:
July Challenged me to write letters, once a day. I think I did well at that. I missed a few days here and there, but I didn't skip the letter, instead, I just wrote two the next day. I did falter at the mailing of those letters somewhat, however. i.e. There will be a good 8 people receiving theirs in the next week because I have forgotten to mail the ones I've been writing since last weekend. Brilliant. And everyday I've said "TODAY I'm going to mail that one/two.three and today's." And then I didn't. Repeatedly. Best part: I even bought a roll of stamps to prevent the issue. Good Lord my follow through is lacking!
But writing those letters was good for me. It was nice to make contact with people, because I'm really not good at it. 90% of the letters were filled with positive things I wanted to say to the person and it's always nice to say and hear good things to good people. The ones that had some harder things to say were also well worth it because they ended up being very therapeutic.
July was also the first 30 days of P90x. Holy hell, that shit is HARD. I'd say that in many ways I was incredibly successful, in some ways I was more successful that I expected of myself, even In a few ways, however, I wasn't as successful as I'd like to be. But overall, I worked hard on giving myself a break and just keeping myself going, continuing to push myself, even when I didn't do my best.
If I was being honest, I was worst at 2 things about P90x this month:
1) Exercising every day was sometimes more than my body or my schedule would allow. It took me 31 days to complete 28 days of workouts which means than each week I took a second day off. And I needed it in every one of those days.
2) Pushing myself through the exhaustion. There were days that I had no energy and was so tired and instead of pushing my mind through that, I gave in to the excuse and cut the workouts short. And yes, I said that right, my MIND. Because I know that my body was tired, exhausted, run down, but it would have made it through. It was my MIND that I couldn't push.
But being able to say both of those out loud to myself - which I did about 10 days ago and then really shifted my mind - makes all the difference. I will be making my mental toughness priority #1 this month. It will make all the difference to be able to push my mind through when my body is tired. But those are the only real downsides, I believe.
Generally, I love P90x. The motivation I get from seeing the day-to-day success is really important for me. Being able to do more reps, more resistance, get farther into an exercise, complete a whole workout and do things more intensely shows me I'm making progress and it keeps me working.
Losing inches makes a huge difference, too. Today I took my weight and measurements for the 30 day mark and it's pretty damn good. I have lost 5 total pounds including lots of fat added to gained muscle. I'm lost almost 14 inches from around my body which is AWESOME! Just goes to show how much tightening my body had to do. :)
Most impressively in the inches has been that I've lost 2 /12 inches in my high waist, chest and hips. I've lost 3 1/2 inches across my midsection and another 3 3/4 inches between my thighs and arms. I. WILL. TAKE. IT. I can't wait to see that total inches lost number be closer to 30! :) And, of course, I'm hoping this next 30 days will bring a loss of at least 10 pounds, but we'll see, right? I don't want to set myself up for disappointment by any means by having unrealistic goals.
The fun part is that tomorrow starts the next 30 days - or 4 weeks, really. That means a different set of exercises, including a few that I haven't had to do yet. Good for my attention span, in particular, as I was beginning to get a little bored. And also new nutrition plan. Again, good for the boredom that was multiplying towards the food I was eating. Looking forward to new foods, different meals, new recipes, different portions.
Some of the best things this month, however, have had nothing to do with my efforts in my July Challenges. The relationship with The Mister has been amazing! We are in a great place, and I'm more in love with him than I ever have been. Throughout my work in this, especially P90x and nutrition, he has been amazing, caring, supportive, encouraging. It has made such a difference to know that he has my back. He is most definitely the love of my life. My Love.
Also, my kids have been great. They give me space to do my workouts, they do some with me, they eat the food and make efforts to be more conscious of their nutrition and health. They are an amazing group of kids, all wise and caring and funny beyond their years. But this month has really illuminated that for me. The Princess even got involved in the letter-writing, herself writing 5 letters to people to tell them how much she loves them. Sweet!
I really love and am feeding off the changes and improvements I'm seeing in myself and therefore, my relationships. It's such a great force and momentum to move into the next month with.
So: grades for July!
LETTER WRITING: A-
P90X: B+
========================================================================
Let's talk about August, now.
Again, I plan to have more than one Challenge. I don't think it hurts to push myself in more ways than one and each of them have their benefits and challenges for me. So ...
::AUGUST GOALS::
- I will continue with the next phase of P90x workouts and nutrition in August with my big goal for it being to not take any "EXTRA" days off.
- I will blog at least twice a week. I need this, I feel guilty when I neglect it, and without letters to write, I need an outlet.
- (The BIG Challenge) I will try something new each day.
Let's focus on the 3rd one because the other two are self-explanatory.
I am very good at being comfortable, getting into a groove and habits and routine. And while some of that is very necessary for my sanity and success in each day and in my life, some of it is about what's easier, what takes less effort, what pushes me less. And I want to try things that I haven't tried.
(As always, taking suggestions from the peanut gallery for new things I can do. Anything is possible - big and little.)
SEE YOU NEXT MONTH.
