100 Days Challenge - Reflection

To reach a port, we must sail—

Sail, not tie at anchor—Sail, not drift.
Franklin Roosevelt

Amazing how quotes can truly illustrate an event in one's life. The one above is so a propos as we are preparing for a wonderful Fall New England/Canada cruise - one that has been on my "bucket list" for many years.  Of course the point which I believe is being made in the quote above by FDR is not to allow ourselves to drift aimlessly in life but to "sail towards a destination".  Similarly, one should not lose sight of one's fitness goals and one way to do this is to keep focused and keep moving!!!

Since I'm not ready to move on to the next topic quite yet, I'm going to spend time reflecting on the past week.   How did I do on my self-challenge?   Last Monday, I had written a schedule for the week which included five days of exercise.  I did not do as well as I had planned, but I also did not fail myself.  I got in 155 minutes of exercise spread throughout three days - which one could say averaged out to 30 + minutes of exercise per day for five days.   So maybe what I need to do is challenge myself to a certain amount of minutes per week - while adding 10 minutes or more each subsequent week.   That means that next week I will work towards at least 165 minutes of exercise.  Sounds more do-able to me!    I won't set up a schedule - I'll just alternate swimming and walking as many days as I can.

Unfortunately, I lost my e-tool membership on WW, mainly because I wasn't keeping up with it and did not update my credit card info.   I will not renew or re-join WW just yet, but will consider doing so when I return from our vacation cruise/trip to the East coast - either in October or November.  Meanwhile, I will journal my daily food intake until I leave on the 20th of next month - either here or on DWLZ website.   I will not journal during my vacation - won't be online, anyway - but I will focus on "mindful eating" as well as healthy eating (concentrating on veggies, fruit, yogurt, chicken and seafood).  I also plan on getting in lots of walking, both on the ship and off on shore excursions.   In fact,  I just replaced my pedometer just so I can record steps/miles/calories burned, etc.

Here's hoping for a good week!

100 Days Challenge - Day 44 - This is the Time!

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.“ – Carl Sandburg
“Monday is the key day of the week.“ – Proverb

I just noticed that my last blog post was exactly a month ago, on July 20.   It's time to get back  on track!   And what better way to do this than on a Monday, the beginning of a new week!

Day 44 of the 100 Day Challenge is asking us whether or not this is the right time to be on a weight loss program.   Sometimes life's events do overshadow our journey - and I would say that this is what affected the last couple weeks of my life.   We were on the verge of a major relocation with our family when a drastic turn of events forced us to place the move "on hold".   As a result, we had to change direction and make new plans.   There were also emotions to deal with - not only mine but other family members as well.   Time and patience will bring us together again as we work together to reset our goals and priorities.

My mantra for the coming weeks is to create more structure in my life as I'm now ready to move forward with a daily plan including healthy meals and regularly scheduled exercise.  I know too well that if I'm going to make my days productive, I will have to do it on my own. With that in mind,  this is my schedule of exercise for this week:

Monday - return to blogging, set up my weekly schedule

Tuesday -  morning walk and swimming  

Wednesday -   morning walk

Thursday - lap swimming

Friday - morning walk

Saturday - morning walk and lap swimming

My goal is at least five days of exercise varying from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours per day.  

I also plan to do a self-evaluation at the end of each week.