This has been a week of discoveries and changes.
Exercise: Although I earned myself some very tired days this week by not resting enough, I did manage to walk a fair bit. I also did some stretching and callisthenics, some light gardening, and even some very heavy weeding. I consciously did the heavy weeding—actually, pulling huge perennials from an overgrown flowerbed—just before a sedentary day. The next day I sat around and did no upper body exercise. That was an ‘aha’ moment. By thinking about my activities, I can schedule them to avoid tiring out any muscle groups two days in a row. That way, I’ll occasionally be able to push myself if the next day will be a sit-around day. What a huge step forward!
Nutrition: I’ve decided to go entirely sugar-free again. No more of Miss 12’s yummy gluten-free cookies (sigh) and no fruit. Well, maybe just a few strawberries straight from the garden. Being sugar-free helps me to feel more awake and more energetic. As in the past, vegetables will replace fruit. My few weeks of dipping into sweets coincided with taking a break from yoghurt making. (Oops!) That’s not good for the rest of the family either. In fact, yesterday Miss 17 asked me to please make yoghurt again.
Rest, Relaxation, and Life: Sunday I only had a tiny nap and kept going most of the day. Monday I was tired. Tuesday we had track and field, the first one I’ve attended since 2007, and although I sat in the shade most of the day (except for a few loooong treks to the bathroom), it was still an exhausting adventure for me. Let me tell you though, it was worth it to see everyone again and to watch the children compete! Wednesday was recovery day, but by Thursday afternoon I felt fine.
Going out often interferes with the routine rests that I still seem to need. Sometimes I choose to go out, and then deal with the consequences the next day, but I must remember not to do it too often.
Next Week: After witnessing my husband’s great success with physiotherapy for his back problems, I want to become very deliberate about exercising. Perhaps my doctor will be able to recommend a physiotherapist who is experienced with whatever it is that’s still wrong with my muscles. In the meantime, I’m going to crack open my old Callanetics book and do 10 percent of the warm up exercises each day for a week. We’ll see what happens!
You can find more Fit Mommy adventures at Got Chai?
I pushed myself today to do quite a bit. Saw the doctor yesterday, and he stressed that he wanted me moving, moving, moving, but no lifting. So dd and I went to run errands and did some shopping. Being that it is near 90 w/very high humidity, I’m beat. The humidity just s*cks the energy right out of you. So now I’m preparing to watch the backs of my eyelids. LOL!
I hope you don’t overdo it again soon, and that you will have a peaceful, restful weekend.
I think you’ve made some serious progress this week! Good for you for finding ways to be active without overdoing your muscles on either end of the spectrum. In fact, that’s actually what trainers and serious “body building” types recommend/adhere to; working only 1-2 muscle groups per day to avoid fatigue and over-training. 🙂 Good job!
It’s funny that you mentioned the Callanetics book; I bought a Callanetics video several years ago. Hmm…I wonder whatever happened to it?