Day 6: Breaking the Cycle

At 6 am my alarm went off. I swiftly ceased the obnoxiously loud old-timey ringing my iPhone was emitting and popped out of my warm and comfy bed onto the cold hardwood floors. As I walked down the hallway, the little devil on my shoulder said "Go back to sleep. You can work out later", and for about two seconds that was the plan. Then realized that if I didn't do it, I'd feel guilty. And guilt tends to be the first step in the wrong direction. Guilt leads to eating which leads to overeating which leads to excuses which leads to more guilt. So I slipped on my leggings and sneakers and set up shop to tackle Day 6 of the Shred before the sun even came up.

My tired body cracked in all sorts of places, but by the end of it I was wide awake and sweaty (and more than half way done with Level 1!). I don't know if it's just my mind or what, but I really feel like my body is responding to all of this working out. I've managed to make it to the gym every day this week, and even bumped up my cardio time from 25 minutes to 30. My clothes fit a tad better, I'm walking stronger, I'm eating well. I haven't slipped up yet, but understand it could happen (and that's OK!).

I took some advice from MizFit and started filling in my calendar with what exercises I did and a drew a little smiley face on good days (I'm six for six right now!). I think tracking this sort of progress in plain view is encouraging. I've also been really meticulous about updating my food and activity log at PeerTrainer. I've also been checking in with my mom and dad to see how they're doing with their fitness goals. My mom informed me that she's been pushing herself on the treadmill and elliptical every evening and my dad's been walking more, too. Knowing I'm helping to keep them going keeps me going.

I feel really positive about this first week of 2010. It's been an experiment in breaking the cycle and pushing my limits. I hope to continue this throughout the rest of the year. I'm determined and I know I can do it.