So, I jumped back into Pilates once more today. I've been feeling run down pretty much all week, physically and mentally, just from the constantly changing weather. It's gone from warm to cold to rainy and tomorrow it's supposed to be snowy. My allergies are taking a toll on me and I'm not feeling particularly atop my game, but I decided I needed some Pilates.
I hit the Beginner's Workout video and I managed to do it all. Breathing was difficult this time around with all the gunk in my nose, and I struggled to keep proper form as I struggled to breathe, but I managed. I was able to do something I haven't been able to do before -- I was able to tap fully behind my heel this time around while doing the triangles.
Now, this isn't a a super impressive thing, but I've never been able to fully do it before. I was only able to sorta halfway do it before. I was quite pleased with that. More so, I was very pleased with the multiple times in the video where I could hear my back crack and feel my muscles stretch.
Oh, it felt good. You never realize how scrunched up your spine becomes doing daily tasks (like sitting in front of the computer) until you hear your back crack as loudly as mine did. Between the back cracking, the muscle stretching, and the feeling of my abs working (hey, abs, you still exist!) I came away from this workout pleased.
Admittedly, that feeling is a good one and one I want to last, but I've been having some serious accountability issues of late as far as my workouts go. I somehow manage to talk myself out of them because I don't "feel" like it. That's a weak sauce excuse and I've been justifying it for too long. I'm not suffering too negatively but I don't feel as well off as I did during the summer when I hit Pilates on a near daily basis.
Thusly, I'm just gonna set aside a time of day to do Pilates automatically, probably after work. I work better on a set schedule. Yes, I do have a gym membership now so I'll be doing the Pilates in addition to the gym stuff. This will allow me to get back to feeling good and in-shape. Sure, I technically pass for in-shape but I don't feel it anymore.
I've felt bleh a lot of days this week. As the holiday season approaches, maintaining good habits will be crucial in fighting off the dreaded holiday backslide. I don't want any part of it this year. I was able to minimize it last year, I failed utterly the year before, but this year I want to completely eliminate it (or at least get really close). The holiday season is rife with easy routes to bad decisions.
I aim to do my best not to make bad choices. So in order to do that, I need to make good choices and Pilates is one of those.
I think keeping on a regular schedule will also help keep me more accountable. I'll admit, it's harder to find motivation now than it was when I first started Pilates (or even when I first started working out in general). Before it was about weight loss and making myself more flexible. Now, it's about maintaining that and maintenance is comparatively boring. It doesn't hold my attention nearly as well and it doesn't inspire a sense of "working towards the greater good" like weight loss or increasing my flexibility did.
I am a goal-oriented person so without those two, tangible goals sitting there I find myself at a loss. The goal for the next two months or so is to avoid backsliding. That's more abstract than I'd like but I have plenty of horrible pictures of myself that I'd rather burn than look at ... so maybe I'll look at those to remind myself what the holiday season can do to a person.
Fear doesn't seem to be a good motivator in the long-term but for a few months it might work.
Whatever the case, today was a good workout. I sweated. I was tested. I come away feeling better than I did.
See you folks for Day Twenty-Five.
