100 Days of Peace

Day 37: Vibrancy for life

Curtis — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:10:22 +0000

I had lunch today with some friends I haven’t seen in a while. They’re an older couple I met when I first moved to Pennsylvania. In fact, they were the first friends I made here. They served home-made macaroni and cheese, and I choose to deviate from my 100 Days dietary guidelines for this special occasion. It was great to spend the whole afternoon with them.

I also skin-brushed for the first time in, well, a long time. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s been over a year, maybe even two (wow, could it be longer than two?). I used to do it every day, and I mean every day. I’d even bring the brush with me when I traveled. It’s representative of a time when I was very committed to my health. That and bouncing on my mini-trampoline. I’d like to bring them back into my life. I will start with the brushing.

Tomorrow I resume the workouts. The key for me will be doing them in the morning. The longer I wait, the more I will be tempted to skip it.

Finally, I listened to some very interesting interviews about the role of depression in spiritual growth. It’s made me more accepting of the emotional struggle I’ve been facing. I don’t know that I’m depressed, and I don’t know that I’m not. What struck me was one interviewee’s description of the opposite of depression as a vibrancy for life. That is something I do not feel very often, and I would like to feel more of it. We will see.

Day 36: Days off

Curtis — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:10:45 +0000

I decided today that I am taking a few days off from working out. I want to give my knee a rest. Thinking about it now, though, I see that I could do pushups and other non-leg exercises.

Wow, I was really stuck in a mental box. I was thinking I had to do Workout F next. Who says? This is a good lesson for me in how rigid I can become in my thinking about health.

Day 35: More rest

Curtis — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:15:45 +0000

No workout today. I put it off until it got late enough that I had to leave for my afternoon/evening appointment. In fairness, my knee is still a little sore, so it was probably good to rest.

Day 34: Listening to my body

Curtis — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:00:25 +0000

Today was an unscheduled rest day. I could feel that my legs needed some time off, especially since I planned to attend yoga asana class tonight. And did I make the right choice! Class was heavy on legs and my thighs felt a little weak at times. If I’d done squat jumps today I would have been useless. This was a good lesson in listening to my body.

My mood was much better today. I even felt like being goofy at times. That teleseminar class I took last night was so good for me.

Day 33: Mastering my own psychology

Curtis — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:48:53 +0000

Today was very challenging emotionally. What the heck is it with Wednesdays? I was especially down on myself today. The negative self-talk was excessive. Tonight’s class on teleseminars covered mindset, and that was very helpful as a reminder of the importance of being more intentional with my thoughts. The most important thing I can do in my life is commit to a practice of mastering my own psychology.

I completed Workout E today, all 7 recommended sets of 10 lunges and 10 burpees. Workouts completed so far are B, E, F, and G. A and C will be the hardest because they include 8 sets of 25 pushups and I’ve only been able to do 4 so far.

Day 32: Attitude

Curtis — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:10:27 +0000

Workout D is squat jumps, 30-second sets separated by 30 seconds of rest. I beat last week’s total (up 9%), an increase from 7 to 8 sets, which I was very cool with until I noticed Workout F from a few days ago. I did 10 sets of squat jumps for a total of 165 (today I did 128). I don’t know how I did that! Now that I think about it, I can recall feeling unstoppable during that workout. Sometimes it amazes me just how important attitude is in these workouts.

Day 31: Bad mood

Curtis — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:43:30 +0000

I took a rest day today, bumping Workout D to tomorrow (my scheduled rest day). I was in a pretty neutral mood all morning, and then got into a bad mood this afternoon. I was in the headspace of “life is hard enough, I don’t want to struggle through a workout right now.”

The irony is that a part of me knows the workout would have changed my mood. I always feel better afterwards.

Today is day 31, technically the last day in this first round of the 31-day workout routine I’m doing. As I stated a few days ago, I’m going to stick with it, my intention being to max out the recommended sets for all of the exercises before I move on to the next routine.

I feel like I should say something meaningful given that it’s day 31. Hm. Nope. Nuthin’.

Day 30: A reason to be fit

Curtis — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:29:22 +0000

I kicked butt today on Workout C. I did 6 sets each of lunges and pushups, up from 4 last time. I saw a 50% increase in lunges, and a 61% increase in pushups (though it was a 19% increase from Workout A two days ago, which is a very similarly structured workout).

I also went sledding with my nieces today. I don’t always think about it, but part of the reason I like being fit is so that I can have the energy for these kinds of meaningful family moments.

Day 29: Self-worth

Curtis — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 03:55:48 +0000

I got a massage today, my first of what may become a weekly thing. It felt good physically, and I’m eager to see if consistent massage will help with the pain I’ve been experiencing in my left shoulder.

And it also felt good emotionally. It brought up some issues about self-worth that I was able to momentarily resolve so that I could truly enjoy receiving such intentional and caring touch, and I’m also eager to see how weekly massages might help me get more comfortable with the feeling that I’m worthy and deserving.

For exercise, today was Workout B, B for burpees (30-second sets of burpees separated by 30 seconds of rest). I did the full 12 sets, up from 10 last time for a 19% increase.

Day 28: Rebellion and Russians

Curtis — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 04:41:11 +0000

Since Wednesday night I’d been struggling with the question of whether or not I was going to go see a late night screening of The Big Lebowski tonight and drink the complimentary White Russian that comes with my ticket. I finally decided I would. I concluded (or rationalized) that it was a part of the experience and why even go if I wasn’t going to have the full experience.

So off I went at 9:15 to get there when the doors opened at 9:30 for the pre-show party and complimentary White Russian. I get there at 9:29 to find things in full swing and I’m told they’ve already given away their full allotment of 75 free drinks. What??? I’m there before the doors are supposed to open and I missed my free drink?

I was pissed! I even thought of saying something to the manager. Fortunately, not 20 seconds passed before I became aware of just how attached I’d gotten to the idea of drinking that drink. I’d planned to break the rules of my 100 Days of Fitness, I’d been foiled in that attempt, and I was angry. Man, we are silly creatures sometimes, aren’t we?

In retrospect, I’m happy that things happened as they did. I was able to recognize that there’s a part of me that likes to rebel against restrictions. Knowing that can only help me make clearer and more powerful choices.

Regarding exercise, today was my third time with Workout A. I increased from 4 sets to 5 sets, again maxing out the squats at 25 for each set, and this time maxing out 4 sets of pushups instead of 2 for a 53% increase.