Anyway, as is the usual with these plans, it wants you to write down all kinds of goals before you start. It includes a book to do this, as well as to track your workouts. It's a really beautiful looking, hardcover book. I don't want to write in it. Also, I'm kind of over the grand, intention setting thing at the start of new plans. Basically this popped up as a new Beach Body On Demand program; it looked like one that I might like, so I signed up for it, and then found myself added to a challenge group. I have no quibble with that really, it is kind of cool sometimes to follow along with others as you make your way through a new plan. But I still don't want to write in the pretty book (side note: the book that came with the 2B Mindset plan is probably one of the better books I've seen for this kind of thing; it looked and felt like a workbook, so I did not mind at all writing in it).
I've kind of gone off track there. I don't want to write in the book. But there are a couple of things I do want to make note of.
- Haven't followed a regular workout plan since finishing Lift4. Late spring and early summer have been taken up with gardening. I'm okay with that.
- At the end of Lift 4, and in early stages of gardening, I was feeling a lot of achy joints - hands and wrists, notably, but to a certain extent all over. I was blaming the weights, as I was going heavy, and in the past I have found that hard on my hands. And then, as I spent a few weeks lugging around giant bags of garden soil, and was feeling it pretty much all over, I blamed that.
- Eventually, I started wondering if I'm developing arthritis?
- Also, my hands were swelling to the point that I couldn't wear my usual rings.
- My weight went up a few pounds, and was not budging, no matter what I did.
- I was also taking a Keratin supplement at that point because my nails were mush and nothing else seemed to be working.
- I stopped the Keratin, and the swelling is gone from my hands, and the new pounds seem to be going away.
- My joints have been somewhat less achy, though I am finding more than ever that I feel stiff if I sit around too long, and when I first wake up in the morning.
- My heels, particularly the left, have been very tender. Again, seems to be worse if I have not been up moving around; gets better once I do start walking around; gets worse if I do a lot of walking around.
- Lower back as also bothering me for a while, but seems better now.
- I have been vigilant about walking and moving around more, even if I have not been following any kind of exercise plan.
- Oh, in case you are wondering, my nails are in much better shape, so I suppose the keratin did work.
So that is where I am right now. Where do I want to go?
- This exercise plan has you doing 100 days of short workouts. Short workouts are good. I'm only in the prep phase, but 20 - 30 minutes is the promise.
- I will be on vacation for 10 days, starting Aug 9, and I'm not packing dumbbells, so I will be taking a break early on.
- I'm not going to kill myself over this, I will be happy to stick to the plan as well as I am able, and hopefully keep the extra walking as well.
- At the end of it, I would like to be feeling good. Moving easy.
- Building some more strength/stamina, losing a few more of those pounds would be a bonus.
- I do think am feeling better now that I was; maybe that's because it's finally summer and sunny (spring was really late, cold, and rainy this year); maybe it's the extra walking, and mostly eating well.
- Not that I haven't been feeling tired, and overwhelmed with everything that I want/need to keep up with, but it's been better.
- Stronger. Better. That's the goal.
This was all very off the cuff, without a whole lot of thinking it out. I think I'll leave it there.
