I didn't work out for a month - what I am doing now...

CONFESSION: I didn’t work out once while I was away for a month in Costa Rica. Not ONCE.

Was that the plan… nope - I brought a TRX and had visions of early morning training sessions and solo sunrise runs on the beach.

The reality was that I was still up at 5am each morning but that was hustling to get some work done before the kids got up and then it was off.to.the.races. Our days were so active chasing kids, playing in the waves, tossing kids in the pool, and doing all the things to avoid a sunburn that we let the real training slide for the month.

And… I felt (and still feel) pretty great about it. That’s the thing about being consistent over the long term with your dedication to health and fitness. I wasn’t stressed or worried about getting back to the gym. I just went with it. I got my exercise in - in different ways. Fun ways. Ways that challenged me differently. I was able to do these things/feel good doing them/enjoy doing them because I trained for them.

And - (in my very humble opinion) most importantly, I set my expectations for the return. Over the last 2 weeks, I have been easing into my training sessions. Reminding myself ‘I haven’t done this in a month’ and giving myself the space to lay a new foundation. I know that it is all going to come back (not that I am a super fit phenom in my daily life) and I am not killing myself to get there any quicker. I am practicing patience and being kind to my body. I wish more people did that. I see people take time away from training for different reasons schedule/work/kids/life/etc and they come back to training an intensity that is impossible to maintain.

My advice: put your head down, do the work, be kind to your body, know what season of life you are in, and be patient with the process.

Speaking of seasons, what season of life are you in? Are you working hard on your fitness and your habits / just getting started / looking to get back to it / in a good routine / stuck in a rut / riding the fence / looking for motivation? Let me hear it here!

Lots of love,

Paige

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