MicroblogMondays: Persistence

It has been a while since I last posted.   Seven weeks to be exact.  This is the longest I hadn’t written a blog post.  It seems like the more I don’t write one, the less motivation I have to write one.  I am determined to be more consistent with my writing this coming year.  It starts today.

My stamina for exercises seems to be much stronger than that for my blog writing.  I wrote about starting to work out consistently a few months ago.  I am proud to say that I have been keeping it up.  Back in November I bought a new Apple watch to keep track of my heart rate and to have access to EKG if needed.  The new toy is an additional motivation for me to be active.  It took me a little while to figure out how to make sure my watch counts my exercise minutes and register my movements.  It was frustrating to do a workout for the watch to not recognize any of the minutes.  Finally I changed a couple of privacy settings on my phone and voila! I have been closing all my rings on my Fitness app.

It is so much fun to see the analysis of my workouts: active calories burned, total calories, average heart rate, peak heart rate, and recovery.  Bob and I purchased a yearly membership from Team Body Project back in late September and have been loving the access to over 500 workouts on its website.  Even with my injured ankle, all the low impact options help me not give an excuse to not exercise.  And it is not like I don’t want to exercise.  I look forward to the workouts daily and can’t wait to be moving my body to feel good.  I am confident to say that it is part of my daily routine now.  In the year 2022, my goal is to color in every single little grid on my fitness calendar.  If I put my mind to it, I believe I can do it.  One workout at a time.  One grid at a time.

(The top one is mine. The bottom one is Bob’s.)

MicroblogMondays: 210 Minutes

That is how many minutes of exercise I did last week.

I used to exercise at least 3 times a week before the kids were born.  When they were newborns, I just did not have the time or energy to work out.  I started going on walks again about a year ago.  The partial tear on a tendon on my left ankle has made it impossible for me to go on my walk without pain.  I stopped going on walks since February, and it didn’t do my body any good.  The more I didn’t exercise, the more aches and pains I felt.  I am sure my high blood pressure had gotten worse because of the lack of movements.  Kids started preschool early August.  I started doing these low impact cardio and resistant workouts on Youtube.  Initially I did them 3 times a week, on days that the kids are at school.  Once I have gotten in the groove, I also do them on non-school days.  When the kids get up from their naps, I usually let them watch an episode of cartoon on Netfl.ix.  I used to sit around or do housework during this half an hour of video time.  Now I put on a workout video and huff and puff behind them in the kitchen while they watch their show at the dining table.  The more I do it, the more I want to do it.  Half an hour of workout is so doable.  Bob’s blood pressure has been high lately and he wants to take better care of his health.  He also started to do these workouts.  Yesterday we did one together while the kids watched their show.  It was a lot of fun doing it side by side.  I highly recommend these workouts if anyone is interested.  The trainers and highly motivational and inspirational.  I love them.  Last week was the first time I did one 30-minute workout per day.  I sweat a ton and feel so accomplished when I complete a workout.  It makes me feel so good not only physically but also mentally and emotionally.  And I am so proud of the both of us for working towards better health and a better life.  I am happy to report that my blood pressure has responded to my consistent exercise.