Setbacks

I write frustrated and disappointed in myself as the last two weeks have been filled with setbacks. I give due credit to professional athletes and those at a much higher skill level than me who work hard at their craft and keeping their bodies in prime condition. It's no joke, taking a lot of discipline and dedication, like any challenge in life.

A few different factors contributed to my setback. My allergies and asthma flared right after Memorial Day weekend from sleeping outside on a motorcycle trip in NY.There were just too many triggers around me, and my health suffered. It took nearly 3 weeks to get them back under control!

Another factor was falling into old bad habits - specifically drinking. It's no secret that I like to drink. I'm a big fan of craft beer, the culture, history...I just love everything about it. However large amounts of alcohol are not going to help me achieve good health. Having a beer or two (as it's a passion of mine) is acceptable, but having 3+ beers in a single sitting is not ok. Besides the nutritional harm (sugars and carbs), it makes me feel awful the next day, leading to a poor work-out.

My schedule became super hectic and busy, between trying to balance the grad course, my workload spiking, and trips to New York. Keeping to a committed exercise schedule took the backseat. I started to make excuses and exceptions for everything. Another issue when trying to commit to a healthy lifestyle is your social life. I also experienced a spike of catching up with friends and social commitments. This led to a lot of eating out at restaurants, drinking, and skipping work-outs.

In summary, my setbacks (and I'm sure for many others like me) were primarily due to:

• Sickness
• Bad Habits
• Temptation
• Busyness
• Excuses
• Exceptions

How do we tackle these issues and prevent them from consuming us? I'm not sure we fitness amateurs can. Unfortunately you cannot plan every aspect life - expect the unexpected. Surely the professionals manage to avoid these problems, but I do not know their secret. I would assume they say "No" to a lot of social things, and fitness is their job, so that also eliminates one potential distraction.

On a positive note, I really enjoyed two specific fitness activities this past week. On Friday, I attended a large CrossFit event with over 100 people doing the same WOD with a partner. It was like gym class all over again in finding a partner, scrambling not to be the last one picked. But alas - I was. Lucky for me the other person left standing was jacked! And very kind and willing to help me.
He was very experienced at CrossFit, and we split the workload about 70/30, coaching me through my technique the whole time. I most definitely brought his time down, but he didn't seem to care about competing.

On Sunday, I kayaked in the Charles River in Boston with a visiting friend. Upper body strength! It was sunny and beautiful out, and I only wish we could have done more than an hour. Exercise that is fun and doesn't feel like exercise is my favorite kind!