Back to the real world

Tomorrow it's back to the day job and the real life routine. I didn't get everything done that I wanted to get done - the garden remains a wilderness and my writing was slow (then again, it's always slow over Christmas even though I conveniently forget this fact every year) - but I did get other things done, got completely off caffeine again, saw all my friends, did lots of lazing around reading and watching dvds and, best of all, stuck to my exercise routine which has a way of vanishing when I'm on holiday. I've even cranked it up a notch or two.

Given that 2008 has to be dubbed the year of inconsistent exercise for me (partly due to health reasons but partly due to slackness), I'm hoping this is a trend I can continue. I've bought some pilates dvds so that I can still do a session even on the weeks I miss class (and have done them over the break so I hopefully will not have the usual oh-ow-ow-ow-ow-I-have-not-done-pilates-for-a-bit that usually comes after a brea) and (miracles do happen) I've found that I'm really enjoying my cardio sessions thank to my Cardio Coach mp3s. Normally I listen to music or occasionally my Brain Sync walking meditation tapes (which are good for steady walking but don't really make you push). But I used to always find I got bored and it's hard to push yourself. I wanted to add some interval training sessions to my cardio to help with the general fitness and weightloss goals and I'd downloaded Cardio Coach Volume 1 ages ago after reading about it on Dietgirl's blog but due to said year of inconsistent exercise hadn't tried it until a few weeks ago. Funnily enough I love it even though it's longer and harder than I've ever done on ye olde elliptical before. I sweat a lot and get that good exercise buzz at the end (like I used to get from Spin or Step only without the sore butt from spin or sore knees from Step). So I've bought a few more (thanks to convenient buy two get two free sale they had recently) and my cunning plan is to try and add a volume each month (they seem to get generally longer and harder though you can tailor them by skipping sections). So by the end of Jan my aim is to be able to do all of Volume 2.

I know there will be weeks when I fall off the wagon when you add the day job back into the mix but I feel better and sleep better when I exercise so I'm going to try and do my best to minimise these this year.