Missing out blues!

If there’s one things that can mess the head, it’s this — miss the workout routine that you’re getting used to. It does all kinds of things to the mind and body. And that’s what happened to me. Between an overload of work and personal commitments, the workouts took a backseat.

I finally got down to a 5k today.

Between the stretches, push ups, squats and crunches on waking up first thing, the system was beginning to feel good. Why would anyone give it up? Sounds outright silly. And that the point here. Despite knowing it is good, we choose to keep is aside for other things that appear to matter.

Question on my mind now is: Why did I have to miss the work out? As I think about it, the answer is clear. Over time, we are taught and primed to de-priortise ourselves.

Thinking aloud now: In much the same way that I put a work-related call, or a meeting with friends on my calendar, why not put the time with myself as a non-negotiable? End of the day, without me, what will I work for and will any ecosystem around me exist at all?

Chunking works

Big story of the day — 8k done.

So, started today morning with a 3k walk. And this was right after waking up — without having my regular mug of chai that I need to get the mind and body going.

A warm day I thought, but logged on as I always do to the morning team call. I thought I’d do a 4k during the first half. But the heat was beginning to get to me and I needed the breakfast as well. Had worked up a sweat too and wanted to get indoors.

So what changed? A few things with the benefit of hindsight.

• Unlike other days when I need two and a half large mugs of tea to get started, 1 1/2 was good after the mug. But needed the breakfast earlier than usual.

• The time it took to begin focusing on what needed to be done shrunk dramatically. I thought I could stay focused for longer as well. Clearly, there are benefits to starting with a workout.

Cut to the evening when I did a 5k so I complete the 8k loop. This time around, it was a fast clip. Appeared faster than usual, or at least that’s what I thought. But my watch didn’t seem to catch it. The movements appeared more fluid, and I certainly think I covered a lot more distance than what my Apple Watch captured.

Sometimes, I get the snarky feeling that the data these contraptions capture are approximations and not the exact numbers. For the record, I’m using an Apple Series 2. That may sound dated to the gizmo crowd. But it does the job for me. And I like to juice my devices until it begs for mercy. But that’s another story!

Now, to fix my diet! Have to get more greens in. Team Thylio is watching and they’re beginning to give me those snarky looks and I can feel the stares come through the feedback.