I may not have done a lot of steps today but I have certainly made up for it in terms of being out in the back garden and creating. I have done some steps, thanks to my daughter wanting to go for a 20 minute walk before dinner that turned into a 40 minute walk, but other than that my exercise has been mainly confined to the house.
So what have I been doing?
From 10.30am today I have been out in the back garden with my wife making garden planters (see the photo). We have made two of them today from scratch. This is not something I was expecting to do a few days ago when my wife initially asked me to help her, but over the past few days that is what we have done and it has been extraordinarily satisfying. The first one was actually finished today, undercoat, paint, compost, flower...everything(again, see photo). The other two were simply built today.
I did not think that it would actually make me raise my heart rate, nor count as exercise per se, but it has been incredibly exhausting at times: measuring the wood, cutting it to size, drilling, screwing, sawing, sanding...everything took time and effort. I didn't actually realise how making something from scratch could be so rewarding and, having had a look at Fitbit, my heart rate reached a peak today of 128bpm, which means I have been in the fat burning zone for a lot of the day. Topped off with a lot of vitamin D by being out in the garden and it's been a very productive day...to an extent.
On the 'not so healthy' side, I have enjoyed a few beers today whilst out in the sun and have also had an ice cream as a pudding. This is possibly why I have not been losing the weight I have wanted to over the last few weeks. Monday is the game changer though, with both my wife and I committed to losing weight and not touching alcohol or crisps (chocolate for her) during next week. So long as we support each other this shouldn't be too much of a challenge as I have done it before. Fingers crossed though. I will talk about the reaction my body has had and my mental state tomorrow.
Also today I had a boost with a correspondence from someone who has begun reading my blogs and left me an amazing message. I love hearing from people who read my blog as it is nice to know that maybe this is helping people, as well as me, to move forward, to know that it's ok to trip up as long as you carry on. My journey has been fraught with me, as I am my own worst enemy in terms of not doing the things I should. No one else makes me eat or drink the things I do, and as long as I recognise what I am doing and change, as I am from tomorrow (the word tomorrow is my biggest failing to date), then I will succeed.
I have lost 9lbs in 3 months, I have 9 months to lose the rest. I can do this.
So what am I grateful for today? Firstly I am grateful to AR, who sent me the amazing message and helped me to remember that this is also helping others as well as myself and gives me more motivation to carry on writing it. Next I am grateful for creativity, something that can help you to exercise your brain as well as your muscles. Finally I am grateful for my wife, who continuously gets me out of my comfort zone and helps me to do things I never thought I could. And that is why I love life.
So until tomorrow, stay strong and stay safe.
Thanks for reading.
Sean.