Today has been a very nice, warm day with lots going on, especially for a Sunday. I was up quite early, have done some reading and some writing, but most of the day has been spent in my garden, the one in the picture.
Now obviously not everyone has the luxury of a garden our size, some even have ones much bigger, but no matter what the size of garden, it is a great place to spend a day.
It didn't look like this this morning. This morning it had moss growing out of most of the grooves in-between the bricks and that has been my exercise (and the wife and kids) for the day. In total it took about four hours work to clear the garden of moss and weeds because we had used it less than we thought we would, mainly because recently has been extremely wet in Leicester (for about a year). However, now that the weather is getting better and the rain has stopped, plus the added bonus of a countrywide lockdown (for the non-morons in our society), the garden has been our go to spot for a little bit of outdoors, indoors.
Because it was so full of moss and weed in-between the bricks, it has meant that we have all done a lot of bending over and moving from one spot to another. This may seem mundane and not very 'exercise' in its normal sense, but believe me, it was hard and it raised my heart rate. We also bleached the bricks to bring the colour out again and, although not the greatest of successes, it does look better and the bricks are less green than they were this morning.
The point of all this is that I have managed to keep occupied, managed to get some exercise and still managed to not leave the house. There are opportunities to exercise everywhere if you simply look hard enough. I know, for instance, that there is still a lot of weeding that needs doing in the garden beds, and that will raise my heart rate as I have already done some it and it was exhausting! Alternatively, tidying the house or even a room in the house, if done thoroughly, can give you the exercise you need for the day and keep your mind occupied to alleviate the boredom and the feeling of being trapped.
However, the garden is so great because it is outdoors and it can be a space that you can make your own, create something that will get you out of the house and some vitamin D. The garden is now my go to place for exercise (as well as YouTube in the mornings) as it will raise my heart rate and give me some sun or somewhere that isn't one of thermos of my house.
Don't get me wrong, my family and I still try and do our exercise once a day (including the social distancing), but sometimes, if we can't, if you can't, then the garden is the perfect place.
And as an after thought, this morning I weighed in. Before this I was 13 stone 1 pound and I was afraid to weigh myself because of how much I thought I had put on. Turns out I shouldn't have been as fearful as I was. I did put on weight, but not as much as I thought I had. I am 13 stone 3 lbs, so my aim for the week, or by next Sunday, is to be less than that. It's a waste of time setting a goal I could achieve if I had a gym to go to and work, but in these crazy times simply losing is a win.
It's not time to go and write my routine for tomorrow, swapping things around and maybe adding things on I didn't do today.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy your garden.
Stay strong.Stay safe.
Sean.
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