Tag: routine

The Wandering Hermit: It’s Not Me, It’s You: Rules for Walking

   5 July 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: It’s Not Me, It’s You: Rules for Walking

It isn’t that I mind having company on my morning walks—I don’t.  In fact, I welcome someone joining me while I walk.  But there are some caveats.  

  1. Brian doesn’t talk in the morning.  I’m not cranky or in a bad mood, but the parts of my brain that do the talking aren’t even scheduled to be at work until I’ve been awake for an hour, and they are often running late.  There is a misconception that this means I’m grumpy.  I wake up most days ready to go and with a lot of motivation.  I also don’t want to talk… about anything.
  1. Brian doesn’t want to hear you talk in the morning.  Without the support of the speech staff, the listening staff isn’t really organized and ready yet first thing in the morning.  They hear you, but they cannot give you their full attention.  The morning agenda rarely includes people talking, so they just aren’t sure what to do when it happens.
  1. Brian is not admin.  I’m never admin, but it is especially true when I first wake up.  I cannot solve your problems for you yet.  That takes skills I won’t have until much later in the day, if at all.  I hear you.  You have an issue.  I appreciate that, but I cannot help.
  1. Brian will become cranky if you keep accusing him of being cranky.  We are all different.  My morning process involves quiet for an hour at minimum.  I love the sounds of morning, from birds in the trees to the sound of a coffee maker.  Because I don’t talk, I’m often accused of being cranky as I said.  I’m not; I’m just enjoying the stillness before my day gets going.  However, if asked enough times I will in fact deliver what you are ordering.  And I hate that I become so annoyed, but it just seems like some days I’m wrong for existing the way I am.

None of these caveats negate my interest in exercising with someone else.  I’d love to do that, but maybe what I really require is ground rules.

  1. Speak softly an stay off my back.  A simple greeting or brief discussion is fine.  Get straight to it, but not too loudly.  My tone will be what my tone is.  Again, I don’t mind even if my mouth isn’t working yet.
  1. Have a plan.  The best time to discuss an exercise/walking session is the day before.  Plan what you are going to do, be flexible enough to change things as needed, and be ready to do the thing.  If your mouth is already fully with it, you body should be as well.
  1. Sort it out.  As I mentioned, I’m not admin.  If you headphones are tangled or you are having an issue with your shoes, you might need to figure that out.  And that is okay.  I wouldn’t dream of asking for help with that stuff for myself.
  1. It’s okay to do what it is that you can/want to do.  I walk at least 2 miles in the morning.  I wake up at 5am and I leave the house by 5:30am.  The times vary & the route varies, but if you think it is too far, or not far enough, that’s cool.  Do your own walk if you need to.  I’m happy to walk beside you while it makes sense, but the morning walk/exercise is about your own fitness goals, so we might not sync up precisely.  Don’t worry about that.  And if you’d rather do a different walk, but just at the same time, that’s cool too.  Do that.  Don’t tie your routine to me.  
  1. Post-walk is when I write.  I need about 20 minutes sometime after my walk for logging & blogging.

I think there is a sort of popular way people like to walk and talk.  It’s a nice leisurely stroll through a park and it is very nice.  I’m actually very interested in doing that sort of thing.  It just isn’t the same as my morning walk.  That is about increasing my heart rate, waking up, and enjoying the dawn.  

[Walk #113]

The Wandering Hermit: Justin & the 10-Day Meal Plan Plan

   30 June 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: Justin & the 10-Day Meal Plan Plan

I’m starting to feel a bit better.  I was reluctant to wake up this morning, but I still just did it anyway.  I’ve got some yard work to do this morning, but I think I might try to get some extra sleep this afternoon.  I have a lot to do this week and I want to make sure I’m fully over whatever has been keeping me lethargic lately.

Justin has decided to do a 10 day diet.  He wants to start on the first.  I think that’s great for him.  He struggles with the permanence of a new way of eating, but he knows he can handle a 10-day diet.  And when that’s over, I think he’ll give himself a few days to go back to normal and then he might resume the 10-day plan as a more permanent situation.  I had been trying to help him do some planning that included all of the things he likes, but that wasn’t working.  He found creative ways to go around the plan and sneak in hundreds of unaccounted calories.  He needs something far more strict.  He is also working uphill a little since one of his medications causes weight gain.  It used to be easy for him to stay thin.  Now he has to work at it, and I think adjusting to that is frustrating.  I totally understand that.  Since he’s doing something strict, I’ll probably be tightening up my own eating for the month.  And I love that.  I’ve gotten a little lazy about food; I’m still basically eating the same way, but I’ve found myself forgetting to record things.  Part of that is that I had started using Cronometer, but I’m back to writing everything down.  I am far more mindful about my diet when I’ve written it all down as I eat it.  Cronometer is a great tool and I still use it for planning out Justin’s meals for the week, but for myself it quickly became a crutch and an excuse.

[Walk #106]

The Wandering Hermit: Preparing for the Rest of Summer

   29 June 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: Preparing for the Rest of Summer

It’s entirely too warm; the next month is going to be rough if I base things on this morning.  The watch told me it was 79ºF, which is already too warm for me, but the gravel was still radiating heat from yesterday and so it felt a little like standing in front of the dryer while pulling out clothes.  It’s not exactly unbearable, but it’s a lot of heat coming from unusual angles.

Speaking of clothes, sorta… I’m in the midst of a plateau at the moment.  They happen; in fact, they happen a lot.  But I break through them eventually so I’m not stressed about it.  I wanted to wait until I was down to 250 pounds before I got some new clothes, but it seems like I’m just inching my way down to that, so I broke down and got a few shirts, a couple pairs of shorts, and some leggings.  That should do for the summer; I am still hoping to get some stuff that fits better later this year.  Some people have been bothered by my threadbare shirts and ripped sweatpants.  Those things don’t bother me, but I am honestly annoyed by the fit of my clothes.  It is definitely past the point where I like how everything just hangs on me.  That was a nice reminder of progress, but it can be annoying, especially pants that never want to stay up.

Yesterday, I went from being mildly under the weather to fully feeling sick and then better by the time I went to bed.  I’m still feeling it, but my body seems to be handling the threat pretty well.  I’ll probably spend the day hydrating and not doing a whole lot.  I always have a lot to do, but I don’t want to push myself and then end up getting sick.  That’s far less convenient than taking things a little easier for a couple of days.

[Walk #105]

The Wandering Hermit: Walk #100

   25 June 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: Walk #100

This was my 100th walk!  It’s hard to believe I’ve done so many.  I decided to start doing a daily walk 1 April 2024, but it was rainy and so I officially started on 3 April, doing half a mile on a good day.  It wasn’t until 7 May that I finally started walking past the bridge that crosses over the creek and started walking up to the neighbor’s house and back.  On 11 May, I walked to the next road down, a mile away.  19 May, I crossed Fairgrounds, the cross street I live on, walking down a bit and back to the neighbor’s house.  Since 28 May, my habit has been always to walk to the next road from here, in any direction, and back.  That makes the walks 2-3.3 miles, depending on the direction I go.  This morning, I did 4.32 miles, walking East to Prairie Rd, North to Yost Rd, West to Fairgrounds Rd, & South to Burris Rd.  That is a little unusual because I was doing it to celebrate 100 walks, but I felt great afterward and was not short of breath or overly exhausted.  What I’m not trying to be cautious of is not continuing to increase the distance for no reason.  3 miles feels really good.  4 was a nice amount this morning, but I had started constantly checking my watch at about 3.5 to see when it would be over.

This is all probably painfully obvious to people who are already pretty active, but I started at not being able to walk out to the car without having to stop to catch my breath.  Being able to do any of this seems remarkable to me.  I’ve been thinking about my next steps.  Like I said, after 3 miles I was ready for the walk to be over, but it wasn’t because I was overly tired.  I was bored.  So, it might behoove me to add an evening walk as well.  That would definitely be easier on joining a gym.  I like the idea of walking 5:15am-6:15am & 5:15pm-6:15pm.  It is so hot this week, that I don’t think I’ll be able to test that out though.  Maybe I’ll try running in place with a fan blowing directly on me!  

I’m proud of myself.  I didn’t know if I could do it, but I was determined to try and feel like I finally figured out something I wish I had learned 20 years ago.  I could dwell in that regret, but that won’t actually alter the reality of my life.  Instead, I’ll take that knowledge and make a future from it.  

[Walk #100]

The Wandering Hermit: Careful! Don’t Bully Yourself

   23 June 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: Careful! Don’t Bully Yourself

I was talking to my brother after yesterday’s morning walk.  I mentioned that I tried to take a photo on every walk, just as a part of my recent practice of having daily habits, but that as it was my 97th walk since I started I was out of things to take a photo of.  This morning, I decided that was a silly thing to say.  It was a silly thing to think in fact, so I found a huge number of things to take a picture of today and I didn’t go far out of my way.  I did slow my pace, stopping frequently to get a good shot of a particular plant or the right angle of the road.  And it was a nice relaxed morning.  I’m positive that not every morning needs to be about my pace & speed, but I still tried to make up for that by going a little bit longer than usual.  

During a recent video by Mike Pridgen (Mike Needs a Plan), he reminded his viewers to avoid self deprecating humor about themselves.  I’ve been thinking about that; I don’t know if I 100% agree, but I think I’m much closer to that than I used to be.  One of the traits I value most about myself is that I don’t take myself too seriously.  I think there is a difference though between acknowledging the silly things I do, an laughing about them, and taking shots at myself that are unwarranted.  It’s a nice reminder to not tear myself down.  I’m definitely guilty of that.  I find that the older I get, the more I appreciate things that are deemed corny in youth.  I like being positive.  I like being happy.  

The temperatures are going to be intense all week.  I haven’t lost my commitment to not having excuses for my daily walks, so it’ll be interesting to see how well I get on in the sweltering heat.  I do normally walk early enough that it isn’t too warm yet, but it was 74ºF/23.5ºC this morning and while it didn’t feel as bad as yesterday, it was still warmer than I would have liked it to be.  It wouldn’t be so bad if I stopped complaining about it!

[Walk #98]

The Wandering Hermit: Assessing Myself on a Thursday Morning

   20 June 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: Assessing Myself on a Thursday Morning

I feel inspired this morning.  I didn’t get enough sleep, but I still woke up feeling great and ready to do all the things!  I’ve been focused heavily on poetry this month and it has me feeling very hyped for new projects, and I even got some writing in the other day.  I can always write.  But I have been busy with other things and so my writing has been pushed to the back until I’ve settled somewhere.  That is a trap I’ve fallen for before.  There is no settling.  Life is always chaotic in one way or another, but it is a choice to deny myself expression.  So, I resumed the writing I should never have paused.

My pace for the entire 3.39 mile walk this morning was under 20 minutes per mile!  That was incredible.  Once again, I did at times feel like I was power walking like a suburban mom on a Wednesday morning, but most of the walk felt fine.  And breathing never became an issue, but a brief exception when a car drove by and I was dealing with some dust for a few minutes.  Otherwise, my lungs seem the best they ever have.  My VO2 Max number has sort of plateaued, but I just need to keep doing what I am doing; hopefully it moves along soon.

I’m starting to get used to the slower rate of my recent weight loss.  I had been discouraged that it was slowing down, but when I started I knew that would happen.  It’s actually a good sign to not be dropping 3 to 5 pounds per week.  Weight loss at that rate was a sign that I was far too overweight.  I seem to be at 1 to 2 pounds per week, with an occasional outlier of 4 or 5.  If there’s something I could switch up to increase that, I’m just not all that interested in exploring it.  I like how I’m eating, I like my exercise routine, I’m drinking a lot of water, and most nights I’m sleeping well.  I don’t really mind this pace because everything is feeling so great.

[Walk #95]

The Wandering Hermit: Hold onto the Bird, but Don’t Pick Up the Sky

   12 June 2024  Leave a Comment on The Wandering Hermit: Hold onto the Bird, but Don’t Pick Up the Sky

Discipline.  I keep repeating that to myself, holding onto it like a bird struggling to fly away from my grip.  I don’t know if I’ve always craved discipline, or if my newly rekindle relationship with myself is fueling some changes that make me want to structure my life a little more.  It’s like I want to add supports to prop everything up just in case it starts to slip again.  

I set an alarm for the first time in years.  I don’t actually need an alarm to wake me in the morning, but sometimes I sleep until almost 6:00am, but then I feel disappointed that I didn’t start walking at 5:15, so I just set an alarm.  I have been thinking about structuring my morning more as a schedule I have to follow rather than a loose set of activities I want to accomplish with no real set times to get those things done.

My schedule, roughly, before today

4:30am–8:00am: wake up (normally between 5:30 & 6:30)

morning:  outdoor walk

after walk:  shower, weigh-in, coffee, breakfast, writing

some time during the day:  meditation probably, food logging maybe, more writing, etc… lots and lots of etc and misc.

Honestly that has been working for me, especially as I got more and more into taking care of my body.  I wasn’t been so regimented about the whole process, but I am increasingly wanting a great deal more discipline and structure.  I’ll try to work on outlining something in the next day or two.

The dawn felt delicate today, like I needed to handle the sky gently so as not to damage it.  Yesterday felt robust and sturdy in retrospect.  Was it the color of the light breaking over the horizon or the clouds or if it was all an illusion based on my own state of mind?  It’s so difficult to know for sure where the feeling came from, but I didn’t dare pick up the sky at all.

[Walk #87]