Blog24/100(-19): June Assessment

 My June was both successful and unsuccessful, a mixed bag, so...not bad, as far as periods of covid19-MercuryRetrograde go? (smile) Overall, I didn't change my fitness routine that much, though I did intensify it, but I did add a focus on breath, as noted below.


I noted the *intense* energy of the time on the eclipse in Sag...a great time to really focus on goals, and focus I did, but more on my overarching goal of weight loss: I wanted to make do a have a big loss, so I upped my cardio a lot, so that my calories out equaled to calories in, ‘netZero’, and that did soon give me a big loss. The next (& last of the year iirc, unless some in Nov?) eclipse is July 4-5, Indep. Day.

My original June goals were inspired by: 5 Mind-Body Exercises for a Healthier Heart: www.sparkpeople.
com/resource/wellness_arti
cles.asp?id=1613

...specifically, my June personal challenge goals were twice daily, ~5 min. rounds of:
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...beginning and ending my days with yoga, then meditation, then tai chi

I had been inspired in May by another article to begin a Pilates practice, 3 days a week, and also had hopes of doing ballet/barre work. This pre-supposed a hidden obstacle: the area where I *do* have a barre is packed with a bunch of *STUFF*. I had high hopes of instantly wiping this all away, as an unstated goal! (& now stated, as part of one team's challenge for July, though it will be a month-long task, hardly instantaneous, lol)
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I also planned on alternating days of pilates with weight-lifting.

I *DID* incorporate weights fairly consistently, and even a little yoga into my cardio/aerobics, usually 2, sometimes 3, days a week, as I found this to be the most efficient method. Also I’ve lifted weights before, so this was more in my comfort zone; pilates sounded like I would struggle at first, and I've never really done these much. At the end of the month, however, I did add in 5 minutes of abs (crunches), which will support pilates, w/ my year-long goal of stronger upper-body (push-ups). Adding in weights, abs work, occasional meditation and (rarely) tai chi, while changing focus back to cardio was fairly succssful. As to pilates, I'll strive to incorporate it, along with more meditation and tai chi into July.

Soooo….on adding specific mind-body practices, I did okay. It’s a challenge to incorporate new habits into old routines, and I *did* do a little more yoga, sometimes incorporating stretches into my aerobics (like warrior pose w/ slow chassez step). I also ran across an article on piloxing: pilates with cardio boxing moves. Really, I re-prioritized cardio, and was semi-successful at that, though I did have a dip mid-month after one of my strongest mo(o)nthly starts in my life...and I’ve blogged about being a strong starter, weak finisher, multiple times, even this month. But I think (& this blog is an example of this) I’ve become aware of this, and working on it, specifically about maintaining, with ebbs and flows, motivation over the long-term. One impact of covid19’s constant presence now is an increased focus on overall health; the morbidly obese, like me, are in a high-risk class. Plus I have my auto-immune condition, hashimoto’s & schmidt’s syndrome, and I don’t want to end up on a vent, etc.

The other mind-body goal I made in June:
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*Every hour I'm awake, I'll do deep-breaths, using the 24 hour clock, so at 6 am, I'd do 6 deep breaths, at 1 pm, I'll do 13 (just did my noon breaths of 12). I've been wanting to incorporate a 'Book of Hours' type of practice with focus on the deavinity & alignment with core values (cv alignment is a key focus of mine for this moon's cycle from New Moon May 22 to June 21)
Happy Now Month, Now Year

...I was fairly successful in this practice. I also realized at the end of the month that when I was exercising I *was* deep-breathing during air-eobics. I might incorporate an alarm/tone/chime hourly reminder. Might be a reason to get one of those fancy high tech wrist watches or fitness trackers, except I prefer not to have to wear anything on my wrists. Could do it on phone or on PC. We'll see.

So that was my June. In terms of targets, I *did* lost 10 pounds in June, so my goal behaviours were on track. And non-scale victories, my arms have some muscle definition, and various spots on belly and leg appear smaller.

Member Comments About This Blog Post
  • vIMPROVINGME
    Your plans and goals for each month seem to be very carefully considered, and your tracking and end-of-month assessments are admirable and inspirational.
    Bravo!
    And congratulations on losing those 10 pounds in June!
    emoticon emoticon
    408 days ago
  • v1CRAZYDOG
    Fantastic!
    408 days ago
  • vLIFECHANGZ
    emoticon really wonderful :)
    408 days ago
  • vKPHEALTHY4LIFE
    Great month. Keep going.
    409 days ago

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