Just call me the Cat Calmer

Today the weather was gorgeous!  I had a run planned.  I knew where I was running, when I was running and how (slow as a turtle through peanut butter).   I was going regardless of the weather so having temps in the 50's was a delightful plus to my day. (I think Christmas morning when I ran it was 20 degrees....lol).    However, my body had other ideas.

We got up and ran some errands in the morning.  Early morning...we went to breakfast and then picked up groceries.   I was doing great.   We got home and Todd had a repair job that he wanted to do on the house.  It required that the cats be locked up for a bit.   Now the cats typically go nuts when we lock them up.  So nuts that on three different occasions I've had them locked up and one or the other has scratched so hard and viciously to get freed that they have started to pull up the tile/linoleum from the edge of the door.  Seriously.   So I took over the very difficult job of going into lock down with the cats....trying to keep the calm.  I laid down on the bed with my kindle and pretty soon they were all curled up beside me.   I had a few tense minutes with the two youngest ones. (Winni and Mertz) At two different times they each got a bit panicky about being locked up...but my tender loving care helped them calm right back down).

Pardon the unmade bed...I was working hard keeping my kitty cats calm and couldn't be bothered with trivial things like bed making!  And I don't know what was happening with my sweatshirt...I was laying on my back, but somehow it got all twisted around on my body.  Oh well.

I honestly don't know if my morning activities (cat calming) set me up for a lazy day.  But I just couldn't function the rest of the day.  I have felt off kilter and just not right.  I ate lunch and then promptly fell asleep on the couch in the living room (a few of the cats followed me).

So my run went out the window.  I'm not going to beat myself up about it.  Why?   My general feeling of lethargy could very well have simply been a side affect of my lazy (but oh so important cat calming duties)....but I'm trying to learn to listen to my body in all ways.  That doesn't just include eating and exercise...it means that when my body is demanding rest I listen to it.  I listened to it today......and I'm feeling much better this evening.

But seriously.....what a waste of a GORGEOUS GORGEOUS day!!!   GRRRRR

Listening

I have been doing great with my eating and exercise this week.  Spot on.  I went to zumba all three nights.  I took a walk on the canal with Todd (until he whined that it was too cold) and I have done my two scheduled runs (Monday and Wednesday...next is scheduled for Friday).   Rockin' it!

The problem?  My exercise this week has been a real struggle.  HUGE struggle. I've done it.  Mondays run was OK...the front end was rough but it did even out and I felt much better toward the back end.  Zumba has been a study of perseverance....mind over matter.  But I've done it.   Last night as I was got to zumba I notice my right hip really bothering me.  I pushed through it.  Eased it down a bit, basically hoping that the movement and stretching afterward would ease it up...and honestly it did help.

I got home last night and I was WHIPPED.  I vowed to make it an easy workout day today...maybe just a walk or a light spin on my exercise bike.  However, I woke up this morning and feel like I was hit by a train.  I'm sore and achy and just plain tired.  GRRRR  So guess what?  This is a day of rest now.   Above all else this journey is about health. And that means that when my body is telling me to stop...that I stop.

The trick?   Knowing when it really is my body or if it's it my brain that is telling me to stop.  You see, my brain sends me these false signals to try to keep me from working out.  My brain doesn't like the fact that I'm so active.   I truly feel as if it is my body this time.  What indicators back it up?  I slept a lot longer than normal and struggled to get up (and only woke up because Todd was shuffling around the house making noise...and then wanted breakfast).  I ache...my body is aching...my hip HURTS...my back is achy...my legs are achy.  I could lay down right now and sleep.  Yeah, this is no brainer......it's a rest day.

Healthy lifestyle OVER foolhardy behavior!  I want to be healthy.  That means that sometimes I need to back off.   This is not a race to the finish line.  It is a shift in thinking.  A shift in how I approach life.  I know that I'm going to be sore (it's been my constant companion of late).  But it also means recognizing when that soreness goes beyond the realm of 'normal' and to then stop and let my body recover.   What does that mean today?  It means that I go easy on exercise.  MAYBE a light walk.  MAYBE a light ride on the exercise bike...but LIGHT being the operative word.   (however right now the thought of doing one of those things makes me literally want to cry)  What else does it mean???    Eating?  Nope, that remains spot on!  No excuse for overeating!