Tag Archives: 2021

Wrapping Up My 2021 Workouts (or An End To One Year And A Start To Another)

Posted on January 3, 2022 | Comments Off on Wrapping Up My 2021 Workouts (or An End To One Year And A Start To Another)

The week between Christmas and New Year’s is usually weird, as I mentioned in my other post. But the one place things were still normal was with my workouts. I got my usual 4 workouts in for the week, even if they weren’t exactly the usual plan. I had a few classes at different times and the ones in the normal times were not 3 group classes but they were 2 group classes instead. So Monday and Wednesday were my normal times, but 2 group classes. And Friday and Saturday were different from normal times and those also happened to be 2 group classes! So I had a full week without a 3 group class!

Monday’s class was a mix of endurance, strength, and power and it was themed around practice, perfect, and perform. So on the floor, each block had exercises that worked together.

For cardio, we had 3 blocks and we had done this workout before. The first block had all short intervals at a base pace with increasing inclines. The second block was also short intervals at a base pace but we started at the highest incline and went down each time. And for the last block, we got to decide if we wanted to start at the top or the bottom of the hill. For me, I always pick to start at the top so things get a bit easier each time.

The floor was also 3 blocks and each block started with a 150-meter row. Then we went to the floor and each block had exercises that worked together. The first block had single-leg deadlifts, regular deadlifts, hip hinge swings, and bicycle chest presses. The second block had lunges, lunges with dumbbells, jump lunges, and reciprocal low rows. For this block, I just had to do regular lunges for all the lunges but I did take breaks since doing all of them at once would be a bit too much for me. And the last block had hand-release push-ups, chest presses, power push-ups, and toe touches. I was struggling on the floor with being a bit nauseous, but it wasn’t that bad so besides the lunges, I didn’t have to modify much.

Wednesday’s workout was a strength day and I was feeling miserable that day. I hated how bad I was feeling because I really wanted to try. But it ended up being a day where I just did what I could and I know it wasn’t much.

For cardio, the first block was a mix of push paces at no incline and push paces at an incline. And the push paces with inclines got shorter as the inclines got higher. The second block was all about short intervals and we started at the top of the hill with the highest incline and did base paces with incline and then an all-out at an incline. We worked our way down lowering the incline for each base pace or all-out. I did use the resistance levels on the bike and I did use the levels I would use if I had been feeling ok. I just was pedaling really slowly.

On the floor, the first block was floor exercises. We had single-arm high rows, lunges, plank in and outs, chest presses, burpees, and plank abductions. For the plank work, I used the bench for my hands so I didn’t feel as nauseous. And the second block was timed with the treadmills. When the treadmills had their base paces (which was 2 rounds for 30-seconds each at a time), we had single-arm shoulder raises. When the treadmills were in their 30-second all-outs, we had a 30-second row. Even though I did struggle with the row a bit, I think this block ended up being my best block for the entire workout.

And on Friday, since it was New Year’s Eve and I had the day off of work, I went a little later in the morning than I normally do. This workout was a New Year’s Eve theme with everything being a countdown.

For cardio, we had 1-minute push paces followed by 75-seconds to recover for pretty much the entire block. The inclines started at 10% (I did 9 over my base resistance level on the bike) for each push pace and it went down by 1% each round so we ended at 1% (or for me at my base resistance level). And when we were at that base level, we had a 30-second all-out to finish the cardio for the workout. I was feeling a little better compared to Wednesday, but still not totally myself. So I tried my best to only take breaks during the recovery time. I didn’t always do that, but it was a good goal for me to keep in my head.

And the floor was also one long block with a countdown theme, but the block was split into 4 mini-blocks. With each mini-block, we had 2 exercises that we started at 10 reps and went down by 2 reps each time. After doing 5 rounds we had a row. The first row was 700-meters and that went down 200-meters each time. The mini-blocks were push-ups and pop jacks, upright rows and front raises, squats and bridge rows, and leg raises and toe reaches. I got through the exercises for the 3rd mini-block and was about to start my 300-meter row when the class was done. But I was proud of what I did, especially with my 500-meter row. It wasn’t my best time, but I was able to do it without any breaks which felt huge with how I was feeling.

And that workout ended my workouts for 2021. I was able to do 205 workouts this past year and most of them were back at the studio so I know they weren’t easy ones! And of course, I had to start off 2022 with a workout on New Year’s Day to get started on my next workout goal!

And on Saturday, I actually went to an earlier class than I normally do since I had the day off of work. It wasn’t that early since I wanted to be able to sleep in, but it was nice to get my first workout of 2022 done with lots of time left in my day after.

This workout was an endurance day and the cardio was all about doing 90-second push paces. We had 2 blocks, and each block was all 90-second push paces with either a 45-second or 1-minute base pace between each one. And we ended with a 30-second all-out for each block. I was a bit tired that day and still nauseous, so I was glad that things were pretty consistent for cardio and I didn’t have to think too much about switching the gears on the bike.

For the floor, the first block was half rowing and half floor. We had a 600-meter, 400-meter, and 200-meter row with lunges between each row. Once those were done, we had push-ups, squats, and hip dips. And the second block had weighted front squats, burpees (which I tried to do but had to skip because I was getting too nauseous), leg extensions, and plank leg lifts. It was a tough class, but also the perfect way to kick off 2022!

And now, I get to work toward my workout goals for this year and I think I kicked them off with a great end to 2021 and a perfect start to 2022!

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Reviewing My 2021 Goals (or This Really Was A Year Of Unknowns)

Posted on December 31, 2021 | Comments Off on Reviewing My 2021 Goals (or This Really Was A Year Of Unknowns)

Happy New Year’s Eve! I think everyone is a bit shocked this year is coming to an end because mentally it feels like we are still in 2020. I do still feel in a way that I’ve lost 2 years of my life due to not being able to live the life I love and enjoy, but I did still get things done this year. And when I was setting my goals for 2021, I set them based on the idea that I didn’t know if or when life would feel normal again. But even with me planning for the unknown and unexpected, things still had some plot twists that made accomplishing some of my goals not exactly what I planned.

My first goal that I had this year was to do at least 200 workouts. I set this goal with the idea of doing mainly workouts through Orangetheory, either at home or in the studio. I did hit my goal for workouts this year which I expected would happen since it’s not too hard for me to get to 200 workouts a year now (which is still something I’m shocked about). And a majority of my workouts were through Orangetheory since I was able to go back to the studio this past spring. My home workouts weren’t the Orangetheory videos since I switched to mainly doing weightlifting at home, but I think this still counts as a win since I did get to my goal and most of my workouts were Orangetheory studio classes.

My next goal I had for 2021 was to work on my budget. I hate that this was another failure since I’ve tried to get my budget back on track so many times. I used to be really good at it, and then so much changed. My excuses in the recent past were about not being stable with work, but things have been much more stable for me lately. There will always be a little bit of unknown with how much I’ll make with some jobs, but most of the money I make each month is a pretty stable and known amount. Even without doing a budget, I was more mindful of my spending and where my money was going. I know I need to get this more under control, but it is nice to see that I haven’t gone completely crazy without a budget. But if I want to work on having more savings and the ability to splurge on fun things without stress, I need to get a budget so I am very aware of my financial situation.

I’m going to combine the next two goals I had for this past year. I wanted to try more, take more risks, and be ok with possible failure and I also wanted to be ok with asking for help and support. When I wrote those goals a year ago, I saw them as very different things. But now, I think they go together. Taking more risks and accepting failure goes along with asking for help and support. When I had failures, I needed support to boost myself back up. I don’t know if I had as many opportunities to try more and take risks as I hoped I would, but I know I did do this more often. I spoke up for myself more and learned how to cope better when things I wanted to have happen didn’t happen. And when I was feeling down about these failures or other things in my life, I had a better group of people I could turn to for advice and support. I still want to take more chances, but I think it will be easier doing that going forward now that I have great friends to help me out if things don’t go the way I hope.

And my last goal for 2021 was to get my house organized and find the best way to use the space I have. Obviously when I wrote my goal, I didn’t know that I would be getting a new place this year. And I did get things much more organized in the first half of the year. But starting in September, I was in the mindset of how I would be hopefully moving in the somewhat near future. So organizing my house took a new turn and became more about going through all my stuff and seeing what I want to move and what I want to toss. And that’s something I’m still going through now. My house is less organized than I would like it, but it’s organized for an upcoming move. And obviously since I’m moving into a place significantly bigger than where I am now, maximizing the space I have stopped being something I worried about. Instead, lately I’ve been planning for my move and how things will work in my new place. And I’m excited to have space to get some new things and really make my new place feel like a home!

Overall, I’m happy with how I did with my goals this year. They weren’t all wins, but I did my best with most of them. And things were an unknown so the ideas I might have had in the beginning of 2021 weren’t exactly how they turned out by the end of 2021. So some of my goals had to adjust with the changes in my life. But I think I was flexible with most of them and made them work. And I’m excited to share my goals for 2022 with you all next week and seeing in a year how I do with them!

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Was I Patient Enough This Year (or Reflecting On My Word For 2021)

Posted on December 30, 2021 | Comments Off on Was I Patient Enough This Year (or Reflecting On My Word For 2021)

For the past few years, I’ve been doing a word of the year each year. I like having this as a part of my goals for each year, but the word of the year is a different idea to me than my goals. The word is more about an overall theme where the goals are slightly more specific. Sometimes the word is an idea of something I know I want to do and it’s a reminder to focus on that and sometimes the word is something I know I will need to work on but is already something in my life.

For 2021, my word was patience. I picked this word because it seemed obvious to me. At the end of 2020, vaccines were just getting started and it was a big unknown for when I would be able to be vaccinated. I had heard rumors it might not be until the summer and I knew that as much as I wanted to get back to aspects of my normal life that I would need to wait. I knew I would need to practice patience with getting vaccinated and going back out into the world. 2020 was difficult for me with being so isolated, but at the same time, I had kept myself safe and healthy. And even if I was seeing others going out and doing things, I would need to be patient until I felt like things were safe enough for me to do the same.

I also knew I needed to be patient because I felt like I had lost a year of my life. I know many people felt the same way (now it feels like I’ve lost 2 years, but that’s a different topic) and there were things I had as goals for 2020 that I couldn’t do because of circumstances outside of my control. I needed to be patient and understanding with myself and not feeling like I was where I wanted to be at that time. I still feel like I’m somehow behind in my life, but I am still practicing being patient with that idea.

I really think overall I did a pretty good job with using my word as my theme for 2021. There were a lot of things I wanted to do but had to wait longer than I would have liked to. There are plenty of other things that I want to do now but I still haven’t brought them back into my life. It’s a weird time right now because we are still in a pandemic but it also feels like we have a small percentage of our normal lives back. We are in this in-between time where some things are back and we have to make personal choices if they are ok for us to do or not. I have been patient with myself with allowing myself to still feel a bit fearful and being ok with avoiding things. And I’ve been patient with others when I ask someone if they want to do something and it’s not something they feel comfortable with yet.

Being patient isn’t something that I will stop working on since I will have a new word for 2022 (which I will be writing about soon). I still need to practice patience quite often and remind myself that it’s ok that things are not going as quickly as they did before or how I want them to go. I still hope that things will be getting better soon because it seems like we had a small taste of what things were like before and now some things are back to how they were at the worst time in the pandemic last year or earlier this year. I have worked on keeping myself safe and healthy for almost 2 years of a pandemic now. There’s no rush to move past this and take unnecessary risks. So I will just keep being patient and taking things day by day as I need to.

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2021 Check-In (or The Year Is Halfway Over)

Posted on June 30, 2021 | Comments Off on 2021 Check-In (or The Year Is Halfway Over)

It’s crazy to think that 2021 is half over already! And this first half of the year feels like it was split in half as well since I got my vaccines in the first quarter of the year and in the second quarter I was finally able to relax a bit more and not have so much fear every day. But I’m still not back to my full and normal life since things are not over. But I’m hopeful that maybe the second half of the year might have just as many changes as the first half of the year did!

And just like I have done for the past several years, I set some goals for 2021. It was tough setting goals this time since I had no clue when things would normalize a bit. I knew that I might spend the majority of the year isolated as I did in 2020. So I had to set some goals that could be accomplished isolated in my house or living my life again. And with the year half done, I figure this is the perfect time to check in with myself and see how I’m doing.

My first goal was to do at least 200 workouts. And I’m doing great on that goal! I passed my 100th workout for 2021 last week, so I’m on the perfect pace to get it done. And while I was keeping things going at home when I had to, I’m so glad I’m back in the studio. I know I have better and harder workouts in the studio. And while working out at home did help my mental health a bit, I know working out in the studio helps my mental health even more. It’s crazy to think that I think this is the easiest goal for me to get done every year, but it really is. I’m in a great routine with my workouts and there is very little that can stop me.

My next goal is to work on my budget. This is still a bit of a struggle for me. I’m trying to get my budgeting app in a good place, but I’m also starting to wonder if maybe I need to find a different app to use. Even though I’m not doing great at creating a budget and tracking everything, I am much more aware of my money than I used to be and I’m doing better each month with my spending and making sure I don’t go overboard. I haven’t had a month where I couldn’t pay off my credit card in full since I paid off my debt, and that’s a huge thing for me. I would like to find more ways to be better with my spending and to work on saving more money, but just being this aware of my money is a good step in the right direction. And hopefully, the second half of the year will help me get to where I want to be with budgeting.

The next goal was to organize my house more.  This one is connected to a lot of the monthly challenges I’ve been doing. And I think the idea I had for this goal isn’t exactly what I’ve been doing, but I have been working on it. I’ve been much more aware and cautious about when I buy new things for my house. I make sure that I find really want I want and not just something that will work for now. There are things in my house that need to be replaced for one reason or another, but I’m waiting until I find what I want. And I am working on finding storage solutions so my house doesn’t look as cluttered. Even the small change of putting all my workout stuff into a storage bench did wonders! I don’t just want to hide everything to have the appearance of being organized, I want to actually be organized. That takes a bit more time, but I have been seeing progress.

My next goal was to try more and take more risks. And along with that, being better at accepting failure. I haven’t had as many chances to work on this as I would have liked, but I am taking more chances. There are some things I can’t share just yet, but I am working on getting out of my comfort zone with things that do scare me. I’m also not playing the cool girl in my social life and in dating. As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, I’m not hiding my feelings. If I am dating someone and really am starting to like them, I tell them. And that does sometimes lead to being ghosted, but I’m working on being ok with that. I would rather be ghosted now when they know what I think than to let something drag on for a long time and not be getting what I want out of a relationship.

And my last goal was to be better about asking for help and support. And this one is one that I feel I have been doing much better about. I struggled to ask for help last year because so many people seemed to downplay how tough things might be for me. I stayed quiet because I didn’t want to correct my friends and let them know I was struggling. But now that I’ve been more open about it, I am getting the support I really could have used last year. And I haven’t had anyone talk down to me or judge me for asking for help and support just because my struggles are different. And that has helped to make this year much easier for me to get through some of the rough times.

Overall, I think I’m doing pretty great with my 2021 goals. I’m not doing perfectly, but I couldn’t expect that from myself. I’m seeing progress in my life and I’m adjusting my goals when I see that I need to do that. And I’m hoping in 6 months when I’m doing my end of the year recap, I will have a lot to share about how I was able to complete my goals!

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How I Ended 2020 (or A Night Alone At Home)

Posted on January 7, 2021 | Comments Off on How I Ended 2020 (or A Night Alone At Home)

Most of the time, I spend New Year’s Eve with friends. I usually will go to a party where things tend to be pretty casual. I’m not a big fan of elaborate plans for New Year’s because things can be overpriced and very crowded. I like just having a relaxed night with friends where we celebrate but everything is pretty low-key.

When the pandemic started, I never thought we’d still be dealing with it by New Year’s Eve. I really thought things would be safe again by the 4th of July. Then maybe by  Halloween. I fully expected to be able to spend New Year’s Eve with my friends at a party and didn’t think too much about things.

But as it got closer and closer to the end of the year, reality set in and I knew there was no way that there would be any party or gathering with friends. Even trying to figure out a way to be safe with one friend didn’t seem to be possible. I know that I have pretty much been in quarantine for a while, but most of my friends don’t have that same luxury. So it just wouldn’t be safe to try to meet up with even one friend. So my New Year’s Eve was spent the way I have spent so much of 2020. Alone in my house.

It wasn’t the worst thing to be alone for New Year’s Eve, but it was still sad. It was sad to think about how things didn’t have to be this way with the pandemic. It was sad to think that there are people who I know aren’t dealing with the isolation as well as many of us are. It was sad to think that things were looking up because of the vaccine but they were still not looking that great.

My night was not really that exciting. I spent a lot of time watching tv and catching up on my DVR and streaming shows. I made some dinner. I sat around and texted with a few friends. And I was in bed by 11 pm. I did stay up until midnight, but I spent the last hour of 2020 reading in bed. And pretty soon after midnight, I went to sleep.

This wasn’t how I wanted to spend my New Year’s Eve. This wasn’t how I liked to spend my night. But it was how I needed to spend my night to stay safe and healthy and to do the right thing.

In some ways, it did seem fitting to end the year the way I spent so much of it. But at the same time, I would have loved to have ended the year in a happier and more fun way. I hope that this will be the only New Year’s Eve that I have to spend this way. I might choose to spend one like it, but I want it to be my choice. This was not what I wanted, but it was the only option I could have without taking a lot of risks that I’m not ok with taking.

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Having Patience (or My Word For 2021)

Posted on January 5, 2021 | Comments Off on Having Patience (or My Word For 2021)

As I have done the past few years, I have decided on a word for 2021. My word for 2020 was Balance, and I think that kind of didn’t end up happening too much for me because of the pandemic. I wanted to balance out my life in so many different ways, but I was prevented from doing it because of circumstances that were out of my control. I tried to balance what I could, but I know that what I wanted to do with the idea of balance just didn’t happen.

When trying to pick a word for this year, I wanted to pick it with the understanding that I might be isolated at home for some or most of the year. I know that a lot of things that I have in mind with different words each year involve doing something that doesn’t involve just me. I need to be around others to work on the idea. But I finally settled on a word that I think is perfect for 2021 (and if I’m being honest, was kind of my word for 2020 without me knowing it).

My word for 2021 is Patience.

I need to have patience in so many aspects of life. I need to be patient with the pandemic and what is happening. I need to be patient with getting the vaccine and having some sense of my old life back. I need to be patient with myself when it comes to my workouts and working on recovering from my eating disorder. There is so much that I need to be patient with in 2021. I think it’s the perfect word for me.

Even though I didn’t end up wearing my bracelet that much in 2020 since I rarely was out doing anything, I still ordered a bracelet for 2021 from MantraBand. I feel like that also makes me feel a bit more hopeful that I will be out and wearing jewelry this year. But even if I only wear it a few times, I like having it as a reminder even just seeing it in my room each day. And I do love the sayings that are on the packaging.

“Everything worthwhile takes time to become. Practice patience with others, and with yourself. Because there is nothing that patience and time can’t resolve.”

I feel like that perfectly describes why I picked patience to be my word this year.

The final part of my routine with my words each year is to change up the background on all the different devices that I use. I only include the word on my computer background (my phone and iPad are only the image without the word). But every year, I have put the word in the middle of the background image and I feel like I never see it. So this time, I moved the word to the side and I will see it almost all the time that I am on my computer. I like this change already, and it’s only been a few days.

I picked the image because it was pretty and I liked the colors. But after a day, I realized that it looks like Spaceship Earth at EPCOT. I wasn’t trying to make it a Disney thing, but it unintentionally became a Disney thing! I love that too and whenever I see the image it makes me smile.

I spent a lot of time in 2020 being patient and now I need to continue to do that and build up that skill in 2021. Patience is what will keep me safe and healthy. Patience will get me through this time. I know it’s not easy and I will have plenty of time that I’m impatient and frustrated, but I just need to keep reminding myself that patience will pay off and I will be able to get to the other side of all this eventually.

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My 2021 Goals (or Preparing For A Year With Lots Of Unknowns)

Posted on January 1, 2021 | Comments Off on My 2021 Goals (or Preparing For A Year With Lots Of Unknowns)

Happy New Year! I hope that you all had a great New Year’s Eve, even if you were home alone like I was. I’ll be writing more about my New Year’s, but for now, I wanted to kick off the year with my 2021 goals.

Setting goals for this year was a little different from what I normally do. I have no clue when things will be more normal and we won’t have to be isolating ourselves. I hope that by the summer, things will start reopening again, but we have no clue. So I had to create goals that wouldn’t be affected if a majority of the year is spent at home and isolating myself from others.

The first goal shouldn’t be a surprise since it’s one that I’ve had a lot. I want to do at least 200 workouts in 2021. My plan is for these workouts to mainly be Orangetheory workouts, whether it’s in the studio or at home. Once I can go work out with others, I plan on the workouts all being at Orangetheory. But at home, I’m a bit more open to trying other workouts that are available online. I do love the Orangetheory at Home videos, but I also want to allow for some flexibility in case I feel in a rut or that I need a bit of a change. It’s still not easy for me to work out at home by myself. But I know I can do it and I feel confident that I will be able to do at least 200 workouts again this year.

My next goal is another repeat and one I’ve talked about recently. I want to work on my budget this year. I know that this won’t be easy because my job situation isn’t as stable as it’s been in the past, but I cannot let that be an excuse anymore. My hours with my new job are going to be pretty stable starting next week. And I should know soon about my hours with my data entry job, and once those are figured out they should be stable as well. The only big unknown for my income is my box office job. I don’t know when I’ll be asked back or how many hours I might get. But I still need to budget with what I do know and start making a plan so that I have things in order when I do have more steady income and I have things I want to use my money on.

Next is something that I’ve been doing a lot since I’ve had to isolate myself at home. I want to keep my house organized and continue to find the best way to maximize the space that I have. 2020 was a year that I discovered that I have a lot of things I don’t use or don’t have in the best spot to make sure I use them. I have things in my kitchen that I know I don’t use, and they are taking up space. And I have gotten new things for my kitchen and nowhere to put them. I’m looking at storage solutions for inside my house, but with space being limited I have to be careful what I bring in. The same goes for my bathroom. I don’t have any counter space, so I have to keep things on a shelf I have and in my medicine cabinet. The space is limited and I know I have things there that I don’t use or need. Organizing my house will be an ongoing project throughout the entire year, but I’m excited to see what my house will look like as I continue to work on this.

The next goal is a combination of a few ideas. I want to try more, take more risks, and be ok with accepting possible failure. Now, this doesn’t include my health or safety so I will not be taking risks by going out until it is safe to do so. But this is more about not limiting myself to things that only make me comfortable. If I want to take a chance in my acting career, I should go for it so I don’t wonder “what if?”. If I want to take a chance with online dating and say how I really feel to a guy, then I should do it without worrying that I might scare him off. If I want to try cooking something new, I don’t want to be afraid that I will ruin it because that might happen and that’s ok. It’s not easy to accept failure, but it’s a part of life and I want to be better at dealing with it.

And my last goal is a bit more about whatever time we are still isolating at home. I want to be ok with asking for help and support. There is no question that 2020 was a difficult year for me in so many ways. Being lonely and isolated is something that I’ve never dealt with to this degree. And I wasn’t as open about how much I was struggling as I could have been. I never reached out to a friend saying I needed a phone call or video call instead of just texts. It’s not easy for me to do this for a few reasons. One is that I don’t want to feel like a burden, even though I know that isn’t how my friends feel about me. But the bigger problem is that I haven’t been good at recognizing when I need to ask for support. Sometimes I don’t realize I could have used the help until I get over that feeling. I need to be a bit more aware and mindful about this and make sure I reach out when I need it.

I feel like these are some good goals for 2021. I feel confident that I should be able to make progress on all of them. I might not end this year saying I was successful in all of them, but I don’t think that I will be a total failure in them either. Hopefully, these goals help me to make 2021 a good year for me. Whether the entire year is spent in isolation or if I am able to go out and be social for a part of the year. I feel like I’m prepared for almost any possibility of what this year might look like, and that I will find ways to continue to better myself and grow as a person.

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Christmas Week Workouts (or Hitting Milestones and Missing Traditions)

Posted on December 28, 2020 | Comments Off on Christmas Week Workouts (or Hitting Milestones and Missing Traditions)

This past week of workouts was my last full week of workouts for 2020. Christmas week has always been fun for me at Orangetheory because of some of the traditional things that happen during those workouts. Sadly, since we are all doing the workouts at home, some of those traditions couldn’t happen this year.

For example, I love the Christmas Eve workouts and the Naughty or Nice stockings. I have always enjoyed the workouts that are luck of the draw and the Naughty or Nice ones are so fun. They can be really tough and sometimes that makes me feel a bit crazy during the workout, but after the workout is done I’m always happy.

And along with the workout on Christmas Eve, I have a tradition of taking a photo with one of my coaches. This would have been the 7th Christmas Eve that I was at Orangetheory, and we’ve only missed one photo together. But sadly, that photo had no way to happen this year and we’ll just have to make up for it next year. But I will probably add something funny to our collage to represent this year.

And this year, I didn’t even work out on Christmas Eve. I always have before because Orangetheory is closed on Christmas. It’s the only day the studios are closed. So if Christmas falls on a day I normally work out, I make sure I go on Christmas Eve instead. This year, if things were normal, I would have done that. But because all the workouts are online, I decided to keep my normal workout schedule. So I worked out on Christmas this year. And in a year that has so much that doesn’t feel normal, keeping my normal workout schedule was a good thing.

But there was one tradition that I didn’t miss. Almost every year, I have hit my workout goal. And this year, there was a brief moment when I thought the time I took off when I was sick with vertigo would ruin my chances of doing that. Fortunately for me, my math was just very off and I was still on track for getting to my goal before the end of the year. And I did exactly that this past week.

I still have a few more workouts this year, so I will be over 200 workouts by the time the year is done. And yes, over 75% of my workouts were done at home and not in the studio. But I think that it should still count. I do hope that I have more workouts in the studio next year, but we have no idea when it will be safe for the studios to reopen. So at least I know that I can hit my goals while working out at home so I won’t let that be an excuse for me.

As far as the workouts went, this past week was pretty good. I had a few things that made it tough on me (like being in a lot of pain for a few reasons), but I was in a much better mood than I had been in recently so I was able to push through. I had a few moments of working out hard enough to feel sore, which still makes me happy.

All of my workouts were online videos. It’s actually been this way for a while now. Sadly, because of my schedule with my new job, I can’t do the Zoom workouts anymore. I do miss my Zoom workouts and how those felt so different from the online videos. But I have to prioritize my work schedule, especially when there are other options for doing the workouts at home. And maybe another one of my coaches will do Zoom workouts that fit into my schedule. But for now, it’s just the online videos for me.

This week will close out my workouts for 2020 and kick off my workouts for 2021. I still need to think about some workout related goals to set for myself. But I will be setting them with the assumption that at least a portion of my workouts will be at home. I need to find goals that will work for both home and studio workouts. But I feel like I’m kicking off the end of this year on a good note and proud of what I’ve done so far. And that’s an amazing feeling.

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This Doesn’t Feel Like Almost The End Of The Year (or Time Feels Frozen)

Posted on December 18, 2020 | Comments Off on This Doesn’t Feel Like Almost The End Of The Year (or Time Feels Frozen)

I was working on my planning for what blog posts I want to write in the near future, and it almost shocked me how close we are to the end of the year. This year has been the weirdest one of my life for sure. It has felt endless and like we have been stuck on the same day. I’ve said how this feels like the year that never happened, and that feeling still describes how I think about 2020.

I’ve had some moments of feeling low and like I almost lost a year of my life since I couldn’t do much. I’ve said how I feel like I have nothing that could be an accomplishment or an achievement this year. I know that isn’t true, but it’s hard not to feel like that. If someone asked me what I did in August, I honestly don’t know if I could share something productive that I did. I know that staying home and staying safe is a big accomplishment and something to be proud of, but it’s hard when I am very goal-focused and my goals have been not what I would expect them to be.

Even my monthly challenges have been tough for me. So many of them have been about just dealing with what we are all going through. I want to make the challenges about doing something that I can be proud of or feel like I have bettered my life in some way. Again, just like with general goals, I know that challenging myself to be ok with staying home and not being around others was likely the most important thing I have done. But it’s hard to celebrate avoiding things or a lack of progress even though that is what was best for me.

I know I’m not alone in my feelings. Many people have said similar things about this year not counting. Funny enough, as I was writing this post, I was listening to a podcast and they joked that none of our birthdays should have counted this year because it was a year we couldn’t really go out and live. I feel like once we can be together again, so many of us will share how we felt this past year and we will feel better about our own feelings. It’s not easy to not feel alone when you aren’t really able to share with others.

I’m continuing to try to be gentle with myself with what I’m doing these days. I will still do a recap of my year on here and cover the goals I had because it is important to recognize what I was able to do even under these circumstances. And I’m trying to focus on what goals I can set for next year. I am cautious about my goals for next year because I don’t know when I will be able to do things again. Even after I get the vaccine, I don’t know if it will be totally safe to be out and about. And who knows when different things will finally start reopening. But I can still set goals for myself that are somewhat under my control. And having a few goals that I might not be able to do because of the pandemic isn’t the worst thing. I will have to remind myself that not everything can be controlled and not reaching a goal isn’t a sign of failure. I am doing the best that I can and I have to be ok with that.

I don’t know when it will feel like it’s the end of the year. It might not. It might not even feel like a new year is here when it’s January. But eventually, I know it will feel like time is moving forward again. And I will appreciate that feeling even more when it’s back.

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Another Thing Vertigo Screwed Up For Me (or Wrapping Up My 2020 Challenges)

Posted on December 1, 2020 | Comments Off on Another Thing Vertigo Screwed Up For Me (or Wrapping Up My 2020 Challenges)

I can’t believe 2020 is almost over. This was the year that none of us were expecting. I went into the year really hopeful about what I could get done. And so many things just couldn’t happen because of the pandemic. It’s been hard to not be down about this, but I’m trying.

And November almost felt like a mini-2020 with how tough the month was for me. I started the month strong and then only a few days in I was brought down by extreme vertigo. I’m almost completely recovered from vertigo, but it’s still a little bit there. But a majority of the month was affected by it. And that includes my monthly challenge.

I really wanted to get a lot done on the new book that I wanted to write. I had an idea that I wanted to put to paper and I was so excited to see what I could do. And before I was hit with vertigo, I was doing great. I was hitting all my writing targets and I thought I would at least get to the final word target for the month (I didn’t think that would necessarily be the full book, but a great milestone no matter what).

As soon as I got sick, I had to stop writing. I wasn’t able to sit up, let alone sit at a computer. And once that happened, I got out of the groove of writing. It sucked and I tried to get back into it and it just wasn’t happening. I don’t know if I stopped being interested in writing the book or if I just was in a funk. Either way, I just didn’t do much more than what I did before I had vertigo.

But it wasn’t a complete fail. I did start the book. I did get quite a few chapters done. I wrote character bios for many of the characters in the book. I created an outline of chapters going forward. I have a plan for when I am ready to get back into writing it. Just because I didn’t get to my goal last month doesn’t mean I can’t go back to it and write. Maybe I’ll be inspired in a week or two. Maybe it won’t be for a while. But it’s there for me when I’m ready to get back to it.

To close out 2020, I wasn’t sure what I wanted my challenge to be. I know I’m in a bit of a funk still. This year wasn’t my year. This year felt stagnant and I don’t know what I could have done to change that and still feel safe. And I’m ready for next year to be here because I want to believe it will be better. I know just a new year won’t change everything, but I’m hopeful there will be a vaccine that works and is available to all in 2021, and that will allow us to start doing things again.

So my challenge for December is to get myself ready for 2021. I want to believe it will be a much better year than this year was. I want to make sure that I am in a good place to enjoy life again when I can. I want my house to feel organized for when I need to find things so I can leave. I want to work harder in my workouts to get ready for when I can be back in the studio. I want to feel ready to live my life again and not be trapped in my house.

Just like many challenges this year, this one is a bit abstract. But I just want to feel like I’m ending one year and starting another both mentally and physically. I think a lot of people feel this way too. And I just have to find the ways that it can be done for me.

I do think this challenge will be good for me because it will keep me in a mindset of moving forward and planning ahead. I will be thinking of a post-pandemic world and what I want to do. I need to keep thinking that way and not focusing on what I’m only doing now.

And hopefully, with however I prep for 2021, I am ready for the new year and what things it may bring to me.

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