Both Peekabu and I had a lazy weekend but for very different reasons.
Boy, this weekend I just couldn’t get it together. I don’t know if it was the weather or physical exhaustion, but most activity was out of the question. It started Friday morning. I set my alarm to 6:30 a.m. Plenty of time to feed the dogs and make breakfast before my 9:30 MOI class.
The alarm came…and went. I got up to let the dogs outside and feed them. Then I went back to bed. Feeling exhausted I skipped MOI, but told myself I’ll get up in time for my 10:45 yoga class.
Lazy Mouse Took Over
I basically vegged out for the morning and into the afternoon. My legs were sore and my abs weren’t too hot either. My trainer is really working my lower body now that my knee is on the mend. Both sitting and standing were painful.
At about 2:00 p.m. guilt gripped me. I grabbed my iPod, switched on Map My Walk+ and episode 5 of the Serial podcast and headed out the door. It was the hardest walk of my life. My legs felt like wet noodles and each step felt like I was sinking in mud. Six+ miles and 1 hour and 40 minutes (my worst time yet!) later I was back at home…and promptly took a nap.
Listening To My Body
My husband worried I was getting sick (who would cook for him!), but I felt fine, just tired and sore.
I hate not being active all day. It drives me nuts. I think it reminds me of my 300+ pound couch potato days. But as my friends told me, “Sometimes your body needs to rest.”
After that walk I ended up taking it easy this weekend. I left my Fitbit in the charger, didn’t go to the gym and no long walks. Just some R&R, including a day at the Red Door Spa.
It felt strange not doing anything. And it took a while for me to admit that sometimes lazy is OK. I just didn’t get lazy in my eating. Nope. When it came to eating right, Lazy Mouse didn’t take over.
Retooling My Training & Diet
While getting my hair and nails done, I figured out why I was so tired. Last week I started my new workout routine to train for my first 5k and Spartan Sprint. I over did it. Rather than doing the Tough Mudder Bootcamp Guide once a month as I planned. I did it 3 times last week. Add to that my 30-Day Abs Challenge, morning stretching, 5K training, daily walks, weight lifting, and cycling classes…I ended up kicking my own ass!
Time for some rethinking. I’m trying to build up my strength and stamina. And in typical Dot fashion, I tried to do too much too soon. Tomorrow I’m meeting with my trainer to take a look at my new routine and see if we can come up with a more gradual approach.
I also need to take a look at my diet — my daily carb count specifically. For optimal weight loss, 20g of carbs/day is the sweet spot. However, that doesn’t mean I won’t lose weight if I bump my carbs to 30g – 40g/day. It just might slow down my weight loss. I’m not thrilled about that prospect.
For this week I’m sticking with 20g/day. I’ll see if my energy level drops again. If so then I need to possibly add more fuel. Or at the least, add in a day or two each week where I spike my carbs up to 75g. I did that when I started lifting weights and it didn’t slow my weight loss.
Today my energy level is better, but I’m not 100%. Yes, I’m tired and fighting the urge to nap as I write this. No, I’m not wearing my Fitbit, but I’m going to the gym later tonight. I’m actually on dog watch today as I’m nursing a sick Peekabu who needs to go outside often (if you know what I mean). So no gym or walking until the husband can relieve me.
While I wait for the hubby’s return, I’m doing research this afternoon. There are a couple of low carb sites that talk about exercise, energy level and carb intake. So I expect the next few weeks will be one big science experiment on myself. Sweet!