Day Sixty-One

am going to reach my goals this week. This is the first time since I started writing that I can say that I concretely achieved a goal within the time period. And, it is not just one – the crazy cardio challenge has been fun. However, evenly spacing small meals and focusing on my water intake has been consistent as well. My sleep has been off for the past few days – I have been waking up in the middle of the night. But, I am still averaging 7 hours per night.

Getting a schedule down for my commute has been really helpful. It’s like a good diet – having a nice frame or base from which to work makes the deviations a little less harmful. Obviously, I can’t control meetings and evening events – but, sticking to this at least three nights of week will be great. Here is how it shapes up:

7:15 Up; Breakfast; Get Ready
8:20 Walk to Subway (.6 mi)
8:35 Depart Subway One Stop Early for Starbucks!
8:45 Walk from Starbucks to Work (.7 mi)
9:05 Start the Work Day; Focus on Water and Mini-Meals
6:30 Depart Work for Gym
7:00 Arrive Gym; Workout for Hour (50 minutes of Cardio w/stretching or 30/30 split of Cardio and Strength Training)
8:00 Depart Gym/Get on Subway
8:25 Depart Subway; Walk Home (.6 mi)
8:40 Arrive Home
10:30 Bedtime

The planner in me views the above as near perfection. Why? Because I believe that planning + discipline = goal achievement. The coming winter months are challenging. It gets dark sooner and the cold weather drives me home to eat instead of to the gym. However, I am really determined to make this work and looking at it in print makes the crazy cardio challenge slightly less crazy, too. I am sure I can keep this up for at least the next four weeks as I’d originally planned. And, then I can see where I stand.

Next Week – I know already that it will be challenging next week because of jury duty and at least one planned dinner. I will have to leave the house earlier in order to make it to Starbuck’s before getting to the Courthouse at 8:30. However, I will be done earlier, which means I can push up my gym time by a 60-90 minutes and then get home and get to bed earlier. Perfect!