Tuesday, June 17, 2008

home at last

i'm back. home. finally. i've been back in portland for just over a week and it's soooo good to be home. it's been a very surreal experience returning after so long and it's been overwhelming at times with all that i have to do to re-settle and re-establish myself here. i've been kind of a bad girl when it comes to my transformation goals. not terrible, i suppose i've been in maintenance mode, but i haven't really made any visible progress either. i've been much more slack with my eating than normal and i haven't really had too many structured workouts yet (although i've gotten in lots of modified bodyweight workouts, some yoga, and i've been reunited with my bike!). part of that is due to the fact that i sprained my ankle my last day in london and it's partially due to the fact that i don't have a gym yet. although i've really liked the bodyweight workouts, i really prefer working out a gym rather than at home. i tend to get too distracted or not focus on intensity when i'm working out at home. i think that if i had some dumbbells and a stability ball that would help, but when i go to the gym it feels like more of a commitment and i tend to workout harder. my brain's just weird that way. i've found it really difficult to keep my focus squared on where i eventually want to be in terms of my body composition when i'm going through so much transition. that, combined with all the dinners/drink/bbqs with friends that i haven't seen in two years and i don't quite feel like i've struck the balance i'm looking for. i manage pretty well when i have my eyes on the prize determination and when i don't, i tend to relax everything a bit too much but i still don't feel like i've quite mastered that somewhere in between. i know that i'm closer than i've ever been and i feel like the rewards of clean eating and exercise have been hardwired into my brain at some subconscious level because i do find that i now naturally tend towards better decisions most of the time. but there's still room for improvement...

3 comments:

Lance said...

As a fellow biker -- enjoy the bike!

As far as where I workout, I prefer home (I have a gym setup in our basement). My wife uses it as well, but she, like you, feels that if she were at an actual gym, she'd be more committed to working out. For me, it comes down to convenience - and it is more convenient to work out at home for me. I can do it whenever I feel like it/have time/etc. But in the end, it's whatever works for an individual that will keep you doing it long term. Anyway, keep up the great progress, I'm sure you're doing great even in maintenance mode.

KaliLilla.com said...

Transitioning to a new home can make it very hard to stay on track with diet and exercise - it threw me off when I moved from Kauai to NJ. So it's great that you've maintained. And now that you're settled in, I'm sure you'll rock the gym again! Welcome home, ex ex-pat! :)
Love, Kali

elise said...

just found this site. i may not come back to it, because my progress (though natural and as it should be) is still a little scary - I've already put on 7 pounds and from now on will gain one per week or so... probably for the next 25 weeks. yikes.