Motivate Me Monday - Putting It All Together, Finding Balance, and Dealing with Negativity

That's what happens when your husband signs you in at the gym

Ding dong, it's Monday again!  Time to reset and review my goals from last week, set some new ones, and generally celebrate getting another week closer to my goals.  Perhaps one of my goals should be to work on these posts a little earlier so I can get them out on time...  But with new "Mad Men" episodes on Sunday night, that seems pretty unlikely...

Anyway, to recap:

• 12k per day - I hit that every day but Saturday and Sunday.  Honestly, I forgot that my goal was 12k per day this week and I desperately needed rest days so I just hit the 10k and my Fitbit fitness goals and just called it a day.  However, I was 11,600 and 11,800 steps on the two days I fell short, so I didn't fall short by much, and on Friday I was almost 24k steps, so I think we can say it all balances out.  Still, I wish I'd remembered...  And for those keeping track, that's 18 days straight of hitting my step goals. 

• Hitting the Gym - The goal was to hit the gym Monday, Wednesday,

  

  He is totally faking...

  Thursday, and Friday and do fitness classes.  I ended up going to the gym Monday, Wednesday, skipping Thursday because I was sick and it was just a suck day, and going twice on Friday.  I also did my yoga, circuit training, and spinning classes and missing Aqua Zumba (though that was my safety class, I've done it before).  Yoga was an absolute adventure, circuit training was the hardest thing I have ever done and I'm terrible at it (but I've never wanted to be better at a class than I want to be in that one), and spinning was great but those seats...  My tush still hurts.  Oh, that weight training thing I wanted to do?  Totally didn't do it.

• Finally Mooving - I had set the goal to use my Moov three times last week and despite it not saving a workout (frustrating), I used it twice.  Losing that Thursday gym day threw me off, but otherwise I'd have hit this no problem.  Victory alert: I wanted to do Level 7, but I actually hit the equal of Level 10 on Friday without too much misery.  

• Be Nice - I had mixed results here...  This week wasn't as bad as I was worried it would be, but I still could have done way better.  And after yesterday's realizations, I could have done a whole lot better. 

• It's About Family - I did so much better on that this week.  I took time out for breakfast with the family (which is a big deal, that's our main chance to have family time), we took walks and I set aside time to spend with all the kids, one-on-one.  On a related note, I'm now growing about 50 sunflowers in the kitchen.  no idea what I'm going to do with those in a few weeks when they sprout. 

Overall last week, I took 110,895 steps (about 16k per day), went 50.12 miles, and was active 1,013 hours.  Pretty impressive!  Highlights of the week was for sure getting back to the gym and taking some new classes. It was also great that my husband came with me on a few of those days to work out with me.  Since we get free childcare there, we've discovered it's a fantastically sneaky way to get alone time...  Dates at the gym?  A kid-free 2 hours a day with the husband?  I'll take it!

This weeks goals are going to look pretty familiar:

Electronic Coaching - My Fitbit and Moov goals are the same.  12k per day, 100% my goals if I can, and use the Moov three times.  Should be a lot easier this week with my gym schedule.  For once, I'd just like to hit that Moov goal.

Such a faker

• Gym Time is My Time - Back to the gym this week...  Doing one trip on Monday for yoga and Moov, skipping Tuesday (it's impossible with our Tuesday schedule), one trip on Wednesday night for circuit training, then two trips Thursday and Friday for general exercise, weight training, and classes in the evening.  Though I'm thinking about skipping circuit training and hitting the equipment instead...  It is way above my fitness level and I finished last week's class feeling pretty yuck.  There's a lot of ab work and I just can't do it right now, especially with Wednesday as my "all day at the hospital" day.  Plus on Wednesday nights my husband can come with me and there's no quality time together in a class.  It's a great class and I want to be really, really good at it at some point...  But I'm not sure that time is now.  Plus I wasn't really feeling the overall dynamic of the people in the class.  Some pretty snotty people in there.  

• Diet and Exercise - It seems like I either nail the diet portion of my week and the exercise slides, or I nail the exercise portion and the diet slides.  I can't seem to do both together.  So this week will be the week.  Since I've got the green light to go on Weight Watchers again, it'd be nice to get my money's worth out of that subscription for a change.  With my face as puffy as it is, I'm still not ready to hit the meetings again, but I'd like to in a month or so.  Let's say by June 1st.

• Stick to the Schedule - I've kind of set up a schedule for myself to make sure I balance work, gym, and family, and I'd like to stick to it.  It's hard to spend time with all the kids like I'd like to thanks to some issues outside of our control, but I want to figure something out.  I just want to really make sure I keep working to balance my goals, needs, and responsibilities.         

Looking at it, my goals are pretty broad and general this week, and I think that's Ok with me.  I think last week I went a little hard and it's great to hit those goals, but I'd maybe like to feel slightly more functional than I did by the time the weekend came.  There's something to be said for gradual but steady changes I think.  Plus, spring is finally hitting this week and I want to get my butt outside!  It's so bizarre that last Wednesday we got 4 inches of snow and by today it's in the 70's.  Welcome to New Hampshire!

So far this week is shaping up to be pretty busy.  I'm excited that the fine folks at The Color Run have asked me to write an article for them and I can't wait to tackle that.  I've had nothing but great experiences with them and being chosen to write about it is nothing short of ridiculously awesome.  I've also got articles that I've been sitting on that I'll (finally) put out this week, including a kick-butt recipe using bananas and my new obsession,  and an article on gymtimidation.  Turns out that I'm not the only one who faces Mean Girls and other icky negativity at the gym.  Thanks to my fellow Fitfluential fans for inspiring me to (finally) get that article out there.

Speaking of negativity, last week was just one of those weeks where either I or my family had to deal with some soul draining people, toxic and destructive attitudes, and everything that comes with it.  As much as I hate to admit it, I suspect that this week will be more of the same.  Balancing that grossness is one of my constant struggles and I fluctuate between "turn the other cheek" and "I'll make you regret it."  I'm never sure which way is the way to respond as inevitably doing either one makes me feel like I should have done the other.  When I'm quiet, I wish I'd spoken up.  When I speak up, I wish I'd kept quiet.  I think I'm starting to realize the practical solution is somewhere in the middle, but the key no matter how you respond is to not to let other people's negativity weigh you down.  Easier said than done, right?

Maybe that's why the quote for this week appeals to me so much...  Negativity and negative people are a fact of life, it's how you let them impact you that makes the difference:

So let's check in with you guys:

• What are your goals for this week?
• How do you find your balance?
• When faced with negativity, lash out, turn the cheek, or internalize?
• It's spring!