Progress Report #4

One year ago I decided that I was fed of not getting anyway, not being quite myself nor being able to get myself back on the right track. Read more here. Over the year, I shared a few other progress reports (the first, the second and the third) and today I thought I'd share a 'one year on' sort of post.

When it comes to the gym, I've now come to accept that I will never be in the same routine I once was of going everyday during my lunch. Back when I was doing that, about two years ago now, I was lucky enough to have an hour and a half for my lunch and only worked a 2 minutes walk away from the gym. I was able to get a decent session done and freshen up before heading back to the office in that time. With where I'm now working, I'd only get 10 minutes to train after getting there and back and getting ready so it just doesn't feel worth the time or the rush.

Also, more so recently, I have been waking up and going to bed earlier, meaning I try and fit in a gym session during the work week. I've also managed to squeeze in a couple of sessions before my weekend shifts recently. This has also taken away the guilt of sitting down all day in an office/desk job. All I need to do now is do some research into ways to maintain my energy levels during the afternoons as I find I tend to crash early/mid afternoon.

Rather than spending my lunch hour sitting at my desk and staring at my phone, I take myself outside, go for a walk and get some fresh air. I don't feel the need to go far or go for long, just 10-20 minutes makes the world of difference. Going for a lunchtime walk also makes me feel better about not going to the gym as often as I would ideally like.

After my previous Fitbit broke last year, I got a new one for my birthday which is helping slightly with my motivation. It gets me moving every hour, and when I'm almost at my step goal, I push on till I reach it. With the challenges you can do, I get very competitive. Seeing how many steps some people do on a daily or even weekly basis amazes me, like how can you can reach 40k steps per day?! I reached 25k steps once, and now my next aim is to get 30k steps in one day.

Food wise, in comparison with this time last year, my eating habits have definitely improved. Still not amazing or where I would ideally like to be with what I eat, but definitely better than where I was this. Rather than eating a tonne of chocolate every evening and snacking during the day, I've recently been sticking to a yoghurt after dinner and 1 - 2 snacks during the day. I would always lean towards getting milk/plain chocolate and multiple packs of various chocolate bars. Now, in comparison, I pick up a few 'sharing' bars of dark chocolate and just break off a couple of rows each day to snack on.

In recent months, James and I have been trying to make more of an effort to go out for a walk of an evening or go out for a mini adventure. We found we spent too much on the sofa watching TV rather than being more active. Don't get me wrong, we still lounge around a fair bit, but we aim to something that doesn't involve technology for 20 minutes or so before we go into lazy mode.

I thought I'd also mention my sleeping pattern in this little update. Previously, despite not doing an awful lot I was always tired and I couldn't get a satisfying amount of sleep. Until recently, I've been feeling more awake and have also been remembering more of my dreams. Apparently, you dream every night but don't always remember each and every one. While I don't remember my dreams as often as I once did, I've remember more recently than I have done over the past year or so. Got to be a positive in some respect so I'll take it.

The benefit of looking back at where I was last year and comparing it to where I am now has been really beneficial. You don't realise just how much progress you've actually made unless you take the time to look at the journey you've taken. Ensuring you have a 'before' image in your mind ready to compare it to your 'now' is what will help you ensure you keep going and stay on the right track.

Looking back at this time last year, I can really see a massive difference. I'm so much happier and positive in comparison, and I don't even feel guilty for taking a moment to put myself first. If I hadn't done so, then I wouldn't be venturing away from Guernsey on multiple holidays this year, I wouldn't be trying new things; I just wouldn't be happy.

Charlotte.