The best laid plans

don't always work out. I had the best of intentions 2 weeks ago and it just did not work out the way I wanted. I have been stressed about all kinds of things and as a result, just not motivated to do much. As a result, I have not increased my activity as I wanted to do and, in fact, have gotten in less sessions at Crossfit. Eating has not been horrible, but it could be better. I am stumped as to what to do about food. I have so much information, so many plans, so much knowledge, and yet I can't seem to find what works for me. I think I'm going to stick with tracking my food and trying to stay with my calories. Which is another problem. At one site it says I should 2000 calories, another site says 1800, while another says 1500. That's a pretty good spread. It's enough to make the difference of success or failure. So exactly how many calories should I really eat??? Who knows????

And let's talk about activity. I have been doing Crossfit for 2 1/2 years and am larger than I have been in 15 years. Hmmm...What is going on? Well, thinking back on things, I have always been my healthiest and felt my best when I am working out twice a day. I used to get up and run or bike in the morning; swim at night; ride my bike to WW on Saturday morning or go for a 6 mile run/walk after WW. I did a lot of cardio. Cardio loses weight. There is just no way around it. I've been lifting weights and doing short workouts at Crossfit and it's just not working. At least for me. So I have got to add cardio. And the easiest cardio is running. Yes, my knee is not in the greatest shape, but I believe that a lot of that has to do with the weight. If I can get some of the weight off, I truly believe my knee will improve. For now, it's a matter of taking it easy and not going crazy. I also need to reduce the time I spend sitting on my ass at the computer. It would be the perfect thing if I could walk on the treadmill during those times. I need to move more and there is no other way around it. Also, when I sit in my chair at the computer, I get tired. If I get up and get moving I won't be so tired.

I also looked back on the years and found that I was always most motivated to workout when I was training for something. When I was running a lot of races, I was motivated all the time. Those races really kept me going. And I felt amazing. I felt really great and motivated during the Crossfit open, but since then my workouts have been kind of blah. I don't feel any reason to push myself just to push myself. So having some goal in mind makes working out much better and gives me a whole lot more motivation.

So taking all these things into consideration, I'm going back to basics. I'm going to shoot for 1500 calories a day. I will track everything I eat everyday. I am starting couch to 5k on Monday. I will be doing this in the mornings at 5am. 3 days of running and walking on the other days. Then I will do Crossfit and walk the dogs at night. On the weekends I will do Crossfit and walk on the treadmill when working. I need to keep moving. All this sitting is getting to me. I always feel better on the days I move most and I sleep really well when I'm moving a lot.

So that's the plan. This weekend will be spent getting ready for Monday and Monday morning I will get up at 4:30 am and be on the treadmill by 5 am. No excuses, no reason to miss anything. I have always found that working out creates a lot of good energy and I know my dissertation will progress much better if I have a lot of energy and am moving a lot more. So that is the plan. The moving starts tomorrow with the partner WOD at Crossfit. That will be a good way to get things rolling. I would like to ride my bike more too. Maybe it's time to drag it out of storage and keep it handy for the weekends. Hmmm...that would be great.

Definitely time to try a new plan and get things moving again.