Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Learning to be Flexible

I feel like I post about my quest for balance more than anything else on this blog, I mean where has the music gone? I missed 3 planned concerts in the last week alone-The Xx in Central Park, White Rabbits at East River Park, and Dr. Dog at Governor's Island but ended up spending time with friends in the form of picnics, movie nights, and the beach so no complaints.

But back to the quest for balance. A few weeks ago I wrote about plans to increase my mileage in my weekly runs and at the same time get back into pilates. Well the pilates is in full swing once more, however, instead of increasing my mileage I've cut back on cardio quite a bit. The cut back wasn't intentional; first I was on vacation and traded running for daily hikes and then I returned and was bombarded with work so I kept to shorter time frames on the eliptical and still continued with strength training and pilates 3-4 times a week. At first I was slightly nervous about cutting back and thought for sure I would start feeling my already tight pants get even tighter, but I think they may have gotten slightly looser. Why? Simply because my appetite is way down! I haven't had a morning snack in 3 weeks and am often able to skip my afternoon snack as well.

In fact when 5 o'clock rolls around I'm not running home to have a snack, digest, and make it back to the gym in time for class. Instead I'm able to work a bit later, come home and cook a well balanced meal, digest, and fit in a shorter workout. Not to say I don't love the habit of fitting in the gym in either the morning or the evening for an intense class, but I also love being flexible in my workout routine. Plus, I've really missed pilates (much preferred to yoga), after 3 weeks with 3-4 sessions a week, my tummy is getting tighter and I get in a great stretch.

That said, I still was beating my self up a bit today for not making it to my sculpting class. Now mind you I was up at 6, read for an hour and then got ready and headed into my lab. I worked pretty much straight until I went to volunteer for my CSA 3-5:20, and then returned to lab for another 1.5 hr. At this point my feet were killing me, I was definitley ready for dinner, but still I felt guilty about missing the class. Why? My mind and body were asking for some downtime, not to mention there is always tomorrow right? I strive for excellence in all aspects of life, I want to be social, fit, and a rockstar in the lab; but I'm not there yet or at least not happily there and thus the quest continues. I do think that I am closer to that balance and mostly just need to learn to relax and let go and will for now continue to take it one day at a time.

Nicole

1 comment:

  1. Nicole,
    I feel like your struggle for balance is identical to the one that I struggle with. It just seems as if there are never enough hours in the day and as 20-somethings and students we are in such an odd place in life. I love the phrase (and I am trying to live it out more) is : letting go gives a better grip.

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