Ups, Downs, and High-Impact Pilates

My new ethos has not gone without any hitches. It sounds whiny (because I’m whining) but it’s also true: it’s really hard to change your habits for the better, especially when that involves time and energy. So I’m not as proud of myself as I’d hoped I’d be.

On Saturday, I did… nothing. Nothing at all. I barely even walked the dog. It was laziness, I was hanging out with a friend, the weather was nice, and we could have gone for a walk, but did not. Then, in the evening, I could have worked out before socializing, and did not. I did do pretty well with my nutritional intake, though- I was starving in the evening (my body not yet having adjusted to my new lower-calorie lifestyle, it thinks I’m being mean to it when in fact it is getting everything it needs and will thank me later) and did I give in to temptation and get a burrito? No, I did not. I went for my other favorite food: sushi. I wish I could afford to eat sushi every day. I honestly don’t think I would get sick of it at all, even the slightest bit, and it is good for you. Well, I should emend that: it’s pretty much terrific for you. Isn’t it? Does anyone out there know something bad about sushi that I do not? If so, I guess I want to know… but I’d be very sad if I had to shift sushi into the category of Things I Like but Which Must be Limited. There are some exceptions to the healthiness that I do know about: some things that are “sushi” are actually fried and whatnot, and a lot of things have sauces or a lot of avocado. Even if that’s what you’re getting, though, the portions are small enough for it not to matter much. Avocado’s all good fat, right? And anyway, I prefer it when it’s just the fish, and no roll.

Since I sucked on Saturday, I thought I’d better make sure and get my act together on Sunday. So I woke up, realized I had no yogurt (cue crashing musical cue) and decided to walk over the grocery store and stock up. I tried to walk briskly, but… the sun was out, the birds were chirping, and I was sucked in by the sights, which I have of course seen many times (I may be lazy, but I’ve always tried to walk instead of driving- it’s just that I walk to restaurants, or stop for an ice cream cone while doing it, and I tend to smoke a lot while walking, so basically it usually ends up being worse for me than staying home*) which have recently changed in some shocking ways, and I am always unable to avoid pausing to check it out.

Then in the afternoon, I finally made it to the gym, where I walked briskly for 23 minutes on the treadmill, then did weights, then got on the elliptical for another 25 minutes. Later, while watching a Scrubs DVD with a friend, we suddenly decided it would be a good idea to do Pilates. It was not. Not because it was too much exercise in one day, so much- you can always just follow Level 1 Girl (I think her name’s Nicole) but because my apartment it TINY. Two people just can’t spread out like that at the same time, and my friend is over 6 feet tall. So… it was cramped Pilates. Even high-impact Pilates, if by high impact you mean my friend’s arms, legs, and head impacting my couch, entertainment center, and dining room table.

I’m feeling better for having done so much on Sunday, though, because a) my week of pretending to belong to a health club ends on Thursday, and b) looking at my schedule for the week, it’ll be hard to really get in anything intensive.