Hi everyone! I haven't written here for awhile but I've been quite stressed out lately. University work has been pretty taxing along with the various happenings among my family and friends, and at times it's felt like I've been drowning this semester. Still I've managed to keep myself going and there's now only 3 weeks of university to go, plus final exams. As long as I study consistently I should be able to get through alright.
In terms of my lifestyle it's been pretty up and down for several weeks. While I've been maintaining my standards of healthy cooking I have allowed myself quite a bit of wiggle room in terms of diet. Some days I've eaten cleanly while on others I've found myself drinking thick shakes as an afternoon snack. I've also been very up and down in my training regime, some weeks training intensely nearly every day and other weeks not training at all. The results of my up and down regime are very mixed as while I seem to be stronger I also weigh in a couple of kilos heavier. Overall I look pretty much the same so it could very well be muscle growth but I'd still say my regime needs to be more stable.
For this reason I've rejoined 12wbt for round 4 2013. This round runs from 8th Nov on to February (my university holidays) so I think it will be perfect to get me back on track. I've just completed my first pre-season tack, which I will share with you all now;
Internal Excuses - I've done enough, I'm too tired, Skipping one session won't hurt, I deserve a rest, The session's going to be too hard, I'm already very fit.
External Excuses (In control) - I'm too busy, I need to study, It's too hot/cold, I might not be on time for other things, I have my period.
External Excuses (Out of control) - I'm very sick, Family/Work crisis
Solutions - Just get out of bed & do it, don't think. I know that skipping one session often leads to many and that my strength depletes when I don't exercise. I can do a more leisurely session when I have my period. I can reschedule appointments or exercise earlier. I can use exercise to de-stress after a crisis.
I've also started a food & exercise journal to record my progress throughout the round and have begun work on my warm up challenges. My one small change is once again to deplete my caffeine intake (it keeps creeping back in) and I've done day 1 of crack a sweat (which is a challenge to exercise 5 days of the week). I'm also working on halving my non-water intake and I'm pretty much covering most of the other challenges with my journal. The one challenge I haven't started is the 10-30km challenge, but I intend to give that a go either next week or the week after (or both).
