Day 79!

Just realized it's been a while since I posted. It's been a rough week on the KFB, due to a whirlwind Passover visit to NYC. We left last Saturday, and I dutifully got up at 5 am to work out before getting packed and going to the airport. And that, my friends, was the last workout until Thursday. I'm not proud of this.

I took my shoes and my jump rope, and the friends we stayed with even have a home gym so I thought I'd be able to sneak away for an hour in the morning and get 'er done. But sleep turned out to be a rarer commodity than I had expected, despite my best intentions. My husband and I slept in the same room as our daughter, which is no longer a good idea. When she was a baby it was fine -- it was the best -- but as an older child, she doesn't understand why we would be right there and not want to play. She woke up about 2 hours earlier than she normally does every day we were there, not to mention waking up throughout the night. Every night I set my alarm to get up early and work out, and every morning I would turn it off after a nearly sleepless night, desperate to get another 30 minutes.

The rest of our days were full of visiting friends and holiday gathering, so workouts went out the window. Of course, there was a ton of walking around the city, hauling the toddler and her stroller up and down subway stairs, etc., so I was pretty active. And once again, I was grateful for my good condition that enables me to do all those things.

Food was also pretty challenging, for a number of reasons. One, we had several restaurant meals because we were meeting friends in the city. Two, the friends we stayed with keep a kosher kitchen, which I can usually navigate around fairly well -- but kosher for Passover is another thing entirely, and I was worried about violating some rule I didn't know about. Three, we had not one but two Seder meals, which is basically Thanksgiving-level indulgence. In all cases, I did the best I could. Reasonable-to-small portions, as many veggies as possible, fruit for dessert.

We got back home, happy and exhausted out of our minds, on Wednesday afternoon. Since Thursday morning I've been back on track, but it's been tough. Coming back to workouts after having missed a few is so brutal that it really is better not to skip one. I always think it's easier to do something every single day rather than, say, four times a week. The challenge is mental, not physical -- it's like your brain has realized that you don't have to do this thing every day and then asks, then why the hell are you doing it now? And you have to explain, again, to Brain why workouts are a good thing.

What did I learn from all this? Skipping a few workouts isn't the end of the world, but I really feel better when I do work out, so I don't want to skip many. (I was really happy to have sore triceps again!) Other people really eat and drink a lot, especially in restaurants. Sleep is just the best thing ever and I quickly go insane without enough of it.

So this week is all about holding the course and getting ready for our NEXT trip: a family vacation to Florida, including my parents. We leave on Saturday. Yep, I'm excited to say I'll be finishing up KFB on the beach! We're renting a house there, so food & workouts really should be no problem. I know I said that before, but this trip really is a vacation: we're going to be in a quiet beach town where there's nothing to do but read and swim and hang out. My parents and my husband are all very supportive of my efforts so I know I'll be able to do what I need to do to finish this project strong.