Sometimes exercise is hard.
I love exercise and always have. This year though has been very difficult mentally and physically for me and my exercise has fallen by the wayside. One exercise I have always love doing is walking and yet when I moved into the place I am in now I haven’t been doing that.
You might be asking why if you love it so much haven’t you done much walking and you would be right to question me.
I have moved into a suburb that the houses are all close together which not a lot of greenery. I struggle with this because for most of my life I have lived near the water and now I am an hour by bus from the ocean and so walking there isn’t possible. I don’t have a car otherwise I would consider driving there a couple of times a week.
I need nature and when there isn’t much at all I feel a total lack of motivation which is why my exercise has been very little. Not have anyone to walk with is also not motivating.
Why don’t I just push myself I hear you asking? Mmm. You are asking too many questions. Please stop. heehee. Whenever I have pushed myself I have fallen down hard and taken a long time to get back up. My temperament means that I need gentle pushing and encouragement even if it is just me doing the pushing. It is so nice when others acknowledge what I have done even though I don’t need it.
One thing that is helping me is a friend told me about an app called “Pikmin Bloom.” What happens is you are rewarded for walking. You get to plant flowers, grow the Pikmin and participate in events. It is so much fun and today it made the exercise fun.
Why not a gym?
Now the gym is something that in the past I have enjoyed and gone to many times and yet I haven’t here even though there are two gyms near me. A 15 min bus trip away so why don’t I go there?
I am on a limited budget and the gyms here don’t do any discount for students or those on benefits which means it is well outside my budget. Such a shame as I know that I would go if I could and no I am not borrowing money off anyone to go to a gym. I have never borrowed and I don’t plan on starting now.
Why not exercise at home?
I moved into a share house just before my birthday and with 6 of us living here it isn’t possible as well as I don’t have equipment and I need a PT due to age and a couple of injuries. I will hurt myself if I do anything at home from a YouTube Video.
A tired, red face on the walk. There is a little greenery and it is important to acknowledge this to help me exercise. Maybe I got burnt?
What happened today?
Well…….I did it.
I walked and man it was tough and yet so freaking amazing. I didn’t want to think about the walk so I put some music on and set myself a goal of reaching a certain set of lights.
I didn’t make those lights although I think I wasn’t far off. I did stop a few times to check the app because I got to grow about 8 Pikmin to add to my collection. The more the better as there is more that you can do and you collect a lot more nectar for the Pikmin to eat and grow in friendship level. This means as they grow I end up getting more nectar and other things.
On the walk I did just under 7000 steps which I was so happy with. My aim is 10,000 steps and then be quicker and quicker at it.
What’s next?
For me I am going to set my alarm for early in the morning and fingers crossed it isn’t raining as it has been on and off for the last couple of days. We have had a lot of rain since I have been here and no it isn’t my fault. Heehee.
Whether I get up and go for a walk I will see how I feel. When I lived on the border of NSW and Qld I used to do heaps of sunrise walks because the walk was so pretty and during winter I got to see the whales.
Let’s see how I go
Till next time Darleen.
A happy, relieved and much less red face. I thought I was going to be sunburnt and thankfully I wasn’t