Exercise Reduction Update

First of all, TONS of thanks for the supportive comments, e-mails, and texts to keep me boosted and motivated about sticking with my exercise challenge. You people are amazing. Just to review, I am supposed to reduce by 50% for 3/5 days during my inter-therapy period this week, and yesterday was Day 1 of reduction. (I am probably going to use my 2 "unchallenge days" today and tomorrow, simply because I have more free time over the weekend).

I started out okish with cutting my first exercise session by about 2/3 (66%), but then I chickened out and by late afternoon I'd done 100% on everything else. Which is ironic, because I had a hella busy day and really had tons of excuses to skip workouts and better things to do with my time. :/ But that still left the evening workout, a significant chunk. as a question mark. If I'd done that, I would have come in at 80% overall exercise for the day. I planned to just do it and then maybe take some off on my "unchallenge" day over the weekend to make up for it.

But then I had the chance to practice spontaneity AND exercise reduction: Match usually works on Friday nights (bummer!), but he found out at the last minute that someone needed to switch shifts with him. So we made plans on EXTREMELY short notice (for me at least, I often prefer several days of planning ahead). We decided around 2 to meet at 5:30. We were going briefly to stop by Happy Hour with some of my friends, go to the mall to pick him out some nice clothes for an event he has coming up, then have dinner and hang out at my place (the first time he has stayed at my place all night, also spontaneous, longstorytellyalater). So that consumed the entire evening, thus no evening cardio for Cammy. So I ended up actually coming in at 66% of my daily exercise, coming pretty damn close to my mandated goal.

I did have a drink, was a little wound up from a hectic day (first day back to classes, several meetings, etc). But only one, with dinner, a glass of wine. Oh wait, I also split a Bud Light with Match at happy hour, almost forgot that. Anyway, I know I said I was going to ixnay the alcohol for at least a while, and I am going to make that effective now. I didn't have a bad experience or overdo it last night, but I just feel the need to put my foot down with myself.

As for compensation, I may have undercut my calories a little bit (hard to tell, not knowing stats for the restaurant meal I had for dinner), but nothing drastic and not calculated specifically to make up for what I didn't do. I cut bfast a little bit this morning due to anxiety over not knowing exactly how many cals I had last night.. I'm honestly just not a breakfast person at heart, and so this meal is always definitely my least-optimal one of the day.

Onward, at least in theory. I shaved a little bit off my morning walk today (it is ARCTIC outside, wtf?), so if I apply that retroactively it takes me closer to the full 50% cut for yesterday. I get to "take a break" this weekend and then nose back to the grindstone, challenge will be not cutting food in anticipation of less activity next week.

Thanks again for all the support as I fumble my way through this, means more than I can even say! <3