COMING CLEAN: 90-Day Challenge: Weeks 5 and 6

We’re at the halfway mark for Life Time’s 90-Day Challenge, and I’ve run into a few roadblocks. Or, perhaps, I’ve created my own barriers, depending on how I look at it.

So I reached out to my 90-Day Challenge coach, Ryan, and shared how I was feeling. I’ve been continuing my Boot Camp workouts, which meet twice a week, but other than that, I’d didn’t feel I was carving out solid time for focused workouts. I’d do some pushups and burpees in the living room or hold some yoga poses, but I could tell my commitment was flagging. Really, I was more concerned with working on my projects for the magazine than working out for my body.

Ryan suggested incorporating mini breaks throughout my day to stretch and walk around the office. Check — I usually get up fairly frequently to refill my water or make hot tea. He also mentioned carving out 30 minutes for myself to decompress. Double-check — when I get home, Kyle and I share the highlights of our day and visit with the pets. And, of course, I often turned to my TV to watch a show on the DVR (Parks and Recreation is my go-to for consistently funny episodes).

But when Ryan said, for those 30 minutes, I could even do something “as simple as going on a walk,” I paused: How many times have I felt so busy that I can’t even take a walk?! Too many to count! And am I really that busy, or am I just creating obstacles in my head?

I think that the reality is both.

Sometimes we are just incredibly busy, and the best thing I can do is forgive myself for not making it the gym or getting in a workout, and allow myself the permission to adjust my schedule. Granted, I can’t keep pushing off my workouts forever, but embracing flexibility has been crucial to this health journey I’m on.

If you read back to last September’s post, I talk a little more about my desire to have a baby in 2009 and discovering my body wasn’t healthy enough to menstruate regularly let alone ovulate and be ready to create a baby. If I didn’t practice patience and provide room for flexibility, I know I would’ve gone mad — whether I had chosen the path of infertility treatments or getting to the root of my health problems, as I did.

When I do give myself that kindness, I start to feel open and willing to get creative with my schedule: kettlebell circuits, yoga DVDs, Jamie Martin’s pushup plan, or a nice long walk with Kyle and Chloe in the brisk March air.

So while I’m still working on progressing during this 90-Day Challenge, which concludes April 30, I’m taking Ryan’s advice to heart: keep it simple. Take a deep breath, stretch and walk around a bit. By challenging my habits and patterns, I feel successful — and that’s what really matters to me most.