Posting during the pandemic, part deux

Hey chickens, how are you holding up? I'm fine - lucky I still have a job (fingers crossed that continues), still healthy, my friends and family still healthy (knocking on all the wood-like materials). Bizarrely, my mental health is still good. I talked to my therapist last Thursday, and she asked how I was sleeping, and was pleasantly surprised by my "fine." C'mon guys, my anxiety doesn't tend to follow rational rules - I freak out about what might happen, not about what is actually happening.

Again, I credit exercise for most of my calm. While I'm missing my gym, I am still moving every day, and being able to work out during lunch is pretty excellent. I'm having a pile of mulch delivered tomorrow, so I'm going to go out and clean up the beds and prep them for spreading. I'm hoping that my recent activity will make spreading mulch much easier than it was a few years, and 20 lbs ago.

I don't have a ton to share today; I just wanted to check in with all of you, and let you know you're amazing and I'm thinking of all of you. And you are fantastic, just where you are. Steve Kamb from Nerd Fitness sent out a message a couple of days ago about how he's been struggling to be productive during this time, which is funny, because he works from home generally, but you know, things are a little wonky right now and all. Anyway, he quotes author Ryan Holiday:
 “There are two types of time: Dead Time—where we are passive and biding, and Alive Time—where we are learning and acting and leveraging every second towards our intended future.”

This spoke to me today for some reason. I've been working, but really just doing the bare minimum. Exercising, but I really don't push myself as hard as I should. Remember how I ate ice cream for breakfast last week? I haven't done that since but I also haven't been watching my calorie intake at all, and I guarantee yesterday I ate enough to feed a good-sized elephant. My house is where I am all the time now, and I would like it to feel more comfortable and clean. 

Here's where I stepped out of my comfort zone. So, the gym I go to is pretty hard core. It's crossfit, and every member I've met so far is a badass. Like, the coaches have been posting WODs and striking workouts every day, and while I have to scale most of them, the other members have been doing the workouts, and adding extra challenges, and let's run a few miles while we're at it. Oh, and they started a nutrition challenge on Sunday! I tend not to post on the member's Facebook page because it's a wee bit intimidating being the least fit, and one of the oldest, but today, I posted. I posted where I'm at, how I'm feeling, and where I want to be. I don't know if anyone read it yet, but I posted - well I posted a lot, but the meat of it is:

Workouts: at least 2 WODs (my downfall), 2 striking per week (I do other workouts the other days)

Food: Dana's produce challenge (just made a mess of asparagus, yum.)

The reps challenge: I've let things slide, and am not there, but my goal is to be able to do all 100 of each, in a row, by May 1. Also working on my jumping rope - I have bruises on my shins, but I plan to be jumping with the rest of you by the time the gym reopens.

The Reps challenge consists of 100 pushups, 100 situps, and 100 air squats (just squats) a day. I'm not there. So I started today with 10 of each, plus a 30 second plank, and plan to add a few each day. 

I have to go up to play with the ferrety ferrets now. Stay home, stay healthy, love you.