
I had a late start yesterday. The poet was up early as he had a long drive ahead of him, and I made the mistake of going back to bed. Oh dear…well, as they say, I must have needed it.
My night was disturbed only the once. I got up in the early hours and couldn’t stand up! I had to pull myself up, and it frightened me a little bit. Had my back really got that bad? Then I remembered…we’d been gardening the day before! Gosh, I am so out of condition.
I need to get some fitness back. I’m having an operation in a few weeks, and I did want to lose weight for that. But my back giving out was a real problem. So I resolved to do something about it.
It took me a couple of hours to get back to sleep, and that’s probably why I slept in. Once up, though, I did try a new regime that consisted of *at least* 15 minutes of ‘outside’ time, and *at least* 15 minutes of exercises. I didn’t want to overdo it and run out of steam after only one day, so that’s why I opted for 15 minutes of each.
‘Outside’ time consisted of a 10-minute pruning of one of the buddleia bushes. I gave it the full Pomodoro break. But I’d also fed the birds and topped up the water, which added another 5 minutes. Outside time done.
Exercises started with realigning my back. Oh, it was bad, very arched. But I persevered and held it for 20 seconds. Then I did the recommended exercises for spondylosis:
- pelvic tilts x 10
- hip shifts x 10 each side
- crunches x 10
- single knee lifts x 10 each side
- double knee lifts x 10
- opposite elbow to opposite knee x 10 each side
The hip shifts were my own addition, as they always seem to ease any kinks.
Then I added another back realignment for another 20 seconds. Still arched, but not as bad as before and much more comfortable.
Those took 10 minutes, the time to boil an egg (which I was having on a sandwich for my dinner). So I added another 2 to strengthen my legs:
- standing up from a chair (no hands) x 10
- stepping up and down on a step x 10 each side
Yes, these are old person exercises, but I need them to ease me in. I’ll up the repetitions, but when they get too easy, I’ll start other exercises, like a 15-minute indoor walk or a 15-minute dance or something like that. I also have the LazyFit app, which can be used free of charge, they just don’t advertise how you can do that.
I felt very invigorated after that lot, very smug. And then I started work.
It was already very late (did I mention the egg sandwich for dinner?), so I didn’t have a huge amount of time. I did the week’s schedule, this week’s diary, a tech declutter on LinkedIn for a Pomodoro, wrote, published and shared yesterday’s blog post, started, finished and scheduled today’s blog post, and collated 10 chapters of a book.
Before I knew it, it was time to put my tea on. I have fewer jobs to get through today. Hopefully I’ll get up on time.
I have to reconfigure my fitness regime once the yoga studio closes next week. Right now, everything just feels overwhelming.
I’ve got so lazy recently, even a fitness class fills me with trepidation. I need to get over my people problem, I think. I don’t think it’s a good look. At least we get out once a month when Monkey Dust are playing. I used to be sociable once…