When I get stressed out, over worked, or start feeling a little down there is nothing like a good animated film to amuse me. The catchy songs, the upbeat themes, and easy to digest stories allow my over worked brain to relax.  Last week I watched Finding Nemo which I hadn’t seen it in a few years.  Now, I have Dory’s song stuck in my head.  “You know what you gotta do when life gets you down? Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming swimming swimming.” This little phrase is perfect for just about any issue you could be facing. For me the major stress lately has been copious amounts of writing, writing, and more writing that I’ve undertaken. I spent all of May trying to pump out a first draft of a play. I’ve spent hours bent over my laptop cranking it all out. I just kept telling myself to “just keep swimming” through the frustration and moments of writers block. Thankfully, it paid off. I finished that draft on Saturday as planned. As I look back over those four weeks I realized there were so many times when I thought…this is NEVER gonna happen. Then at other times I got on a roll and it seem to fly out of me. But, through it all, I still had to just keep swimming. The same has been true with my P90x reboot. I’ve had to keep myself on track despite the highs and lows.

Last week it was physically easier to get through the work outs but, mentally it was difficult to keep my head in the game. It was a long Holiday weekend so there were parties, fun things to do, people to see… and lots to throw me off my schedule…which is dangerous territory for me. I don’t know about anyone else but, when I am trying to get into a new habit it takes like three months before the item becomes “automatic”. Before that three month mark I have to be pretty vigilant about sticking to a schedule so not to “relapse”. So this past Memorial day weekend was a mental gauntlet. Thankfully I made it through the test and completed week three. It was NOT easy to stay motivated though. In fact I decided mid week to “redo” a few days because I had sort of zombied through some workouts. So, instead of moving to week four’s schedule I went back and repeated days 4-6. It wasn’t required but, the perfectionist in me wanted to do them right. So today is technically the first day of week four.

I’m very proud of myself for having stayed on track despite all the possible distractions and stress. Pushing myself to “just keep swimming” is already paying off.Week one I felt like I was muddling through the exercises and just trying to “get to the end” without killing myself. Week Two was all about focusing on form and pushing myself. I felt strong at the end but, not quite back to being “me”.  This week however, I actually felt strong and capable again. I was able to keep up with the video without breaks and even add more reps to most exercise. Seeing the incremental improvements in my strength makes me want to push harder and continue making progress. Also I’ve noticed that my sleep has improved greatly! I wake up feeling more rested which I love. Although, my scale has been bouncing up and down as if it were bi-polar I know I am improving as my clothes are all fitting better, my fat percentage has dropped, and so have my measurements. So onwards and upwards I go. Here we go Week Four!