Week(s) 10-14: New Regime

Yes, it's been a while. Yes, I'm going to condense a month's worth of exercising into one post.
Yes, it took some encouragement from friends to get back to the posting.
(Thank you, you-know-who-you-are.)

After a rather lengthy recuperating from the past year of school wherein they tried their best to kill us (death by rehearsal), I'm finally feeling somewhat rested.  It took me until now to settle down and convince myself that, as I awoke each weekday morning, there was not a pressing need to memorize something, translate an accent, prepare a character background, or rehearse that evening.  In fact, my body forgot how to sleep in until I force-slept myself back into the habit.  Yes, it took about a month.

However, I did not forget how to exercise, and in fact managed to overcome phantom-excuses (I used to be able to say I was too tired from rehearsal) and get myself to the gym, or outdoors.  As previously noted, I started a running group, and yes, I have been sticking to it, and yes, it did create a new regime for me by nature of inception.  Ironically, I seek out running on my own more often than I did when I didn't have a running group to lead.  In addition, the summer season gives me more incentive to be outside, hence weekend trips to the beach and/or mountains for various recreational activities.

So, what did those weeks of mental and dormant recuperation entail?  There was running, and ellipticals, some swimming, and some body-weight strength training (push-ups, sit-ups, dips, plank, etc).
Essentially, I've plateaued, since my workouts haven't really changed in the past month.
Yes, this became apparently linked to the reason why perhaps I haven't seen any changes!

But, change is just around the corner...I hope.

Another encouraging friend of mine once told me that I should increase either my workout a) intensity or b) duration, over time...in order to keep pushing my body to change.  It makes sense, doesn't it?  If you climb the same hill everyday, it gets easier over time and you adapt...and your body wakes up every morning thinking you're going to climb that hill - preparing for that.  You develop a habit, and a way to efficiently deal with the now-commonplace task...

Kind of like going to school everyday for 30 weeks out of the year and trying to get through it as efficiently as possible.  Waking up everyday knowing there's a hill to conquer, and you've developed a habit of preparing for that.  But this year didn't become a commonplace task.  In fact, it became rather difficult as the year went on...and yes, I had to work harder to cope.  I worked harder, and the changes happened mentally and emotionally and intellectually.  But, the change only happened because the tasks had become more demanding over time.

This parallel, however, also reveals to me that if I go full out too long without any breaks or rewards, I need a month to reset myself.

Which is why I'm taking this new regime with a little more flexibility.  I had forgotten why I set out to do this in the first place, and now, as I mark the 78-days-until-my-BMI-goal count, I remember that I wanted to feel better about myself.  But I've somehow lost track of how I feel about myself.

But luckily I'm aware now, and that's a change in and of itself.