I’m not one for saying ‘new year, new me’ as I might be prone to slightly throw up in my mouth if I ever said that. But even if I did say it, I’d be a bit late to the party now that it’s March. Yet, I’m going to buck the trend and take this new month as a fresh start. I’ll just try not to use the words ‘new me’.
I’ve used the pandemic lockdown as an excuse for too long and I need to get off my arse. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with using it as an excuse, because there’s not a lot of mental headspace left for becoming an Adonis or learning a new hobby like learning to juggle the cans of Spam that, let’s face it, seemed like a good idea to buy at the time but you’re never going to use. The past year has been tough for a huge amount of people, so who could blame us if we decided to just lounge on the sofa and watch Netflix? It’s part of the reason why Tiger King became so popular.
Watching TV and eating junk food is great, but it’s also a quick way to feel lethargic, put on weight and possibly even end up in an early grave. I don’t want to be one of those dads who can’t play with his kids because I’m out of breath after 5 minutes of running around the garden. Although I am getting older, so maybe that can be a little excuse (Alex says I’m already a grandad, but she’s also just turned 30 so I am feeling delighted that I can now call her grandma)!
So our plan is to hit at least 10,000 steps a day through March. Alex is also being sponsored to do it for Cancer Research UK. You can donate to her here.
I’m pleased to say the month has started well for me and Alex. We’ve been on three walks today, totalling 16,861 steps as I write this. The great thing is that we’ve managed to fit this around working too. We went out in the morning before work after Noah had been picked up by his grandma. We went out on our lunch break then ate lunch while we continued working. Finally, we walked up to Alex’s parents’ house to pick up Noah with an empty pram. After picking him up, we walked the long way home.
It’s not something that would have been possible if we’d not been working from home, so I know it’s not always going to be the case that we can do this. But I’m going to take advantage of this while I still can. Besides, getting out of the house and the small room I’m stuck in all day is both fantastic for my body and my mental health. It also helps that the weather is pretty great at the moment, if a little chilly.
After all this I know I earned the homemade crispy chilli beef we had tonight (it was delicious! You can try it for yourself by following the recipe Alex used from here). I’ll go to bed exhausted too, but it’s the kind of exhausted that’s been good for you.
It really is simple. Eat well, exercise, drink plenty of water and ensure you get enough sleep. It’s the motivation part that’s hard, but hopefully that will stick around as long as we get into the habit of doing this. We’ve done it before and can do it again.
Also, it means I won’t feel too bad when I do have the odd takeaway. Although I’d say that the crispy chili beef that Alex made tonight was way better than any crispy chili beef I’ve ever had from a Chinese takeaway.
Side note: I think this is the first time I’ve managed to post two days in a row on my website. I’m going to try and post more this month as I’m getting the writing bug back and it’s helping me take my mind off things.
UPDATE: Read how I’m getting on in my mid-month check-up here.