Adjusting my Dial


Goodness gracious!  Last week I must have been riding my high horse of success and I had big ideas of what I was going to accomplish when I made my workout goals!  Wow!  I planned on running, walking, lifting and losing fat like a badass.  But I didn’t.  Life happens, you know, and then there you are at the end of an endless day of chasing second graders around the classroom nonstop wondering why ever you committed to running a 5k AND six miles AND 3 lifting sessions AND…  Nope.  Last week I was served a big glass of nope on Monday morning and it kind of carried me through the week. 

 I decided, however, to not see it as nope, but rather as a dial adjustment.  My studly friend Denise posted this article about the dial versus the switch the other day to Facebook and it’s been in my head ever since.  In essence, the author suggests that you think of your health as a dial.  Instead of getting busy and taking a break from your health goals, it’s suggested that you dial back your expectations to what you can do rather than stopping or failing altogether.  So this week when things got crazy, I realized I had the energy to eat well and get my steps in but I might not have the energy to meet the rest of my fitness goals.  Then, later in the week, I literally crawled into bed at about 5:00 and fell asleep by 8:30.  I actually woke up around 9:30 wondering why Gigi was up so darn late!  Ha !  Anyhow, I’m living by the dial.  Adjusting as necessary. I’m being gentle with myself.  Last week marked the halfway point of the year as well as a pound lost.  Pilgrims progress in the right direction!


The rest of the week, outside of my failed fitness goals, was a balance of odd, sad and personally fulfilling:

  • I dug up the old picture of my mom and I from several years ago and it was fun to see how much things have changed.  
  • I came home on Tuesday to find my medal rack hung up and it was such a pleasant surprise to have that honeydo checked off!  It’s my new favorite corner.  
  • A close family friend of our died suddenly at a hockey game last weekend from a massive heart attack so I headed to the service this weekend.  He was one of my blueprints for adulthood- a real Mister Rogers type who loved everyone and accepted all.  He loved his wife passionately and I decided early on that I needed to find a husband who would love me like Johnny loved Lynda.  He was one of those grown ups who saw kids and made them feel special, and I was a kid who needed a lot of special.  It was a sad surprise for sure.  My brothers and I all came to show our respects and represent our family, and it was a rare sibling sighting for the three of us so we grabbed a pictureto commemorate the moment.  
  • We spent Sunday at Cafe Lj.  We boiled some eggs, set out some bagels and made a cafe downstairs complete with music, candles and a fireplace.  We spent the day cuddling with our kids, reading, drawing and nibbling on snacks while the snow fell.  A perfect day!


This week in high- fiber, clean-eatin’ macros lunches!!!  By the way, all of my plasticware is from Ikea.  Super reasonable price and it seems to be lasting. 

(I got so sick of sweet potatoes, y’all.  I had to have something new!)

One Comment

  1. Paula

    Did I say thanks for sharing the meal ideas? Thanks! I have been struggling with eating the last few weeks with steady gains for the last 3 weeks. Not sure why I just can’t nip it in the bud! But I have been a bit over sensitive lately (not excusing bad eating). Stressful times in which we are living. I think I need to adjust my dial. I have been running and had a few good ones, but I think I need to allow for the not so good ones too. Doing even a short easy run is better than none or eating a crappy meal but making sure the next one is a good healthy choice rather than tossing in the towel & eating crappy for a week. Thanks for sharing the article. I found it super.

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