Making Time
Over the summer, I’ve had the luxury of an excess amount of time to spend on my personal wellness. While working in Portland, I was free from 4pm on until midnight to workout, prep meals, stretch, and do strength exercises. Now, at home, I have the entire day to figure out how and when I will workout as well as cook every single meal. This freedom has allowed me to focus in on my goals for the first time in months. I’ve gained the same fitness I had during my running peak, I’ve made the decision to go vegan-ish (more to come on the ish), and I’ve solidified cycling as my go-to sport.
Unfortunately, this is all about to change. With only two weeks before I return to college, I’ve realized that I am going to once more be emerged in a packed schedule. Instead of having all day to workout, stretch, and prep meals, I’m going to have just a few hours. Instead of being able to wait out questionable weather for a ride, I’ll have to suck it up. Instead of cooking my perfect meals, I’ll have to make do with what the university has to offer.
Here’s what a normal day is going to look like.
See that little chunk between 3–6pm? Yep. That’s my new time zone for working out. See any time that says “Meal Prep?” Yeah, me neither. While it does seem that my time is cut incredibly short, I’ve learned quite a bit from the last time I tried this. In reality, I don’t think that having less time is inherently a bad thing. Its exactly what I need.
Why? Because it will improve the efficiency of my wellness program.
There are always better ways of accomplishing goals, and without an element of time restriction, I may never find the optimal way to achieve my wellness goals. At least not without them taking over my life. With this new schedule, I’m going to have to find the most effective ways to increase my aerobic fitness in the least amount of time. I know as of right now, I don’t need to be riding for 2–3 hours per day in order to get the same physique and aerobic results. By specializing my training days into certain workouts, I can train specific parts of my athletic abilities. Shorter, higher power intervals mixed in with strength training will focus on building my strength-to-weight ratio. I also plan on taking my easy and off days during the week, leaving time intensive sessions for the weekend. Working in a 3–4 hour long day and longer tempo sessions when I have more time should leave me less stressed during the week.
As for meals, I’m going to have to actively research the ingredients in the food I’m eating. While the university I attend does a spectacular job labeling food and providing alternative options, I know the fine line between veggie and vegan will be tough to find. I’ll also need to face the eventuality that counting my macros isn’t something I’ll always be able to do, or something that should ever be in my life. Facing this eventuality is going to be uncomfortable, but necessary.
Now that I think about it, I might as well start the end of macro tracking today.
Cheers to going one step in a more efficient direction!
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(UPDATE)
I took back that last part about tracking macronutrients. I had a bit of an epiphany about them, which you can read about here. :)
