Without fail, it seems like whenever I write a very motivated and optimistic post, I have another slip-up soon afterward. This one came from work and illness. So rather than a flaming wagon or shame nun pic, here’s one that’s more accurate:

I recently traveled to Haiti for a work related trip. The trip was great, beautiful country. Unfortunately like many travelers, despite my best efforts I caught a nasty stomach bug.

It put me out of commission for a solid week and change. Thankfully, for both myself and the work, I didn’t get really bad until I had returned home.

In my weakened condition, I couldn’t muster up the energy to do my PT stretches, nevertheless even think about trying to work out. Using my belt as a guide, I lost about an inch and a half off my waist in about a week and a half.

Had I been eating right and working out, I would be ecstatic, however, I knew it was mostly water and muscle.

I worked out for the first time since pre-Haiti today and I lost a LOT of strength and endurance. My heart rate jumped into the orange zone (85% of max heart rate) and even was hitting red (92% +) when going at what would normally be a moderate pace.

I’ve had enough slip-up experience to come to expect this and know that it’ll come back relatively quickly. Even taking that into account, I was still surprised at how much strength and endurance I lost.

I am frustrated, but I won’t allow myself to get angry at myself as I would have in the past. This is something that happened and now it’s time to get back to the grind.

As the last post stated, Hot Chocolate is just 8 weeks away. That’s plenty of time to get back into it, barring any more further slip-up’s. As it turns out, it’s a good goal to have something to look forward to.

After just one workout, I’m already sore, physically and mentally drained, but I feel better already. Walking down the street I walked taller and my posture sitting right now has improved. It’s all a reminder of how good I feel when I’m working out, and a re-reminder of why I’m doing all this and how I CAN feel if I stick to it.

So, hopefully I won’t slip-up anymore any time soon, but just in case I’ll hold off on the extremely positive and motivating posts for now.