The Health Chronicles: The Olympics Have Thrown Off My Groove!
Sometimes Taking a Day for You is the Best Self Care
Like many people around the world, I have been watching, talking about, and marveling at the Olympics. No, I am not on the angry side of the internet that is using the Olympics as rage bait for their own hate. I am on the side that is congratulating, lifting up, and supporting these athletes. I have been slightly amused by how much of my admittedly college football laden Twitter has taken to the Olympics, including everyone having a laugh that the ACC is claiming Katie Ledecky’s success as ACC valor when she competed at Stanford when the school was firmly in the PAC-12.
This is something that I just find funny. And mostly harmless. Funny how Twitter feels the need to make sure those facts are checked, but not others.
ANYWAY. A “downside” to the Olympics is the fact that it has kind of messed up my morning groove. I’m kind of like Emperor Kuzco in my mornings if I don’t like you. “No Touchy”. I may be wide awake (I’m writing this at 5:15 AM with no tea boost), but I like my own space to be productive and what not.
The Olympics have rudely busted into that space. And you know what? I’m fine with it. They come around once every 4 years and if the pandemic taught us anything, it is that we should take nothing for granted, including things we view as constants. So, with all of the events going on yesterday, including the women’s football quarterfinals that all went into some form of extra time (yes, we are counting Brazil vs. France in this…16 minutes of added time), I didn’t do my usual walk yesterday. I decided that I would workout at home, while watching the games.
I felt a little bad at first, but I then decided that this is something that is bringing me joy. I’m also not being unproductive, and I’m not staying home to do something to do harm to my brain. I wasn’t sitting on my couch tweeting out hate and despair. I was watching athletes at the peak of their power, and I was in awe and inspired. I’ll get back to my walk later this morning, but I also need to acknowledge that I needed that Saturday. And being “lazy” by my own standards wasn’t a bad thing, but an exercise in feeding myself some good vibes.
Though I must admit, I may not have felt like this had the USWNT not pulled it out against Japan. That’s probably a post for another day.
Now, some check-ins.
Did I drink this week? No.
Did I have junk food? Yes. Honestly, I had a pretty crap Friday, details not important. So that’s another reason why I took it easy Saturday. I ate horribly haha. But the way I see it, better that than going on a boozy binge. Progress is incremental.
Average Walking Distance: 4.1 Miles. Funny how most people would kill for even 1 mile a day and I’m disappointed with 4.1. Something easy to change though!
Sleep Average: 7 Hours, 10 minutes. Averaging 7 hours over the span of a week is no small feat for me. I hope to keep this trending in the right direction. Also, I was serious about always waking up before 5 AM.
Screen Time: 7 Hours, 47 Minutes. I was doing well Sunday-Thursday. Friday kind of bit me in the butt and then bled into Saturday. Either way, it won’t be this high again. And to be fair, a lot of that was spent on Substack and Duolingo.
Average Notifications: 387 per day. Always looking to get this lower.
Even with my not so healthy Saturday, my sleep has massively improved, and I can literally feel the difference in my body. I also feel it in my mind while I write and think. We are all wired differently when it comes to sleep needed to function optimally, but I can’t stress enough that getting adequate sleep helps all of the other things in life come much easier.
That’s all for this week. Next week is my birthday! Have a wonderful week.
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Great read! I admittedly never follow the Olympics very closely, but I do try to stay up on the headlines and medal counts. Also, reading this reminds me I need to get myself back in the gym, like yesterday.
Nice piece Preston - keep going!