Workout Wednesday: Toughest Part About Vacations

The toughest part for me about going on vacation (or going into the Hole) is getting thrown out of my routine and then trying to "get back in the groove" upon my return. I recently visited with some family friends in South Carolina to celebrate the 4th of July. The trip was an absolute blast that including a lot of fishing, boating, swimming and relaxing. Notice what was missing there? Exercise. We certainly didn't sit on our butts all day (quite the contrary), but I also wasn't getting to the gym and doing cardio daily like I'm used to. In that way, going on vacation is much like a stay in the Hole for me. I'm thrown off of my routine and knowing that the feeling of "fighting" to find my mojo back can sometimes be a little bit disheartening.

I really wanted to write about this because I know that it is a common occurrence in our community. We fight our butts off to exercise, do our treatments and take care of ourselves only to get a monkey wrench thrown into the motor to knock us off our feet. There's been plenty of times in my life that I have stopped working out because of a fast approaching hospital stay. Since I knew that I would have to stop going to the gym in two weeks, I figured "why push myself if I'm only going to be knocked off track?". It's funny, writing it down and reading it seems so silly, but it's a feeling that I'll feel often and I know that you feel it too.

It's the same thing with vacations. I have such a hard time getting back into the gym and back on a regular exercise schedule. Like I said before, we weren't completely inactive on this vacation, but it was still hard to get back into rhythm. For a real example - we got back on Friday and my first day back to the gym was on Tuesday. No bueno. If my number one priority in life is my health, which in turn allows me to focus and be there for my 1a priority, my family, I just need to suck it up and figure out a way to get back on track.

I wish I had a bunch of magical solutions for you all, but I really don't. I struggle with this just like you do. I was actually hoping that some of you would have some advice to offer. Other than repeating to myself often that my wife needs me around for a long time, and I'm convinced that exercise will play a big role in that, I got nothing. So what do you do? What do you do to find your grove again once you've been thrown off of your routine?