I like to think of myself as being relatively healthy. It is extremely seldom that I ever visit a doctor, I've never had any health condition that has placed lmitations on me and I enjoy being active!
I have had some setbacks though, nothing major, but still indicative of how I have allowed limitations to make or break me. Last year I had extreme tensing of the muscles in my neck that got so bad it affected my left arm to the point where I could not even lift the arm. I was in extreme pain. I went to a chiropractor and it took about 13 sessions to work the muscular issues out and I have been pain free since then, however I did not do any strength or cardio at all for about 6 weeks during that time. This was a real set back! Yet honestly looking back, I am not sure if I did not exercise because I honestly couldn't ... Or if I just didn't do it because my perception of the set back was an all or nothing approach?
So now again I find myself with a set back. The sore foot. I have an appointment at a podiatrist but could only get in at the beginning of April, so now I sit and wait. My trainer has been awesome in that she says no problem, we will just modify and keep weight off the foot, so no excuses there! On the cardio front - well I can't run. I tried yesterday and it was a complete bust. Ironically enough though I did manage to walk. So instead of bagging the cardio altogether I know that I can walk, and walking is what I plan to do! It technically also isn't really cardio as my heart rate does not elevate beyond the fat burn zone with the walking, but it still burns calories and racks up steps so I will classify it as cardio, purely for the purpose of being an alternative to running.
Where I am heading with this is that more often than not I notice looking back that I tend to have an all or nothing approach. That it can be difficult to find a middle ground. What I am proposing is that when limitations strike - ask yourself this question before leaping to using it as an excuse to just not even try - is there a middle ground that I haven't thought of before that would be acceptable to tide me over until the limitation has passed?
Happy Monday!