And the first six months…

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…shall we be honest with each other and review the first half of this year in workouts?

I’ll start. I missed a lot of sessions between December & February. Some of it was work related but I also spent time with family as we laid Dad to rest. I lived on a diet of puff-puff/akara/endless fried meat & lots of things that confused my digestive system for weeks. No regrets 😛. When I travelled, I went with my Karate Gi, Yoga Mat, skipping rope, resistance bands and (silly optimistically) more gym clothes than aso ebi but the only work out I did was walk from one end of the kitchen to the other end of the food station - with occasional stops to sleep or visit the market. One day I clocked 15,000 steps doing just that 😀. I saw very little to nothing of the E-fitness team in that period.

I sort of started going again in February but then Patrick went on his annual leave for a bit and I wasn’t really motivated until @sewizzle_001 (IG) stepped in to put me through my paces. I can’t remember what I did with my March. In April, I worked out three out of the four weeks and tried to do so at least three times a week. May, I had my yellow-orange belt grading so I mostly focused on training for that.

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This is me, grading through an incomprehensible amount of nerves. Yesterday was a lesson in performance anxieties. . My palms were sweaty, I did all of the breathing exercises I could remember to regulate my mind, tried to remind myself how well I know my program - despite what it looks like, I put in a lot of practice outside of the dojo. I was on a mission to get high scores on this one but on the day itself, none of my practice showed. Just a very determined hard sack of nerves. I was out of rhythm with myself and on many occasions, I kept wishing I could hit the stop button and start the whole thing again. My Heian Nidan form was high key trash (I like this kata and worked the most on it); during my Gohon Kumite, I announced Chudan Zuki (attack) but moved forward with Soto Uke (defence); early on in my Heian Shodan, started giving them Gyaku Zuki in the wrong place, caught myself and stopped to correct it but got in the way of the poor guy behind me. I was pissed. At myself. I cried a little (but what’s new 🙃) and didn’t think I’d be able to bring myself to watch this video (thank you @onalaja_). But here I am, watching it and posting a slice of one of the most difficult days I’ve had in a while. . To all my village people who tapped into the universe and showed up to take this moment from me (thinking of one especially), may the grace if God be with you. . #IfYouCatchHellDontHoldIt #IfYouAreGoingThroughHellDontStop #KaizenMeansImprove . I’ll never forget the bollocking I got from the Sensei on the grading panel sha. It touched my soul 😆

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And now, June. I had an incredible week last week, worked out six days in total and loved it. Combination of weight, karate, functional training and dynamic movements. Then I binged on food for five days and have between work, traffic, Uber drivers and my trainer leaving, I haven’t been able to attain even half a second working out.

Does this happen to you too? Great sessions that lead to extended periods out of your gym routine? How do you reclaim your routine when the universe seems bent on keeping you on the couch?

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