Tag: exercise

Year End: Moving

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On any given day at work, I’ll walk at least two miles during my shift. Some days I’ll even walk closer to five if it’s busy. You’d think I don’t do much walking considering the hours I spend at the front end registers, but I do a lot more than just checking some days. I might be shopping for online customers. I might have to head to the receiving dock (in which I need to walk to the rear of the store, down a very long hallway, around a corner and past several shelves of backstock) for one thing or another. Or I may just be the lucky courtesy clerk that needs to head outside and round up the carts. Even on the days when I’m a bookkeeper, I certainly get my steps in. And I’ve been doing a LOT of walking at work.

If anything, I’m glad I’m nowhere near as sedentary as I was with the Former Day Job. Sitting on my duff for eight hours certainly gave me poor sitting posture and lazy-itis, that’s for sure. Here, I can expect to get at least some passive exercise in during an eight-hour shift. It makes up for the lack of time we used to have when we’d go for walks around the neighborhood after logging off for the day. Not that we don’t do that anymore, just that our walking tends to be on the weekends these days. Added to that, we let our YMCA membership lapse sometime ago.

I’ve been thinking, though, that I still need to get in better shape. I might be moving around, but I’m also a victim of lazy-itis on my days off. I’m not eating nearly as much junk food as I used to (though this triple whammy holiday season is certainly causing me to snack more!), but I’m not exactly burning enough calories, either. I’m getting older, so I’m not as flexible or as spry as I used to be, and certain parts are beginning to ache.

So what does this have to do with a writing blog? The obvious answer is that yes, I will definitely make it a point to move around more in 2026. Whether it’s a walk around the neighborhood or to our plot at the community garden, or making sure I do my daily stretches to keep me limber, I need to make time for it alongside my writing sessions. I don’t mind not exercising on a particularly busy work day where I’m going to be getting those steps in, but I should at least make stretching a daily priority, even if it is just for a few minutes a day.

Besides, a day where I’m moving physically is always a good day, because it usually gets my mind moving as well.

Walking in San Francisco

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Yes, I know what you’re thinking, regarding my previous post. Walking in this city? Where it really is uphill both ways? Well, that depends on which streets you take. The trick is not just to know multiple ways to get to your destination, but to find the path of least resistance (or least pain, depending on how you look at it). My trip down to Geary Boulevard wasn’t all that bad at all, with only one block of any noticeable incline. If I took the next street over, the hill would be slightly steeper. I had more issues navigating all the construction work they’ve been doing on that street lately.

Yes, this city does have its painful hills that only the strongest, determined or just plain stubbornest would walk at any given time. Nob Hill, for instance. Great views, but definitely not one I’d be walking on the regular. But once you get used to them, they’re actually really great workouts! And that’s what I’m aiming for.

Slowing down and enjoying life

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Okay, so I refuse to say that I’m slowing down because I’m getting old. I mean, I am, and my joints aren’t as flexible and springy as they used to be, but I refuse to use that as an excuse to be lazy.

On the other hand, I’ve been making a concerted effort, especially at the day job, where I’m trying to break a long-standing and terrible habit of trying to do everything at once as fast as I can. It’s fine every now and again, but trying to speed through a very long line of customers will only serve two things: a) I’ll exhaust myself faster, and b) I’m doing at least twice the work all my other coworkers are doing. Do I really need to go through my shift constantly stuck going 70 mph while everyone else is doing a much more sedate 45? Do I have to do it all myself when I can easily ask a coworker to help? I guess what I’m looking for is a bit of a Zen balance here. Do what needs doing when it needs doing, but realize what I don’t have to do everything else as well.

The same thing goes with my writing. I think I’ve finally grown out of the mindset that I must Write All The Things Before It’s Too Late. For the moment I’m adding a little bit at a time to my writing schedule and searching for a comfortable working level. After several weeks off due to moving, I’m back with the blogging, and I’ve been thinking about returning to the 750Words site again. I’ve even switched the notebook in my jacket pocket with a sketch pad, with the idea of just drawing purely for the fun of it when I have a moment. And interestingly enough, I haven’t done any longhand journaling for a couple of months, and I think that’s partly because I just don’t feel like I need to.

That’s one of the key things right there: do it only if you feel the need. Just like the day job, I don’t need to do any daily journaling, or get any specific word count. I just want to focus on the Trilogy Remaster, finish off Theadia, and possibly restart MU4 for the nth time. But I don’t feel an unhealthy need to do it right this second. It’s healthier this way, mentally and physically. Believe me, I know from burnout, and I’m aiming to avoid it from here on in.

And besides, we now live just a block away from one of the most famous city parks in the world, so there is zero reason why I shouldn’t be going outside and enjoying said park every now and again.

Going outside now and again

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It’s just about springtime here in the Bay Area, which means new plants will be blooming, the days will get brighter and longer, temperatures will rise, and the winter rains will be winding down. This means that we’ll have run out of decent excuses not to go out for a neighborhood walk after A gets off work and I happen to be at home. This also means that I really should start walking to and from work more often instead of taking the car.

As much as I love clocking in and getting a sizeable chunk of ‘remastering’ work done on A Division of Souls, sometimes I forget that I really should head outside and get some fresh air. I mean, sure, we own a treadmill now so we can always use that for exercise, but that’s no excuse when we’ve got an extremely walkable and visually interesting neighborhood. And besides, it’s a great way to clear our heads! It gives A a chance to not think about her inbox, and gives me a chance to step away from whatever I’m working on, providing us both with a bit of calm and clarity.

As an added bonus, it keeps me from doomscrolling, but that’s another post altogether. The point here is that I sometimes need to remind myself that the process of writing also includes not writing. This is the part I always forget: there’s a big ol’ world out there with several different kinds and flavors of experiences and sometimes it’s good just to witness it instead of reading about it. It’s a good habit, and it’s also far healthier.

Walking

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I’m doing a little bit better with the walking to and from work instead of taking the car, but I could probably stand to be less lazy about it. There are days where I’ll take the bus in (after all, my commute might be only eight blocks but it’s literally all uphill) and walk back, even when I’ve had a ridiculously busy day at work, and I think I need to do that more.

It’s not as if my Day Job is sedentary…I can do up to four or five miles a shift with all the walking and moving around I do within the span of eight hours. Perhaps that’s partly why I don’t always have the moments to step aside and write out story ideas or work through something. It really depends on the day.

Still, I’m glad that I’m moving around a lot more than I was during the Previous Day Job, which had me sitting on my behind and snacking more often than I really should. All this moving around keeps me healthy and my blood pressure at normal levels. And when I’m walking home after a shift, it’s a stretch of time where I don’t have to think about anything else. I don’t use earbuds, so I only listen to the world around me. Some of those walks have been spent thinking about what needs to be done with my WIP, or working out how I want a certain scene to go. And most importantly, I get to unwind for a little bit before I start the writing work again!

Outside

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I think it’s safe to say that the cold rainy season here in the Bay Area has finally come to a close (I hope), which means that I’ll be able to return to something I’ve been wanting — and needing — to do at work for a while now. And that’s go outside during my breaks.

I was doing it for a while there, heading up to the roof parking deck for my ten minute breaks and the back half of my lunches. For a while there I was just heading to our small break room and slumping into one of the chairs and, well…maybe not doomscrolling, but passively reading news sites and social media again. At least I’m not getting myself worked up like I used to, so there’s that.

Anyway, I think heading up to the roof, or even out to the side parking lot for a few minutes can’t be all bad, especially since I have a small notebook in my inside jacket pocket that’s been itching to be used for quite some time now. I’ve been using it to work out a few vague ideas for Theadia, but I think it’s time I start using it more often like I used to in the Yankee Candle days: working out what I want to write for the current chapter, that way I’m not wracking my brain at the start of my writing sessions.

As long as the weather is with me, I think this is a fine idea!

[On a side note, I can safely say I don’t need to head outside to do any exercise, as this day job keeps me on my toes and I can easily rack up a few miles’ worth of steps on my fitness app. I’ve joked with one of the bakery workers that any of the cake slices I buy from them get worked off by the end of the day, considering how much I flit around the store!]

I should be walking

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For a while I was walking to and from work, but due to the winter weather here in SF, it gets super cold and sometimes rainy and I’d rather either drive in or take the bus. I always feel like I’m being lazy and wasteful because it’s only eight blocks. It’s not even worth turning on the radio as it’s only a three minute drive. But it’s spring now, it’s warming up, and the days are getting longer so I won’t always be walking there or home in the dark, depending on the shift. And the walk is only ten minutes. [I timed it when I first went for my initial interview.]

What do I do in that ten minutes? It’s not as if I really do all that much deep thinking about things. Sometimes I’ll think about what I’ll be doing for the rest of the day when I have a morning shift, and after midday shifts I’ll wonder what’s going on in the neighborhood now that everyone’s come home and had their dinner already. I might even stop into one of the three coffee shops I pass and grab a cup to go.

I do think about my writing. Not always, but sometimes. Just as in the past, if I’ll use the time to work out something that’s bothering me, or plan out something I’d like to try. Going for a walk these days is more about me not having to think, taking a mental break from what I’ve been doing all day, but if I’m in that creative mood, this is a perfect and peaceful time to let my mind wander a bit.

Either way, I need to start walking again. I definitely need the exercise!

End of year vacation

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As A had scheduled a year-end week’s vacation this week, we’ve been spending the time walking all over the place while the weather is still nice. (It’s raining today, so our walk consisted of a quick jaunt to the local post office to mail out one last Christmas package and then a short circuit around a few neighborhood blocks.)

Wednesday’s was a wonderful, if windy, jaunt of almost five miles from the Presidio marching grounds to Crissy Field and up towards the Golden Gate Bridge. There we saw All The Doggos, many birds, and even a few surfers! I’m quite happy with how the above picture came out. We live in a ridiculously photogenic city. I managed to get quite a few lovely pictures from various places this week!

So. Did I actually get any writing done? Or revision, or art for that matter? Well, I did pick up my guitar to noodle around on it for a few moments here and there, but other than that, I really didn’t get much done at all. And I’m okay with that. I thought it would be fun to just spend the week doing some last minute shopping, watching multiple Jane Austen films, and getting our exercise in. Writing this entry is the most I’ve worked on this week. Which means that starting Monday, she’ll be back at work and I’ll be back to my writing projects, year-end lists and all that fun stuff.

See you next week!