[2020-09-16] Week-over-week progress
The other day, I received my weekly stats report from Fitbit for September 7 to 13. Compared to what I used to achieve in a week, the results are paltry. But compared to those of the previous week, which was just after my surgery, the results are brilliant. Almost 3,000 more steps. 27 more floors. More active minutes and calories burned. Longer sleep. And a lower resting heart rate.
I have found that comparing my progress on a weekly basis is more helpful than comparing it on a daily basis. On quite a few occasions, some marker of progress was worse one day than it had been the day before. For example, my best day for steps was last Friday (2,643 steps). That record stood until today, when I reached 3,386 steps at the time of sending this post.
One day I'm folding laundry and the next day I'm reading quietly, with limited physical energy.
It would be easy to become discouraged, and I'll admit to feeling a bit defeated when one day was worse than the previous day. But what is undeniable, when I stand back and look at my progress over a longer timeframe, is that this week is unquestionably better than last week.
When I'm sitting, my pain is non-existent to very low. I'm sleeping longer at night and more comfortably. I have no nausea. I can go up and down stairs with relative ease. I can wear yoga pants (thankfully, as it was getting a little cold in dresses). I have the mental energy to read books and to write blog posts and other correspondence. I'm moving about more in the house, and I'm trying to get outside each day for a walk. In truth, the walks are more of a stroll with short strides, but it's still progress.
I started my recovery thinking that every day would be better than the day before. I'm not sure where I got that notion. And reality hasn't borne that out. Now, I'm choosing to assess my advancement on a weekly basis. As long as this week is better than last week, I'm going in the right direction. And I can safely say that this is the case.
