Relaxing Weekends

It used to be, before this whole weight loss / lifestyle-change undertaking, that I would look forward to my relaxing weekends. At that time, when I thought about relaxing, I thought about very sedentary activities. To me, relaxing was going to a movie or two, going to the theater  going out to dinner, snuggling on the couch with my hubby watching T.V. and the like. At the end of the weekend, after all of my "relaxing," I was not really relaxed. I would often feel tired and lethargic, I would not sleep well, I would toss and turn and wake up several times during the night, and there were many days when I would barely be able to stay awake or focus. I still like to snuggle on the couch with my husband and go to movies and the theater occasionally, but these activities no longer occupy the majority of my weekend time.

This weekend, I relaxed. My husband and I went dancing on Friday night, we are learning the Tango this month. On Saturday, we went for a nice long walk. We have season passes to Disneyland and we have a "circuit" that we walk around the park and the surrounding hotels. We will walk around the parks and do our "circuit" for about 5 or 6 hours. We pack a lunch of fruit, lots of water, and a couple of blueberry-yogurt muffins (or some other low-calorie snacks) and we avoid the food in the park (except the fruit, we will eat that in a pinch).  It is always a fun, active, and relaxing day. Sunday, we went for a beautiful 3 hour hike at Torrey Pines State Park. It is about a ten to fifteen minute drive from our house, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Finally, Sunday evening, we went dancing again - more Tango lessons. After our dance class on Sunday night, I was blissfully exhausted. Tired, but a different kind of tired - not lethargic. Even though I was exhausted, I felt relaxed and de-stressed. And I slept beautifully last night. I find myself refreshed and ready for the week this morning. It may seem counter-intuitive, but our "active weekends" are far, far more relaxing and enjoyable than our sedentary "relaxing" weekends used to be.  If someone would have told me that two years ago, I would never have believed it.