We made it to the end of the first work week in 2012!  If you got a good jump-start on turning your fitness and other personal goals into a reality – good for you! If you didn’t –  you’re in good company!

I woke up New Year’s Day with the sniffles. Somewhere between midnight and six a-m on Tuesday – my first day back at work after a 10-day vacation- those sniffles turned into a nasty cold complete with head-pounding congestion, burning eyes and a cough. I made it to work, only to leave early and then stayed home yesterday to avoid spreading any more germs to my co-workers. The good news is I’m finally feeling human again and have no doubt I’ll have this cold kicked by the time I go to my day-long Zumba Fitness instructor training course on Saturday. The bad news is I haven’t been to the gym for a workout since Sunday, and many of the items on this week’s to-do list remain undone.  All my Type A personality can do at this point is take several deep breaths, make a new to-do list and remember every so often, things happen that mess up even the best laid plans.

Since a lot of people (at least the ones here in New York) seem to be fighting what I’m calling the New-Year’s-Cold Bug, I thought it was a good time to offer a refresher course on the “rules” about exercising when you’re sick. Click here to read an “oldie but goodie” from the LauraLovesFitness archives.

Based on my symptoms, I could have tried to go to the gym during the last few days. However, I followed what I consider to be one of the cardinal rules of fitness: I listened to my body. It told me to rest, so I did. Now I’m back at 85% percent and I have no doubt that with some more rest tonight, I’ll be at nearly 95% tomorrow. By Saturday, I’ll be ready to rock that Zumba class!

Next week, I’ll tackle my cardio, weight training and favorite group exercise class with new energy. I plan on putting that same energy toward crossing the items off a slightly bigger to-do list. When plans go awry, it helps to remember you will eventually be back on your feet and back on track to have fun, be fit and feel fabulous!