I thought my fitness momentum was impenetrable. I was wrong. I've previously written about fitness

momentum and urged you to take great care if you have it. Fitness momentum is hard to build,

but easy to break. And I'm living that right now. On Labor Day weekend last year, I made the

decision to end my 20,000 steps a day

streak. I had reached that number every day for more than two years. In addition to walking,

my regular fitness routine included strength training with free weights three to four times a week

and a high intensity routine to get my heart rate up also three to four times a

week. My momentum was cruising. I spent the first eight months of 2020 getting our house ready to

sell, working out the details of moving, and working through the details of adjusting my job

with the move, and, well, a pandemic. I was physically and mentally tired.

On the Friday before Labor Day, our house went under contract and we were headed to Myrtle Beach

for a long mini vacation. I really needed a break. I decided to spend the next four days without a to-do list, and this included

fitness. I didn't want to figure out how to get 20,000 steps. Unfortunately, the next four months

did not go as expected. The buyers were not able to get their financing approved, and our house

went back on the market. At the same time, we settled on our new home

in Myrtle Beach and moved our stuff to South Carolina. Since my job in Maryland wasn't transitioning

south until the start of the new year, I commuted between the two states, weekends in Myrtle,

weekdays in Maryland. For almost three months, I lived out of a

suitcase in our empty Maryland home. I had an airbed and a few kitchen supplies so I could make

meals. Most days, I still walked 20,000 steps, but since the streak was no longer active,

I didn't feel the need to reach that goal every day. I was still doing

the strength training and some high-intensity cardio, just not as intensely as before. There was

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