I'M ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!
Full disclosure: possibly the biggest reason why I haven't posted in so long is that counting the days since my last update was such a chore! How sad is that??
It's been a super, super packed last 5 weeks. Fall is always my busiest season because it's my favorite season, so I tend to fill it with more things that make me happy. First of all, my birthday was in mid-October, so that happened. A few days after that, I left the country for two weeks of travel. I returned from that to a VERY full plate at work which fully consumed me up until even today, and over the weekend that just ended, I hosted a dinner party at my house whose menu was entirely pumpkin-themed -- and homemade.
Needless to say, between the complete lack of time, the travel, and the general overbookedness of my life the last month plus, my fitness routine pretty much jumped off a cliff. I have weighed myself once since I got back, but I really don't even remember what number the scale said; I only registered that, not surprisingly, I had gained a few pounds since the last time I weighed in for anything.
I am stressed and tired. I haven't seen the inside of a gym in over a month. I have gorged myself on desserts, café drinks, and unhealthy restaurant food. I have dropped the ball with meal and snack prep (until this week -- phew!). I've spent a fuck-ton of money on all of the above. And, oh yeah, it bears repeating that I GAINED WEIGHT.
Now here's the really weird part: I'm OK with that.
I knew what I was doing as I was doing it. I consciously chose to eat cupcakes, ice cream, chocolate, and so on instead of being extra vigilant with my diet to compensate for the impossibility of going to the gym. I had a burst of uncontrolled living life as it happens, and ya know what? That's what typical people do, I hear. It felt great to feel like a normal human for a bit.
It also felt pretty gross.
My energy levels are SOOOOOOOOOOOOO low. I found that while I was on vacation, I consistently got exhausted -- not a little bit tired, but honestly just completely wiped out -- around 2 PM every day from A) not eating at consistent intervals throughout the day, and B) having totally erratic bouts of exercise. Being off of that game for 2 weeks and returning to a moment where I'd so overcommitted myself to professional and personal events that it prevented me from taking care of myself and returning immediately to my healthy lifestyle meant I started eating on the fly again, which meant the return of those nasty chemicals. I've started experiencing cravings again, and having to fight with myself not to indulge. I've felt desperately hungry from irregular eating, which makes me eat too much when the time for food finally comes. I've been short tempered and irritable. The inertia from inactivity makes me feel lazy about going to the gym, and makes me actually not WANT to go. The combination of not eating or working out properly has affected the quality of my sleep. I've been feeling draggy and getting headaches. I feel a step away from disgusting.
That's exactly why I know I must resume my routine. NOW.
Because of the weight gain, I won't win my transformer round that weighs out today/tomorrow. I hate that. Hate, hate, hate that. I liked looking at my DietBet profile and seeing a perfect streak of nothing but wins. I've ruined that. I can still win the 6-month bet, though... and I fully intend to.
I came to work today with my survival kit all prepared: lunch box packed with AM snack, lunch, and PM snack; backpack filled with gym clothes. As the old cliché goes, this whole thing is more mental than physical. All I have to do is physically act on what my mind knows will lead to success, and I can fix this and still hit my year-end goal for the weight loss.
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...