It’s amazing how much can change in seven short days. Last week, I majorly fell of the “good habit” train I had been riding for so long. I know I talked a big game in my post last week about how fitness and health were coming naturally for me, but it turns out I’m still hugely capable of a backslide.
My whole world fell into chaos last week. I returned home, threw my bag on the floor and neglected to unpack for days. I went to Quickfit for my normal workouts, but I was too tired to go to the grocery store so I kept grabbing quick-fix meals out, which is costly both nutritionally and financially. It didn’t help at all that there were three birthdays at work this week, so we had a constant supply of cake and frequent happy hour excursions. This weekend, I engaged in the serious athletic competition of watching the playoffs, which involved an obscene amount of fried food and more beer than anyone trying to lose weight should consume (or anyone at all, for that matter).
Basically, I replaced my innards with sugar, cheese and alcohol. No matter that I did manage to drag my hung-over behind out of bed on Saturday morning to get an extra workout in, this week was a wash.
Today was a huge wake-up call. I got to work feeling sad and slow and tired. I was on edge all day. I was craving the crap I’d been indulging in for the last seven days. It was easy to see that my mood was a direct result of how I’d been treating my body, and when I got to Quickfit to work out after work, my assumptions were confirmed.
Today was one of the harder workouts I’ve had in a long time. Not only because I was weighted down by the massive about of residual fried food in my system, but because the new trainer, Jessie, doubled the amount of cardio I typically do after each round of strength. It was exactly the kick in the butt that I needed- I saw that I’m still capable of working harder, and there’s no way I’m going to get to where I want to be unless I straighten up and get back to work.
Directly after my workout I headed to Whole Foods (which is so easy to do since they’re right next door, in case you weren’t aware) and loaded up on the apples, veggies and lean proteins that have been missing from my fridge for too long. I had a great, healthy dinner, I managed to get my apartment back in order and my mood is already improved.
I’m not sure what was the trigger that set off the domino effect of chaos this week whether it was my surrounds, the celebrations or maybe just an off day, but I know that those extra 15 minutes of cardio were the catalyst for getting things back to normal. Maybe slipping up all week was a blessing in disguise- now I know how awful it feels to return to bad habits and let my well-being land at the low end of the priority list, so hopefully I can avoid it the next time life tries to get in the way of my success.