Today was a really good one but very busy. I started the day with a meeting with a potential coaching client who I think will be joining my program. I then came home to work on a presentation I gave to possibly do something pretty big with women’s heart health. That meeting went extraordinarily well also. Even though the day was productive and fulfilling, I felt like a hamster on a wheel. I’m not sure why. It wasn’t particularly rushed but I felt busy all day.
When I was employed, a day like this would have been a very easy one. I’ve lost my hustle. But that’s okay. What’s not okay is that I felt hungry all day. I should preface this by saying that last night, I stopped eating about 4:30 after a pretty light dinner and didn’t eat again until about 8:00 this morning. Last night, I went to the gym and when I returned home around 10:30PM, I was famished but chose to go to bed. I ate a decent breakfast as I always do and went to my meeting. When I got home, I needed to prepare for my next meeting so lunch was delayed. When i finally ate lunch, it was about 2:30 and I needed to leave for my next meeting about 3:15 so lunch was on the lighter side. When I got home about 6:30, I was again famished and had dinner but here we are at 9:30 and I just had a snack because I’m tired of feeling like I’m starving. So much for my 5PM cutoff. I also made the executive decision not to go to the gym tonight because I’m tired and I want to relax and go to bed early.
Now here’s the thing…I am not going to feel bad about these rather questionable decisions I have made. Remember, I’m giving up my ‘all or nothing’ approach, as I stated in this blog post. I plan to go to bed at a reasonable time tonight, get up early tomorrow and go to the gym before the day gets away from me. I now know I can go to the gym at night or any time during the day and it works for me. Maybe I should have gone this morning but I went so late last night because I had some coaching calls until almost 10PM. Because I got home late, I didn’t get to bed until almost 1AM…not a good way to start the next day. Again, I won’t be beating myself up about this because in the big picture, I’m doing well. I’ve been keeping my food intake to an eight to nine hour window and I have been exercising more days than I haven’t. In fact, I went to the gym seven of the past nine days and will pick it up again tomorrow.
Why am I spilling all of this somewhat useless (to you) information? Mostly I’m oversharing because, as I mentioned at the beginning of the month, I’m using this forum to keep myself accountable. It’s part of what I do for my clients. I hold them gently accountable for what they say they’re going to do for themselves. I want them to know they are as worthy as anyone else they make a promise to.
Why do we put ourselves at the bottom of the priority list? Do we have some misguided notion that everyone else’s priorities are more important than our own health and well-being? We’re all busy, I get that. But you cannot take care of everyone else’s needs if you don’t practice self care. Everyone knows you cannot pour from an empty vessel. If you don’t refill your cup, you can’t fill anyone else’s. If you don’t practice self care, everyone in your charge suffers. Is that really what you want? It isn’t noble or heroic or courageous to take care of everyone else’s needs ahead of your own. Who will take care of you when you finally do crash? Are the people you take care of going to be able to care for you? It’s important to know that we are all human, with human capabilities. Your superpower is your ability to care first for you, then for the rest of your family or whoever relies on you. Anything less than that is a fool’s mission. And you are no fool. Take care of yourself.
In case you missed my post on June 30th, I am using this 31 day challenge to hold myself accountable for walking my talk. Several years ago, I was able to take off 135 pounds and essentially save my own life. I have regained much of that weight so I am working my way back down.
As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.
