Hi everyone!
You know that feeling where you’re barely holding on? You’ve just got to get the next thing done and THEN you can take a break and breathe? That’s what the last 3 weeks have been. You probably know that I spent 12 days in New Jersey, New York & Toronto (find out how I stayed on track with my food here). After celebrating an awesome wedding (pic below), in the span of a 5 day period I gave 3 corporate lunch & learns, filmed 7 new videos (which I can’t wait to share with you) and had a number of client calls. I then got back to Vancouver Sunday night and the very next morning was off to spend the day educating the City of Vancouver employees.
WOOSH! By the time this whirlwind of events was over, I was exhausted.
While I was in the moment, I kept thinking to myself, on ___ date, I’ll have some time to slow down and then I’ll get back into my routine. But guess what? Life doesn’t tend to really slow down.
Now, if you’ve ever been going at full force for multiple days (or weeks) in a row, you know that you can only do it for so long and one of a few things will happen: you get sick, you start craving the bad food, you stop sleeping as well, and you feel TIRED. I’m pretty sure all of the above happened to me after I pushed a little too hard for a little too long.
Because no amount of green veggies and the perfect diet will keep you healthy if you’re not resting enough or are stressed out. (Poor sleep, weight gain, hormone imbalances – it’s all linked to taking care of yourself).
I was listening to a fellow nutritionist, Meghan Telpner, on Periscope this morning, and something she said struck a chord with me. She was talking about how we’re always doing things so that ‘future us’ can be happy. But, what if we embraced everything that is happening now and noticed the happy in it NOW? (I LOVED this thought, but more for that another time).
I think the same idea can hold true for self care. How many times have you put off the date? “After 2 weeks I’ll have time.” No, you won’t. And by that time, you’ll be worse off because you’ve spent another 2 weeks not taking care of yourself. No more delaying. You can start today. How?
“It” refers to whatever is something that helps YOU calm down and take some time. For me, this is a 25 minute walk each morning before I sit down to my computer or even eat breakfast. It’s non negotiable and feels SO good. Regardless of how I wake up, by the time I’ve done that walk, I feel better than I did before it.
Another thing that works for me in terms of managing my stress and general self care is yoga. It actually works wonders. One of my Vancouver besties is also very into yoga, and if I know that I’m meeting her, I’m 10000% more likely to go to the class. It’s the accountability here. Do you have a friend that likes doing something you do? Make a schedule and stick to it.
This is something new we’re going to do in the Wellness Challenge in January this year to REALLY help with accountability. You will get the option of having a buddy to keep you accountable! (Stay tuned for more info – I’m pretty excited to share the program with you).
I know that you knowwwww this one, but I’m just going to tell you again because you might not be doing it. Get in to bed by 10, and lights out by 10:30. You can handle SO much more with sleep. Something that works for me is setting an alarm to wind down at night. Otherwise, all of a sudden it might be 10:15 and I’m still on my computer.
Ok, haha I’m sort of joking… but what I mean by this is you are NO busier than someone else. I know someone who consistently tells me they don’t have time to make breakfast because they’re too busy. It’s not about having time, it’s about making time. I find one of the best strategies for making time (for whatever you need to do) is saying no to extra things that are not an absolute priority, and not worrying about it offending people. It’s about setting boundaries and you’ve got to put you first.
Have a great day everyone!
.avif)
.avif)
