Invest in Myself: Week 21

Welcome to the recap of Invest in Myself, Week 21.

This week has been rough. I'm in the midst of a multi-week busy period at work which is taking a disproportionate share of my energy, and I caught a miserable cold that is also taking a toll on my reserves.

Let's review my week...

Motivation & Accountability

Despite my rough week, I'm down a pound from last week. My total weight loss is 12.7 pounds and I've lost 3.8 percentage points of body fat.

For week 21 of the Real Appeal program we focused on the importance of staying active to be successful in weight loss and maintenance. We talked about ways to stay motivated when you've lost your exercise mojo and ideas to shake things up a bit if your workout routine is getting stale.

Nutrition

I made good food choices for most of the week. I prioritized meal planning since I had so little time and energy this week. Being sick probably helped a bit here; I didn't have much of an appetite so it was easy to stick to healthier choices and not give in to my sweet tooth when treats presented themselves.

Exercise

I ran once, and that's it. I had two other runs planned, but canceled one due to weather and one due to illness. It's ironic that I got so little exercise in the week that Real Appeal was focused on the importance of it, but I know that prioritizing meal planning and sleep was the best choice for me this week.

Self-Care

Self-care this week involved prioritizing sleep and managing my cold symptoms. I also focused on not engaging in negative self-talk, resisting the urge to beat myself up for not getting much exercise.

My son made this for me on Snapchat

Looking Ahead

Next week will be even busier than this week was, which is hard to imagine. I'm in New Orleans for work Monday - Wednesday. I get home late Wednesday night and then have to head into the city for work on Thursday, when I have a full day of meetings and interviews already on the calendar.

I have almost no white space on my calendar Monday - Thursday, but I have so much work that needs white space and is due by Thursday. That means working on the weekend and perhaps trading off some sleep.

I will be realistic in my expectations for next week. There will be minimal opportunity to exercise, although I'll get lots of steps while I'm in New Orleans. I will be in multiple situations where there aren't great food choices. I'll make the best of what is available to me and track what I eat, and recognize that some of those choices won't be as healthy as I would like in an ideal situation.

See you next week!