Invest in Myself: Week 30

Welcome to the recap of Invest in Myself, Week 30.

I got back into a routine this week and managed to dig out from under the 479 emails that came in while I was on vacation.

Let's review my week...

Motivation & Accountability

I maintained my weight this week. It was good to get back to tracking and being mindful about my choices after taking the prior week off for vacation.

For week 30 of the Real Appeal program we focused on staying away from the slippery slope of relapse. This was well timed for me, since a vacation can be a source of relapse.

We talked about four broad triggers for relapse:

• Emotional: stress, depression, boredom, even happiness can lead to slip ups
• Change-in-Routine: job change, family upheaval, vacation
• Social: parties, eating out
• Physical and Medical: health problem, lack of sleep

Some of the things that can help prevent relapse include awareness of your own triggers, planning ahead for stressful times, and consistently tracking food/activity/weight to stay mindful.

Nutrition

I got back on track with healthy eating this week. I didn't go cold turkey after vacation...I still had some treats during the week, but I made sure to track them.

Exercise

I ran once this week. Next week, the 10 Weeks to 10k program kicks off, which will help me ramp up my activity a bit more.

Self-Care

I focused on down time for the weekend to help balance the busyness of the work week. I binge-watched Season 4 of Veronica Mars. I really enjoyed most of it...and I'll just leave it at that since I don't want to inadvertently spoil it for anyone.

I took my cat Rhett to the vet yesterday since he hasn't been himself recently. His bloodwork came back and the news isn't good. His liver values are high and he is anemic. He's 15, and it's been an amazing 3 years and 8 months since he was diagnosed with liver cancer. Sadly, I think we are nearing the end of his ninth life.

Looking Ahead

I'll focus extra energy on taking care of Rhett this week. I have a business trip to Chicago on Wednesday. Taking the lessons from my Real Appeal class this week, I recognize that these are the types of events that can push me towards relapse, and I'll plan ahead to keep them from taking me off track.

See you next week!