Invest in Myself: Week 35

Welcome to the recap of Invest in Myself, Week 35.

This was supposed to be my bounceback week after going off track last week, but my basement flooded so I cut myself some extra slack.

Let's review my week...

Motivation & Accountability

I maintained my weight this week, which I consider a win given the unanticipated stress from the flooded basement.

During week 35 of Real Appeal, we focused on fitness/weight loss supplements and the importance of reading labels and not blindly buying into the hype. Many of these products are loaded with sugar and empty claims, and it’s important to be selective when choosing to include them as part of your regular diet.

Nutrition

Many of my food choices were motivated by stress this week. Unlike last week, however, I tracked everything I ate. I think this helped me maintain my weight rather than gaining, since the tracking helped keep me aware of the choices I was making and kept me from going completely overboard.

Exercise

I ran twice and did yoga once this week. I again ran with a group of people in the 10 Weeks to 10K program who wanted to do 1:1 run:walk intervals. One of the people I ran with called me a “metronome in sneakers” which made me smile.

Self-Care

Self-care took a hit when our basement flooded on Tuesday evening. We had a big storm and the water came into our house along the floor in the laundry room and playroom. We lost the carpet in the playroom, but it could have been much worse if the water had gotten into the walls.

Rick moved everything from the playroom into the gym. The laundry room is okay since the flooring is vinyl and everything stored in it is on metal "origami shelves" (they fold up, hence the name). Servpro came out Tuesday night to set up fans and dehumidifiers. We were really lucky to get it under control so quickly.

We just had a tree removed that had been hit by lightning a few weeks ago and think that impacted the drainage pattern around our home.

The trunk of this tree was hit by lightning,
shearing off a large branch

Not quite a "before" picture of the playroom since we had
already starting moving things out, but at least I'll
remember how to set up most of the room

An "after" picture of the playroom

We moved everything from the playroom into the gym

Origami shelves kept everything dry in the laundry room

I did squeeze in some self-care on Saturday evening, when I attended a Women's Wellness Expo at Potomac River Running in Leesburg. Highlights included seeing my life coach Elena Sonnino & listening to her motivational speech, talking to a physical therapist who helped me realize my chronic shoulder pain is probably related to my computer setup at home, and winning a free Brooks bra from PRR! I also caught up with my friends Shannon, Rachel, and Traci.

Elena shared three tips for thriving in our lives that I'm going to remember. Here are her tips:

1. Trust your inner wisdom
2. Less judgment and more curiosity
3. Let go of expectations 

You can always lean on your lifecoach!
Find inspiration in Elena's podcast & website

A scavenger hunt from Elena that everyone can use

Motivational sign I noticed at PRR.
This is from the movie "What Women Want"
and it's part of a Nike campaign in the movie.
Here's a link to it if you can't read it.

Looking Ahead

School starts tomorrow and I'm looking forward to the return of the routine that comes with it. It helps ground me and brings more structure to our lives. I'm also looking forward to getting new carpet in the playroom and putting everything back together in the basement, but I'm not sure how quickly that will happen.

See you next week!