Invest in Myself: Week 43

Welcome to the recap of Invest in Myself, Week 43.

This was the week that I've been dreading, but knew would come eventually. We said a peaceful goodbye to our cat Rhett this week. It's been a rough one.

Let's review my week...

Motivation & Accountability

I lost two pounds this week. My grief came with a diminished appetite, so it was fairly easy to skip the sweets and treats.

During week 43 of Real Appeal, we examined our limiting beliefs. One of my limiting beliefs is related to needing treats. While I recognize that I do deserve treats, it's important to think about how I define a treat. Non-food treats are a better reward for me. For example, I had a massage this week. 

The dictionary defines a treat as "an event or item that is out of the ordinary and gives great pleasure."  I think this definition helps me put food treats into perspective - a daily treat isn't "out of the ordinary" and the taste may be pleasurable in the moment, but the cumulative effect of too many caloric treats does not "give great pleasure" when it comes to achieving my health goals.

Nutrition

With my grief-diminished appetite, I had to make an effort to eat enough. We had cupcakes at work on Wednesday to celebrate October birthdays and anniversaries, and it wasn't even hard for me to take a pass.

Exercise

I walked once and did yoga once. It was hard to get motivated to move this week, but I know that will pass with time. It's okay to be sad and important to allow myself some grace.

Self-Care

Freddy and I took some more free classes at the Apple store. Our "make your own theme song" class was cancelled without warning, but they made up a different class just for the two of us that built on the drawing skills we had learned in the "make your own emoji" class. It was supposed to be a self-portrait class, but Freddy decided he wanted to draw me instead of him. I didn't get very far on my portrait, but he finished his.

Freddy's portrait of me

the beginnings of my self-portrait

October is breast cancer awareness month which always brings with it a slew of limited-edition marketing campaigns. I try to avoid the hype for the most part since there are much higher impact choices for charitable donations, but I do like the Balega Grit & Grace socks. There are usually three different sayings each year in a variety of colors. I am treating myself to the socks in the picture below. I'm trying hard to remind myself that whatever I do is enough. I tend to set impossibly high bars for myself in so many areas. 

source

Saying goodbye to Rhett was hard. I'm so grateful that we had 15 years and 8 months with him, nearly 4 of those years post-cancer diagnosis. He radiated unconditional love. He brought so much peace and joy to our lives. I will miss him so much, but he will live on in my heart.

Looking Ahead

It will be a busy week, but I'm going to take it one day at a time and allow myself grace.

See you next week!