Invest in Myself: Week 33

Welcome to the recap of Invest in Myself, Week 33.

I was grateful to get a lot of support from my friends and family this week. Rick was out of town running the Ragnar Appalachians Trail Black Loop Challenge and I appreciated everyone who was willing to help me give Rhett medicine while Rick was away.

Let's review my week...

Motivation & Accountability

I lost another quarter pound this week and I finally saw some more downward movement in my bodyfat ratio. Going forward, I'm going to stop reporting my weight loss numbers. I've reached my goal, and I don't want to overemphasize the numbers on the scale in my weekly blogs. Investing in my personal wellness encompasses more than how well my clothes fit, and I'm going to try to focus more broadly in the future.

With week 33 of Real Appeal, we started the 3rd and final season of the program. We focused on ways to maintain our weight loss. Of the 10 habits listed below, the most impactful ones for me are tracking, exercising, and not eating my feelings.

Nutrition

We are enjoying some of the summer produce. Rick made tomato sauce with tomatoes from our garden, and we ate it over zucchini noodles, also from our garden. One of Rick's clients gave us some giant white peaches which are delicious.

Exercise

I ran twice this week, and I'm getting faster. I was really proud at how I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone this week and tried run/walk ratios where I was running for longer than I was walking. It's been a long time coming, and it's helping me rebuild my confidence.

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail yesterday - my uncle sent me The Complete Book of Running for Women. It's perfect timing with my running starting to improve again, and helps keep me motivated to continue that trend. Thank you, Bunny! You made my day. 

I had planned to do more yoga this week, including Yoga with Adriene's "Reclaim Your Center at-home Retreat." I realized, however, that the yoga retreat coincided with Rick's Ragnar trip. I ended up just doing the meditation parts of the retreat, and hanging out with my son instead of doing yoga in my basement gym. Maybe I'll do it another weekend.

Self-Care

My sleep is still taking a hit as I continue to get up at 5 or 5:30 so Rick & I can give Rhett medicine together before he leaves for work. I try to go back to sleep for a bit, but it's not working great. It feels like the days when Freddy was nursing and my sleep was built around his schedule. I've thought about shifting my schedule so I can just get up at 5 and start my day, but that involves shifting not only my bedtime, but Freddy's too. School starts soon, though, and it would be good for both of us to go to bed earlier again.

Realizing I couldn't easily give Rhett his medicine while Rick was away, I asked for help from my family and friends. It's hard for me to ask for help, so this was a big win for me in the "self-care" category. Josh helped me on Friday night, Susan helped me on Saturday morning, and both Marian and Lynn were willing to come help either time, too. I felt supported and grateful. Thank you!!

Rick & Karl ran all four of these trails
during the challenge

I spent a little bit of time playing by building a LEGO set that Freddy got for Christmas and said I could finish for him.

Looking Ahead

Next week I have plans to run twice, and I'm going to push myself beyond my comfort zone again like I did this week.

Work looks a bit busier than I'd like, especially mid-week. Wednesday is fully scheduled with back-to-back meetings and on Thursday we are doing training and team-building, so productive time for getting things done is a bit scarce. I'll aim to make the most of Monday & Tuesday so I can head into those days as calmly as possible, keeping in mind that Friday has some "catch-up" white space.

See you next week!