Pushing Yourself, But Not Too Much

The other day I watched the toddler just hanging out in the morning. It was an unusual sight as he is usually on the go the minute he gets up and doesn't "rest" until he takes a nap. But the other day, I guess he needed a slower day...

Seeing the toddler "taking it easy" (at least for a little bit) made me think about my own life and everything that's going on right now. The last weeks have been draining physically and emotionally. Plus, work is busy again. So making time to exercise is much more of an effort; there just isn't as much time as there was in the summer, and since I feel emotionally exhausted, I often have very little energy...

In the past, when life got tough, I usually stopped exercising regularly, and I also didn't eat as well as I should have. I somehow thought that life challenges gave me permission not to take care of myself and the results weren't pretty (physically, mentally, and health-wise)... So this time when things got tough, I was determined to do things differently. I realized that I have to work out regularly because exercise actually gives me energy. I also realized that planning meals makes life easier and that eating nutritious food is the best thing I can do for my body.

For the past four weeks, I have worked out almost every day, and I have also continued to plan meals and make and eat healthy foods. And I'm proud of this!

But I have also realized that difficult times do mean that you have to slow down a bit. Missing a workout is not the end of the world, and sometimes a nap is more important than a run. Also, while making food from scratch and striving to buy the freshest and healthiest produce is a goal of mine, when things are hectic, it's okay to pick up some produce that's convenient even though it may not exactly meet all my "high standards"... Also, some processed food once in a while may not be ideal, but it's okay... Oh, and I remembered how delicious Amy's Vegetarian Lasagna is... :o)

So I guess what I've learned in the last few weeks is that making healthy choices when life gets tough isn't easy, but it can be done. (I have also realized that life is hardly ever truly easy....). And I have learned that it's okay to cut yourself some slack (but not too much)...

Question: How do you make sure you continue to make healthy choices when life gets tough?

Be well,
Andrea