Day 87: Finding My Center

Ahhh Sunday! Usually the last day of the week where, mentally at least, we start digging our heels in and bracing ourselves for the long week to come. Instead I find myself breathing a long, deep sigh of relief. It has been a long holiday weekend with family. That has meant lots of time in the kitchen, enjoying the good food of Thanksgiving, outings with the family, having guests come to stay and catering to their needs, and barely having a moment to breathe. Whew! It's no wonder that when the guests have gone and the weekend begins to wind down and I can finally catch my breath, I look forward to the quiet of the evening and the new week ahead. 

Admittedly, I got a little crabby near the end of my family's visit. I was glad to see them go. And even after the house was quiet again, I still felt a bit wound up, and chose to curl up on the couch with a hot cup of tea, a cozy quilt and a few episodes of Downton Abbey. That didn't totally cut the built-up tension I was feeling.

My husband suggested I go and meditate. At first it sounded strange. I knew he wasn't talking about the
woo-woo type meditation, but the purposeful focusing and clearing of the mind in tandem with deep breathing exercises. I have done it in the past (during massage school) so I took his advice, and went and sat in silence for 15 minutes to clear my head.

It was wonderful! The time flew by and before I knew it, my timer had gone off, and I was ready to face the rest of the evening, feeling refocused, refreshed and relaxed! 

I'm off to make my shopping list for the week.

What Am I Doing?

FOOD

Breakfast: scrambled eggs (2) turkey bacon (2) sliced pineapple and cinnamon french toast

Snack: 1 slice of cinnamon bread with some eggnog icing (oops, not the best choice)

Lunch: Quinoa sushi

Snack: a HBE 

Dinner: leftover Quinoa sushi

EXERCISE

I'm spending 30 mins on the treadmill doing interval runs and hills.

How's It Going?

After a major holiday, several weeks off from working out and then several weeks of sporadic exercise, I am up three pounds from the end of the 8 week challenge. Considering the fact that I am not necessarily focused on weight loss and that I've celebrated Thanksgiving, twice, I am actually pretty happy with that. More importantly for me, during the holidays is when my stress level goes up and my healthy eating gets off track, which equals = Crohn's flare! I am not experiencing any Crohn's symptoms currently, which is HUGE! I am very happy with things generally. I know I need to refocus and reset, and a new month means a new plan.

What helps you reset?

Thanks for much for reading all!