Monday, August 27, 2012

Stress, deadlines and personal avoidance

I don't know what's been quieter the last few weeks: my blog or my fitness routine.  Stymied by a major launch of a corporate website and resulting sleepless nights of worrying, I've come completely off-kilter.

My stress levels? Through the roof? My dietary habits? Not so great. And exercise? Lost to mornings of desperate attempts at catching up on sleep. This past week, as we got through major hurdles with our site, I came home over-caffeinated, over-stressed and under-nourished. Oh, we munched, just not on healthful choices. And I confess to more than one evening of carryout pizza or chicken nuggets.

Friday night, I made my kids a pack of mac and cheese and collapsed in the arm chair. I made it five minutes into a self-declared movie night.

Saturday, I was still worn out. We purposely stayed at home and I recharged, working slowly on household projects but not overexerting myself.

Yesterday, I was asleep by 9 and woke up 10 hours later. It was a beautiful thing.

Today, however, is a new day. I may have woken up late, but I did so with a renewed attitude. I added water to my meals, incorporated produce into my dinner and took the kids for a mile-long walk before bedtime.

Tomorrow, we have soccer practice, an excuse for one-on-one ball-kicking and conversations with my daughter while my son practices on the field. It may not be hard-core, it may not be the most intensive of workouts, but the important thing is I combine one thing I care most about with another thing I want to care more about: my family and my health.

Life will be stressful, and there's no guarantees, but you can only live so long in crisis mode.

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