Last Day
Some months fly by in a blink; September crawled by slower than molasses in the middle of winter. I was begging for the month to be over. Knowing that a) this was going to be an emotionally charged and busier-than-usual month due to my mom starting chemo and, b) I had been feeling completely overwhelmed by everything and allowing myself to fall into unhealthy patterns (like eating chocolate daily and not exercising,) I decided to create the I’m Too Busy to Take Care of Myself Challenge.
My hope was that by taking baby steps each day towards a healthy lifestyle I would feel empowered to get back into fitness. While some challenges included typical things you might find in a fitness magazine (#3- Prep Healthy Food, #18 -Do a Leg Workout, #21 – Drink 8 Glasses of Water) other tasks were designed to bring a busy life into balance (#16- Ask your Family to Help with Housework, #15- Go on a Date, #9 – Do Something Nice for Yourself.)
While endeavoring to complete these goals, it seemed as though the universe was constantly trying to derail my efforts by throwing curve balls at me. I felt like Bad Luck Brian.
Like when I was driving to my pole dance class, the one thing I had been forward to all week, and I got rear-ended while stopped at a red light at the corner of Wells Branch and Surrender Avenue. (For real.) A week later, the exact same accident, rear-ended while stopped at a red light, happened to my husband. In between taking my mom to all her biopsies, lung fluid drainage, port installations for IV, physical therapy and chemo treatments, I found out that the oddly shaped mole I just had removed from my face was actually basal cell carcinoma, which is a low-grade type of skin cancer. While it’s easily treated (the doctor just cuts it off) it’s also the last thing I wanted to deal with this month. Or, you know, ever.
Despite my luck only being the bad kind, I actually managed to do most of the challenges, even though I didn’t always have the time to blog about it daily. The #toobusychallenge reminded me that if I can arrange my schedule to care for everyone else, I can prioritize my own health and wellness needs too, even if it’s just a 10 minute walk. By focusing on all the things I could do, it motivated me to get to the gym at least three, sometimes four, times a week, and it helped me to eat fewer comfort foods than I had last month. Although I still don’t fit into my skinny jeans *sigh* I did lose one pound, which motivates me to stick with clean eating and exercise.
The challenge served it’s purpose – I’m ready to get back in the game.
Goals for October
- Get clean eating back on track. Develop strategies to deal with emotional eating.
- Focus on arms this month. When I go to watch the Texas State Naturals on October 25 (a local natural bodybuilding competition) it would be great to wear a sleeveless shirt with confidence.
That’s it for me. Thanks to everyone else who joined the challenge with me. I hope you got something out of it too 😉 What about you? What are your goals for next month?
Lisa 
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