Carb-loading, see-food eating, after last blog's big walk around the lake. It was "only" 2.2 miles, but it's farther than I had been walking on the regular, and you'd think I'd run a marathon or something!
I do know better, but I didn't behave better, and I grumbled in my dark-cloud of self for a few days.
Anyway, Wednesday morning I started to pull myself out of it. Sunshine helped. Mild temperatures. A sister who came over to drag me out of my shell. All those things help.
To be honest, I've had episodes like this my whole life... I'll be super productive and feel like I'm making great progress, and then... "crash and burn"... "fall off the wagon"... "retreat into my cave"... pick your favorite phrase. When I was a teenager, I would feel terrible about this and think I was a hopeless case. I would have new hope with each productive phase and then horrible guilt feelings when the down times came.
I got nicer to myself as I started to understand these cycles, later in life. Letting go of perfectionism is not easy, but it is so worth it. When you feel like you might be letting people down while you soak through a mood, well, it can be discouraging in more than one way.
Patience does bring a renewal. I do believe that my default mood is an upbeat one, but I also know that there will be these times of not so much.
This particular one? I had been intermittent fasting for 99 days, and I tossed that out the window for three. Well, if I can be consistent for 99 days and only have 3 before getting myself back to myself, I'd say statistically, I'm doing OK.
How about y'all? Do you have swings in behavior and mood? Are you quick to forgive yourself and recover? Do you expect that down times will come, and prepare for them?
Meanwhile, do the best you can, right where you are, one day at a time, and we will go on... because Life is Good! Even if it has times of resting in the fallow field. Spark on!
✨💖🔥
For many year now, my goal is to have more good days than not so good days. With that goal in mind, I'd say that 99/3 is a win/win. If you don't have those not so good days, how can you appreciate the good ones? Grateful for your return. 😊
ReplyDeleteGood point, and good attitude. Hope to keep recovering, started well with Wednesday walk and Thursday trainer session. Ankle behaved for both.
DeleteGreat pic of you and your sister!
ReplyDeleteI periodically "run out of steam" and must take a rest break to recharge (first became aware of this in my 20's). Today is Day #3 of being back on track for eating to control my blood sugar which has been slowly creeping up with a 'MEH' attitude on my part.
Good for you for getting back to IF so quickly.
Our 72-hrs without electricity last week sure disrupted plans. We had ice storms and freezing weather that caused many overhead power lines and poles to snap. Ours lines are underground but apparently they way power stations are connected this affected us also. There are still a lot of folks without power. A precharged charger bank was a welcome purchase at the beginning of Day 3.
Keep On Keeping On (KOKO) was one of the first messages posted on SP for me by a person welcoming me to the site.
Sorry about those 72 hours! Yikes. Glad you've got it back, and that you managed to score that precharged charger!
DeleteGlad you had Ace to get you out!
ReplyDeleteThese dark, cold, sunless days take their toll! Winter is not my best season!
Glad you (and your sis) were able to navigate this mood and slowly find a way out! No fun.
Life is a roller coaster. The trick is to hang on tight!
Hugs
Barb
1crazydog
It's a blessing for us both to have "sister time" and activity!
DeleteI can soooo relate to everything you said…! Perfectionism, crash and burn, a long streak of successes and then a few days of less than ideal…yup…it’s me you’re talking about, as well!! By the way, your 99 days of IF is far superior to anything I have achieved in that arena.
ReplyDeleteThe good news for both of us is that we do not give up…we eventually make the turn to head back in the right direction. (Karen) Eissa7
Thanks. The trick is getting that turn-around as soon as possible!
DeleteYes, it's horrible when those days hit. If feels like being swallowed up and you're trying to get out. glad that your sister was there to help pull you out of the funk.
ReplyDeleteAnd you may not even feel like trying! Amen, glad my sis's regular walk day came up!
DeleteYup, me too. Now I tell myself, as I put things back the way I like them, one (or two) days out of the year is not going to mess up a life. Wish I was able to do that in my youth but as the saying goes 'we get too soon old and too late smart.' Now I understand why the seniors in my life were trying to tell me this. They got it and only wanted to share the wisdom but youth will never listen.
ReplyDeleteLOL... so right... young me would never have quite got the message. She wanted to be perfect and never slip, and if she did she was an abject failure in her own mind. Silly girl!
DeleteSounds familiar. I'm an 'every day can be day one" person. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off...sing along.
ReplyDeleteIf preparation can be called acceptance, I'm there. My forays into excessive eating can be quite hazardous. This last bout started at baking time in November and ended when the last piece of homemade bread was toasted at Christmas. I got over myself shortly thereafter and started eating right...again. No smacking myself down, just honest appraisal of what went wrong, and right and a good talking to myself that started me into better eating, again. Perhaps that's why I've maintained this weight for so long. That's a story for another day....
Yep, sometimes it takes the "feeling yucky" to turn one back onto the right track!
DeleteBTW, don't you ladies look happy!
ReplyDeleteLOL... sister love, fueled by endorphins!
DeleteDidn’t want to comment because I would have to admit my own fall “off the wagon”. I call it a Pity Party because it boils down to feeling sorry for myself; poor me. I felt the helplessness for the people of Turkey & Syria - Pity Party. I know no one personally, mind you, yet it weighs SO heavy on me.
ReplyDeleteA week of no appointments/obligations coming, I’m hoping to keep myself together and not give in to the left over Valentines junk mid-week; I’ll call that Self-Love.
-RunKeeper Dee
(Love that Ace posted the pic on RunKeeper)
I understand, completely... those of us who are deeply affected by what we see happening around the world. I often think of the citizens, normal people trying to live their lives, in so many places around the world, affected by earthquakes, floods, wars, famine... our "first world problems" seem so small by comparison! Going down in spiral of our own woes certainly won't help others! Failure to take care of ourselves won't do anything to help them.
DeleteHope you have a blessed Sunday and a good start to the new week. Oh, and yes, I stole that picture from Runkeeper! LOL!
Earthquakes, floods & other Mother Nature caused events are tough in our First World lives, my mind spirals multiplying things when it happens in the Third World areas.
Delete💖
DeleteResistance is futile; we are human. Glad to hear the ankle behaved! Easy did it on my distance today - thought of you, the beautiful lake, and the darned ankle. My hip is thanking me ( that I didn’t overdo). ❤️ Ace
ReplyDeleteGlad you took it easy on that hip, too.
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