Heeeeeey Y’all! Not a whole ton has changed in the past week, but I’ve done some good thinking and sorting out in my head and heart. I’ve had some high highs and low lows with my mental health, and that has taken up more of my energy than I’d like, but that’s just life right now.

I’m not able to say yet, after two weeks, if the supplements I’ve recently added are making a difference, but I’m hoping that within another week or two I’ll notice a difference from the maca on some level.

I’m still not in a great place with my body image, but I’m riding it out and trying to focus on the areas that I can actually effect change, instead of on what is less under my control. With all the different factors – stress, anxiety pcos, adrenal fatigue, etc, I can’t really control my body’s speed of response, but I can continue to improve the choices I make to contribute to overall physical wellness.

One thing that I am doing that surprises me, because it feels a bit counterintuitive, is my plan for exercise. I thought about it a lot, because- Hello, thinking is what I do- and I realized that even back in my “golden” days of fitness and nutrition 5-6 years ago, I was not asking as much of my body as four 45 minute rides plus strength and yoga would ask of me. i was doing four days of full body HIIT training, but with pauses between circuits and sometimes during cardio intervals, plus a 45-60 minute walk, which was nice but not intense, and only twice a week I took a spin class. So, as much as I am not trying to replicate that time, because I am living an entirely different life now, I certainly do not need to be training SO much harder. I do love my Peloton classes, though, so I have a plan to be very kind and gentle with myself and still get to enjoy all the different types of exercise I love.

For at least the month of February I am going to stick to 20 min of strength four days a week, three 20 minute rides, two 30 minute rides, and four 30 minute yoga sessions a week, with restorative yoga on the other days. When that has been solidly working for awhile, I will increase my bike and yoga time incrementally. I’m also committing to spend 10 minutes, 3x a week each, on refining my push ups and working to be able to do pull ups. basically, for fitness, i am really trying to zero in on my actual performance goals, rather than a calorie burn. I’m trying to look at my calorie burn data only as a reminder that on days I work really hard I need to also make sure I am eating enough to fuel recovery .

Speaking of calories, I’m still working on learning to guide my food mostly with my body’s hunger cues rather than counting- calories, macros, anything. It’s a little tricky sometimes, because I don’t always feel  hungry until all of a sudden I am ravenous and less likely to make the wisest choice for my body. I think another thing that would make a big difference in this area would be having my meals- particularly lunches- prepped, so that if I am ravenous, I don’t find myself without a quick and wise option. This is one of those things I already knew, but have not put into practice well recently. Hopefully I will be able to find the juice to do so tomorrow.

Some of the less than ideal choices I found myself making this week were to eat popcorn for lunch (more than once), having Scott pick up fried chicken ( rotisserie would have been better) when I was too worn out to cook one night, and having the fried okra instead of the cole slaw as a side with my barbecue dinner last night. Oh, and maybe the half a cheese sandwich I ate with the popcorn yesterday. Now, remember that I don’t have off-limits foods, and any of those foods would be totally fine once in awhile, but I really am trying to keep my choices to 80-90% whole, nutritive foods, and the rest to just enjoying! This week, mostly due to not following through on prep, I was at closer to about 60%. That’s okay, though. There is always room to improve,and it’s not about being perfect, and rigid, and having rules, it’s about being intentional about what makes my body feel (and yes, also look) its best. I’m also trying to eat at more regular intervals so I don’t get ravenous.

I have to once again say how thankful I am to have Kelsey Heenan in my social media feeds and available via DM, because she is such a blessing, Her approach to food, exercise, pursuing goals, and loving your body in balance is just a balm in this world of THIS IS THE BEST DIET! YOU HAVE TO WORK OUT LIKE ME OR YOU WON”T GET RESULTS!!!! Check her out!

I’ll be back next week to share more, and hopefully sooner on other topics! Please let me know if I can encourage you in any way!