My body crapped out on me. Just full on gave up last week.
First came the achey, flu-like symptoms. Complete with chills followed by unexplainable hot flashes. Lather, rinse and repeat. And then came the hives. Itchy, hot, red welts covering my body. For reasons I still don’t know.
All I know is my body was angry with me. And I don’t blame it. For someone that spends most of their time writing, ‘graming and talking about wellness, I haven’t been the poster gal for wellness these days.
This semester has been… rough.
I knew I was creeping towards burn out, I just hoped it would happen once the semester was over.
Sleep hasn’t been a priority of mine. I’ll do a full write-up on my experience wearing a FitBit for a few weeks soon. But I’ll tell ya, the most eye opening part was realizing how little I sleep. I’ve never prioritized sleep — I like to think I can function just fine on less than 6 hours of sleep. But holy crap, actually seeing how little I was sleeping? Disturbing.
Food has been hit miss. I’m aware that my idea of eating crappy ain’t exactly crappy. It’s not like I’ve been living off Mickey D’s and dollar menus. I’ve been cooking even less than usual (and I barely cooked to begin with!) and skimping on breakfast for the sake of convenience.
Caffeine has become it’s own food group. And I’m not proud of it. Afternoon lattes have become a necessity to keep me going.
My body has been talking to me, and I haven’t been listening. First was the cough that lasted over two months. Then I got a cold when the seasons changed. And then last week — whatever weird sickness gives you flu-like symptoms and welts all over your body.
Taking My Own Advice
Okay, so the semester is almost over. I’m getting a little break from school work. My internship is ending which means I’ll no longer have to go to work at 9:00AM so no more 6:00AM workouts.
Schedule changing or not, it’s time I start taking my own advice.
► Prioritize Sleep.
Sleeping 6 hours a night is not enough. I’m not superwoman, I don’t know why I think I’m some freak that doesn’t need sleep.
I’m aiming for 7 hours of sleep a night — still not great, but way more than what I’ve been getting.
► Eat Breakfast.
A Luna bar is not breakfast. As the weather gets warmer I’m excited to bring back smoothie bowls and vegan yogurt bowls. And yeah I’ll probably still have a Luna bar as a quick pre-workout breakfast, but then I gotta follow it up afterward with real breakfast.
► Stop abusing caffeine.
I treat caffeine like crack. I like to think of my mid-afternoon latte as Go Go Juice and use the energy jolt to power through as much work as humanly possible with laser focus. I’m trying to cut out my afternoon latte — unless I’m really struggling.
► Realize I can’t do everything.
Saying no is so freaking hard. But I can’t go to every event and still have time for homework. I’ve also been trying to cut myself some slack when it comes to blogging. It sucks to have to prioritize things I dislike — I’m looking at YOU research paper — and not get to do the things I love — blogging and writing.
Your turn: Are you taking your own advice when it comes to health + wellness?
Green tea could help you in the process to replace that afternoon latte. It works for me and after a month I stopped craving coffee. I know a month sounds like a long time, but I’m so happy I did it, coffee used to be my breakfast and lunch.
Good luck and feel better!
I need to be better about drinking more tea — I don’t think a starbucks matcha latte quite counts as tea.
ugh, i’m sorry this semester has been so rough, but freedom is just around the corner! i know that feeling.
my schedule goes in waves too, and about a month ago i was feeling super similarly to you! i got hooked on that second cup of coffee, was definitely not taking care of myself, and was totally overbooking my schedule. it took some pretty serious stomach issues for me to be like okay, SLOW THE F DOWN GIRL, and i’m slowly starting to get into a routine that is so much better for my health! it’s easier said than done, but it is possible. and know too, that having a luna bar for breakfast every once in awhile or having a night with less sleep isn’t the worst thing in the world!
Why is slowing down SO hard?!?
Love this post and this reminder! Do as I say not as I do is SO true and GIRL – EAT BREAKFAST!! 🙂
I know, I know 🙈 Smoothie bowl season I’m so excited for ya!
Grrrr I’m on the same page with you, girl! Not enough sleep, too much coffee, and too much stress… I really need to get my act together and start living a healthier life… Well, at least I workout regularly! LOL
http://stylesprinter.com/
Ugh it’s such a rough vicious cycle!
You got this! I totally agree on the Fitbit and how depressing it is to see your sleep stats! When I feel super exhausted, I’ll see my average for the week and realize that my average is less than 6 and it’s like girl, you need sleep.
BTW you can also set up your Fitbit to have a goal of 7 hours of sleep.
Oh man it was such a shock! In my head I had been rounding up to 6 hours “Hmmm if I go to bed at midnight and wake up at 5:30pm that’s like…. 6 hours right?”
I have to play around with the FitBit settings — I’m still figuring it out!
Hey girl,
Izabel from your ex-marketing class. Remembered that you have blog and decided to check it out. Really enjoyed reading it and I feel exactly same. Those finals are killers and I barely get any sleep. Get some sleep girl, we really need it)
Hey! Hope you’re having a good semester. We’re in the homestretch! Thanks for stopping by and good luck on any finals and projects you have!