I have definitely been MIA as of late. Truth is, for the past year, I have been attempting to learn how to balance work-life while also attempting to get my Paleo on par.
You see, when I went Paleo, I was a stay-at-home mom and had a lot more time to commit to my lifestyle. This provided me the opportunity to make fresh meals and keep active during the day, but once I started work, all of that quickly went out the window as I took on a desk job that requires I sit for the brunt of the day and no longer had the time to prepare all of these wonderful, perfect meals that helped me feel like a human again.
And what a wonderful awesome feeling that it, especially when it is a certain reality and not just a “feeling.”
I would often talk myself out of the healthy “thing,” trying to tell myself that since I worked at a desk, I would be ok but then my energy went way down, I always wanted to sleep and was astonished to find that I head gained a whopping 30lbs since I started my job.
Even then, I let it go, telling myself I would start next week, or with my next pay check (because you know, eating healthy is sooooooo expensive!). I would make a plan, keep my grocery list low and eat the bare minimum, but then, someone would bring donuts and again, I would start over the next day – or so I would say until I ran out the door with no plan to follow.
It was a terrible cycle. As I allowed my health to slide, the fatigue, pain and weight gain increased to the point I could barely walk and had such a difficult time caring for my very active 3 year old son.
This anguish left me terribly depressed and desperate and I could tell that the whole ordeal was affecting my relationship with my son’s father as well as my son.
I won’t go into details but we did end up having a very eye-opening conversation which brought me to tears and a whole lot of hurt.
It made me realize that my illness did not just affect me, but it deeply affected the entire household and I *had* to make positive changes instead of wasting away if I wanted to save what and who I deeply loved.
Especially for my son, who had been on a mother-hating mission for some time, now.
I needed to be able to be there for him, to play with him, to care for him without fear of him getting away or getting hurt due to my inability to chase or hold him.
This was simply, all up to me, and I had to face and admit that.
This is all very personal and very raw to me. It was like admitting I had an addiction and had to own my actions.
And I did.
The following morning, I wrote down everything Paleo I had used in the past. I made a workable menu out of it. Decided I would make my meals for the week on Sundays and then freeze them for the week. While it would eat much of my day, simply, I would include my son and let him help in any way possible.
There was still the challenge of finding out how to be more active throughout each day. For starters, I would participate in an active/walking morning routine. The plan was to just keep moving as I did when I felt so great before.
Then, at lunch, I would do the same and again after work during my nightly clean-up and next day’s preparation. I would trade my efficiency for activity.
I would also keep active at my desk – moving my legs as I sat, doing push-ups on the arms of my chair, exercising my ankles and doing leg lists as I sat, as well as doing sitting “crunches.”
It may not be “ideal,” but it was certainly better than nothing.
In the coming weeks I will have this all laid out for you to use as well. The menus, the recipes, the activity and the blood and sweat of my progress.
And I hope you will join me. Let’s live the best lives we possibly can, together.
