Quarantine Day: 167
Hello Beautiful People,
So it's been a while. It's been almost 5 months since my last post. I mean even the format of the blog dashboard page has changed. Wow. Five months. I really didn't expect it to be this long. I even have a post started about our glorious day in Jamaica. I just didn't get to it yet. Let's catch up.
I was doing my best for the first couple of months. Preschool was closed and I was not meeting clients in person so that meant a lot of time on my hands. That could be a good thing if you have a lot of things on your "To Do" list. However, it can also be paralyzing from anxiety and depression. To hold off the depression I started keeping a daily journal. At first, it was a record of my step count and workouts. Then I added a meal journal to it. And I know you know how this feels, but days have been blending into one another so I also kept track of any accomplishments from the day. I kept the workout journal to keep myself on track and to see my progress. I added the meal journal to make sure that I maintained a healthy and balanced daily diet. And I added the accomplishments to make excited about each day. I have made an effort to make sure that one day a week is a self-care day. I may not be doing my hair or dressing up every day, but I don't want to feel like a slug. So once a week I have a day where I give myself a facial and a Mani/Pedi.
I have really been trying to look at the positive side of this. How many times do we say "If I just had a free week I could get so much done!" Well, I have been given over 5 months of free weeks. But, when we say that I don't think we factor in a worldwide pandemic and the unknowns/uncertainties that come with that.
It's hard to talk about what I feel. So many of my friends and family are so busy and are super stressed about keeping their family safe and sane. They are working from home while trying to occupy their kids. I understand that's a lot to juggle, so how fair is it to complain when I have none of that? But, it's lonely. I'm a people person. I thrive around people. I'm a hugger and having no human contact for so long is upsetting. I did get a couple of hugs on some trips to see my mom and a friend's wedding, but that's not enough to live on. Please don't misunderstand, I am happy to hunker down as long as it takes for it to be safe. I am in no hurry to jump back into pre-pandemic life. I got a new Fitbit for my birthday back in May and it continually reads my heart rate. I know what my resting heart rate is. I have been checking it regularly during different situations. If I am outside in the heat it goes up 10 beats. If I am around a group of friends it goes up 20 beats. Since we only see each other outside it's in the heat right now. So if I'm around people for extended periods of time my heart rate is up 30 beats per minute. That's a lot of stress on the body.
I was lucky to receive a paycheck for most of the time. My income was not the same, but not going anywhere helps. We had hoped to have preschool open next month, but that's not the case. That income is lost. And so I have several more months of uncertainty ahead of myself. That's not great for the anxiety and it really doesn't help with the sleep. I still set my alarm early every day, but falling asleep isn't always easy. When I first started really pushing my workouts it helped me fall asleep easier, but that's not the case anymore. Grr.
To help relieve the stress I started leading a stretching class through zoom for some family and friends from church. I lead it two mornings a week and it's been so great. I'm doing something that I love. I'm seeing and interacting with friendly faces. And I'm helping people that I care about. It's been a struggle though. I know that lots of people are doing online classes, but that's now what I'm trained to do. I'm trained to be there. I'm trained to know you and your body. I'm trained for safety. So not being able to see everybody all of the time and not be there to correct form is hard. It does feed my soul though so we've added a couple more days.
Another thing that feeds my soul is cooking. I have loved making new recipes and having the extra food time prep. During one of my trips up to see my mom, we took a virtual cooking class. We learned how to make Pad Thai Chicken. Oh my goodness that was fantastic. We used fake chicken, in case you were wondering. Haha. Yes, I'm still a vegetarian. It's been over two years and I am still loving it.
One of the projects that I have been working on is re-writing and organizing my study notebooks. I know that sounds crazy and I won't even try to defend it because it only makes me seem crazy. But, I had always had ideas of blogging after each class to share that knowledge. And so that's the new plan. I'm going to blog about my classes. I'm going to blog about my food. And I'm going to up my social media game. If you haven't checked out my Facebook page please do: https://www.facebook.com/ConfessionsOfAFormerFatGir
I have been lax about that. So let's get excited. Woo Woo. I have a schedule now. I have blogs on my calendar. I have recipes on my calendar. It's a hopeful routine and I hope you will join me for the ride.
Before I log off for the day, let me share a picture. At the beginning of the summer I went up to visit mom and we ventured out to a Lavender Farm for the morning. It was beautiful and relaxing. I would love to go again.
See you soon :-)
Have a Blessed Evening,
Jennie
xoxo
If you feel like you are alone on your journey and you just need some encouragement I am here for you! Shoot me an email and I will do my best to check in on you or give you the words of support you need several times a week. The journey is so much easier if you have support.
jhendersonfit@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/ConfessionsOfAFormerFatGir
yeah, sorry, I messed up and the "l" is missing....I need an assistant :-)
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Instagram: Jennie5973
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