Skip to main content

Progress, Not Perfection

Throughout my weightloss and wellness journey, and especially after discovering Intermittent Fasting, my go-to phrase has become, "I am human."

It's something that's said a LOT in my IF groups.

We spend our lives seeing other's highlight reels and it's hard to remember that EVERYONE is going through their own struggles.

"I am human," is a mantra that I've adopted to remind myself that no one is perfect, least of all me, and that's ok!

We weren't meant to be perfect.

I forget friend's birthdays or anniversaries...

I have days where my diet is less than balanced...

I have sleepless nights where my brain won't turn off and I'm consumed with the stress of adulthood...

I have days where I don't check everything off my to-do list...

I have days where I'm exhausted, sick, overwhelmed or anxious.

For me, yesterday was definitely a human day.

I'm not sure exactly what happened.

I woke up early and felt great, but as I went through my typical routine, I started getting a terrible headache.

Now, headaches are nothing new for me. I've suffered from them every day since I was in sixth grade. Headaches are not a big deal.

Plus, I had things to do!! Emails, phone calls, laundry and dishes...

I kept plugging away and the headache kept getting worse.

Maybe it was from my hair being up for too long, since I like to wear it that way while I'm working..

So, I took my hair down, but the pain grew.

Then I thought maybe it was a hunger headache from fasting. They don't happen often, but occasionally they do.

The last thing I wanted was to break my fast early after not fasting this past weekend, but the headache was getting worse and I couldn't just ignore it any longer.

My body was trying to tell me something. It needed something I was not giving it.

I broke my fast early, got myself some food. The headache remained.

Okay, fine. I took pain relievers and decided to just sit and rest for a while.

The headache was threatening to turn into a migraine and now my stomach was acting up.

What in the world was happening??

I ate a little something more, worse. I had some tea, worse. I took more pain relievers...you get the idea.

I was trying to listen to my body, but everything I tried was making it worse and I was running out of ideas.

That's when the lightbulb went off. The one thing I had been depriving my body of for almost a week...actual sleep!

With stress and travel and spending time with family and friends, I had definitely been short-changing myself in the sleep department.

So, I just went to bed.

And guess what, today I woke up feeling so much better...shocker right?

Past me, perfectionist me, would've ignored my body and kept going. I probably would've woken up today feeling worse...

I'm taking yesterday as a reminder that I am not Superwoman. I am not infallible. I have needs. I will have more bad days in the future. I am only human.

My journey isn't just about weight loss, it's about learning to take care of myself...and it's a constant work in progress.

Progress, not perfection. That's the goal...even if I need a good reminder from time to time.

We are human,

Carly









Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I Slept Funny And Now I'm Dying

Okay, maybe not "dying," but omg. I woke up and realized it hurts to turn my head. TURN MY HEAD.  I have such a massive knot in the left side of my neck, it would make a sea captain proud...or at least my old Girl Scout troop leader. And why, you ask? Why am I in such horrendous pain? What is the cause of this completely over-dramatic post?  I flipping SLEPT WRONG.  Seriously. My neck hurts, because I apparently slept standing on my head while breakdancing. That's the only position I can think of that would make any sense for how I'm feeling right now. I really don't mind aging, I just mind the "my body is falling apart" part of aging. As a kid, I could sleep on just a blanket on a concrete floor with no pillow and wake up the next day feeling AWESOME. Now, I basically need to have a heating pad on top of a Tempurpedic on top of another Tempurpedic on top of a fluffy cloud just to wake up feeling like I may've been human at on

Covid-19: A Message From A Front Line Health Care Worker

Hello friends, I hope this message finds you well.  Through out the recent weeks, and the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic, I have been struggling on what to say.  I have been trying to keep a positive outlook, telling myself that we'll be okay. That everything will go back to normal eventually, but as we've seen, so much changes from day to day that it's hard to know what the future holds right now. It's scary. It can be overwhelming. We've never seen anything like this. Some of us are in major hotspots and some, thankfully, are in more sheltered pockets. The reality of the situation is that we are all affected. I am writing this from my home office, a place that I have spent much much more time in recently, especially in the wake of the governor of Colorado, Jared Polis' stay-at-home orders. Being that I am a member of the media, I have been deemed "essential." Like many of us, I have special documentation from Washington, D.C. that

I Tried Those "Easy" Nail Polish Strips And Here's What Happened

I am a low maintenance person. I love all the hair and makeup products. I wish I could be one of those women who always looks airbrushed and flawless with that perfect winged eye liner and just the right shade of lipstick, but that's just not me and I've learned to accept that.  I typically don't have the patience for a full, daily beauty routine as I'm trying to rush out the door, especially when it comes to my poor nails. Whenever a special event or holiday rolls around, I have the best intentions to get a manicure or at least take the time to polish and sculpt my nails, but it usually doesn't happen. I get busy trying to get my hair to cooperate, or not get liquid liner EVERYWHERE, or finish packing to leave, or cleaning if guests are coming, so the nails get put on the back burner. If by some MIRACLE of time management, through no fault of my own, I actually get them painted, without fail, I'll remember something else that needs doing and, no