Coming out of the holidays, I found myself feeling under the weather. It is so hard to stay on track when we aren’t feeling well. Our body needs rest and we want to keep pushing, but rest is what we need. I’ve learned that our body knows best what it needs, if we choose to listen. This time, I chose to listen.
I was in bed for a week with the flu at the holidays. Initially, I wasn’t hungry at all. After, I was so hungry that I found myself craving foods I haven’t been eating, think pizza, pasta and snacks. In the past, this time of year was always when I went down the rabbit hole, beat myself up for being lazy and gave up. If I look deeply at my health journey, I see the patterns so clearly. Spring and Summer, highly active periods with good habits, motivation and weight loss. Fall holding steady. Winter lower energy period with weight gains and loss of interest in healthy habits. When I was young, I used to call it my hibernation period during which I needed the extra weight to get through. It just became the normal flow of my life.
If you’ve been following my journey, you know how central being outside in nature is to it. I believe strongly that being outdoors has helped me physically and emotionally. I realize now that the patterns I’ve cycled through each year, make perfect sense as part of the cycles of nature where I live. It is normal for me to have slightly less energy during the wintering period. Knowing this helps me feel better about myself, but I want to be clear it doesn’t give me a pass to give up on my healthy habits, which is what I have done every year.
I recently read a quote that said, if you want different results, you have to do something different. Common sense for sure, but research shows habits are hard to change. For me, I’m keeping it simple this year. I am holding on as best I can. I wake up each morning with good intentions and a plan.
- I drink my healthy morning shake no matter how I feel, or what I did or didn’t do the day before.
- I try to eat healthy foods, but allow myself forgiveness if I veer off course.
- I move my body every day, rain or shine no less than 30 minutes a day outside in nature.
- I get at least 8 hours of sleep and try to maintain my sleep schedule.
- I found an indoor space so I can continue to play pickleball four times a week.
- I am now back in the gym lifting light weights at least twice a week.
The best advice I can give is to hold on tight to the goal of a healthy life. It is the most important work we will ever engage in. It’s truly easier to give up, hibernate an just give up. That will only leave us back at it in the Spring and redoing what we have done each year. This year, I hope to start my high energy period in much better health space than any year before. I hope you will join me in that goal. In order to do that, take some time to reflect on your health patterns across the year. What do you notice? What does that mean for you at this moment in time? Most importantly, what will you commit to do this year?
Please let me know what you decide and how it goes. Sharing your journey will help us all to learn and grow. Leave a comment below, visit me on Instagram or email me at laurakump@reclaiminghealthblog.com . I look forward to learning together.
Reclaiming My Health 