When I was working with my lifecoach, one thing she stressed was Extreme Self Care. When I first came across this idea in her first book, I thought that I did this. I should mention that I first read that book in 2002 (the original… she’s published an updated version since). As time has gone on, I’ve realized that in some sense, I have done this, but in many ways I’ve come up very short.
12 days ago, Bill left for an overseas business trip. I was bound and determined to make our time apart a self-care mini vaca! I planned to spend the two weeks we would be apart doing things that were all about me… working out, trying new recipes, spending time with my friends, etc.
The first night was fantastic. I went down to my neighbors house to hang out with her and another girlfriend. Their kids were there an in addition the fun conversation and lots of wine, we made s’mores over the fire. Well, they did! I opted to stick to my eating plan.
I had predetermined that my first day off I would do nothing. And I meant NOTHING. I would lay around and read, watch movies and nap. I was *almost* successful. I did get outside and work in the yard for an hour. Then I came in and spent the rest of the day being extremely lazy. It was wonderful, and also hard. I had to discipline myself to not start a load of laundry, tidy up, or do any of the other dozen things I felt like I should be doing. It ended up being blissful!
Sunday morning I got up and began my workouts. The plan was to workout every day until Bill came back. Remind me again what they say about “best laid plans”? Right. Well, that day went well. I did laundry, grocery shopped, prepped my food and lunch for the week. It was perfect.
Monday I got up and worked out before heading in to the office. But during the afternoon the scratchy throat and coughing began. I brushed it off to the weather changes, burning myself out (the previous week had been very hectic) and every other excuse I could come up with so I could be in denial about what was really going on.
When I woke up Tuesday morning, I knew. I had the flu.
Out the door went my workouts and everything else I had intended on doing during my self-care mini vaca. That was just over a week ago. This past weekend was a complete wash as I spent 90% of it in bed with a fever. On Monday I went to the office because I was feeling better but was sent home after 2.5 hours because I looked and sounded miserable.
Needless to say, I have not exercised in over a week and I have done almost zero cooking for myself. Thankfully Bill loves his foodsaver and has our freezer stocked. There were plenty of meals in there ready to go for dinner.
After I left the office Monday, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up what I needed to make some soup. I had made the Easy Clear Onion Soup from Inspiralized in January when we ate vegan for the month and remembered how much I loved it. I just love it because it’s the perfect comfort food. Usually my go-to recipe when I wouldn’t be feeling well was this one, but that was in my pre-PHPT days.
Thankfully now I am on the upswing and will be 100% for Bill’s return and the other fun things we have planned for this weekend including going to see my neighbor and her husband perform in this!
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