There has been an awakening...

[Starstuff]

This year, and especially the last several months, has been rough.

 

My two living grandparents, both of whom I'm close to, are suffering from dementia, which has eaten up a lot of my time and energy as well as just being generally upsetting and stressful, especially during the holidays. I also picked up an additional awesome-but-high-workload project at work, which further cut into my time and energy reserves. We discovered that my SO's many allergies and frequent bouts of hives are the result of a salycilate intolerance, which means most fruits and veggies are a no-go for shared meals, and since I don't do most of the shopping or cooking (due to having a much busier schedule), my eating hasn't exactly been the healthiest since we found out.

 

Probably as a result of all the stress, I've been sick more this year than I can remember ever having been before. In fact, I've been not sick a grand total of two weeks since the beginning of November. I had to miss one of my planned half marathons due to illness, and I was sick for all but one of the races I ran this year. We also decided a few months ago to get serious about trying to have kids, and while my doc says I'm good to keep working out, she also said not to push myself too hard, so I've been more cautious about training while sick than I might have been in the past.

 

So, here I am, having gained back 20 pounds of the 45 I lost, with a completely inconsistent training schedule and eating habits that include enough mac-n-cheese and quesadillas that I wouldn't be surprised to find out I'm single-handedly keeping Kraft in business. I've also started drinking diet soda regularly again, a habit I thought I kicked years ago. Oof.

 

But you know what? I am done with this crap. I miss being active, and I miss doing things I enjoy. Plus, if I'm going to be a mom in the near future, I need to get my butt in gear so I can set a good example for my kid(s), both in terms of fitness and in terms of making fun and play a priority in our lives. And, I must admit, I was pretty inspired by the new Star Wars movie (you might have noticed the new user icon) and the awesomeness that is Chloe Bruce's stunt work.

 

With the holidays and (knock on wood) my winter colds behind me, I'm ready to dive back in, and I'm looking forward to jumping into the Challenge starting on Monday. I think I'm going to spend this Challenge focusing on getting back to basics and also figuring out what my long-term goals are, since they certainly aren't the same as they were when I joined NF 3+ years ago, but I haven't exactly been great about updating them (which has probably contributed to my iffy training, to be honest). I'll always love running, but I'm thinking maybe it's time to branch out a bit, too. I haven't touched my poi in a while, and I've been thinking I might want to pick up contact staff. Maybe my future is as a Scout-sassin? I look forward to finding out.

[Kes]

So, setting out a new thread for this challenge period?

 

Do you have a plan for addressing the household food issue? That sounds like a tough one!

[Starstuff]

As far as food goes, we bought some big bags of my favorite frozen veggies, so I've got those for quick breakfast and lunch options, and we're going to spend some time this weekend updating our planned dinners list. Before the whole salycilate issue came up, we had a pretty nice meal plan going, with different planned meals 5 nights of the week (with one night open for date night and another that we usually spend with friends or family), and I think if we can revamp that to work with SO's new restrictions, we can get back on track.