In the winter I always fall into a funk. I’m a creature that thrives in the light and these long winter days don’t do me any favors.
It doesn’t start out as a funk, but it develops easily over the fall. It starts out with holidays that revolve around eating. First there’s Halloween. The weather is colder and it’s completely acceptable to eat candy until you feel sick and then some. I don’t need an excuse to eat Milky Way bars excessively as many people know.
Then there’s Thanksgiving. A holiday where you’re expected to eat three times your weight in delicious food and hang out with people who make you happy.
Not far along after is Christmas. And it’s not just the holiday itself, it’s the whole season of cookies, parties, and general merriment.
New Year’s Eve isn’t better. Champagne flows easily and it feels like I’m trying to eat all the junk food I can before resolutions start the next day.
I don’t usually have a problem bouncing back. I hate feeling bloated and lethargic, so usually January is a welcome change to approximately three months of indulging. My habits of cooking healthy food and working out regularly come back quickly and I look ahead a the new year feeling optimistic.
This year is different. I’m not saying I’m not optimistic about 2016, I am. I just don’t have good habits to fall back into. We are working longer hours than ever, and once we get home we’ve hardly wanted to do anything let alone cook or work out. We just eat leftovers or make spaghetti and relax while the dogs run themselves into the ground. It’s nice, but it hasn’t helped me feel any better.
So this January I’ve had to fake it. I’ve had to force myself out of bed at 5:45 a.m. to the sound of Taylor Swift’s “Style,” trudge downstairs and put in a workout video. I’ve had to force myself to come home and cook stir fry or cauliflower crust pizza so we aren’t eating the same five things over and over.
It’s getting better. It takes 21 days to form a habit as they say. I’ll just have to fake it ’til I make it.
Thanks for sharing. I enjoy reading about your adventures. You’ve inspired me with fake it till you make it! I have been trying to get back into an exercise routine. Take care!