Pause.

I took a break in the program. I felt like I was so exhausted I was going to either injure myself or someone else by sheer clumsiness. I only took two days off so I'm not falling off the path...I just needed to pause and re-evaluate. Why was I so tired?

Cause 1: So I'm pretty sure everyone knows the iPhone is launching soon. Working at a wireless carrier means that I'm breathing this fact 24/7. It also means that I want to work harder, faster, and longer than normal to take advantage of the traffic coming into the store.

Cause 2: The workouts are getting longer and harder. As I mentioned before, working 9 hours a day and then another 2 hours in the gym is pretty tiring. I love working out and I love feeling strong but I also love to sleep and sit around my apartment. Matt and I calculated that I spend more time in my week at the gym then I do sitting down...yikes. I started to feel some pain in my right knee (it has occasionally emerged over the years) so I decided to go easy on the legs this week.

Cause 3: I am not eating enough calories. I am not drinking enough water. I am not eating frequently enough. The solution to this problem was to give myself some more time for to plan for these things. Yeah. Right. When?

Cause 4: I am sick of chicken.

I also started to realize other things were eating into my time like coordinating with my consulting jobs, planning trips, and planning big life changes like possibly moving... I kept having this thought that doing all this work to get fit is just taking time away from solving my real problems. So when I'm done with this huge goal that's sucking up all my time...I'll look really good... but I won't have a better job, I won't have more money, I won't know any more about what I want to do with my life, and I still won't be able to go home for Christmas.

I needed a break.

I didn't eat chicken for three days! I didn't do two of the workouts. And I bought a new pair of dress pants. They make me feel....in charge.

And so now I'm back in it to win it.

If I'm nurturing myself I should have MORE energy not less. When I look good I feel GREAT. I'm so far into this program that I can't quit now. With a little bit more effort on the diet side I will see a huge payoff in mood and energy. With only 5 weeks left, I'm over half-way there! Let's start that second wind.