Cry Me a River

I’ve had a tough week (more on that later) and I am so happy Friday has finally arrived.

Before I get into what went wrong this week, let’s start with what went right. As usual, I planned my meals and workouts ahead of time and, once again, this helped me have a successful week.  

The week in exercise:

Sunday	Tempo Run (10 km)
Monday	Body Pump
Tuesday	Body Attack
Wednesday	Easy Run (3 km)
Thursday	Body Pump
Friday	Rest

My only slight setback was that I screwed up my training schedule this week. I was supposed to do two Easy Runs but I only managed one. Oh well. I’ll be finishing my week off with a long run (15 km!) tomorrow.

The week in meals:

Monday – Grilled Steak with Papaya and Carrot Salsa and Avocado

Tuesday – Pork Chop Casserole with Egg Noodles

Wednesday – Soba Noodles with Tofu and Vegetables

Thursday – Panko Chicken and Baked Sweet Potato Fries

And now for the whining…

I’m not a fan of whiners. I’m especially not a fan of whiners who constantly bitch about their problems but do nothing to better their circumstances.

The thing is, whining only makes things worse; voicing the same negative feelings over and over again (“I hate my job,” “I’m too tired to exercise,” “I don’t have time to cook,” “work is so stressful”) transforms these problems into an inescapable reality as opposed to temporary obstacles that you can overcome with a bit of effort. So while you definitely shouldn’t ignore or bottle up negative emotions, don’t bother whining unless you’re willing to develop and implement an action plan to change things.

That being said, I did not have a great week and I want to take this time to reflect on what went wrong and what I can do next week to make things better. 

Problem: I didn’t sleep well

Sleep is a big deal to me. I need at least seven hours of it or else I pretty much hate the world. The problem is, I’m a very habitual sleeper – during the week, I like to sleep at the same time and wake up at the same time and any disruptions to my weekday sleeping patterns wreak havoc on my system.

This week, I forced myself to wake up earlier than usual to work out. Bad idea. Knowing I had to wake up extra early the next morning made me anxious the night before, which prevented me from getting a good rest on those nights (seriously, I am a little bit insane when it comes to sleeping).

Solution: Ditch the morning workouts

Waking up before 6 a.m. to work out is just not my thing. I don’t know why I even attempted that nonsense. It’s like I had to prove to myself that I could do it if I absolutely had to. Well, guess what? I don’t have to. Even with full-time hours, I still have plenty of time in the evenings to work out so why torture myself in the mornings when I don’t have to?

Problem: Inability to relax after work

I am no good at unwinding after a hectic day. Every evening, as I was driving home from work, I thought to myself: “I can’t wait to do nothing for the rest of the night.” Then, within an hour of finishing dinner, I was ready to pull my hair out from boredom. I don’t really watch TV and I don’t like browsing the web at night (the last thing I want to do after sitting in front of a computer all day is come home and sit in front of another screen). Reading makes me sleepy so I usually don’t read until I’m ready for bed, so what’s a girl to do in the meantime?

Solution: Stick with evening workouts

I was in a much better mood on days where I went to the gym in the evening. It feels great to move after sitting down all day, the classes are late enough that I still have time to go home and enjoy a good meal after work and when the classes are over, I’m pleasantly tired and ready to sleep. Then I get to wake up in the morning, enjoy my breakfast, blog and even do a little more reading before I get to work – this puts me in a much better mood than rushing all morning just so I can squeeze in a workout.

Problem: Migraines

I usually get hit with migraines a few times a month, usually all within the span of a week. This week was one of those weeks.

Solution: Keep a migraine log

By keeping track of my migraines, maybe I’ll be able to figure out what triggers them (I think it’s the weather) and have an attack plan ready for when they’re about to strike.

Problem: Overall grouchiness

I found myself grouchier than usual this week, probably because I was tired and migraine-y all week. I’m usually a pretty upbeat and cheerful person and I definitely do not want to turn into one of those perpetually harassed types who cuts people off in traffic and yells at grocery store cashiers (I used to be a grocery store cashier and let me tell you — those people suck!)

Solution: Appreciate the little things

Once I realized I was being a grouchy pants, I tried to find little things to cheer me up (like the fact that the girl at Starbucks accidentally gave me a Grande yesterday even though I paid for a Tall).

And when these little perks don’t cut it, I think of the bigger picture – the fact that I’m young, healthy, employed and have a loving family, a boyfriend who loves and supports me, a great group of friends, etc. When you look at your life in terms of all of the great things you have, it’s hard to get grouchy over something as silly as a few nights of disrupted sleep or a headache.