True Believers! You may ask where I was last week with this blog and I have a valid answer. I was taking a nap instead of writing. Let me tell you it was GLORIOUS. After a solid workout I chose to nap instead of write and who wants to read about that?
One of the biggest components missing in my mission to weight loss, health, and overall wellness was SLEEP. In the past I have been critical of people who use the "I'm too busty working to eat better and exercise" excuse. Around six months ago I fell into that category due to my growing wedding side business.
My day job is actually a night job - I bake sweets and breads of all kinds for a company that shall remain nameless. Why on earth would someone with a sugar addiction put themselves in a position of such awful temptation? It was and is a transitional position but aside from that it isn't a great choice if you are a "chunkie", which shall henceforth be the slang for sugar junkie/fat kid/junk food addict.
If that position were my only job I could probably swing the lifestyle. You find a pattern and adjust. the problem is that on top of being full-time on third shift I am juggling what has turned out to be a rapidly growing wedding business. So here is my excuse: from May-October I was working between 50-70 hours a week between a Sunday through Thursday third shift where I would kick over to first shift intermittently for client meetings and a Friday-Sunday first shift that would often find me sleeping 3-4 hours on Friday and Sunday. From August 17 to October 28 I had only THREE days off!!!
This lack of sleep and preparedness on top of being surrounded by sweets all night coupled with my falling off track the year prior contributed to putting on 70 pounds. Nearly half of my big loss was replaced. Now let me ask you this: Why would you read a weight loss blog about a dude that is gaining weight?
Oh, HELL NO! Uh-uh. It ain't me, babe. My life ain't that interesting and I ain't so convoluted to believe that I'm still in the game when I'm not even suited up, much less riding the bench. I left a lifestyle of awesomeness and retreated further into the blur of isolation third shift can create. If I ain't walking the walk then I damn sure ain't talking the talk. Let that be a lesson to some of you. Yes, you can fake it til you make it but just how long are you willing to delude yourself as a writer?
Did any good come from this? YES! I was able to win a coveted "Best Of Weddings 2015" award in my rookie season as a vendor on The Knot! Big thanks again to all my amazing couples. What I was also able to do is sock away enough money to hire a damn good personal trainer who has accomplished what I want to accomplish. She walks the walk and has already walked in my shoes with her own weight loss battle so I feel comfortable working with her in my current state.
There was another great thing that came about from all this, too. In this melee of work I came to a greater mastery of time. Baking mass quantities demands rigorous time management as does maintaining the needs of my clients. My life revolved around a never-ending series of timers that had to be juggled constantly.
This spilled over into my sleep pattern. My phone was always on and slept beside me in bed along with a mountain of clean laundry that never got put away. This led to me checking my email constantly and responding at all hours. I burned myself out but learned a valuable lesson: proper rest is imperative.
Stress induces cortisol production. That wiki link will get you hip to what it's all about. Everything that seemed to be going wrong physically and mentally directly correlated to my levels being through the roof! So in short order I didn't get all gung-ho in getting back on my path by knocking out miles upon miles of walking every day or going all-out in the gym and risking injury which would have fed into the negative cycle, I started with one of the easiest things posssible: sleep.
Amid the tornado of work my humble abode became a wreck. For some of you who know me you aren't surprised as I am not always the neatest person in the world and lean toward the pile method of organization in my personal life. The first two rooms to get in working order were my bedroom, it's not as exciting as it sounds but I will remind you that I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany, and my kitchen. I digress...
My time is winding down so short order I will say this- find whatever it is that you are making excuses about and systematically eliminate these things starting with the easiest. You may find that once you start this process many of the issues will simultaneously begin to resolve. You CAN DO THIS!
Join me next Wenesday, December 3, 2015 and I'll give you the low down on what went down at my doctor visit last week.
Ever forward, one step beyond!
J.W.
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