Today may be the hardest Monday of the entire year to wake up and get ourselves together. I personally set my alarm for 5 am this morning and didn’t actually get out of bed until 6:40 am.
I feel like I blinked and it was Monday morning. I know many people enjoyed a long weekend off from work this past holiday weekend, as did I. And I was so excited to have a long weekend. On Wednesday it felt like I had all the free time in the world. But yesterday, as I lay on the couch with major Sunday blues it didn’t feel that way. All of a sudden I wished I had more time. Just one more day of this long weekend.
Monday’s like today I tend to beat myself up because I feel like crap. I’m mad at myself for not preventing this feeling. I feel bloated and fat (that’s a given, it was Thanksgiving after all) but I also feel rushed and extremely unorganized. Like so unorganized that my hair is dirty to start the week, like really dirty. Not hair pulled back in the front with two bobby pins dirty, but hair in a messy bun with a headband dirty. Exactly. You would think that a long weekend off from work would prevent this feeling. You think I would have taken all my free time to feel a little more organized and refreshed this morning. Well I didn’t. Because myself, like many others, have a tendency to put things off when we know we have more time before it actually needs to be done. The oh I have three more days until I need to get this done so I’ll watch another episode of Sister Wives mentality. The my sisters wedding is in 6 months I’ll start my diet next week mentality. Or the this RSVP isn’t due for another 2 weeks I’ll send it in next week mentality. Did you know that most U.S. post offices stay open later on April 15th? They are accommodating people who procrastinate, like me.
So this morning it felt easy to beat myself up about all the things I put off this weekend. And everything I did wrong. I didn’t eat as well as I had planned. I emotionally ate more than I should have. I didn’t workout as much as I planned. I didn’t do as much work as I had planned. But you know what was hard? Applauding myself for the things I DID do. Reminding myself of the work I did, the healthy meals I did prepare and the amount of times I did workout.
What if we all switched our mind states? What if instead of beating ourselves up for what we didn’t do, we reminded ourselves of the things we did do? What would be on your list? Even if you feel bloated this morning and like you gained 100 pounds, before you swear off eating until Christmas, make a list of what you did you do this weekend that you are proud of. It instantly changes your mentality and how you feel. Trust me!
When we change our mind state we begin to see how much damage we minimized just by doing our best. Positive thinking plays a significant role in our health efforts. Positive thoughts are empowering.
See, it would be easy for us all to berate ourselves this morning because we overdid it on Thanksgiving. It would be easy to spend all day focusing on what we cannot eat to make up for the damage we did this weekend. It would be easy to approach today with a black pair of leggings, an over sized sweater and dread. But ladies, let’s NOT take the easy way out today. Let’s let the power of being positive take us through today. Your body and your bloat will thank you <3
