Let Loose.

Boy oh boy did I have a case of the Mondays today.....How about you?  I forgot that I sent my intern for observations today & called her repeatedly, I called a male patient "Heather" by mistake (true story), and I'm late with blogging/challenge of the week, I am really missin the boat here.  I apologize, but in all honesty things have been CRRRRAZY!  I have been traveling the past 2 weekends and have another trip coming up this weekend.  All this travel definitely leaves me a little off my game both mentally & physically.  Traveling is tough!  Trying to ease my anxiety about packing, flying, money, and scheduling all don't compare to how tough traveling is on my exercise routine & my eating habits.

First, let us discuss exercising.  With traveling 3 weekends in a row but continuing to work full-time, taking no days off, I am tired!!! My usual 5:30AM work outs are less than exciting, that's if I can even get up for them.  And the weekends leave me busy with my out of town visits and unable to get a "regular" work out in.  Now my first piece of advice is forget the "regular" plan! This is the hardest for me to do, I love a good plan.  But honestly, when I'm busy like this sleep is more important than my 5:30AM half-assed work out.  I get a good night sleep, then head to work & a late evening work out after.  Although, I hate working out late at night, when busy this works!  My second piece of advice is be active while your gone!  I always bring my running shoes & some work out gear, whether over ambitious or not at least I have the option if the opportunity arises!  For example, 2 weekends ago I was in Cleveland and before heading to the hospital to visit my grandpa we were literally doing NOTHING.  Perfect opportuniy to throw on the running shoes & go pound some pavement for a quick 30 minutes.

Now let's discuss eating.  Traveling usually gives us the options of burgers, fries & a Coke, not a lot of healthy options.  And even the so-called healthy options are flooded with calories from mayo or salad dressing.  To help tame the calories I opt to bring some healthy snacks to help get me through the airport travel time & in between meals.  I posted a picture of my favorite Trader Joes individually packaged fruit/nut mixes on the Facebook page and these are my go to.  An apple, orange or banana are also quick carry on options. This past weekend was especially a tough situation to practice healthy eating. A get together with college friends for a bridal shower/bachelorette party for one of our best girlfriends. This meant a lot of alcohol, pizza, and desserts galore.  Talk about acid reflux & a recipe for weight gain.  We get together and resort back to our fun but unhealthy college ways.  During my travel time I stuck to my healthy snacks, but for the rest of the weekend I let loose!  Sometimes you need to kick back and have a Rolling Rock & 2 slices of pizza with your girlfriends.  A late night Dominos pizza in a king bed with 3 of my bffs made for a hilarious girl time convo (which I miss so desperately when away from them).  The gym and healthy foods were still there come Sunday evening, but my best friends were not.  So again sometimes you need to say "screw the plan," I need to enjoy myself & the plan will be there after all the fun is not.

This leads us to Challenge of the Week!  I want you all to do something that allows you to let loose.  Pick one day to do something outside of your normal that leaves you exhilarated.  Whether it's resorting back to the college days (like I did) and having a few slices with good friends, running an extra mile, letting your hair down & dancing around, or skipping that work out for an extra hour of needed sleep, try it once this week.  Sometimes reverting from the plan is what we need to recharge the batteries.  Try to make your COTW something within a practically healthy realm, however if it's a college girlfriends type of week, have that slice & girl talk, it'll be well worth it & you can come back to the basics tomorrow!  Traveling is fun, exciting, and sometimes stressful but it doesn't have to mean abandoning your healthy lifestyle, maybe just altering it temporarily.