Thoughts on Recovery

Monday, December 22;

Usually, I'm a really crappy patient. I never listen to my doctors' advice. I always think I know what is best for me. This time I have been taking a different approach to recovery. Some might even call me a model patient (for now). I have been doing my at home exercises religiously every day. I have not been doing major workouts. In fact I have barely been working out at all. Honestly it is driving me crazy, but I think this may be a good approach for me in the long run. I've been eating poorly around the holidays, but I'm trying to give myself permission to enjoy the food and family without beating up on myself. Trust me. This is much easier said than done.

Back to the workouts. I have not been working out. I'm thinking that giving my body some serious rest and time to relax and even {gasp} get out of shape for a little bit may actually be a healthy option for me right now. I should be clear. When I say "out of shape" I mean allowing my body a month off from the gym. A month of rest and recovery. To most normal people a month out of the gym is nothing. It's the first month of having a baby or it's the month where the annual budget is do and everything is crazy at work. For me, a month outside of the gym is torture. It's agonizing. I feel gross and out of wack. I'm not thinking as clearly and I'm certainly not fitting into my pants as nicely.

When my mind starts going wacko, I remind myself of two very helpful pieces of advice.
1. "Be gentle on yourself."
A producer at C-SPAN suggested this before I took my temporary position during the election. Sometimes, things don't go as we would like them to. Sometimes we mess up or sometimes we have to admit that we are humans incapable of imperfection.
2. "It's just a small slice of the pie."
Jerry keeps telling me this. It's great advice, because it puts things into perspective. This may suck big time, but the sucking is temporary. Six months may sound like a long time, but in the grand scheme of things it's just a small slice of the pie. I have to remind myself that the things that are limiting me now are temporary. In a few months, I'll not only be back to where I was, but I'll be better.