I am adjusting to being much busier than I have been for the past couple of months. My new sleep schedule is slowly working itself out and I no longer feel really confused when I get up at my new alarm time (5:30). I’ve also adjusted to eating a healthy 1500 calories a day and only getting as much caffeine as my one morning coffee will give me. Overall, my body feels better than it has in a while, but I’m still waiting for that natural boost of energy people say I’m going to feel.

Yesterday I worked my normal day from 7-3:30 and had a little bit of time before my evening shift in the phone room at the spa where I fondly work part-time. I got out of work and was seriously regretting saying I could pick up a couple hours (only 5-8pm) because I was tired. My head hurt, I was probably a bit dehydrated, I was hungry, and my back and neck ached from sitting in an uncomfortable position all day at work. I was not at all happy about how my evening was to play out, but I was lucky to have had the foresight to pack my gym bag, a move that I thought of as just wishful thinking. I, rather grumpily, walked to the gym that is connected to my office and ran on the treadmill. I only ran for twenty minutes, as that was all the time I had, but it felt great. That run was the natural energy I had been searching for!

It’s so easy to say, “no I’m way too tired to go to the gym,” or “no, I’m exhausted, I’m going to skip my run tonight.” But I guarantee that when you get in the habit of exercising during those periods where you’d rather collapse on the couch, you will feel so much better. It’s easy to get in a habit of preferring TV time, and don’t get me wrong, time to relax is as important as your workouts, but I think we can all afford subtracting a half hour from our sitcom lineup.

Getting outside should be easy today, it’s 50 and sunny in Boston!