Recovering from the Weekends
The weekends are a time to recharge. They are a time to enjoy the evenings without worrying about getting the kids off to school in the morning, no lunches to make, no early wake ups. They are a time to stay out a little later without having to get up and get off to work before the sun has risen. We can slow everything down and enjoy life and family a little more. We can give up on a little of the structure of the week and just let some of the stress wait until Monday morning. As ideal as that seems, sometimes our weekends are also a time to give in a little, let loose a little and indulge in most things life.
Over the past few years, I have embraced the idea of using my weekends to recharge from work. I golf, I take trips to Seattle, I do nothing, I have dance parties (sometimes by myself). I use this time selfishly. As much as I would love to brag about meal prep and sleep quality, my weekends can get far from the goody-goody life some might imagine. I have a tendency to indulge and sometimes over indulged in most things that should be kept to moderation. And the past month has been an extreme for me. I have spent the past four weekends away from home, traveling to California, traveling to Alaska, taking a weekend in Woodinville to wine taste and a trip to Seattle to be little spoon for a night with my partner.
Each weekend has included more food, more alcohol, desserts and not a lot of working out. I come home and have to balance out the guilty with the pleasure. Would I give up having the fun that I’ve had to stay on track? Fuck No! Would I avoid a weekend with my friends, laughing, dancing and indulging too much to stay home and get my sleep? Fuck No! Life is way to short and way too busy and way too stressful to not take moments to just have fun.
The important things about the weekends are to leave them in the past. When I get home from my trips I get back on track. I start back into life getting my sleep, eating protein and veggies, getting my water and getting in my workouts. I don’t over complicate my weekends. They are my time and they are going to stay that way.
The weekends are so much harder when we let them sneak into our Mondays and our Tuesdays. I might not be smashing any Personal Records or feel leaner, but I am not going to be losing strength or muscles. My progress might become a little stagnant during this time, but I’m not going to give in to the guilty feelings and punishment. If I eat too much artichoke dip and drink too much wine, I did that, I enjoyed that. But the next day is not a punishment or an excuse to help the bad behaviors turn into bad habits.
This is an important thing to remember as we gear up for the holidays. Thanksgiving is a day about indulgences and for many it includes over indulging on food and beverages that we might not normally have. But here’s the thing, Thanksgiving is one day. You are not going to ruin anything in one day of over indulgence. So let it be one day, not two days, not a weekend and definitely don’t let it be the beginning of bad habits for the entire holiday season. Sit down and enjoy your dinner, enjoy your company and enjoy your day. Make smart choices, don’t eat the shit you don’t like and slow down and enjoy all the things you do like. And know that it is only one day and doesn’t need to be the start bad choices.
Most of the time the weekends ruin our progress, not because of what we do during those two or three days, but because we don’t know how to come back from all the fun. We feel like we need to slowly reemerge into our old selves. When in reality, we didn't slowly emerge into vacation mode. Nope, we jumped in. So jump right back out.