I needed a bad week.

Well, that sounds kind of silly, doesn't it? Shouldn't you focus on eating healthy all the time? Shouldn't you focus on total and complete focus and motivation? Shouldn't you find ways to avoid "bad" weeks?

Yes and no. Theoretically, we'll have better results if we go hard all the time and stick to our plan. However, we're humans and no robots. Our emotional well-being is more important than our physical well-being. If our mind is not in the right place, it's hard to force our body to do what we think we need it to do.

I needed a break this past week. I didn't eat horribly, but I didn't measure everything out. I had a few cheats. I didn't work out every single day. In fact, I remembered what it's like to just live again. At first I felt an intense guilt. "I'm failing", I thought. I realized then, I had no intention of quitting. I just needed to remember again why I started. I spent a couple of my normal "workout times" cuddling my children and having a family movie night. I needed it. I really, really did. I just started back to work after 5 years of being a stay-at-home-mom and I missed them and I needed that time. It was more important to me than working out.

I'm going to let you in on a VERY important secret. Please, if you never care about or read another word from this blog ever, at least take this to heart:

Having a bad day, a bad week or a bad month does NOT mean you have failed. You are not "starting over" when you begin eating well again and staying active. You are resuming your journey. The ONLY thing that matters is that you never give up. 

A healthy mind and body require balance. It's ok to have a cheat. It's ok to skip a workout once in a while if I just feel absolutely exhausted. A healthy lifestyle should make you feel amazing, not burnt out and frustrated. Living healthy should not feel like we are punishing ourselves for not being where we want to be.

The minute you start feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted, I want you to remember that being healthy shouldn't be a chore that makes you miserable. It should be your goal to find balance, to take some "you time" when you need it and to rest when you need it. Your life and your health isn't always going to fit neatly into a program or a schedule and that is OK!!!!

That's not to say that you should just throw a schedule out the window. Try to stick to your plans to meet your goals. You need to have consistency to some extent to be successful. However, there are times where breaking is not only ok, but necessary for your well-being. If you need to break from your plans, don't punish yourself or let guilt set in. Just determine how you're going to do better tomorrow.

I hope you have a beautiful week. I hope you find ways to recharge this weekend, and come back strong and ready to face and overcome challenges. Don't punish yourself for not meeting a goal! Instead, find a way to make it more doable and try, try again!