In a bid to get a bit fitter and healthier and hopefully improve my energy levels and overall positivity and happiness as a result I am challenging myself to the Exhausted Mama’s Mission of daily workouts, staying on top of the house and work and, most pivotal for me, ditching the alcohol for a month!
So far the ideal scenario (ie that I will have a perfectly toned torso and full on energy after one day of not drinking and one 7-minute workout) is not quite matching the reality of the situation (I feel even more exhausted than ever and my mood seems to be going drastically down-hill by the minute – despite the fact I am not even missing my nightly glass of wine to be fair!)
Just as when I did the Whole 30 I felt it important to post about it. To keep me motivated and to hopefully make a lifetime difference rather than it be just some ‘fad diet’. Part of me feels I should have created a JustGiving page and did this for charity but as this was my New Year Resolution and a genuine bid to improve my own life I decided in the end I needed to prove to myself that I can do this; without an ulterior motive. Even if that motive would have been a good one – and people would have paid good money to see me go a month without wine!
I realise I am not exactly training for a marathon or attempting to change the world but since 1 in 3 apparently “fall off the wagon” during Dry January it seems this challenge is also not so simple and as it is in an attempt to improve my general positivity and happiness, which can only benefit me and my family, I think it is only fair to bare all in my Diary of an Exhausted Mama.
Day 5 so far and whilst I am still not particularly craving any alcohol (though a glass of wine with dinner would have been nice!) I can’t say I am seeing any obvious benefits yet either.
I have been working out every day and trying to stay on target with work – both professionally and within the house. The flat, I will say, is looking good (thanks mostly to my lovely new AEG cordless vacuum) but the body and mind – not so much. I have not felt this tired in ages, my skin feels gross and I feel like I am constantly bloated. Quite frankly I feel like that elephant looks!
The workouts are improving so I hope that means my strength and stamina are headed in the right direction too but as a whole so far my energy levels are not at all better and my mood is definitely not where I want it to be! Still, since it was the festive period and our balcony was filled with alcohol at the beginning of the Christmas holidays and is completely empty now, I guess my body has some sugar depletion to get used to now my favourite form of grape is off the menu.
So, onwards and upwards I go. (I hope!) Women’s Health magazine* assures me that by week 2 and 3 I will “feel the positives of passing on the prosecco”. I better!
You can follow my progress on Facebook and Instagram and help keep me on the right course to a 6 pack of muscles rather than Stiegl! And feel free to join in the #exhaustedmamamission with me.
Sweet dreams –
Mama Atzi x
*womenshealthmag.com
