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Photo an hour.

This is from Monday (yesterday!).  Monday’s are my blog work/general self-care/whatever-I-need-it-to-be day.  Clients are only seen Tuesday-Friday :)

8am (ish): Wake-up.  I’m really proud of myself for getting adequate sleep lately.  I spent from ages 15 to 25 sleep deprived.  Now getting a minimum of 8 hours a night is a priority.  Most nights I get 8-10 hours and, for me, it’s been helpful with lessening anxiety.  I don’t think most people feel their best when they are sleep deprived.

Lately I’ve been trying to meditate.  Right now all I can commit to is 5 minutes a day.  Any longer and I won’t do it.  I listen to The Jess Lively podcast and recently attended “Awareness at Home”, a virtual retreat she hosted.  She talked about meditation practices she’s found most helpful so I’ve been doing the one she recommended.

Here’s my meditation routine:

Each morning I lay in bed or on the floor for 5 minutes after waking up.  I use the Insight Timer App and divide 5 minutes up into 3 sessions, which are separated by a “ding” so I know when to move on to the next part:

  1. Focus on breathing (I make my exhales one count longer than my inhale.  So inhale 1-2-3-4-5, exhale 1-2-3-4-5-6.)
  2. Repeat a positive affirmation of choice out loud (here are some body related ones if those are helpful for you)
  3. Visualize me going through my day and getting things done

9am: Make pudding and eat breakfast.  I had a recipe I was working on that day and I needed to make the pudding so it could cool.  For breakfast I had eggs + english muffin + cheese + raspberries + some pudding :) 

10am: Get word from Blue Cross Blue Shield that I should be able to file claims for my clients without any problems.  The hardest part about setting up my private practice has been getting everything set up with Blue Cross Blue Shield so I can file insurance claims for my clients.  It’s important for me to accept insurance, because I know not everyone can afford my sessions.  I’m not holding my breathe that everything is figured out, but I should know one way or the other by the end of the week.  If you are one of the people on the list to work with me once I can file insurance claims, fingers crossed you’ll have an email from me soon!  

11am: Shoot video recipe for the pudding recipe.

noon: Eat one of pudding recipes for a snack before physical therapy.  I do not have a stomach of steel.  If I eat a full lunch before moving I will feel like junk.  I want to do a post on IBS and intuitive eating soon, but I’m honestly still forming my opinions on some things.  For me, I believe my IBS is anxiety-related because on the weekends it magically goes away and is waiting for me again come Monday morning.  In college I had a TON of GI tests done with my GI doc (including a colonoscopy and endoscopy around the age of 20).  It annoys me that never once did my GI doc say, “hey girl, I think you have mad anxiety sometimes and once that is better managed your IBS symptoms will improve.  I’m sorry we let your eating disorder talk us into doing a colonoscopy and endoscopy.”  But of course, me being in my ED at the time, I wouldn’t have responded very well to that.

1pm: Drove to my physical therapy session for my knees + stopped by Goodwill on the way to drop off a bag of clothes.

I really like my physical therapist.  When I get all “woe-is-me” about how my knees are never going to get better, she pulls me out of it! WHICH I NEED! Monday is also my day for zero makeup and I can’t complain.

2pm: Swing by Chick-fila for a late lunch and head to the office.

3pm: Talk with my therapist on Talkspace.  Have you heard of Talkspace?  If you’re interested in it, I’ll share a post about them.  I’ve had a fabulous experience with it.

4pm: Respond to emails.  Work on this post.  Send emails for future blog stuff.  

5pm: More of the above.

6pm: Head home.  Decide that it’s fudge pop weather, so stop by the grocery store.

7pm: Andrew texts and says he needs to work late.  So I’m on my own for dinner.  Cooked dinner.

While dinner is cooking I realize I think doing a capsule closet post would be fun.  So I start working on that.

8pm: Sat outside and enjoyed dinner.  Then worked on this post, while Maggie played in the bushes.  Sometimes I think about putting flower beds along our fence and ripping out all the messy bushes…but I think Maggie would be so sad about that.  She loves pouncing on the bugs! 

9pm: Ate a fudge pop outside.  The weather is still INCREDIBLE.

9:30pm: Face mask + bath.

9:45pm: Andrew still wasn’t home.  Thought to myself, “what the heck?! He’s gonna be exhausted when he gets home.”  Called my sister to chat.  Watercolored until I felt tired enough to head to bed :)  

22 comments

  1. your monday sounds lovely! fudge pop season is the best season :)

  2. This looks like such an awesome day! I would love a post on IBS, but I have also come to realize it’s very individual. My twin, Kaci & I even have different triggers & symptoms. I do know stress plays a huge role as does our normal hormone shifts. Sometimes I can feel my anxiety immediately effecting my stomach, & other times when I would expect problems, there are none. I continue to try to learn how to just roll with it. There are better times than others, but overall, I think I’ve felt well lately. :) I love starting my day reading your blog. I hope you have a great day seeing clients!

  3. I have GERD issues which I believe come from stress and were compounded by my restrictive/binging history. Have you seen that in your experience? Ayurveda practices believe that your stomach is your ‘second brain’ and everything I have worked through, I completely agree. Oh life in a body. Anyway, I have a meditation practice, and I share it my journey on my blog. I feel a bit weird about self-promoting, as I just started writing about my experiences by blogging. When you first started your blog did you struggle with putting yourself ‘out there’?

    • I’m so with you on the gut being the second brain. So much research being done around that! I sat in a lecture recently about your diaphragm actually being your ‘brain’ because it can control your breath and calm you and therefore control what’s going on in the brain in your head with hormones being released. It was all the presenter’s opinion, but it was really interesting.

      I definitely see a lot of GI issues following eating disorder behaviors. If it’s affecting your life, could be worth talking to your MD about (maybe you already do). I know the PA I collaborate with often prescribes something for my clients to help with the discomfort.

      As far as struggling with putting myself out there…
      I just like sharing things that have allowed me to live a better life, in hopes that it will allow others to live a better life. Its never really felt like self-promoting to me, but I see where you’re coming from.

  4. I need more discipline sleep! I’m also an 8-10 gal to function properly. Insurance is tough but it will work out in the end!!

  5. Random question:
    Did you teach yourself to watercolor? I assume this watercoloring is different from the watercolor I did as a kid, lol. I have been trying to find ways to be more creative….my story is fairly similar to yours (except I’m older and still have no creative abilities) and I am trying to learn how to be more creative. I may have to try watercoloring.

    • I just bought a watercolor set from Target and went for it. I have a VERY artsy mom, but I never thought I was artsy.
      I usually look up inspiration on pinterest. Like for the hippo I painted Monday I searched, “watercolor hippo” and then pulled inspiration from a bunch of the different photos. I like watercoloring bc it’s so easy setup-wise and doesn’t make a mess!

  6. I would love to see a post on anxiety and IBS and a post on talkspace!!

  7. I’d love to hear about your talkspace experience. I’ve heard alot about it.

    Also– what watercolor tools do you use? :)

  8. Would love some insight on your experience with Talkspace, I’ve been very curious about it!

  9. I would love to see a post about IBS and anxiety. I too have suffered from both and have never once been told that they could go hand-in-hand.

  10. I totally relate to the increase of IBS symptoms due to stress. It sucks because situations for me that are already stressful become more stressful because I am then worrying about managing my IBS symptoms and often these symptoms make me much more body-conscious. For example, on the day I have a date my stomach feels terrible and then I often end up feeling bloated/gassy/ and not exactly sexy and ready for my date! 

  11. Same exact story for me with the GI issues! I had a TON of tests + colonoscopy and endoscopy when I was a sophomore in high school (about 5 years ago), and I was in the throes of my ED during this time. But I am also super anxiety prone and have always wondered how much of it is “in my head.” And I wonder if it was so much worse when my ED was worse because I was just always SO anxious about food (on top of everything else..). Something good for me to reflect upon/analyze when my issues flare up the most.

  12. I would love a Talkspace and capsule post!

    So fun to see what your days are like – wish I could ease into Monday’s ?

  13. I would love a Talkspace and capsule post ??

  14. i love these kind of posts. just curious, where is the lamp from in the picture with the closet capsule? your space is so cute!

  15. Your note about GI issues spoke to my heart. I had an endoscopy and colonoscopy at 19 because of major GI issues… a few years later and I have almost no GI issues or stomach pain(which was a daily problem for me before). The only difference is I cut out all of the sugar-free jello, sugar-free drinks, sugar-free gum, and other crap I was using to trick my body into thinking it was being fed and starting eating fats and carbs and all the other nutrients we need to feel good. 

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