Taking My Life Back.... Again

 As the Concept Creator of ATH, sometimes I take the liberty of hijacking this blog for my own writings. This is one of those times.

July was a challenge. Personally and professionally.... it was HARD. 

Many of you know that I am in the clinic Wednesday through Saturday. I still work in the ER full time. I work the minimum hours to keep my status all for the love of health insurance. The irony, amiright? In July, I was scheduled to work every single Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. (Thankful that I was able to give one of those shifts away!) Well folks, that's all seven days in the week. Imagine my exhaustion.

To add to the negative amounts of joy, I had a routine mammogram and had to return because they "saw something". (Had the diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound today and all is well.) The summer is relatively slow for clinics and other industries (read this is revenue is down). Probably the worst part? I had an ER patient die. No matter how much good you can do in healthcare, when someone who you were responsible for dies... it can be crushing. 

Way back during the covid era when I started doing live segments on social media, I made a promise to myself and everyone else. I would never be fake. If I was ever in a position to sell a product, I would only speak truthfully on it. Fast forward to opening the clinic. I use PCA skin products and Thorne supplements because that is who we have an affiliation with and they really work.

Deeper than products on the shelf is the product of health. People come to us at ATH because we are experts in medicine and aesthetics. They stay for our personalities and authenticity. Part of being authentic is to say it is hard for us too! We struggle too. We don't get up and go to the gym every morning. Sometimes we have too much screen time. We have slumps. We miss deadlines. We get sad. We don't always hit protein goals. We are just real humans doing our part to help other real humans with our knowledge, skills and experience.

Last month was hard. Physically, I feel terrible... not sick... just ughhhhh/blahhhh. There is just something not right in my "spirit"? I cannot even put a name on it. If I knew anything about chakras, maybe they're not aligned. I feel weak. I can't remember the last time I exercised. I have so many deadlines and it feels like I am staring out into a great dark abyss with no motivation or discipline to execute the tasks.

Yesterday I made a conscious decision and effort to take my life back... again. *NB: you can reset and restart your life as many times as you want to or need to.* I am putting myself through all the talks I give to my patients. I am using all the tips and tools that I pass along to my patients.... the same ones that I have studied for the past 25+ years and have created a whole entire program around.

What I did... I made a list. Things to do for ATH and a separate list of things I had to do at home and in life. On the list was to get out my Oura ring. It fell (in MARCH!) to a spot that required taking off a piece of baseboard to fish it out. I had been putting it off and yesterday... SUCCESS! Charged it up and updated the app on my phone. As a visual person, I know that being able to see data really does help me.

Last night, I brushed my teeth around 8:30 pm instead of waiting to do so right before bed. I also stopped drinking water in an effort to not have to get up to pee (spoiler alert: it didn't really work). Around 9:30 pm, I set my alarm and didn't look at my phone again. Turned down the temp, changed clothes and climbed into bed. I read from a real paper, hold-in-your-hands, book ("Beloved" by Toni Morrison). 

I woke up without my alarm and I felt GOOD! Of course, I checked the data on my Oura ring app. Sleep score wasn't the greatest, but my readiness was! I didn't scroll or try to fall back to sleep. I got out of bed, changed clothes and did a 20 minute lower body workout. A real one. Real enough that 12 hours later I could feel it in my legs. Guys. I even broke out my aerobic step. (Ask me about double step class with Bob: a middle aged, balding man with leg muscles that could break rocks, a belly, a 1980s sweatband and by the end of class, a soaked shirt.) Yes, Auggie stood by as my trainer. Oh! And I checked my fasting glucose before.... yep, still impaired.

Post workout, I even ate protein right after... 18 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber. I managed to flip some laundry, shower and get out the door to get to the clinic. I carried the discipline throughout the day. I made lunch, went to my appointment and then came home and made dinner.

Everyone's road map to health looks a little different. For example, you may not have to check your glucose like I should. However, every road map does contain a lot of the same things. I am currently working on the Thrive Journal which helps to lay out each individual blueprint to a healthier life. It includes the tips and tricks I am talking about .... making S.M.A.R.T. goals,  stacking habits (really good for ADHDers and perimenopause brain too), the difference between motivation and discipline... of course there is education and inspiration throughout. 

The point of my hijacking the blog tonight is to show you that we, at ATH, are normal people just like you. We struggle. We reset. We restart. We don't just tell you to eat this, don't do that, do this, etc etc etc. We hold ourselves accountable and walk the same walk we talk to you about.

Yesterday was my day. I want my life of feeling good and healthy back. Tomorrow morning, I will be able to say that I did it, authentically, for two days in a row. When is your day?