Step by Step

I opened August with a cheerful disposition, but that didn't last long. Due to our bipolar weather, I was sick a lot. Just weeks ago, I took a patch test because I itched a lot during the last two months. I found out what I'm allergic to (dust mites!) and other possible allergens that I can be allergic too. Luckily, my itching is now gone, but I can't eat meat (beef, pork, and chicken) unless they are freshly bought. I was even restricted from pineapples, apples, and lemon, which are three of my favorite fruits recently! But worst of all, I also gained a lot of weight, which I'm not really proud of. Honestly, I'm on the brink of being obese. I'm not really concerned with appearances. Heck, I go to work without make up on, and what I consider my signature look is an oversize shirt and jeans. However, I do love to dress up when possible. But nowadays, I can't even wear my regular jeans, and I wear mostly leggings these days. Most of my tops don't fit, and most of them are my once-in-a-while-pricey-splurges! Just last Monday, I saw a very cute peplum skirt at the mall. I tried on my usual size, but it just wouldn't budge. They have bigger sizes, but buying bigger sizes makes me feel hopeless. I simply went home and cried (Yes, I literally cried!). I slept with a broken heart, and woke up with a gloom. Eventually, I was sad the entire day.

No, dear reader, I am not exaggerating. And more importantly, I'm not overacting. When I was younger, I was really, really healthy. I have a lean body, and I was really active. When I started to work, I slowly gained weight. And a lot of times, I wanted to do something about it. I even tried boxing. But then, there will always be something important that comes up, making me lose time for taking care of myself. So I always ended with "I have no time" excuses.

After my check up and my weight gain, I knew that I really, really have to do something with my health seriously. I have to do something that is also permanent and/or consistent. However, I didn't know where to start. But when I look back to all my attempts to lead an active lifestyle, I realized that I always think that I don't have time, and that's where I want to start. I want to make time, and to do that, I tried to make a schedule I can follow, and still give me a few free hours to spare. This has been the schedule that I've been following since Monday last week:

 This schedule is quite similar to my schedule when I was high school, but of course, I provided leeway in some parts of this schedule. For instance, I sometimes oversleep until 5:30am, which makes me leave our house around 6:30am. Still, I arrive at the office between 7:40am to 8:00am. Also, although I wasn't able to illustrate it, I made sure that I sleep by 8:00pm. For five days, last week, including today and yesterday, I was able to follow this schedule. Surprisingly, it's starting to make me feel good. I have more energy. In addition, I have the option to do different things after work. I usually reach our house between 5:30am to 6:00am. That leaves me with around two hours before I go to bed. Last week, I used those two hours per day studying for my upcoming final exam for my Japanese class (Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Friday) and hang out with my friend KM at the mall (Thursday). By the end of the week, I said to myself: "This might work".

For now, I'm working on consistency. I'm trying to discipline myself once more, and I hope to share more about my struggles and solutions. This time, I'm not just going to do something on a whim (like my boxing!), but I'm going to do things step-by-step.

P.S. What do you think about my illustration? I drew it myself, and it's my first time featuring my own drawing!