So I just finished a two-and-a-half-day staycation during which I just did whatever I pleased, didn't work, ate trash, and neglected exercise altogether. It sounds terrible when you say it like that but truth be told, I had totally deserved a break. And I enjoyed it, I really did - until the consequences came knocking on my door and told me they exist after all.
Not getting my regular morning run for two mornings in a row, not to mention swapping a strict keto diet for candy, cake, sushi, and Starbucks lattes - even for just two days - affected both the way I felt physically and my mental health more negatively than any hangover I've ever experienced. My ribs ached. I felt exhausted. Not to mention the bloating.
But most importantly, my mind was beated down. I felt depressed - like there was no point in anything anymore. I knew, rationally, that this was because of the sudden change in my living habits - that I could be confident that the state would pass eventually - but it didn't change the fact that I had to live through it, to bear it and to actively fight against it.
With this all in mind, let me just say: be consistent.
Indulging and doing whatever you like for one day is fine - you can even get your exercise over with in the morning and then go enjoy the day. But 2.5 days? You'll put your mind and body through such a shock that it won't know what to do. So it'll panic and do its best to teach you not to put it through something like that again.
So keep up the habits that sustain your health daily, or take one day off occasionally. I'm sure I'd be fine right now, both mentally and physically, if I'd run during the staycation, and if I'd eaten less candy and more keto, and if I'd worked a little. Little things would have made all the difference.
Have routines that you do even during vacation. Control your impulses. Think about the consequences. While sometimes it's good to teach yourself a lesson, sometimes it's just pointless to put yourself through it.
RK
