Self-care

Instead of posting this week about food I thought I would just talk about life a little bit. This week has been ridiculously busy for me-- for good reasons too. On Tuesday I went to the Dr. for back pain and had him look at a "bug bite" I'd had for the past 2 weeks... Turns out that the "bug bite" was actually shingles caused by stress. I didn't even know I was stressed out! So this post really is about self-care, the importance of putting yourself first and taking time for yourself. Don't work through your lunch break, don't skip meals because you're too busy, slow down and take that time for yourself! If you don't, you might end up with shingles at the age of 25!
So what have I decided to do for self-care? Well, I really like exercising so I'm going to make a point of going to the gym at least 5 days/week, once I get approval from the physical therapist (the back pain...). I also really appreciate getting massages, at first I was thinking that massages would be too expensive of an option, but I have 2 gift cards currently and there's always Groupons for massages SO, massages every 3-4 weeks! Next, I love cooking and haven't taken the time/energy to actually follow a recipe and make a special meal lately-- so I'm making my favorite SPU Community Kitchen recipe this weekend-- Black Bean Corn Tart! It is absolutely delicious. Lastly, I'm going to journal more often, usually my stressors come from work, having a really sick patient, feeling self-conscious, or just being really tired after working a 10 hour shift, so I'm going to take 5-10 minutes a few times each week to process everything that has gone on.
I am so lucky to have such an amazing support system around me. My family is truly awesome. So with trust in them, trust in myself, and using the tools that I've chosen for self-care, hopefully my stress and anxiety will decrease which will make the physical stressors go away, and I'll be doing things I truly enjoy so my overall quality of life will increase! Have you found yourself in this position before? What do you do when you're really stressed out? Let me know :)