I started Ripped in 30 about 30 days ago. The first
two weeks were great. I did my workout everyday and I was able to run a
few times. I saw notable changes and I was pumped. Week three found me
a little depressed. I have struggled with
depression for years. At one point in my life I was so depressed that I stayed in
bed most of the day. I worked nights. I would take my kids(the Joes) to school
and I would stay in bed all day. I only worked 3 nights out of the week
but that did not stop me from spending hours
in the bed, allowing my life to slip past me. My son who is now 14
recalls that he knew I was sad. The discussion that followed was an eye
opener for me. I have made a significant effort not to isolate when I am
feeling depressed. I make special efforts to
spend more time with The Joes and to try to better manage my symptoms.
Over the last two weeks, we have spent a lot of time together as a
family. We have been cooking together and we make an effort to cook
healthy meals. I feel that this was a success. What
was not a success was me in pajamas everyday for a week. During the
third week, my car decided to quit me while on an exit ramp. The shop
quoted me a fix-it price of 900 dollars. I decided to take some time,
think about it and make an educated decision. This
meant that I was stuck at home for a week. I worked from home, in
pajamas, every single day. Two of these days, I took a half day. I was
just chillin at the house in my pajamas...depressed!!! I had to rely on
others to get The Joes to activities, but the fact
that there were “others” to help was a blessing. The two weeks were
not a total loss. There was another success! I did run about 6 times. A
few of those runs were on a treadmill. The outside runs were great.
Greatly influenced by other’s running times, I
set a new running goal to consistently run 2 miles in 20 minutes or
less. Four of the runs were outside runs. The times were as follows: 3
miles in 34:03, 2.2 miles in 23:18, 2 miles in 20:32 and 2 miles in
20:09. These two weeks reminded me that I am much
stronger today than I was years ago. I cannot just lie down and let
life pass me by. Today I am a fighter...
