70 Days..

So, 30 days down. ALREADY.

When I started this 100-day challenge, I knew there would be days where things didn't go to plan. What I probably didn't expect was to absolutely smash the first 14 days and then have the next 10 or so go completely to shit.

Life, huh?

The first 14 or so days were actually amazing. I was doing the things I'd said I was going to do, getting out walking, drinking more water, eating better and generally feeling pretty bloody pleased with myself. It felt like something had finally clicked and, after spending so long talking about needing to make changes, I was actually making them.

Then the kids got sick. Really sick. There was a lot going on, a lot of stress, very little routine and looking after myself dropped down the priority list again. Some of the habits disappeared completely, others hung on by a thread, and there were definitely days where the 100-day challenge wasn't even on my radar.

Which, to be fair, is exactly how I ended up here in the first place.

Life gets busy, someone needs me, work gets stressful, something unexpected happens, and I'm usually the first thing to get dropped. I'll eat properly later. I'll exercise tomorrow. I'll sort my sleep out when things calm down.

Except things don't always calm down.

The good thing is that this time I haven't decided I've failed and need to start again. I’m not writing off the entire challenge because I had a couple of terrible weeks. I'm 30 days in; there are 70 days left, and I'm carrying on.

And actually, despite the chaos in the middle, some things are starting to change.

I'm walking regularly now. Not the huge distances I used to do years ago, but I'm getting out the door, and I'm building the habit again. I'm starting to want to go for a walk rather than spending the entire time negotiating with myself about whether I can be bothered, which feels like progress in itself.

I'm moving more at home too. Weirdly, one of the habits I wanted to build during these 100 days was making my bed every morning. It sounds ridiculously insignificant compared with losing weight or getting fit, but my thinking was that if I can't spend two minutes making my bed every day, how am I supposed to convince myself I'm going to consistently do all the bigger things?

It turns out making the bed has had a bit of a knock-on effect. I'm doing more around the house generally, things aren't piling up quite as much, and I'm feeling more on top of things. I'm still not about to become one of those people with an immaculate house who wipes down the shower after every use; let's not get carried away, but it feels good.

Food is probably where I've made some of the biggest changes. I'm eating loads better, prioritising protein, eating far less sugar and drinking a lot more water. I'm not being perfect, and I'm not trying to be. There have been occasional takeaways and treats, and there will continue to be because I have no interest in spending the rest of my life eating chicken and broccoli out of containers that I prepped on Sunday afternoon for the week.

I'm just making better choices far more often than I was.

Sleep is still a work in progress. I'm getting to bed a little earlier, and the extra walking definitely seems to be helping me sleep better when I actually stay asleep, but perimenopause and a brain that likes to start thinking about absolutely everything at 3 am aren't exactly a winning combination. I'm hoping that as the exercise increases and the rest of my routine improves, sleep will follow, but for now I'm taking the small improvement as a win.

I'm also very aware that I've still got plenty to work on. The daily weights haven't become as consistent as I want them to be, and some of the smaller habits from my original list have been a bit hit and miss. I could pretend otherwise, but there wouldn't be much point in documenting this if I was only going to share the highlight reels.

The biggest difference at Day 30 is probably that I feel like I'm actually doing it now.

Not perfectly. Not a dramatic transformation. I’m still me! I’m just slowly building a routine where moving my body, eating properly and looking after myself are becoming normal things I do rather than things I'm forever planning to start.

I've still got 70 days until I turn 45, and I'm determined to make them count.

There will absolutely be more speed bumps because that's how life works. Kids will need me, work will get stressful, there will be weekends away and nights where I sleep like shit. The aim isn't to somehow avoid all of that for the next 70 days.

I think the challenge now is learning how to keep looking after myself while all of that is happening, not letting life stuff get in the way of building a healthier life.

I've spent enough years waiting for the right time to come.

It hasn't. Funny that.

So I'm doing it anyway.

70 days to go.