It’s been a rough couple of weeks–or months–as far as effort I’ve put out for my health. I just did a 2-week sugar reset challenge with Megan at Skinny Fitalicious that motivated me to get my act together. We have about 15 1/2 weeks until the Grand Canyon hike, and I’m not even remotely ready!

I’ve done some mental heart-to-heart talks and I feel like I’ve reached the right mindset. Clearly, I need an accountability buddy to keep me on the straight and narrow, so this will have to do.

I’ve had a lot going on lately:  two out-of-state trips back-to-back. My Dad had surgery four weeks ago, and was in rehab for two weeks. He’s home now, and recovering well, but four surgeries in one day is a lot to get over. And my grandmother, who’s almost 91, is in rehab and is doing very poorly. She mostly sleeps all the time. She’s very weak. Pretty sure she’s going on hospice tomorrow. That, in addition to issues at work and some other stuff, have made my health…not a priority.

But that is changing now. No, that changed yesterday.

Today, I did a few strength exercises and 20 minutes on the treadmill with a 20-pound backpack. That’s harder than it sounds. It’s also harder than the treadmill display showed.

I also meal-prepped for the week:

Breakfast casserole on the right, with eggs, egg whites, cheese, kale, tomatoes, and sausage. On the left is a casserole with chicken, water chestnuts, artichoke hearts, and mushrooms in Greek yogurt. The middle is a simple crockpot meal of chicken, cauliflower, and mushrooms with a harissa yogurt sauce. I have sliced veggies and cottage cheese for snacks. I have all of tomorrow’s meals input into My Fitness Pal. I have my workouts scheduled for the week.

I can do this!