My Weird Trick for Validation

it's as sunny as Nashville out there

It's the calm before the storm; the sun has been out in full force all day, and if you didn't know any better you'd revel in the early March sunshine, almost forgetting that it's still winter. But you do know better, and you know you better soak in all the sun you can today before tomorrow dumps a foot of snow on you.

Or you can skip the run outside and half-ass it on the treadmill while binge watching old SVU's because it's only been one week and you already hate the new ADA #bringbackbarba

Somehow it's March, another month closer to spring, but this winter has been going on for ten million years already. Does anyone else relate here? Like, the days are going by quickly in hindsight, being that it's almost daylight savings time, but the reality is that each day feels like an eternity. I've had it up to here with the biting cold winds and freezing floorboards and constant storm watches; can winter just take a bow and let the sun have some stage time.

The mid-winter slump wreaks havoc on any fitness gains I've made, and in an effort to not turn solely to chocolate and peanut butter for comfort, I'm trying to maintain some healthy behavior through these dark days. One habit I've been maintaining this winter is a warm drink in the morning and taking the time to enjoy it and practice my mindfulness. Mindful is my word for 2018 and since making it so I've seen that word everywhere. I had no idea it was so hip to be mindful; I just read Kate Hudson's book Pretty Happy and she spends a lot of time talking about the miracle of mindfulness and how it's one of the pillars to her life. I thought the book was meh, but the concept of mindfulness is still pretty new to me, so I liked seeing how someone incorporates it into her daily life. 

With my new mindfulness comes a new beverage I've been enjoying lately. I hopped on the apple cider vinegar bandwagon last year, pouring a tablespoon into a glass of water and chugging the wretched concoction every morning. Here's the thing: I would drink the apple cider vinegar, try not to gag, then read up on all the benefits of apple cider vinegar. I like to read articles that praise the benefits of a habit I'm currently practicing; it's a pat on the back, some kind of validation for forcing that damn vinegar down every day. 

While reading up on the benefits of apple cider vinegar, I found that drinking lemon water is a good habit to get into, warm water being the preferred temperature. My drink morphed from a bitter, barely tolerable chore to something that I started to enjoy the taste of. Last week during my bout of whooping cough, I started grating fresh ginger into the drink to help soothe my throat, so now it's this sweet and tangy concoction that I actually look forward to. I sip on my ACV/lemon juice/ginger tea-esque beverage while reading up on the benefits of ACV, lemon juice, ginger and hot water. 

It's weird, right, maybe a little narcissistic? But it's a great way to start your day, especially when it's 8am and the nozzle just fell off the mixer into the bread dough and you don't feel like dealing with the trainwreck that your day is shaping up to be.