Innards: 5,361 Lillian: 0

I've been MIA from the blogosphere lately, thanks to an insurrection going on inside my body.

(Apologies for the impending TMI, here.)

El estomago formed an alliance with my uterus, and the two of them started a rebellion for the ages. I think this is due largely to a new medication I'm taking, but it also could just be a flare-up of my old nemesis, IBS.  For reasons unbeknownst to me, my IBS usually strikes in coordination with its awful bride, PMS.

And IBS + PMS = sheer misery.

The last week has involved lots of bananas, applesauce, toast, chicken broth, and sleep.  The fact that I've been sleeping constantly is a sure sign that something has been amiss, since I'm usually bright-eyed and bushy-tailed by 0700 on the weekends.

Given that I've been learning about the importance of listening to my body, I decided to take these distress signals seriously. I took it easy on Saturday, slept for most of the day Sunday, and decided to stay home from work today in order to give my body an extra day to heal. I could tell that I really needed it, and I'm now feeling much better than I was this morning.

I'm always amazed when I think about how much time I've generally spent ignoring my body and its needs. I don't press the proverbial pause button unless I'm on the brink of a total full-system meltdown, and I'll continue pushing myself through all manner of fatigue and illness simply because I feel guilty if I don't.

So tired I can barely stand? Time to go on an apartment-cleaning binge to keep myself from sitting down!
Too exhausted to hit the gym? Tough luck - go anyways!
Slowing down due to achy joints? Take some Tylenol and keep on truckin'!

Earlier this year, I started to realize how damaging that approach really is. The longer I go without proper rest, the longer it takes for me to fully recover -- and that leads to me running at about 70% for waaaaay longer than I'd like to be. Although I always feel guilty for taking the time to rest, I realized that I do myself (and everyone else) a huge disservice by not taking those much-needed breaks. The much longer recovery time just ain't worth it!

Conversely, by giving myself the opportunity to rest, I'm back on my feet and running at 100% a lot faster -- and with no long-term consequences for my health. It's bigger short-term investment, yes, but it comes with a bigger long-term return.

So, while I apologize for being AWOL from the interwebz, I needed to do some much-needed hibernation in order to quell the rebellion within. It seems that the natives are much less restless now, so hopefully all the bland food and sleep did their job!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend and that your weeks are all off to a good start!