Why use a glass when you can drink your wine from a jar?
Good morning and happy Friday! Anything good on the agenda? I have a yoga date with a friend later and plans to catch up with some other favorite people over the weekend. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep work-time to a minimum.
Coming across this Self blog post about 5 Energizing yoga poses to do before you go out at night made me think of some of my early clinical rotations where the only thing I had energy for on Friday night was laundry. I even stopped lying after a while. I’d just say, “I’m tired and I kind of just want to stay home and write/catch up Mad Men things/faceplant.” To be fair, I was pretty new to the clinical grind, but I eventually found ways to combat the end-of-week exhaustion.
Do you ever find that by the time you get to the end of the week, you’re too wiped out to even think of doing anything festive? While there are definitely times you should stay home and rest (and you probably know better than your social calendar), but sometimes getting out and catching up with friends is the best medicine for that dragging feeling. A few things I’ve found that work for me:
*Exercise—it can be anything from a 15-minute walk around the block, to a quick yoga flow in my apartment, to a Zumba class or cardio session. Endorphins are like a magic drug for tired.
*A nap. Everyone’s different when it comes to naps, but I’ve found that a 20-30 minute cat nap perks me right up. Any longer and I usually wind up more tired, but that doesn’t always stop me from taking the extra 10 or 15 minutes because I can.
*Eat something—Even if I have dinner plans later, I’ll eat a well-balanced snack to keep my blood sugar levels stable so I don’t show up in crash-mode. Yes, I belong to the “never show up to a dinner party starving” club. I make sure I have something with both protein and carbohydrate to keep me going. A few of favorites:
- Plain Greek yogurt with fruit and/or whole grain cereal
- Non-fat or part-skim ricotta with fruit and a drizzle of honey
- Dry-roasted edamame
- Green smoothie
- Scrambled or hard-boiled egg on whole wheat toast (scrambeld egg whites is great too)
- Sliced veggies dipped in hummus
- A mini Babybel cheese and an apple
- A small baked sweet potato with goat cheese
*Hydrate—Never underestimate the difference a tall glass of water can make—when our cells are thirsty, it’s harder for them to do their thing, which makes us feel sluggish. Also important if you’re planning to drink alcohol later…
I have a feeling I’ll be relying on some of these tricks quite a bit in the summer months. It’s been nice to have a couple months without a regular schedule, but I’m looking forward to the change. I’m one of those nerdy people who thrives off routine, and I find that I enjoy my off-the-clock time more when I’m more aware of how precious it is. Haha that sounds kind of sappy. Oh well. There are worse things.
Any good weekend plans? How do you re-energize to go out on a Friday?