So…I have a confession to make. I am sabotaging my fitness mission with alcohol. Part of the 90 day fitness challenge that I am in the middle of involves no alcohol, unless it’s a cheat – and I should only be allowing two cheats a week. This means I’m cheating every day. Every, single, day. I started out with a bang and didn’t have a drink for the first week. I brought a cooler of sparkling water with me to social events in lieu of beer or wine, and I was ready to do this for the next few months. Then I slipped, and then I slipped some more – right back into my old habits.

There is no question that I enjoy a drink now and again. I love a great cocktail or a glass of wine, we have a well stocked wine fridge and bar, and there’s usually a great local beer on tap in our house. I just can’t pinpoint when my drinking went from the occasional glass during a social event, or a cold beer with lunch on a hot Saturday afternoon, to at least one drink every night. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t sit around getting hammered every day, not even close, but the problem is that I am drinking every day and it just doesn’t feel good. I think my biggest problem lately is stress. Stress at work is pretty constant these days, and the first thing I turn to when I get home is a drink to take the edge off and relax. Just last night I went through this ritual, but ended up having a bit more than usual which led to terrible sleep and a struggle to get through my workout this morning. Now I’m just exhausted and run down and still have an entire work day ahead of me, one that is sure to bring more stress. Being overly tired and just low on energy certainly isn’t going to help me today, and this vicious cycle is only preventing me from achieving the level of fitness that I’m striving for. I recognize what the problem is, now I just have to stop the self sabotage.