Taking A Vacation

 I entered the world of Nursing and spring of 2017 and since then I have not taken a break I've had my sick call ins and etcs really haven't taken a vacation.  And as of next week I am actually taking my first full week paid vacation and I honestly can say that I am totally ready for it for my mental health and physical health and just having time away from it all and I don't feel guilty about it.  I'm know that I'm training for first Half Ironman while struggling with my weight, I'm grateful to be in a place on my life that we can provide for our family and still be overall good health to be there and present for our babies (who aren't really babies anymore). Next Wednesday at celebrate my 40th birthday birthday and well age is just a number wow 20 years has made a huge difference and what my life is.   At 20 years old I thought I had life figured out and I was going to be a Rec therapist and I was going to change the world and now at almost 40 years old I am a licensed practical nurse and absolutely love being a nurse and know that serving those once serve our country makes me happy. After almost four years of being a nursing between being a CNA, PCT, and a LPN that I need to take a break for my mental health and for my family.  I'm hoping with vacation time I can reinvest in myself and do the prerequisites for my RN degree because I have definitely been toying with that one for the last year or so because we had promised that I would take at least two years of working as an LPN before I would go into an RN program.  I am definitely understanding more and more of why they say to take a vacation and take a mental break because nursing tough and it is not faint of heart.  

weight struggle

 A year + into the pandemic as a nurse, I have started to battle with my weight, which is something that I never I had to deal pre-healthcare because I was always able to maintain easily.  Last year at this year, I started for my 1st half Ironman which got deferred to July 2021, which meant that I wasn't going to meet my goal (do an Ironman/half Ironman before 40 yrs old)  but ok.  I started putting on weight because I lost focus on racing because there wasn't to really for being we were in middle of pandemic and I'm a nurse so, work was my life essential about work and keeping my family safe.  As January 1st, I stepped on scale I was 186 lbs, which what I was gave birth to lil man, which made me so sad and frustrated with myself because I allowed myself to get to this point.  I'm not one for New Year's resolutions but, I decided that I needed to be back to what it is a healthy "racing"/"comfortable" weight (i.e. between 155 - 165 lbs).   As of today March 20, 2021 I have lost 15 lbs through working at least 3-4 times a week as well as going back to eating smaller meal more often.   I'm still have about 11 lbs to go but, knowing that I'm going into full training mode, I don't foresee that one being a problem.   I never thought, I would be in a place where I would be considered overweight so, I'm very humble to be in the position that I'm fighting back to get to back a "fitness" or "normal" weight.  While I know that I don't look overweight, just know that I am and I am working at it everyday.