March Madness: One week down

March Madness is the best thing I have done for myself lately. Going from February to March felt like I flipped a light switch inside of me. February, I felt depressed and sluggish. And now I feel clear-minded and optimistic.

I have to admit that my motivation really kicked in when Emily said that she would be doing her own version of March Madness in Geneva. I was happy to inspire her and if she's doing it, I really have to keep my game on.

I worked out five days last week. I drank a lot of water. I did my best to eat healthy including making myself a wonderful lentil soup recipe (try it, it's awesome). Despite the fact that someone at work went to Hershey Park and brought bags and bags of chocolate to the office, I did not have any. I worked on my writing about every other day. And in terms of my creative pursuit of the week, I met up with my friend Michele at an East Village cafe with sketch book in hand where we drew pictures and brainstormed creative ideas for my May 2010 wedding.

Same as last year, I already had dreams about sweets. The other night, I dreamed that I ate a lot of cookies and everyone was mad at me that I spoiled the Madness. And then last night I dreamed that I was at a bakery buying about ten slices of cake and then I remembered that I wasn't supposed to be eating them.

I admit that my madness is not as strict or hardcore like last year. For example, I ate really well all week, no sweets or wine, but we invited our friends Adam and Nell for dinner last night and my "two" cheats of the week turned into one glass of wine and four chocolate chip cookies. (It's like my dream came true). Last year I would have just had one cookie. I baked them fresh out of the oven and they were will warm--which is to say that I basically set myself up for failure. But I am okay with it. Today, I just go back to normal madness and try to do the best that I can. I am not going to beat myself up.

I am sleeping better. I am exhausted by 10, which is good because I was having trouble falling asleep before. The extra activity is making me hungry and my food tastes so much better. Vegetables even taste good, which is key for me. I am slow and out of shape, but I feel good moving my body. I am relieved to be writing and happy when I get into the groove.

Hard to believe, but in one week, I am so much happier. For the first time in a long time, I feel like me.