Diary Entry 1: The Importance of Taking a Break

It is June 26th, 2025.

The past week,I've been on a roll. My goal for the summer was to look prettier and elevate my lifestyle. I started off the weekend by hiking up and down over 15 thousand steps. The very next day, I woke up early to head to San Francisco. You know what that means. A lot of walking. I walked up the steep sidewalks of China town, ultimately reaching this super cute minimalistic cafe called The Coffee Movement. I'm personally not a coffee girl, as it gives me headaches, so I opted for matcha instead. It was a delicious matcha, and it was also my first time having it with oat milk! 10/10. Overall my experience in San Francisco was fun, and I tried a lot of new things without feeling guilty. That day was around 16 thousand steps.

Now, I don't typically walk or move around much in my own time... so even getting 10 thousand steps seemed difficult. However, meeting your walking goal is a lot more fun and easy when you have a friend or two with you. If not, I usually opt for podcasters like Emma Chamberlain (strangely enough, on my train ride back home I was listening to her podcast and she was talking about how we should go on walks without listening to podcasters...oops?)

Okay, at this point you'd think that I'd have Monday off to really give myself that refreshing break I needed after over 30 thousand steps... but nope. Monday was the start of my tennis conditioning. I'm aiming to be in varsity tennis, so my consistency and dedication will play an important role. First day of conditioning was fine, but my second day of conditioning was absolutely terrifying. The warm-up tired me throughout the entire conditioning session, and I could not seem to focus. I also have sun sensitivity, so when I got home, I immediately felt feverish. Not to mention, I started a calorie deficit on Monday to make up for how much i ate during my SF trip. All in all, I now have a slight fever. It 100% felt worse yesterday, but as I'm writing this all I am suffering with is a sore throat.

One of the things that helped me the most was a homemade herbal sauna. I'll write a blog on that shortly! Saunas in general bring a lot of benefits, even when you are not sick. I hope to incorporate it into my routine more.

But my point is, even though I was having fun, my mental goal was to move around, be active, while simultaneously being cautious of what I ate. Every day I'd lose well over a thousand calories through moving, not just my resting calorie burns. On top of my physical activity, I'd do a pilates routine before bed. When you put your body through intense regimes that feel unusual compared to your usual routine, your body can crash out on you. It happens to everybody. Nobody comes back from the slumps and automatically adapts to their brand new routine. I planned to keep going with my glow-up routine prior to being sick, but now that I'm in a lot of pain, I will give myself what my body needs. A break.

Taking a break doesn't mean that your "streak" or progress is over. Absolutely not. I'd say do not ever go into a rebranding phase with that mindset, because it will work against you. Remember, you are doing this routine because you want the best life for yourself, to feel confident, and because you love yourself. Self love is key for a rebrand, and not allowing your body to take breaks and constantly self-deprecating when you're tired means that you are not looking after yourself in this drastic process. I took the time to heal my immune system, take a whole lot of vitamins, eat full nutrients (no carb deficit), and hydrate as much as possible. I already feel better.

Additionally, I realized that I feel better when I do my pilates routine, so instead of doing cardio (which would make me very hot and light-headed during this rough time), I did my nightly pilates routine. However, instead of doing 3 sets per exercise like I usually do, I just stuck to 1 set. It does not strain my body, and I still proud of myself for going through the workout routine entirely. I'll get better in no time, and with an even stronger immune system. I'm gonna hop back on track after I heal, and give gratitude to my body for working so hard.

Remember, we all have these moments. They are necessary.