I know you want gentle encouragement, but I do have to take issue with this! We're on Bootcamp. Only just finished week 3. Pizza and doughnuts are not allowed. And they're not allowed because they are very, very carby and (in the case of doughnuts) very sweet! All things we're avoiding.
I feel like I need to explain myself. Eighteen months ago, having had little choice but to a difficult marriage without the means to support myself fully, I was offered a job which sounded great, but was two thousand km away from where I used to live and overseas from all my extended family.
It’s mostly been lockdown since I’ve been here, so I’ve spent a good deal of the time working from home and there has been no chance for socialisation or getting friends. Because of coronavirus and lack of holiday (two weeks last year because of the way it works here in a new job) I’ve not travelled outside the area, so I’ve not seen any of my old friends from where I lived before and I haven’t seen my extended family since 2019.
I live inside the Arctic circle, and the sun had been gone for more than a month. Because my work have recognized that lots of us were lonely during lockdown, they’ve started to make efforts to get together. This was the second such event. The previous one was in November and we all brought food, so that would have been better for me.
Frustratingly, the decision had been made to get pizza because it was less effort. I would much rather have had almost anything else, but there was no choice. I ate before I went, but had I eaten none, it would have been commented on, which I would have hated. The doughnuts were brought in because there’s a traditional version here that is specifically eaten when the sun returns. I could have not had one, but hadn’t tried the special version before.
In addition to all that (or maybe because of it) I am currently so run down that I took myself to the doctor today. As well as being menopausal, I have had very little holiday in two years and have been dealing with one of the most stressful cases I’ve ever had in my life at work. This is further complicated by the fact that I work in a language other than my mother tongue, which is English. The doctor offered to sign me off, but I can’t really afford it. He did lots of checks and has taken blood, but thinks I’m just overloaded.
So my night out was a very rare night out, not a casual party I will be repeating any time soon. I could have not gone, or not eaten, but I am basically dragging myself along at the moment and hoping things will begin to improve as it gets lighter and hopefully, as the pandemic restrictions are lifted.
So I asked for gentle encouragement, but didn’t really explain why that was what I needed. I’m KOKO but it’s extremely tough right now.
I am on the chart, but I forgot I had changed my user name. Previously I was ThePrionOne. Thanks very much to everyone who offered positive encouragement to carry on.