I had a feeling that the extra care for my husband and son over the weekend might catch up to me. Fortunately, my only symptom is more of a nuisance than derailment. I woke up in the middle of the night with trouble swallowing, a sore throat! We didn’t have any more medicine to relieve my throat, so I had to toughen it out until daytime. Fortunately, once I was able to get medicine, I could eat ramen and drink tea.

The final week of the Transformation Challenge has officially started! From a strong start to a challenging end, I’m still glad to see I’ve made it! The setback of illness and disrupted routine have challenged my struggle to follow through with what I’ve started, but I’m trudging through the molasses swamp. Like a tread-for-distance that I hadn’t prepared for, sometimes just finishing without a PR is an accomplishment in and of itself. Showing up is the hardest part.

Our family illness lasted through the weekend, and I became a potato. I am amazed by how easily a routine disruption completely unravels my ability to stick to a plan and stick to it. As a stay-at-home mom, I generally get a good chunk of time five days a week to do laundry, cleaning, meal prep, and general logistical organization for the family. When I don’t have that time, the state of the house deteriorates pretty quickly. I was useless when the needs were all mixed around and different.

A couple of nights ago, I woke up to a sad six-year-old reporting that he had thrown up all over his bed. Seasoned parents know the familiar sequence of events that follow when a child’s best friend was absent with the flu the previous day, and now it’s game time. My Apple Watch shows that each throw-up took an hour to turn around and fall back asleep, only to wake up again after 15-20 minutes of deep sleep. This is not conducive to quality sleep, and made the following day a bit of a struggle. I made it to class on Thursday, but when it became apparent that the flu was still working its way through my son’s system, I had to abandon any plans to work out on Friday.

Today was a mixed bag. I had a lot of tasks on my to-do list, and I wanted to tackle most of them today. I ended up only getting a few things accomplished before the day had slipped away from me. Because of my ADHD, I have trouble starting and finishing tasks. ADHD is less about distractibility, but the inability to control where one’s attention goes. In other words, executive dysfunction keeps an ADHDer from initiating a task even when they know they should or even want to do it.

Week 7 is underway! Today was a typical rest day. I was hoping to get some time working outside in the warmer weather, but a light drizzle carried through the afternoon, and I spent most of the day on my computer doing some personal admin. I had a relaxing, yet busy, day.

Today was the Monday after Daylight Saving Time ended. Monday mornings are tough enough, but add the adjustment to everything feeling like it’s an hour earlier, and it is especially challenging. But, you know what? I am proud of myself! I still made it to a double class.

This weekend gave us a nice treat with lovely spring weather. I spent a fair bit of time outside gardening and setting up my greenhouse in anticipation of planting season! We visited with neighbors and had a lot of social time with friends. On Sunday, we even brought our cat on a leash with us to an event at a nearby park and shared her sweet and calm personality with strangers.

My workout was hijacked today by a call from my son’s school to come pick him up after an incident. I was about an hour and a half into my two hours and didn’t have my cool-down and refuel ritual. Instead, I had to jump right into concerned mother and default caregiver role. Everything ended up being fine with my son, but I had to do some mental gymnastics to get there and give up the rest of my afternoon to take care of it.

Today was a new benchmark challenge for me: 1/4 mile run. The short distance reminded me of running track in high school I used to do short distance runs, so I was excited to test my speed! I was able to run from 7.5-10 mph and finished in 1:50:00. It feels like the strength training is working well and my cardio fitness is catching up. I’m curious to see how I’ll do when we run it again in several weeks.

I was in a good mood today and worked pretty hard. It helped that I was in class with a handful of familiar people who are feeling more and more like friends. The playlist was also really great! It’s amazing how easily good music can distract from the discomfort and make it easier to push through a tough workout.

Today was a usual Tuesday rest day. I felt reassured when I got around to logging my meals at the end of the day (thinking I would be totally off of my target) and saw that I was nearly 1:1 on my goals. I was able to eat balanced throughout the day without thinking about it or planning and was able to meet the targets for my macros and total calories.

We are closer to the end than the beginning! Today marks the start of week 6 out of 8. If I can attend class two more days this week, I will have technically completed the challenge of attending at least 3 classes per week for 6 out of the 8 weeks. I still plan to continue with 4 classes per week and additional strength training until the very end, but that’s my personal "bonus" challenge!

I took a little bit of a step back this week to tend to my mind more than my body, and I feel better than I did at the start of the week! Part of stepping back included not tracking my food intake as strictly. I was all over the place with my caloric intake and came in short on my protein intake a couple of times, but I’m working on not being too hard on myself about it.

Today, I heard the parable of the two woodcutters, and it was a reminder that I shouldn’t feel guilty or unproductive when taking rests. The story goes that two woodcutters worked in the forest. One woodcutter worked tirelessly, chopping trees, and spent his whole day working. The other woodcutter took an hour break each day and still cut more trees than the one working all day. When the tireless woodcutter asked the other where he went each day, he learned that the more productive woodcutter took a nap and sharpened his axe before getting back to work. It’s important to take breaks and tend to rest and recovery.

Today was tough. I’m feeling a little off and struggled through the workout. I had to pick my son up early from school again (the 4th time in 3 weeks). He’s been having anxiety about school and symptoms that prompt the nurse to send him home. Today was an injury on the playground that required a doctor’s visit. I’ve been feeling really overwhelmed by how often I have to drop my plans for the day and pivot into my caretaker role hours earlier than the routine. I’m trying to study and return to the workforce, so getting pulled out of the momentum of pursuing that plan makes it difficult to cope.

Today was a low-exertion day, but high in emotions. I have therapy sessions on Tuesdays and sometimes we open up some pretty heavy feelings. I was sensitive this week (thanks hormones) and had some crying. Additionally, I’ve been under more stress than usual and that makes me generally more sensitive. I had the feelings to work through today and not much else.

Today was a typical Monday—two back-to-back classes starting with a 3-station circuit where I began on the weight floor and ending with upper body strength. I noticed toward the end of class that my heart rate stayed pretty consistently in the “green” zone and only 10 minutes at exertion. In four weeks, I have noticed a gradual decline in active heart rate levels, indicating some improved cardio fitness! I imagine I will still be seeing a trend over time. By now that enough time has passed to see a pattern, I’m pleased with the direction we’re heading in!

4 weeks down and four to go! Now that we’ve reached the halfway point, we’re in what the coaches call the “3rd quarter.” The 3rd quarter is often considered the most difficult. Midway is a major milestone, but then the third quarter is too far from the finish line to really ramp up without burning out too early. The best approach (as I understand it) is to focus on maintenance. I’m taking it one day at a time right now.