
Today was the first morning in 2 weeks I woke up without a sore throat! Holla. (literally).
Right now I can swallow without any pain and it’s a MIRACLE. A bad flu really makes me appreciate when I am in good health I tell ya. I just need to get rid of this tickly cough now!
Yesterday, I mentioned that May is going to be my ‘getting my groove back’ month. April’s injury and sickness left me feeling crappier than crappy and I’ve been feeling out of shape and just, blah.
May also happens to be my birthday month, so naturally I want to be feeling my best to kick off my 28th year with gusto.

First, let’s talk about slumps.
Slumps are also known as ruts, rough patches, potholes, *&^*#&!!, or damn I feel crappy lately.
[Slumps are different than depression though, so if you think you might be depressed please talk to a professional as soon as possible.]
Even though I blog about healthy exercise and eating, I go through slumps just like any other person. I’m human…I mess up…I trip up…I get down on myself. I like to blog about the good times and the bad times because I think both are equally important to talk about. Whether they are exercise slumps, eating slumps, business or school slumps, health slumps, relationship slumps, or even, I don’t know why slumps…they just happen.
Slumps can occur at the same time and create a vicious cycle that is hard to get out of. First, I had my sciatic injury which put me out of my half marathon training. That negatively impacted my exercise, eating, and mood. My mood impacted my eating. Then I got the flu which took me out of exercise completely and also affected my eating habits. This impacted my work and personal life. Negative mood –> official SLUMP!
It is hard not to feel down when going through a rough patch, but I’ve found that if I take matters into my own hands and create positive solutions, I feel much better, faster.
To help create a plan for myself, I first had to identify the slumps in my life and then create solutions for each.
SLUMP |
SOLUTION |
1) Sickness | Stick with healthy flu fighting habits. |
2) Sciatic Nerve Injury | My sciatic nerve isn’t sore anymore (yay) and I want to continue stretching and yoga as a preventative measure. |
3) Exercise | I was unable to exercise during much of April (except for the elliptical a bit during the sciatic injury) and I’m feeling out of shape. My solution is to create a few exercise goals that I will be able to stick to in May. More on this below. |
4) Eating | For me, it is extra difficult to eat healthy when I’m not working out. When I am working out, I find it much easier to eat healthy. They go hand in hand. My eating in April has been all over the map. I lost my appetite and taste buds during my flu so I have had no desire to eat vegetables like I usually do. This also left me craving super sweet foods. In May I need to get my eating back on track. |

I’m a very goal-oriented person so I broke the slumps down into achievable goals for May.
Exercise & Eating Goals
Exercise Goals: Strength – Stretch – Cardio – Rest every week.
- Strength: 1 Body Pump class per week
- Stretch: 1 yoga class per week (I’m going to try hot yoga soon), plus stretching after workouts
- Cardio like running, hiking, elliptical 5-6 days a week for ~30-60 minutes each.
- 1 Rest day a week, or as needed
While I was at the end of my half marathon training in March before this all began, I won’t be jumping back into training just yet. I want to ease into running and focus on my overall fitness before getting lost in a training plan again. I feel like this is a good chance for me to direct my focus elsewhere.

Eating Goals:
- Eat more veggies: wash & chop up a bunch every Sunday and keep in containers in fridge as a time saver.
- Green Monsters few times a week
- Juicing most mornings
- Structure Meals and limit snacking: Good sized breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, light dinner & treat.
- Cook! I’ve been going through a major cooking slump (basically not wanting to cook at all), but I want to get back to cooking more dinners and having more structured meals.
- Meal Planning: Along the same line of cooking more dinners, I need to plan out meals that I can cook each week. I hope to do this on the weekend before grocery shopping for the week.
Not only do I think these goals are achievable, but by the end of May (and probably sooner) I will be back in the groove. I also hope to blog more about these goals throughout May to let you know how I am doing.
Oh, and I’m printing out my goals and putting them where I can see them. :)
Right now, I’m off to do some meal planning for the week. Any ideas for me?
Do you struggle with eating or exercise slumps? How do you get back in the groove?
May is a great month for goal-setting since Spring is all about renewal and a fresh start. Yes little butterflies and chirping birds were flitting around me while I typed that… :)
But I always find when I write them down in a visible place I’m so more more accountable. Meal-planning is sooo key and Real Simple has a great planning/shopping template. (Let me know if you want me to email it to you.) Good luck, girl!
Your plan sounds great! Sometimes slumps are a forced mental and physical rest, and when you really get active again I bet you will have LOADS of stored up energy :)
When I’m in an eating slump (which is for me having trouble eating at all), I’ve gotten in the habit of steaming a bunch of sweet potatoes and keeping them in the fridge. Grab a sweet potato, grab a protein, and call it a meal. They are so sweet and delicious, maybe they will curb your sweet tooth too!
Exactly what I needed to read this morning! I love your attitude – totally inspired.
Oh, man, do I know about slumps. I was in a terrible car accident a few years ago, and spent EIGHT MONTHS on crutches. It. Was. Horrible. All my habits fell apart, and I got terribly out of shape. When I was finally well enough to start living my life again, I found it nearly impossible to get back into the swing of things – setting goals for simple things like *wake up at the same time every day, and *keep the house clean, and *cook lunch every day instead of buying it out, and *organize paperwork – I mean, the BASICS, people – were just impossible, because for so long the only goal I could think of was *WALK AGAIN. I finally broke the slump by setting myself achievable goals every day, and making a check list, and MAKING SURE that I actually did them every day, so that I could rebuild NEW habits. I think the hardest part of getting that momentum going was that I wanted to WANT to do them – I wanted some magic dust to sprinkle out of the sky and make me THRILLED that I *got* to clean the house today!! WHEEEE!! I wanted to magically turn into some martha-stewart-esque Disney princess with enchanted forest creatures singing along with me as I joyfully scrubbed the toilet. But in reality, it’s always just me, with my frizzy hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, in my worn-out pajamas, whimpering idon’twannaidon’twanna as I stare at the toilet that needs to be scrubbed, and ignoring those things sometimes feels easier than confronting them and just getting them over with. But I realized that if I wanted to live the life I wanted, *I* had to MAKE it for myself – no one else could do it for me, and the only way to make those goals seem normal instead of overwhelming was to make them habits. And it took about 2 months of slogging through my to-do list unhappily and practically unwillingly, but one day I noticed that I was kind of humming while I was vacuuming, and it just didn’t seem like a big deal, because it was a habit. Anyway, I FEEL you Angela!! Good luck, and take it easy – don’t be too hard on yourself!!
Wow ur post caught my eye! Wow and wow. I totally geel thay way. Still working on my slump on oh man is it hard but ur right we can only do it and thats the simplicity of it. Food for action.
Your post is so motivating! I went from having a career working full-time at a job I loved where I felt like a valuable part of a team to being a stay-at-home mom of a newborn with frizzy hair pulled back into a ponytail and some amount of spit up on most of my clothes… I feel like my slump has been just a little too long. Tonight I’m going to come up with a pseudo schedule (as much as you can with a new little one) and a to-do list to start checking off!
Thanks for the advice.
First, I love your blog. I went on a post-reading spree yesterday and read your two of your series, and about 20 other random posts that I was intrigued by. You are so inspiring. I am so happy I found your blog.
I get in slumps a lot. :/ They are so hard to get out of because they truly are a cycle. It’s a downward spiral that I get caught in a lot. Now that my school year has ended, I’m trying to start summer off right and work on myself and my eating. I love that you set achievable goals. It makes progress much more tangible!
May is going to be a great month and I can’t wait to follow your journey!
Thanks for this post Angela — I experience slumps from time to time and I look forward to seeing how you get out of it! I like your lists — focusing on overall fitness, eating well, etc. I know you’ll be back to your old self soon (and even more new and improved!) :)
Great approach Ange – I am highly goal oriented too and set them every month. Tomorrow on my blog I’ll be reviewing my April progress (some hot, some not so hot!) and setting new goals for May on Tuesday. I totally agree about exercise and eating going hand in hand. If I am missing the feel-good feeling of a workout, it makes it difficult to put in the extra effort to do food prep. If you’re looking for recipe inspiration (although this is weird because YOU are normally one of my sources!!) a while ago I made a Loaded Spring Veggie Salad (http://bit.ly/jypvlD) and an Italian 4 bean salad (http://bit.ly/lmrXYb) and a Mediterranean Farro Salad with Artichokes and Chickpeas (http://bit.ly/jTzW1O) – they were all really good and PACKED with veggies!
GREAT post!! Thank you for tips.
I know what you mean about healthy eating and exercise going hand in hand. When I’m exercising regularly, I’m so much more motivated to be good to myself in other areas, including eating. And I find that getting back into a good exercise regime after a slump can be really difficult, but once you break through that initial wall, it’s all uphill from there! I hope that May is a better month for you Angela! Happy early birthday!
Amanda :)
I love the concept of “slumps”, because there’s a difference between feeling down and being depressed.
Lately, with my spring allergies and being unemployed for nearly a year, I’m feeling kind of “slumpy”, but I also think about all that I can do to stay healthy (spend minimal time outside – though sad, take antihistamines, do indoor workouts), and all that I’ve done in the last year despite being unemployed. It helps slumps go away, for sure.
Glad you’re feeling better.
Slumps SUCK. We all go through them and that is part of what helps me through them. Being forgiving to OURSELVES is key and knowing that we are DESERVING of care and love. Re Hot Yoga… as I yoga teacher I would suggest that you take it easy with that due to your sciatic injury. With the heat in the room there is a tendency to OVER stretch and that can make things worse. Always be mindful moving from pose to pose and keep that ego in check. I know… I’ve been there ;)
LOVE love your blog and all those wonderful recipes!
I find that when I’m not exercising I get completely unmotivated to eat right. I’m not really sure exactly what it is, but I just can’t get excited about healthy foods when I have to lay around! I’ll have to read through the other comments for advice.
I am so glad that you put up this post! I am going through the EXACT same thing right now. I have been so busy with a move/work/school and now being sick that I really feel like I have been in a slump. I know my body is not feeling the best it could therefore my mind isn’t either. I just sat down last night and put together a “Week 1 of May” plan focusing on healthier eating, a more structured exercise regimen, and various other goals to help get me going and focused (meditation, drinking more water). I find that planning helps me so much because I have my goals and what I will do to reach them right in front of me as a reminder that it is possible. Planning is also the easiest way to stay on track with healthy eating. It is nice to see that everyone goes through this and that all it takes is a little elbow grease to get yourself out of a slump. Good luck, I hope you get back to tip top shape soon!
Shelley
This definitely happens to me!! More-so with the exercise slumps than eating. It usually happens when I’m sick, travel home for a week, or just don’t have time to work out. It’s always SO hard to get back into the swing. I hate that slump mood too. It’s like I see it happening and I can’t do anything about it. It’s funny though, b/c the slumps probably happen about 4x a year. Maybe it’s just natural. Maybe it’s just our bodies taking a much needed break. The flu really knocked it out of me this year too. Even just getting outside for a walk really helped though. Looks like you have a great plan. You’ll be back to feeling like yourself again soon!! Off to home depot..haha
Thanks, Angela…I so needed this! April was definitely a slump month for me too: I was going through some emotional stress, got super-sick with bronchitis, hurt my foot so I can’t run, and got very stressed during university exams. But May is a new month!
Great post! Slumps do happen to everyone, but it doesn’t mean they don’t suck when it happens to you. I’m totally with you on the exercise and eating healthy connection…it is so much easier for me to eat healthy when I’m active.
Happy May and I hope you feel better soon!
I’ve been in SUCH a food slump lately. I’m still eating healthfully, but my choices are just so monotonous and unexciting. I really want to start having fun in the kitchen again- hopefully in a few days when I graduate from college!!
Angela,
To read this post was like you were reading my thoughts!! I have been in slumps as well! I haven’t been ill or injured, but I’m at the end of a very difficult semester of nursing school, that is laden with stress and extremely time consuming. My workouts have suffered, and when i don’t workout, I don’t eat as well. So my diet is “slumping” too, and I feel completely “blah” as a result. Finals are this week, and after that I will have several weeks before I have to go back, so I plan on using that time to get back on track as well. Anything you could include in your future posts about the planning and getting back on track process would be much appreciated and helpful.
I love your blog, and have made many of your recipes. Every time I take one of your awesome salads for lunch, at least one person asks what I’m eating, and I pass your site on to them. Please keep up the wonderful recipes!!
your plan sounds realistic to me, you get my approval! :)
I do not really find myself in any slumps with eating/workouts…do I dare say I am one of those lucky people?! :) Acually, I am in a “workout clothes” all the time-24-7 slump! Get me in a dress or jeans asap!
Meal planning for the week is my faaavorite thing to do when I’m feeling a little slumpy! Ummm…I would reccomend anything from Lorna Sass’s New Vegan Cookbook. I’ve already tried the Brussels Sprouts and Udon Noodles with Miso Sauce and the West Indian Squash with Jerk-Spiced Tempeh. Both are sooo good1