System Restart

So I have a confession… I am a total gaming/computer nerd. 🤓 In my spare time when I’m not working, blogging, or doing schoolwork I enjoy playing PC games online with my boyfriend and online fellow gamers. The other day when playing a little game called Rust - we were having some performance issues. The game was still running but it was stuttering, the functions of the game were not working properly, the players were being kicked from the online environment - so as the administrators for the game server we went in the back end shut down the server, updated the programs and rebooted it. Alas, the game while still holding all the current players work was now running smoothly and all the perks we set up for our players were restored.

Ok, so I know what you are wondering - why am I talking about a video game restart on a blog dedicated to finding happiness? Well I started thinking - the last few years of my life have been rough to say the least and I have changed emotionally, physically, and professionally in very significant ways. And like my game I was moving and running and firing up every morning but I also could feel performance issues and not working at my best. I find myself tired, worn out and haven’t seen the inside of a gym in honestly I don’t even know how many months. What if I needed a reboot? What if I need to look within and kick off with a fresh start?

Which lead me to a 30 day personal system restart. This is not a restart of my whole life - just like in the game we saved all the progress the players made up to that point - but a physical and mental check in and update of expired mental software. Why 30 days? Because unlike computers we as humans don’t have a restart button (though wouldn’t that be nice) and while I know studies have proven that habits can take longer than 30 days to stick, I still personally believe 30 day is a manageable goal to focus on yourself and your health.

So what now? What would a personal system restart look like? For me it landed in some broad categories - exercise, food, and self-care.

With a goal in mind I starting researching, I wanted a restart not a boot camp, I wanted to focus on how I felt without a food scale, and I wanted self-care that didn’t feel like a chore on a busy schedule. My measures for success were not going to be on weight loss or appearance this was for happiness which meant I was looking for increased energy levels and satisfaction with my life and myself.

For exercise I decided start small. Park at the end of the parking lot, take a ‘walking break’ at work, skip the elevator and take the stairs, walk my dogs after work, and if I can carve out 30 mins that day hit the gym on my way home.

For food, I know there is a massive amount of diets out there and I personally feel that everyone has to choose the right one for them. Which let’s be honest can be a daunting task in and of itself when reading the hundreds of articles online telling us how to eat and better yet what not to eat. I have tried so many diets over the years but this time I didn’t want to count macros, I didn’t want to weigh myself, and I didn’t want to stress about every bite I took. But I did feel the need for a restart to be strict enough to actually feel a difference. So I read through the Whole30 program and after reading the philosophy - I really enjoy the idea of developing a healthy relationship with food and to cut out anything processed for 30 days. This isn’t a long term diet it is a temporarily adjustment in the way you feel about the food you eat and how it affects your daily life.

For self care I settled with 15 mins a day for my emotional health. Whether this be a gratitude journal, doodling in a coloring book, or even simply 15 mins of silence in mediation. I am busy but I can fit in 15 mins.

So now when? Well there is no time like the present, so I grabbed my veggies and meal prepped yesterday and today as I eat my shredded Brussels sprouts salad with a citrus vinaigrette - I decided to write and share with you my 30 day system reboot.

If you made a 30 day system reboot for yourself what would that look like? I would love to hear your thoughts!