Health

I’ve been a healthy person for most of my life. While I’m no athlete or health food devotee, I have always tried to keep myself in shape and eating right. That is, until I graduated from college and joined the work force.

Before I became a full-time worker, I was better able to manage my time. Even as a full-time college student writing for the student newspaper and holding down a part-time job, I still found time to work out five days a week. I rarely got sick.

Today, with work and domestic responsibilities, I seem to have less time to devote to myself. I’m lucky if I can exercise twice a week; some weeks I can’t seem to find the time to work out at all. As a result, my clothes fit tighter, and it has caused my husband a lot of grief, because he must hear me whine about not being able to fit into some of my favorite outfits.

And not only that, my health seems to be declining. I keep catching the same stupid cold. In fact, as I write this rant, I am dealing with another bout of cold—the third one this year. Catching cold is bad enough in the winter, but in the summer it’s even more uncomfortable. You can’t really snuggle under a blanket and sleep it off when it’s 90-plus degrees outside. I have taken everything from Echinacea tablets to cold and sinus medicine, but after five days, I can’t shake off this infection. I hate blowing my nose every 10 seconds and walking around in a daze. I can’t recall ever having so many illnesses in one year.

It’s ironic that this would happen to me right after I returned from my vacation—the first time in almost a year that I could finally relax—and the week I got back, I caught a cold. I recently bought a pair of $80 running shoes with the intention of getting back into shape, but I haven’t been able to try them out, because I’ve been wasting away on my couch, finishing off a whole box of tissues and sucking on yet another zinc lozenge.

I know, I know. This is nothing compared to what a person with a serious illness endures, and I pray that I will never know the pain and suffering caused by a debilitating disease. But I do wish that I could feel energetic again. I hate this lethargy that has taken over my body.

My occupation is part of the problem. Sometimes deadlines can take over your life, and it’s hard to schedule in outside interests, because you have a story to finish or someone to interview after the official workday is done. My failure to schedule my time wisely is another part of the problem. Rather than head home after work, I should drive to the gym. When I take a break from writing, I should go for a walk. It should be that simple.

But then, there are the dishes to wash, the laundry to fold, the groceries to buy, etc. By the time I’m finished, I’m too tired to exercise. I have tried to get my husband to help me out more, but he thinks I’m obsessed with a tidy home. I can only imagine how I’d feel if I had kids to raise.

I’m not really sure how to juggle everything and stay fit. Should I quit my job? Hire a maid service? Consume 1,000 vitamins a day? I need to figure out something, because I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.