Presents of Mind

I made an important decision...well, maybe not to you.  But to me.

I recently altered my workout schedule from 5 days per week to 4 days per week.  This is giving me more time at home to get chores done and relax and consequently helping me be less stressed and anxious, which I think we all can agree is a major win?

New plan:
Monday - lift (currently on dumbbell rows and overhead dumbbell presses), core work, mobility
Tuesday - REST (this can include walking to or from the bus, shoulder stability, yoga, and mobility)
Wednesday - CrossFit, core, mobility
Thursday - REST (see Tuesday)
Friday - CrossFit, core, racquetball, mobility
Saturday - CrossFit, mobility
Sunday - More Happy REST!

Yesterday was a Thursday and I was crazy sore from my attempt at Diane (and also my successful handstand pushup).  Thank God it was a planned rest day.

I was at the office for over 10 hours and was ready to be done for the day.  I ate a crap ton of food for dinner (1 spinach salad with dried cherries and olive oil, 2 eggs with 1 piece of prosciutto and half a piece of Swiss cheese on an English muffin, 2 MORE eggs with another English muffin).  I say your body is a pretty good judge of what you need.  After the first round of McMuffin, I had some water and waited a little while and read Self magazine.  When I still definitely felt hungry, I went back for seconds.  I didn't feel at all stuffed or like I overate.  Clearly I needed those calories!

Wednesday I'd made myself a small list of To-Dos for Thursday evening.  I tend towards two extremes: either make a huge list and leave no time for relaxing, or make no list and waste an evening being totally unproductive and later kick myself for it because I get stressed the next day.  I limited the list to 5 things:

Take out trash/recycling
Unload dishwasher
Reload dishwasher
Fold laundry
Yoga/mobility

I got everything done except folding laundry.  I realized we were set on clothes at least until Saturday and if we needed anything...we could dig it out of the baskets of clean clothes.

I took a bath instead of folding laundry. 

Massage bar (works in place of post-bath lotion) from my dear friend Meghan.  Apparently this one is for people with "tired muscles and busy brains."  Yes, that would be me.  It smells like lavendar.  Mmmm.  Poirot murder mystery from the library.  Not precisely a Christmas present but definitely crucial for relaxing.

Bath bomb from my sweet sister-in-law, Lauren.  You want a bath bomb, too? (Of course you do.) Here's the one I had: LUSH party popper! It makes fun fizzy and popping noises and looks pretty and smells incredible:

After bath bombing, reading, and lavendaring myself to bliss, I threw on the comfy sweats Jared bought me at H&M.  They make me feel like a little kid cause I think they look like Jasmine pants...they swell out before bunching in at the ankles.

And then I busted out 15 minutes of moblity and another 10 of yoga.  Great way to celebrate a rest day!


You tell me: How many rest days do you program per week?  Do you notice emotional burnout before you see physical burnout?  What's your favorite way to unwind?