Is there ever a good time to change?

(Warning: This post contains topics of a womanly nature. Men and prudish women should apply earmuffs as warranted.)

So this challenge came at a pretty bad time. For the first week, [APPLY EARMUFFS] I had my period. Having all that extra water weight and bloat was great for beefing up my measurements and the "before" photo. But it came with headaches, exhaustion, and a general bitchiness that was hard to shake, even on my fantastic new diet.

Once that was over, I got slammed with some sort of bug, which knocked me out for two days with fever and aches and will probably impact my workouts for the rest of the week. I had a hard time eating. My meals got screwed up. I'm still trying to get back on track.

I've spent a good amount of time bemoaning my sorry state, wishing I could have started this challenge some other time. But then I ask myself: When is the right time to change your lifestyle? Is there ever a good time?

Almost 10 years ago, I was bitching about my crummy journalism job, telling my friends how I wanted to get my Master's Degree and make a career change. This went on for awhile, and I always had one excuse or another why I couldn't leave my day job to try something new, exciting, and totally terrifying. Finally, one of my friends said, "What are you waiting for?" And then it hit me: there was no reason to wait. Time would march on, and I would be left there, in my crummy journalism job, still bitching, while life went on without me. So I said, "What the heck?" A year later I was in graduate school, and two years later, I had landed myself a crummy government job far worse than my ordeals in the newsroom. (Okay, bad example).

The point is, I can't wait. There will never be a good time to clean up my diet and get serious about improving myself. Now's as good a time as any.

And to be fair, I'm proud of the way I handled these last two weeks. I didn't crawl into the warm fluffy comforts of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (though I really, really wanted to). I didn't drown my migraines in a bag of goldfish crackers. I stuck to it. I ate protein. I rejected grains. And if nothing else, I can say...I'm ready for next week.