I love my job, but it can get, how do I say this, a little sporadic at times.
You see, the role of a PR/Marketing coordinator for a program at a university means you are a Jack of all trades and a master of…one? Maybe? You help support your co-workers and their programs because when they succeed, the office’s brand succeeds.

This week, our office is putting on a seminar for a select group of AWESOME incoming freshmen who are learning about leadership, service and diversity and what it means to create positive and sustainable change in the FSU community. It’s an amazing program.

But back to the utility player point…

So I have been promoting this program all week along with volunteering to help with random odds and ends.

So this was my schedule today:
7:15 am-pick up doughnuts for students
7:30-7:45 am-interviewed students for a press release
7:45-8:15 am-took group and individual photos for the program
8:30-9:45 am-answered emails
10:00-10:15 am-took some staff photos for our website
10:15-10:25 am-drove to the food bank where students were serving
10:25-10:40 am-took photos as students were wrapping up
10:40-10:50 am-drove back to campus
11:00-11:40 am-created an outline for release while trying to figure out why Word was freezing every time I tried to copy and paste
11:45-1 pm-gave up and went to lunch
1:00-2:00 pm-wrote and edited press release for publication
2:00-3:00 pm-edited photos for news story
3:00-4:30 pm-answered more emails and planned for tomorrow
(not included in this timeline: drinking multiple cups of coffee and talking to a few co-workers about fitness. Because my office is awesome like that.)

If we really broke down our days, we have little time to ourselves. We work hard and sometimes so hard that we just become unproductive. When we get home, the last thing we want to do is think, work or be active. Instead, in my case anyway, we justify ordering terrible food and doing nothing but plopping ourselves down on the couch for a five-hour marathon of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. For some warped reason, we think that’s how we are supposed to reward ourselves for a day of work.

I’m here to say that if you are doing that, you are doing life wrong.

(And yes, that sentence was directed towards yours truly as well.)

As an overweight society, we see exercise and healthy eating as some kind of punishment. That we are depriving us from YOLOing up our lives when in reality our YOLOing is just being lethargic and heavy. Today, I realized that these things aren’t tasks that I am forced to do; rather, I am rewarding my body with a better and longer life.

Today I rewarded myself two ways: running and eating steak.
Yes, steak.

Now for most, the idea of running three miles in the swampy south with a heat index above 100 degrees sounds brutal. That’s because it is. It’s not pretty, there is a lot of sweat but running around a place you love always helps. With all the hectic scenarios I was in today, I focused on my running reward because it’s something I love and something that I know I’m good at. When I run, the day (and the calories) just melt away. But it’s not just a reward because I love it, it is a reward to my body for sitting at a desk for 8+ hours. It is also a reward because I am challenging my body to do amazing things. How is that not a reward for your body? It’s not a punishment. It’s a privilege.

So about the steak…
When I went to lunch, I had to go to Publix to pick up a few items for said lunch. As usual, I ended up in the meat section. That’s when it hit me, “after this already crazy day, I deserve a steak.” So I bought a New York strip and it became another point of focus to get through this day.

Now like a lot of you out there in the weight-losing community, the idea of rewarding yourself with food is generally frowned upon, and I usually agree. But this wasn’t about food. This was about rewarding myself with the beautifully methodical task to cook. This was about doing something beyond the standard plopping on the couch and watching TV. Like running, I rewarded myself with doing something I love. And it didn’t feel like I was rewarding myself with the food because I made sure it was within my points for the day. In fact, I avoided a lot of snacks and treats today because I knew that if I ate something I shouldn’t have, I wouldn’t have the points for steak! Then, I didn’t even finish the steak which is a whole other win in itself.

While we are all busy, it’s important to make time for yourself when you can. Try to reward yourself each day with something you and your body will love. It will have a ripple effect on the rest of your life.

What will you do to reward your body this week?