We hear it over and over, we need to take care of ourselves first. Heck, I preach it on a consistent basis. Yet I wasn’t the best at it the past year. I learned first hand the consequences of not practicing self-care.
Three or so years ago, I had built a wonderful self-care routine. I was on it! I was healthy, full of sunshine and happiness. Queen of positivity was my nickname. I was eating well, exercising daily, meditating and all that other feel-good stuff.
But I allowed my priorities to change.
I’ve always been a worker bee putting work and projects before many, if not most, things. But I had made it a must-do to have self-care above that. Until last year. Then I lost track and in the process lost myself a bit too. At the end of 2019, I sat looking at myself in the mirror seeing all the consequences of not practicing self-care stare back at me.
The Physical Consequences of Not Practicing Self-Care
I’ll start with some of the most obvious consequences, the physical ones. The changes in my body and how I feel physically. These are the ones that you can notice on the surface.
I gained 55 pounds. It just kept adding on and adding on. I went up with eight sizes in clothes.
I wasn’t working out because I didn’t make time. I wasn’t eating right or balanced, grabbing on the go and skipping meals. This consequence is just the tip of the iceberg of not practicing self-care.
Due to the weight gain, I was feeling sluggish. I also have more aches and pains because of the extra weight on my body – my Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia don’t really like this extra physical pressure.
My usual energetic flow fell into the dumps. I was tired all of the time! The stress, the weight gain, the lack of good nutrients, the limited activity, all contributed.
The Emotionally & Mentally Consequences
My self-esteem and confidence levels were low. Some of this due to the weight gain, some of it due to the very ill-managed stress, and honestly being tired all the time made it really hard to feel confident.
I found it hard to keep my emotions balanced. This is a big (but not often mentioned) consequence of not practicing self-care. Meditation, journaling, counseling, whatever it is you do – these self-care practices keep me feeling level and balanced. I feel better all-around with them.
I wasn’t setting healthy boundaries.
This is in itself a very important practice of self-care. But it all works together. Because I wasn’t taking care of myself in other ways, I wasn’t feeling confident enough to set those much-needed boundaries. This is where I slid back into my old people-pleasing ways.
Another consequence of not practicing self-care is how it affects my relationships. I became a bit withdrawn from friends and family. I struggled to express myself in healthy ways.
The biggest consequence of not practicing self-care – – – or the one round-up take away I’ll give you – – – I didn’t feel good because I wasn’t taking care of myself.
Sometimes the true motivations are not in being told what to do and how to do it but what will happen if you don’t do it. So this is why I share my consequences of not practicing self-care.
What are some of the tell-tale signs you notice, what changes for you and in your life, when are not practicing good self-care?
Meet Your LoveBlog 2020 Hosts:
Brita Long is the pink and sparkly personality behind the Christian feminist lifestyle blog, Belle Brita. On her blog and social media, you’ll discover more than authentic storytelling–she’s brutally honest about pursuing a fulfilling and joyful life even with Crohn’s Disease and depression.
Laura is a part-time artist hoping to go full time someday. She has a little black bucket list book filled with adventures. She writes with the hope to inspire. She’s known to be quite the workaholic sometimes. She’s an INTJ- A and she believes a cup of hot tea can solve almost anything. She embraces perseverance. She’s spent a lot of time emerged in self-discovery practices over the last several years and finds she is still learning as she goes. She is here in the blogging world because she believes the buzz about self-care, wellness, and self-love needs to be heard. You can also find her writing over at www.blogfivebiz.com chatting about blogging and business stuff.
Kayla is a twenty-something INFJ and Hufflepuff. She’s a full-time professional working in higher education, with interests in reading (mostly thrillers) and binge-watching television shows on some of her favorite streaming platforms. Her favorite things are coffee, Chick-fil-a, Mexican food, and cats. She lives with her husband and their furbaby, Courage, just outside of a small college town near Atlanta.
It’s a vicious cycle, isn’t it? You stop taking care of yourself and then it becomes near impossible to want to do it because of so many small things accumulating. I’ve spent a year on the wrong medication and put on 20kg as a result, I just couldn’t even cope with cleaning the house without being breathless and exhausted so walking or exercising was out of the question. I was a mess, my mental health was down the drain. I feel so lucky that my way to break the cycle was so simple, I don’t want to imagine where I would be now if I was still on those meds.
That sounds like quite the journey. It definitely helps when it’s the right balance of meds. I have Fibromyalgia and early in my diagnosis I was given Lyrica and though it helped with the pain it turned me into a zombie. Getting off those meds and into a better routine made a huge difference. We all have to find the right mix for ourselves. I’m really glad that you are on the upside of that journey!
It’s so easy for priorities to get out of order. I so often take myself a little to serious and feel like the world will come to an end if I stop. Self-care helps me to be a bit more humble and acknowledge that the world still turns without me spinning all of the plates! Thanks for this reminder! X
I have related so much to this. with the birth of my first baby I put my self care out the window. It was the unhappiest, stressed and anxious I’ve ever been. And I didn’t take care of myself. I’ve learned the hard way (just as I think you have above) that “self care” for better lack of a word, is essential.
I’m glad you were able to come to a self-awareness and are hopefully making progress towards your self-care goals. I typically notice I start to isolate myself from folks a bit more.
Thank you. I see isolation as a two-part process. Initially, it can be good for me because it allows me to recharge, evaluate and determine a schedule of actions…but then there’s that prolonged isolation, this is when it becomes unhealthy and counterproductive. I believe all things take a balance or better said a harmony, so this year I’m striving for that.
These are such important lessons, and I appreciate your willingness to open up. I hope you have found your way back to a good self-care routine this year.
Thank you for recognizing that. It is a bit tough sometimes to write about the times we feel we failed, but it’s all a learning process and I think we should share these lessons with others. I’m definitely on a better track again. It won’t happen overnight but I’m feeling good about the path in front of me!
Ugh this is such a great post. And I’ve so been there! I gained 40 pounds over a few years. That was my biggest indicator that I needed to take better care of myself.
The consequences do add up quickly. Thank you for sharing this list! It’s a reminder that I need to improve my own self care routine.
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