All I want for christmas is some relief.

December has been a rough month. I am in training for a pharmaceutical job and today is the last day of that training. I'm tired, exhausted and ready to get out of Chicago and spend the holidays with my family.

I found out some things about myself during this month long escapade of training. There was 2 weeks of home study and than 1 week of training near the corporate office. Almost from day one my energy level plummeted and I became more irritable. My desire to workout went away. My Adderal basically stopped working.

I went to see my doctor before I left for training to see if he could give me anything that would get me through this stressful week. He basically said there wasn't anything to give me. My stress level was so high it was canceling out my medications.

I had no idea that stress could cancel out the kinds of medication I am taking. I guess I took for granted that these meds would always work no matter what. It was tough the first 10 days. I really wanted to go for a run or take a spin class but I just didn't have the motivation or energy to do so. I had to finally just let go and admit that I just wasn't going to workout this month.

It's actually not a bad thing to take a break from working out. It gives your body a chance to recover and relax. Muscle has memory. Bouncing back from a month off will not be difficult. I have to keep telling myself that I'm not becoming a shadow of Jaba the Hutt.

I admit I have terrible body image issues. Two days of not working out and I feel like it's been 2 months. As a personal trainer I know that it takes 14 consecutive days of eating crap to gain 1% of body fat. It's funny how you look in the mirror and see a totally different image than everyone else sees. If anything I have lost weight this week. I've been so consumed with work and studying that I forget to eat. Body image is such a messed up concept.

This after noon I have my final certification and then it's off to my sister's house for Christmas. I will be so happy when this week is officially over.