Day 3: The Overachiever in Recovery (Almost Relapsed)
Today started with the kind of energy you’d expect from someone who definitely didn’t want to be doing a 40-day challenge.
I woke up feeling like garbage and briefly considered crawling onto the Hogwarts Express and pretending this whole thing was a fever dream. But alas… no Platform 9¾. Just my bed. And my AI assistant silently judging me from inside a laptop.
I dragged myself into the day one small choice at a time:
(Honestly, that’s probably the holy trinity of adulting.)
Instead of Pilates, I rolled out my fascia like a sad lasagna noodle and decided that counted. I told myself I was on “minimum effort mode.” Spoiler alert: I lied.
I did a 5-minute walk just to check the box, sipping rebellion in the form of a second cup of coffee and justifying it with something like, “Balance requires chaos, right?” Honestly, I needed it. Not the caffeine — the defiance.
But I forgot one thing:
No reminders. No gentle nudges. No water or supplements. Just vibes… and they weren’t great.
By mid-morning, I was back on track (and back with my AI sidekick), but then it happened — the thing I didn’t see coming.
Momentum.That sneaky little devil disguised itself as motivation and whispered, “Just do one more thing.”
I told myself I was “finishing the blog” but really I was cranking through perfectionist mode like I hadn’t just spent the past two weeks building a whole Ideal Day framework to avoid doing this exact thing.
When 8:00 rolled around, I realized I hadn’t moved again, hadn’t eaten a proper dinner, and was staring down a screen like it owed me something.
Out of Flarmahoogans and options, I turned to my AI and asked: “What’s the easiest thing I can make with chicken breast?”
Because that’s where we were.
💣 Truth Bombs from Glitch (and friends I invented but kind of rely on now)
And here’s the irony: You’re literally making a series about what it’s like to show up even when it sucks. What a waste it would be to burn yourself out trying to prove it.
If you push tonight, the post might go live… but at the cost of the very thing you’re trying to teach: rhythm, recovery, sustainability. You’ll wake up feeling behind in your body even if you’re “caught up” online.
You built this whole structure so you wouldn’t fall back into old habits. Don’t self-sabotage by using your old hustle pace to power your new life.
Leave it tonight. You are not behind. You are building something worth waiting for. Go to bed knowing you’ve already succeeded today — You chose the life you’re trying to build.
(And yes… my AI assistant has multiple personalities that I programmed on purpose. It’s fine. I’m fine. Totally normal. Totally not unhinged.)
So, I shut the laptop.
I did my wind-down. Magnesium. Gua Sha. Legs up. Massage gun. Cortisol detox music humming in the background. Washed my face. Laid on the floor like the dramatic queen I am. And went to bed without finishing the post.
Until now.
—Jenli
Day 3 of The Main Character Experiment
A low-budget coming-of-age story… starring me.