S9E1 Already Behind in 2026 Start Here
[00:00:00] It's mid-February and you already convinced yourself, you blew it. The workout routine didn't stick, the nutrition plan fell apart, and January somehow became more proof that you just can't keep up. Sound familiar? Good, because that's exactly where we are starting in today's episode, and it's also exactly where the guilt ends.
And before we get started, I wanna invite you to something special. Living with MS can feel overwhelming, but one habit can shift everything. That's what I'll show you inside my free webinar. How to Help Slow MS progression, starting with just one habit. Think of it as your first step towards more energy, confidence, and hope.
Save your seat at all. brennan.com back slash webinar. Welcome to my MS podcast, where women with MS learn how to slow progression and live [00:01:00] a life they love. I'm Alene Brennan, your Ms sister and a practitioner who knows the science and the reality of living this too. Each week I share simple. Science backed habits to boost your energy, stay consistent and feel like yourself again, because Ms.
May be a part of your story, but it doesn't get to write the ending. Welcome back my friends. So the last time I recorded a podcast episode was Thanksgiving. It's been a minute, and to be fair, I planned to take December off, so that was intentional. Um, I had a lot lined up for the holidays and I really wanted to enjoy them this year, and I did.
I also had planned to have a full batch of episodes queued up to kick off the new year. Well, fast forward to this past week. I'm sitting at my computer and I've actually been spending a lot of time in the dms with [00:02:00] all of you, and I love it. I love hearing your stories. I love sharing like resources with you.
Well, the other day I wanted to grab a link to a specific podcast episode that I knew would help somebody that I was talking with in the dms. And I went over to my podcast page and I saw the last episode I released was Thanksgiving. And I was like, where did my plan go? Where did my plan go to have January all queued up?
I felt so defeated, and it wasn't like I didn't know that I hadn't recorded episodes. Of course I did, but I'm sitting here in mid-February facing the fact that it has been, what is that? 10 weeks? I also had planned to make this year, the year that I. Finally got back to consistent exercise pre ms. I was a yoga instructor.
I was a personal trainer. Like moving my body felt part [00:03:00] of me. It felt part of my identity. I've mentioned that before. I. And I did maintain it for a while. Like, um, my exercise routine, certainly after, um, my diagnosis, it didn't stop then, but once my daughter was born and then a lot of other life events happened as they do, and they just derailed me.
And similar to my experience with the podcast episodes, like I picked my head up at one point and I'm like, oh my gosh, you. You haven't had a consistent workout routine in, I can't even tell you how long. So I did go to Pilates last summer and I really liked it, but I wanted something that I could do at home because that was something that I could be more consistent with.
Um, so I was like, okay, new Year, wall Pilates, here I come. At home in my basement, in my jams if I need to for like 10, 15 minutes, whatever I had time and energy for. It wasn't about like an [00:04:00] intense workout. I truly was not trying to match the level of intensity that I did pre ms. I know that that is setting myself up for failure, but I just wanted to be consistent.
Again, I wanted that part of my morning routine. Back. I wanted that part of me back. Right. We all want that pre ms Life back. Well, I started off, well, I was doing like, I don't know, like three to five minutes in the morning, and of course that feels super unproductive and super unsatisfying because even though I didn't wanna go back to the full intensity of what I did before, I wanted to feel like I was doing something other than like three minutes of stretching.
Like, what in the world is that actually doing? But I had to get out of my head and just start focusing on showing up each day. And so that's what I did. And then 10 inches of snow fell, which of course means no school, and I feel like we have had more snow days than school [00:05:00] days in January. Then I had two family members in the hospital, one of which watches my daughter when I work in the afternoons.
So I had that. To add to the no school days, there was no afterschool coverage. And just for good measure, my daughter decided to sprinkle in a few sick days too. Thank you so much, sweet pea. And the reality is, even in the midst of trying to record this episode today, I got a call that a family member had to be rushed back to the hospital and I am grateful to say that they are stable, like all is well.
So I'm very, obviously that is the highest priority and I'm so grateful for that. But because I am talking to you, I know I can also acknowledge that in the midst of all of this, of the 10 inches of snow of the trips to the hospital of the no school days of my daughter being sick. I'm trying to maintain my energy as it feels like more and more [00:06:00] keeps getting piled on.
So of course, MS. Fatigue sets in, like I am living in the sandwich generation of taking care of a young child as well as elderly parents. Also managing a chronic illness. How do we protect ourselves? How do we protect ourselves not only from the very real things that are going on around us that need us, but also how do we protect ourselves from ourselves trying to keep a standard that is unrealistic?
But the icing on the cake is that you look up and it's mid-February and you immediately feel like, amazing. I'm already behind in 2026, because January is supposed to be the time that you are crushing your goals, right? Going all in on the new you in the new year. But the reality is. It's [00:07:00] February and you are the same you, and maybe feeling like January is just more proof that no matter how hard you try and how good your intentions are, you'll never be as good as your prem Ms.
Self again. Right. Am I the only one that's said that before? You'll never be able to keep up. Everything that you want is on the other side of energy you don't have, and the world doesn't exactly set us up for success either in telling us that January is like the perfect time to start fresh. We try.
Because we wanna feel better. We want to have, yes, our best year, and we're afraid what happens if we don't start to make changes? What if this year is a repeat of the previous year and you didn't like that? Or what if this year things get worse? So that fear of MS. Progressing is like a cloud that [00:08:00] is constantly looming over you.
So you try to let it motivate you, right? But the truth is you are completely exhausted. You are completely exhausted, often just getting through the day, but you are definitely exhausted coming out of December, getting through the holidays, my friend. January is not the time to sprint. It is a time to rest.
That is the best way to set yourself up for a better year. 'cause here's what I learned this past January. Rest is not the opposite of progress. Rest is not the opposite of progress. And I get it. I get it. It's so hard not to look at rest as lazy or unproductive, but it's exactly what our body needs regardless of what the world around us is doing.
So I don't wanna just rush past that. I [00:09:00] want us to actually sit with that for a second and really try to believe that because I hear that rest. Is not lazy, and I'm like, yep, got it. Now let me keep it moving because I got stuff to get done. Right. It's like you want that for somebody else. I want that for you.
Rest. Your body needs it. Rest is healing. I say it over and over and over again, but yet, if we're being honest, we don't always give that gift to ourselves. Because you wanna be productive both in your day and in managing ms. You are terrified that if you rest, you'll fall behind and never be able to catch back up.
And that's the tension that I think we all live in. We're exhausted, we're afraid. Of what that exhaustion means. So you try to outrun it, you make a plan, you tell yourself, this time will be different. I'm gonna try harder, I'm gonna be more disciplined. [00:10:00] I'll just power through. And then life happens and it piles on because it always does.
And you don't think, wow. This was a really hard month. No, you tell yourself. Failed again. So can we change that? We'll start with the whole premise of January. Being a good time for a fresh start is an illusion, certainly for those of us living with Ms. Managing fatigue, raising children, caring for aging parents, and holding it all together on what feels like running on fumes.
That mindset that January is our fresh start is built for somebody who has unlimited energy. Definitely not a chronic illness, and quite honestly, I don't even know if that person exists anyway, so what if we stop measuring ourselves against somebody who likely doesn't even exist? It's this [00:11:00] illusion that we tell ourselves, but it's certainly never.
Built for us, because here's what I noticed in January, the three to five minutes of wall Pilates that I was doing, it did matter. Not because it's transforming my body in those three minutes, but because I showed up even when it felt so small, it. Couldn't possibly make a difference. And even though I didn't do it every day, guess what?
Today I opened up my app and I was on day 14. Yeah, we are six weeks into the new year, and that doesn't feel very impressive, but it's 14 days more than not doing anything at all, because I told myself the lie that five minutes didn't count. This is how habits start. Not from a perfect streak, but from starting small, so small that you can actually get through it and [00:12:00] have the energy to show up again tomorrow.
But then when life happens and derails you again, 'cause it does, instead of letting that be proof that you can't do it, that you failed, that you fell off the bandwagon, stop and recognize I'm human. I am a mom. I'm a daughter. I'm a caregiver. I'm a woman living with ms, doing the absolute best I can with what I have, and so are you.
Here's the good news. If you are feeling behind right now, drop the guilt and drop the story you're telling yourself about not being good enough. Because when you lift that pressure, what's left is you exactly where you are right now with an opportunity to begin. Again, not with a bundle of fabricated energy, but to begin with your next.
Breath. It doesn't mean [00:13:00] starting over. It means letting go of a plan that assumed you had energy, that you just don't. It means choosing one thing. Just one that feels doable today, not on your best day, on your real life today. And it means releasing the idea that consistency means perfect attendance when really it just means showing up on the days that you can and returning when you can.
My friend, you didn't miss your opportunity to have a great year. Maybe you had a bumpy start like I did, and maybe you started telling yourself that this is just how 2026 is gonna be. But that's not true. Don't stay stuck thinking that you've lost your chance. Simply start with one thing that you can do today, and if I could recommend, let it be something that is two minutes or less.[00:14:00]
Grab a glass of water, get your supplement bottle out, and take it today. One supplement. Do three minutes of stretching. Not all of these. Pick one. Pick one thing that you can do in two minutes or less, and yes, resting for two minutes counts too, because we are continuing to reinforce that belief that resting is being productive because it's giving your body what it needs in this moment.
Rest is healing. We need to believe that for ourselves, not for the person standing next to us, but for ourselves. So again, right now, I want you to think of one thing that you can do starting today that is two minutes or less. Two minutes or less. Resting, stretching. Drink a glass of water, take one, supplement, pick one.
When you focus on one [00:15:00] habit at a time, you are 85% likely to be successful. When you try to focus on two habits at the same time, your success goes from 85 to 35%. And if you try to do three habits at a time, you are success plummets to 10%. Let's stack the odds in your favor. Focus on one habit, something that you can do two minutes or less, and do it today.
And my friend, if you are wanting a plan to guide you through this year so that you can truly feel like this year is different than it was last year, send me a DM over on Instagram. Dm me the word New Year. I have a special invitation I wanna send your way. And that's it for today's episode of my MS podcast.
I hope you're walking away with one small step you can put into practice today, because that is how real [00:16:00] change happens. And remember, MS has its own biological clock, which means this. Sooner you start, the more power you have to influence your future. The best time to begin is now. That's why I created my free webinar.
How to Help Slow MS progression, starting with just one habit today. Grab your spot at alene brennan.com/webinar. See you there.