When Life Happens: How My 21-Day Challenge Took a Different Turn

Well, folks… it’s official. My 21-day challenge was a complete and utter flop. Not a graceful “I tried my best” kind of fail, but a “quit two days after cheating” kind of fail. And yes, I cheated in style—during Anya’s debut bash, no less. I came clean right away to the group and to Master G, because what’s the point in pretending I didn’t eat when there were literally photos of me with a plate?

But here’s the thing—it wasn’t the challenge that challenged me the most. It was life. Specifically, work pressure and my psoriasis staging a full-blown protest on my body.

We were in the middle of launching the new R6 Sales System Snapshot, and during my so-called “2-day detox” (read: no-food mode), I warned my bosses that my work speed would be set to turtle. They understood.

What I didn’t say was,

By the way, even after these two days, I’ll still be useless for the remaining 19.

Case in point: one day, we were discussing something in Slack, and one of my bosses gave me new instructions for a task I’d already been sitting on for days. I re-read his messages over and over, and it was like… yeah, I know how to read words, but my brain had absolutely no idea how to do the thing. Imagine a computer that displays your files just fine but refuses to open them. That was me.

To make matters worse, my body was slowly auditioning for the role of “Biblical Leper #3.” A week before the challenge even started, I’d already stopped taking my Methotrexate—partly because I forgot to refill them, and partly because I thought, “Eh, maybe I’ll be fine without it.” Then when I joined the challenge, Master G suggested I keep skipping the meds since I’d be without any anti-inflammatory foods for 21 days. I told her I might resume if my skin got worse… and oh boy, did it.

I eventually had to face some hard truths: Do I want to be thin but unemployed? Or thin and covered head-to-toe in psoriasis plaques?

Yeah… no brainer.

So I went back to eating my “normal” food, restarted my Methotrexate, and guess what? My brain came back online. My skin? Clearing up. My scalp? Lighter because the plaques are thinning. My ability to function like a human? Restored.

And you know what’s funny? Today would have been the last day of the challenge had I continued. Kudos to the very few who are still starving—err, I mean, still going strong until the finish line.

So yes, I failed the 21-day challenge.

But it led me back to what works best for me.