I know y'all know which Saved by the Bell episode I'm talking about. Bayside's class president, brainiac and resident overachiever Jessie Spano starts taking caffeine pills to deal with long days and lots of work. She quickly becomes addicted to the pills. The wheels come off, and the rest is history:

Now I've never had caffeine pills before, but I know where Ms. Spano is coming from. I have a lot to do and not enough hours in the day to do them, so I do what anyone under stress does - look for all the ways I can cut corners and still do it all. This is where the Resolution Challenge comes in.

I started this month, the second in our Challenge, with a trip to New York for Fashion Week. I was afraid I'd fall completely off the diet & workout wagon in the Big Apple, so I did what I could to prep for it. I packed superfood powder, Larabars, a Blender bottle and my motivation. When I got there, I insisted on a trip to Whole Foods for fruit, coconut water, Nature's Path cereal and almond milk to get me through the week. I enjoyed my vacation, but I didn't feel like I'd abandoned all the hard work I'd put in.

Then I came home.

I'd spent so much time thinking about how I'd keep up with the Resolution Challenge in New York that it never crossed my mind to think about how I'd balance it all when I got home. My email was piled up, I went right back into client work and things quickly started to overwhelm. I didn't have time to meal plan and barely had time to work out, so I ate bad and slept a lot instead. Last weekend, it all caught up to me and I caught a cold that's been slowing me down ever since. Ironically, this week is the busiest yet this month. Go figure!

Our trajectories are similar. Image credit Nathaniel James

I always related to Jessie Spano back in the day. She and this episode taught me a couple of things:

Quick fixes catch up to you. 

These sodas and donuts were good but not worth how crappy I feel later.  Same thing goes for sloppy work or writing!

You can do it all. It's okay if you don't.

In fact, it's better if you don't. Some things can wait for a better day. Other things can get a "no, I can't make it." Remember what matters, and keep those priorities in check constantly.

Support systems are awesome.

Thank goodness for my accountability buddy AlixRose, my boyfriend and my best friend Paula to help keep me in check! You don't have to do everything alone. When the going gets tough, the ones who are there to help are true friends indeed. Shouts to Zack Morris.

When times get crazy, I call these my Jessie Spano moments. I'm slowly coming around to embracing them. I have absolutely loved the Resolution Challenge, but other obligations in life got in the way this month. And that's okay. Though I've only loosely been able to follow through on it this month, I'm not giving up. I'm gonna keep going after the Challenge technically ends. Superfoods will rule my diet one day. Workouts will be a regular part of my weeks. I can't afford not to have them there.

Until then, I'm going to get over this cold and do what I can each day. Then at the end of the day, I am going to let go of all of my guilt and anxiety over what I didn't get done.