Monday, January 30, 2012

Dear Anorexia

Dear Anorexia,

I hear you knocking but you cannot come in.  I will call you by your proper name - Thief.  You rob me of my health.  You rob me of my energy.  You rob me of my joy.  I will treat you like the thief that you are.  I would not leave my front door open for anyone to come in and take what belongs to me.  I shut my door and lock it to protect what is precious to me.  In the same way I will shut my mind to your beckoning.  I will bar the door against the temptations of skinny celebrities on glossy magazine covers and skimpy swimsuits on department store racks.  I will safeguard my schedule to make your old habits inconvenient. 

I can hear you laying in wait, until my children are all in school.  I can hear you urging "you can skip breakfast with no one to yell at."  I hear you call "you can work out for hours without interruption."  Lies.  Siren songs.  I worked very hard to overcome your deceptions.  Becoming a mother forced me to look beyond my selfish conceit.  I cannot starve a growing baby.  I cannot skip meals when children need my patience.  I cannot run for hours when there are snacks to prepare and diapers to change and laundry to fold.  I cannot destroy myself when my children depend on my strong arms to hold them. 

Dear Anorexia - you are an old, familiar face, but you are no friend of mine.  You are not welcome here.  I am so much more than you want me to believe I am.  I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and I will live my life in the light of that knowledge.  You and I are over.  Stop calling my name. 

Sincerely,

Not Sick Anymore

12 Week Makeover Week 3

So how did you do on Week 2: clearing out the clutter?

I did a little reorganizing of my house - I cut down a few clutter spots like the recycle area, the top of the dryer, and I did this overhaul of the foyer.  I spent more time, however, getting together this organizing system for my week.  The long and short of it being that I came up with some simple charting solutions that have made me SO much more efficient with my time and my mental energy.  I cut out a lot of the 'clutter' of trying to keep track of all the things I needed to get done and all the scheduling I had to remember.  It's been wonderful and my house has been noticeably tidier because of it (although, when I asked my husband if he noticed that the house had been a little neater last week he said "no" *sigh*). 

Anyway, that brings us to this week.

Week #3: Practice Positive Thinking

This doesn't just mean "I will get that workout in today" or "I won't eat that cookie."  It also includes consciously refraining from thinking anything negative about yourself.  No more obsessing over fat thighs.  No more beating yourself up for skipping the gym.  If you catch yourself thinking something negative about yourself, turn it around and find the positive.  Instead of thinking "I'm so fat and lazy" think "I have a great personality that people like to be around and I work hard."  The more positive you feel about yourself, the better you'll do at losing weight and getting healthy. 

And if you want to read the real articles about this challenge, don't forget to pick up the All You: Health and Fitness magazine at your local Walmart.  There are tons of other great tips on working out and eating right in that magazine that will not be included in my blog posts. 

So - this week's challenge sounds easy, right? I really hope it is for you!  See my next post for a reason it won't be so easy for me. 

And this week's stats:

Weight: 122 and holding *sigh*
Days I worked out: 2
Days I ate junk: 6

Oh well - I'm working on it.  I did just buy Weeds Season 1 to keep me company while I work out. 

Good luck!

Monday, January 23, 2012

12 Week Makeover: Week 2

To recap, Week 1: Keep a Journal, we were challeneged to find a journal or other method of recording the things we ate, the amount we worked out, and the way we felt about our health habits that week. 

So how did you do?  I'll be honest - I didn't get a whole lot of recording done.  But I did make sure to pay closer attention to some of the things I was feeling about working out (or my lack thereof) and the way certain things I ate made me feel.  I'm going to site getting a stomach bug as my excuse for having a really unsuccessful week - but really, I was just lazy.  I'll get better about it this week.  Ready for the next step?

Week 2: Declutter and Make a Plan

This week we have a 2 part challenge:

1) De-clutter your space -  find the places in your house that piles tend to accumulate and figure out how to organize them.  Is your kitchen counter covered in papers?  You could set a pretty basket or letter tray on the counter to catch it all.  Or, better yet, try this fun filing system to get your papers in order now and make them easier to sort in the future.  (Or try this idea, or this one, or this one, or this one).  Give everyone a laundry sorter to get clothes off the floor.  Or put a "donations" basket in each closet to catch outgrown/unwanted items.  Rethink the toy storage, go through the junk drawer - whatever area of your home is doing the most damage to your peace of mind - carve out a few minutes a day and chip away at it until you've got it squared away.  Need some inspiration?  Pinterest is a godsend. 

2) Make a plan.  Remember that journal you supposedly kept all week?  Now is the time to go back through your entries and formulate a plan of attack.  Scout out all the bad habits and come up with ideas for fixing them.  (Ate a ton of chocolate every single day?  Keep it in the freezer.  Didn't work out once?  Make a jogging date with a friend).   You get the idea.  Then look for the stuff that worked, the good habits you want to keep - and make sure you keep doing them.  Keep going for that after-dinner walk.  Keep adding an extra vegetable at dinner.  Keep going to bed 30 minutes earlier.  Whatever makes you feel healthy and happy and good about yourself - focus your energy on that.  Whatever is bringing you down - figure out how to cut it out.

So - that's it :)  Are you ready?  I am!  Of course, I'd be a lot more ready if I didn't see piles that need de-cluttering everywhere I turned my head...babysteps, right!? Thanks for joining me on this journey - and remember - if you follow along and post on your progress every week, you're in the running for a fun fun prize!  Woohoo!

If you want to join us in our little FB group that we created just for tracking our stats and cheering each other on - come join up here

Oh, and here are this week's stats:

Weight: 122
Days I ate junk:6
Days I worked out: 0

Well - that's a little progress I guess.  10 more weeks!!


In other news, I have felt a very strong calling to start working out more.  I've had a lot of health issues (exhaustion, moodiness, sadness, etc etc) that I keep asking my doctors about and they keep on telling me everything is normal.  Well, I feel like the Lord is finally getting through my thick skull telling me that many of my problems will get better if I just get my bum in gear and exercise!  Which is really really hard to do when I'm just so tired because I got so little sleep last night because I was just so restless.  But, in theory, the more I work out, the better I'll sleep, the more rested I'll be, the more I can work out, etc etc etc.  And it's a great mood booster - I know this from the few times I've done it before.  I just have to suck it up and do it!  So, here we go.  I'm hoping that I can squeeze in a nap and some eliptical time today, but if that plan fails I'm totally hauling my hand weights upstairs, turning on the Bob The Builder soundtrack, and busting a move with my toddlers after nap time.  Because, frankly, they could use a little more movement to get the afternoon ants out of their pants, too.  Wish me luck, I'm a slug by nature and a terrible time manager so this will be a big challenge.  But God told me to, so I will.  Right. 

That's all she wrote. 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

12 Week Makeover

So who's up for a 12 week health makeover?  Want to join me?  I'm following the All You magazine 2012 12 week health challenge and I'll be docummenting it here.  So, what are we up to this week? 

Week 1:  Get a journal

Seems easy enough, right?  Find a notebook, pretty journal or blank wordprocessing document and start writing.  Write down:

  • Everything you eat (yes, breakfast, lunch, dinner and any random grazing - every bite!)
  • All your exercising (even if you just write "had a dance party in the living room with the kids")
  • How you felt when you ate or exercised (I was bored so I ate some chocolate.  I ran a mile and felt a total high.)
All this documenting may seem overwhelming in the beginning, but it's a good way to keep track so you can look back at your week and see what habits need to change.  And maybe having to write it down will keep you from putting the cupcakes in your mouth (or motivate you to get out of bed and hit the gym).  Getting into the journaling habit will really come in handy over the next 11 weeks, so let's get started!

And so that I'm accountable, here are my starting stats:

Weight - 122
Days I eat junk - 7
Days I work out - 0

Well - it can only get better from here, right?  So - will you join me?

p.s. - there might be a little *ahem* prize involved for one (or several) of you who do this with me and comment with your progress every week - just sayin'

Monday, January 16, 2012

Loving The Shape I've Got

I've been thinking a lot lately about getting 'in shape.'  It's the new year with new goals and I'm thinking ahead to swimsuit season.  Sure, I'd love to have a swimsuit body by July.  That's the ideal.  But this morning, it dawned on me how much I like the shape I've already got. 

Here are a few reasons why it's nice to have a little extra 'meat on the bones':

1) Ample hips are great for toting babies.  Or, as I did this morning, toting a baby and a toddler at the same time.  While chasing after the preschooler.  What would I have done without the great baby-shelf?

2) Men (apparently) like curves.  At least, that's what my husband claims.  And lots of women's magazines claim.  I'd like to believe they're telling us the truth.

3) In an apocalyptic situation, I'd last a little longer than the waif-thin models.  When food is scarce, the body uses your extra fat.  So, it's not really fat - it's zombie insurance ;)

4) I have extra padding for the inevitable jabs and kicks and other abuse I take from three rambunctious small kids.  I can't imagine how bruised I'd be if I still had visible ribs and hip-bones.  Ouch!

5) When I'm hungry, I'm not happy.  When I'm happy, I'm more beautiful.  I like to believe that you can hide a lot of love-handles behind a killer smile. 


That's it for now.  What are some things that you love about your shape?

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Checking In On The Goals

So, we're a few days into 2012 and I thought I'd check in to see how things are going with the goals.  Here's a rundown of my year thusfar:

1) Make an effort with my appearance. In general, so far so good.  Yes, I did wear pajamas home from the airport, but I got there at 4:30 am!  And yes, I did wear yoga pants yesterday, but it was the last day of 'vacation' before activities started up again.  Today, I made sure to wear my skinny jeans, a cute sweater, my usual jewelry and my favorite boots.  I feel good, even if the only people who will see me all day (other than family) are the folks at the post office.  And that was the point entirely.

2) I will work out every day even if I only do 20 situps. um--- haha this hasn't happened at all yet.  Well, Monday we took a mile long walk along the nature trail - I guess that counts.  Especially since I was toting a 4 year old for half of the walk.  I'm really hoping to at least do my situps today.  But somehow I'm so exhausted at nap time I barely get in my 'busywork' before passing out let alone a workout.  Ah well - room to grow.

3) Eat a healthy diet 5 days a week. Hit and miss.  I've been planning really healthy, veggie-filled meals.  I gobbled up a HUGE plate of veggies and hummus at lunch today.  Unfortunately, I still have a ton of leftover snacks and sweets from the holiday in my pantry.  I can't seem to make myself part with them, so my next best solution has been trying to eat them all up as quickly as possible and then attempt not to acquire any more.  We'll see how that goes.  In the meantime, I also bought a couple new "clean eating" cooking magazines and I'm really excited about some of the recipes I've found - so at least healthy meal planning will be fun :)

4) Get up at 6:30. The weekend was a mess, but we were recovering from travel.  Yesterday, I slept in until 7 (we were up till nearly midnight the night before).  BUT the kids slept until 9 so I still managed to finish all my blogging and get ready and even relax on the couch with one of those cooking magazines for a bit before I had to make breakfast.  Today I almost made it, but then I spent too long on the computer so the morning was still a rush.  Tomorrow, I will be awake at 6:30 and upstairs making toast by 7:30.  Yes I will.

5) I will make quiet-hour shorter. Big fail.  I feel like I'm way behind in playing catchup with blog stuff and store stuff and all the people I have to call about appointments and all the cleaning I want to get done and getting up earlier means I definitely have to nap or I'll be a total pumpkin by dinnertime.  Whew.  But I'm working on it.  My piles of to-dos are slowly getting smaller, and I'm trying really hard to get to bed earlier.  So hopefully in a week or so quiet hour will be more like an actual hour.  We shall see.

6) Spend less time on the computer. um, nope.  I've been madly rushing to catch up on my blogs and put things in my shops and list things on craigslist to sell and then I get caught up in filling out giveaways and chatting and.....Oops.  I have been leaving the computer downstairs and it's been a huge change for the better.  More time with my kids and I'm getting things slowly organized - it's really nice.  I'm just wasting a LOT of time at naptime and in the morning still, so I need tow work on that.

7) Keep a tidier, cleaner house. Getting there.  I'm in the "things look worse while I'm making them better" stage.  I'm totally redoing my filing system, which means I have notebooks and piles of papers everywhere - but it should be easier to file the papers that tend to pile up when I'm done.  Next, linen closet.  Getting a 'real' toy box for the kids tomorrow so we have one big place to corral all the stray toys.  Moved H's clothes from his closet to his dresser so they're easier to put away.  I'm making progress.  My main goal is to streamline things enough that it's easier to keep things clean once I get them there. Even if it means making a bigger mess in the process.

So that's where I am.  It's a process.  These are goals.  I'll get there.  It's good to check in now and then to keep track, though :)