Typing, however, is another matter. I don't love typing, but I'm really, really fast at it. Point of proof - since I started typing this, nobody has interrupted me - not the 2 dogs (who seem to be constantly hungry), not my husband, who I think is on a home improvement mission somewhere around the house, and not any one of my three teenaged daughters, who usually see Mom sitting still as a great excuse to pounce - and while I love them dearly (all 5 of them - daughters, dogs, and dude) sometimes a few minutes to think, write, and reflect are needed in order to keep my sanity.
So what will this blog be? I'm not sure yet. I haven't quite worked out if it will be a daily, weekly, or "as needed" kind of posting, but I'm thinking along the lines of once or twice weekly. I'd love to say daily, but with a full time job, the light at the end of the college degree tunnel fast approaching, and the family, that's probably not going to happen. So for simplicity's sake, I think I'm going to commit to making this a Sunday afternoon thing - and if more posts happen, well lucky reader.
Readers - who should read this? Hmmm - that's a really good question. I should definitely read a blog like this. So, I'm assuming others like me - busy moms who forget to put themselves first - should also read this. My goal for this year is to lose weight (how unusual!), to get into better physical shape (wow- nobody has EVER thought of that), and to be more grateful for all the blessings in my life. It's so easy when you're facing terrible financial pressures, time issues, and frustrations at work or in other areas of life to forget how good you really have it - so I'm planning to use this blog to chronicle all of those things.
Where to start? Here's the fam:
This is me and my baby daughter -- not such a baby, actually - she's going to be 13 in less than a month! Where does the time go? I have no earthly idea - but I've enjoyed almost every minute of it (come on - no Mom in her right mind would say she enjoyed EVERY minute - think about it for a minute - diaper blow-outs, temper tantrums, watching them get hurt by the betrayal of a best friend ... ) She's my running partner. Last year, we started the year off with a 5k, did a couple more of those, one 8k, one 10k, and even a 15k! This year we hope to do several more short runs and culminate our efforts with the Run Disney Tower of Terror Ten Mile run in October - yes, we've already signed up (we were signed up for 2013, but due to family issues, we moved our registration to next year).
This is my hubby with all three girls - taken at the end of last summer, so the youngest is a little bit taller now - she's growing like crazy! My oldest two will both graduate from high school at the end of the year - Brittany (the oldest) with her associates degree in Biology at the same time and Rebecca (in red) two years ahead of schedule with some college credits under her belt as well. Rebecca has major senioritis - MAJOR! I can remember senioritis, and if she's got it this bad now, her next few months won't be much fun. Brittany will attend Iowa State University in the fall and Rebecca is in the process of auditioning for fine arts programs at her top five schools. Once she sees their offers, she'll make a decision as well and this time next year, the house will be a lot quieter.
And lastly, meet Chili and Tyson - they keep things interesting around here, along with one very vocal guinea pig and a pair of rabbits who (thankfully) live outdoors - two females - we've done the rabbit breeding thing and we're all through with that! The kids raised rabbits for 4H and at one point had 56 of them. During a midwest winter, that's not much fun! They are, however, much quieter than guinea pigs!
So, where are we starting off? Not in a great place. I have about 80 pounds to lose - honestly, I think I'd be happy with 60 of them gone. I haven't really focused on exercise since August - all kinds of things conspired to make it really easy for me NOT to exercise and not to focus on what I should be focused on, including the sudden illness and death of my mother-in-law, school, work, the kids, the dogs, the rabbits, moving and downsizing, it was cloudy, and I just didn't feel like it ... any questions? I've got the excuse-making thing down cold. So how am I planning to turn this around?
1. Walking - my goal is an average of 3 miles per day ... whether I walk or run, 3 miles is a good number and shouldn't be too difficult to do. Since life does happen, the ultimate goal is to accomplish this five times per week - so any week I can log 15 miles is a win.
2. Nutrition - I want to put in 80% "good" calories. Yes, I'm human and I have this insane love for chocolate, cheese, ice cream, and bread - you don't think I got this far overweight by a love of spinach and cucumbers do you? I will follow the weight watchers "simply filling" list as a general guideline. If money allows, I'll join WW again as I do believe their program is fantastic and it worked really well for me after both my first and second daughters were born - and the accountability is good, too.
3. Journaling - yes, this counts - but I'll also use my paper journal. My oldest bought me a gorgeous Italian leather journal and I intend to use it every day. At the very least, I'll note three things I'm grateful for that day along with the exercise I've done and the food I've eaten.
4. Accountability - I'm sharing my goals with you - with my family, and my closest friends. The more people I tell, the better my chances of success - but if I feel like eating a piece of chocolate cake and you tell me I shouldn't, prepare for the evil eye of death - this is a lifestyle thing for me, NOT a diet - and if I thought I could never have Portillo's chocolate cake again, that would be the end of the lifestyle. I don't crave it all that often, anyway, so butt out nosy! On the other hand, if you happen to notice that I'm eating at McDonald's every day for lunch, please point out to me that there are much better uses of my calories and my money - because ... well, yuck.
5. Rewards - I have a list of things that I want to do that I've been putting off for no real good reason, so they'll be my rewards. Case in point, when I reach my half-way mark (40 pounds) I will sign up for a scuba certification class. Smaller goals, like meeting my weekly run/walk goals, which will increase as the year moves on, will be rewarded by things like a day at the zoo, signing up for a fun 5k or 10k (yes, I said running is fun - I know, it's a sickness - really it is), or a mani-pedi. And, did you know that the simply filling technique with weight watchers allows non-fat lattes as long as they aren't sweetened? I love a grande non-fat latte (no sugar or flavor ever), so that's a perfect reward for me!
Soooo ... I've only been interrupted twice, here, which is a small miracle in and of itself, but it's time to wrap up because it would be unrealistic to think this streak can continue ... so I'm off to do some research on foods that both meet my goals and that my family will enjoy as well. That could be a tough combination - my husband and youngest daughter are junk food fanatics - although both would deny it. The older two are always happy to eat healthy with me (although we all love taco night). Off to peruse pinterest and other blogs for great recipe ideas so that we can start the week (and the year) off on the right foot.
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