picture source

I guess I should be honest and tell you that I am not 100% ok. YES, I know what has to be done but this money stress has me…well…stressed. I am focusing on eating good for me foods. I am tracking my food using my new fitbook and while I am not the best tracker, I am working on it.

I am focusing on the early stages of my half marathon training.  As a total distraction and because my brain is moving in weird circles lately, typing half marathon made me thing of Ryan’s post today.  Should I even call it a half, Mr. NoMoreBacon says 13.1 miles should not be half anything~ but I am not sure what I want to call it. I am training for quite possibly the biggest challenge of my life…so far..so if it isn’t a half what is it!?! How do I refer to my training?I do not and will not call it a race. I am not a fast runner (not even close to being fast) and I still and probably always will use the run:walk method. I do not want to get caught up in trying to be fast. I just want to finish!

I am still fighting the funk. I am still exhausted. Little Miss Lucy has decided that 3am is a good time to play….for an hour! Ummm yeah! This is not conducive to getting up early for working out. I will figure this out. For now, I have only run once this week and I haven’t done any other real workouts. I have been working my butt off at work in the disgusting heat in a building with no air conditioning. I have been cleaning and moving furniture and boxes and books all around the school. Did I mention no air conditioning?!? I may not have logged any strength workout but I have been doing something. Not too impressive, huh?!?

BUT

I am making good-for-me food choices. I am moving and doing something. I am moving and running (ok, it was only once but that was just the beginning)! I have only worked out 1 of the first 3 days of my training. This upset me earlier but now I know I must keep moving forward. I cannot dwell on this “failure” but instead I must dwell on my amazing run yesterday (I will blog about my first run very soon).

My good friend, Jack tells me to just keep doing what I know is right. Day after day.  Day after day after day. I must keep on keepin’ on. Day after day.

Tonight, we finished dinner and I was just all the sudden tired. I was a bit thrown off by this tired because I actually slept in a bit this morning. While Lucy was up at 3am she slept until 7:20 which let me sleep until 7:20 which is a switch from our normal wake up call of 5:30-6ish. I was totally running late for work today but it was sooo worth it. I am tired so I will rest for tomorrow is another 3 mile training run. I did not get an official training workout completed today but I am going to be mindful of my body and right now it is saying it is tired and a tad uncoordinated.

I may not be perfect. My training may not be perfect. But I will keep on keepin’ on! I will keep fighting even at times when it is hard to keep fighting the invisible enemies. I will remain true to myself. It will not always be pretty and positive but it will always be real.

Tonight, while  I was looking for an image for this post,  I found this image: Keep Calm and Carry On.

That is all I got! All I can do!

I will embrace my  NOT-perfectness!!

Can you embrace your not-perfectness?!?

*BIG MAN started a new job Thursday.  He has been out of work for nearly two years and Thursday was a long day. The alarm went off at 5:00 in the bloody morning.  A lot of adjustments need to be made to wake up at 5am. Adjustments need to be made all around; we have been spoiled having Big Man home all the time to handle the day-to-day stuff of running our household.

*I live 10 minutes away from the Atlantic City Racetrack but I have never actually been to a live horse race. Many times, when I was younger, my mom would take us to the mall (right next to race track)  and we would watch races from the mall parking lot. The track does not run horses very often anymore. In fact, there are only 6 days of live racing each year. Yesterday, I finally went to see my first race. I bet on the ponies based on their names and their parents’ names and I won some and I lost some. I had so much fun. The husband and I are always looking for “different” fun stuff to do and now that he is back to work we will enjoy random nights out as often as possible.

*kettlebells! Holy fucking wow!! I went to a kettlebell class yesterday morning at LA Boxing. YES! Morning, as in 8:30 in the morning. I knew my day was going to be busy and I wanted to take an early class. I saw the kettlebell class on the schedule and I thought “what the fuck, I don’t really want to do jumping jacks anyway and I want sexy arms.” Seriously, that what went through my mind.  Well, that was a very hard class and my legs were shaking and my arms were shaking.  The instructor advised me to take Advil a couple of hours after class and Monday would probably be rough. Today is only Sunday and my legs are seriously sore.

*Laundry is a pain in the ass! Laundry is even worse when the washer and dryer are in the basement and your legs are sore from kettlebell class.

*I am sorry for the cursing but sitting down causes me great pain. I almost cry every time I pee.

**I am not really sorry about the cursing but I do hope I do not offend anyone. I have a potty mouth and well, that is just me.

On to the FOOD….I know that is what ya’ll want to see.

On the menu this week:

Monday: Turkey & Spinach meatballs with spaghetti.

Tuesday: Chicken Caesar & Boboli pizza (from last week…we just never got to it ~ blame it on 5am wake up calls)

Wednesday: Kid’s Request Night:  Breakfast for Dinner – french toast and omelets.

Thursday: Big Man’s Request: Steak and a Salad.

Friday: BBQ’d chicken or shrimp or fish. I always have chicken in the freezer but I may stop at the local fish market. I am craving fish.

As always ~ if you are not menu planning…well, why the heck not?!? Menu planning has helped me in so many ways. AND now that Big Man is not home all day to take care of the details, I am going to need to stay planned and organized. It is essential for me to stay sane and on top of all that must be done.

Thanks Jenna, for keeping me mindful of my menu!

I have been watching that Jaime Oliver’s show and it really has me thinking and rethinking about food. I have been struggling a bit since I stopped counting points. I am more satisfied and I am eating better foods…most of the time but I have allowed more “questionable” food choices.  I gained and I am back in the 190s. I like eating better and “real” food but I have to learn the off switch. I am not giving up! I am actually even more resolved to figure out how to eat healthy real food, eliminate some processed foods (I am not willing at this time to give up my sugar free french vanilla creamer), and lose weight! Believe it or not, menu planning helps me in huge ways. Knowing what is for dinner eases my mind. I owe all my menu planning success to my good friend, Jenna (go check out her menu planners blog roll)

Without further ado, my menu for week of 4.19.2010:

Monday: Sirloin steaks with home-”fried” potatoes and brussel sprouts

Tuesday: Turkey Sloppy Joes and a big salad (I always think about Elaine Benes)

Wednesday: Stuffed Peppers. This is a kid request. She really likes my barley stuffed peppers. I will probably add another big salad as a side dish.

Thursday: Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad and a Boboli pizza. (One day I will learn to make my own pizza dough)

Friday: Shrimp with Pasta and Veg

Dinners are planned out and I will grill up extra chicken to have with leftover salad and veggies for most lunches. Leftovers will make up the rest.

PEOPLE, I need your help.  Usually I can eat the same food over and over, day in and day out, but I am getting tired of eggs every morning. I love eggs but I need something that is just as filling and lasting as eggs but just as quick since I am getting ready for work. Tell me people, what do you eat for breakfast? How long does it take to make?

++I should mention: I do not like oatmeal and even when I choked it down I never found it filling.

I have been thinking a lot about food lately.  I hate thinking so much about food! I have spent the last few days (pretty much since my WW meeting on Saturday) thinking about food. I also thought a lot about the entire past year.

I have made a ton of changes. I have learned so much about myself, food, nourishing my body, pushing my body and treasuring my body.

This weekend’s weigh in pissed me off! A  gain was just the straw that broke camel’s back. I love getting up on Saturday mornings and heading to WW meetings. This week I realized it has nothing to do with WW anymore. In the beginning I soaked up as much info as I could get from my meetings. In the middle (when I went back to meetings after the summer online) I needed the accountability. I also needed a refresher course ~ I had gotten complacent.

The end has come!

I am breaking up with WW.

This is not a decision I made lightly. WW helped me learn about food and tracking and portions. I have learned a lot but I know there is more for me to learn about healthy eating and healthy living.  I get a ton of support and encouragement and accountability from my online weight loss communities. I am currently paying $40 every month for WW meetings and I am starting to feel guilty spending the money on WW when I am not using all the services to the fullest. I have also been feeling guilty about food and that bothers me the most[there is definitely a blog post in this thought]!

I will continue to go WW for the rest of  month. Hey, I paid for them I might as well use them but I am not paying anymore!

With all that in mind, I am starting my weigh-ins at home and I am starting tomorrow morning! I need a “starting” number from my home scale. I will post that number and a bit more information about this change.

HUGE SHOUTOUT to Shrinking Jeans, Mamavation, and my twitter posse [I hope you all know who you are, I admit laziness here: It is late and I am tired]! You all help me so much! It is because of all you that I have the confidence to venture out on my own away from WW.

.

]]> http://www.jeninreallife.com/2010/03/02/food-for-thought/feed/ 11 http://www.jeninreallife.com/2010/02/03/feeling-a-bit-more-human/ http://www.jeninreallife.com/2010/02/03/feeling-a-bit-more-human/#comments Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:10:53 +0000 jen http://www.jeninreallife.com/?p=680 Being sick sucks!!

I am not 100% yet but I feel more like a human being today. I have worked all week.  On Monday and Tuesday I cam home from school so freaking tired. The stairs at school are really freaking killing me this week! I cannot breathe by the time I hit the first little landing…like 6 steps! AND, my classroom is on second floor and bathroom is in basement…which isn’t really all that many steps (my school is a little  old building that was once a Kindergarten school, built 100+ years ago).  Needless to say, I am not drinking very much water at school.

Last night, Big Man and I decided to plan a mid-week night out for tonight (Wednesday)! The kid was super stoked to go see Avatar in 3D and eat at Chili’s on a school night! I was happy to not have to make dinner! Avatar was a great movie! It had elements of Fern Gully, the Matrix and Dances with Wolves  which I kind of already figured from the commercial previews. I DID not think I was going to like this movie as much as I did!! Blue people are so cool! and they live on the coolest planet! The hippie who lives inside me loved so much of this movie! We went to the 3:30 movie and we basically left the house as soon as i came home from school. I sliced an apple and grabbed a Fiber 1 bar for snacking at the movie.

We went to Chili’s after the movie. I looked at the menu and nutritional information last night. I was prepared. I had a plan. I LOVE Chili’s!! The nutritional information is extensive…it has everything to figure out WW points for all dishes! I went with the Chicken and Green Chili soup & House Salad.  We split an appetizer: the triple dipper with southwest egg rolls, onion strings & jalepeno stacks, and spinach & artichoke dip. I estimate my portion to be about 10 points. I used some (ok, the last of them) WAPs but it was so worth it! We have not gone out in a while.  Big Man and I were going to go out last weekend while the kid was at sleepovers but I was sick and too sneezy to go  out in public.

Wednesday night Movie and Dinner with my two favorite people!!

Tomorrow, I am going to attempt a workout. I need a workout! I miss my workouts!

Where is Jen?!?! What have you done with Jen?!?!

Seriously, my biggest bitch about being sick is that I have just finally gotten into a good workout rhythm and being sick puts that on hold.  It has been one week since my last workout!

I never blogged about my weigh-in…mainly because I felt like a pile of poo on Saturday and did nothing. Then I sent lots of time playing catch up from being sick and useless.

I gained 1 pound at Saturday’s weigh in…

I do not care what that scale says….I did better than to gain 1 pound. BUT, my head was filled with crap! I felt heavier! and I had just gotten my good old monthly friend and I was bloaty!

I would like to say that this week’s weigh in will be a loss but who the hell knows! The scale is evil! I am only weighing in because….errr….I don’t know why I am weighing in but I have to have a weekly number, even if I don’t like it! I will take my measurements again next weekend (middle of Feb) and I hope to see a nice difference there.

February has some exciting events.  Big Man bought us concert tickets to two different shows. We are seeing Further (Phil Lesh & Bob Weir) on February 15th and the 27th. The 11th I am being filmed at school, the 12th is a big Senior Citizen’s Valentine Luncheon at school and  the 24th is my birthday.

I am up past my bedtime but I had to finish this post!! I am ready to get back to “normal”!

go ahead, make jokes!! As if I have a clue what normal means?!?!? LMAO!!

much love & good night !

alright….it hasn’t been horrible!

but I haven’t written anything but updates for my challenges and weekly weigh-ins and menus.

I am cheating myself here.

and I am cheating you!

Are you out there?!?!

Is there anybody out there?!?!

This blog is supposed to be Jen in Real Life…ya know, the real stuff that happens in my very real life while I lose very real weight…and why is it losing weight? I don’t feel like I lost it…I feel like I had to kick every pound’s stubborn ass to the curb (sometimes repeatedly after it snuck back in)!

I am having a hard time finding balance.

I have a lot of wants….

and here is a list in no particular order:

I want to blog every day.

I want to eat healthy and workout every day.

I want to be a good teacher.

I want to be a good mother.

I want to be a good wife.

I want to be a really good wife.

I want to be more organized.

I want to be less distracted.

I want new shoes.

Lots of shoes.

I want to wear dresses.

Really cute dresses.

I want to read more books.

I want to read and comment on more blogs.

I want more time in the day.

that’s not too much is it?!?!

I am having a hard time balancing real life and all the crap that goes into making real life work and all the fun stuff I want to be doing.

I have not been doing such a good job at balancing.

Today, I realized something…

Whatever happens, will just happen.

I can’t get all stressed out about blogging. I need a schedule and a time to blog. I feel like I am on the computer way too much and my time management sucks!! I will blog when I can, I will blog certain posts on certain days – Friday nights before bed I will post my Perfect 10 update but I am not going to stress about blogging/posting my weigh-in on Saturday.  I will post (probably on Monday) a brief overview of my weekly goals – how I did in the last week and thoughts for the week ahead. I will continue to post a menu on Sunday! I HAVE to have my menu. Any other blogs will be spontaneous! and some weeks they may not come at all! I LOVE blogging but I don’t want to start seeing it as too much of a chore.

And, truth be told, I need to focus on living in the real world! I have responsibilities that are a bit more important than blogging.  I owe it to myself to make sure my food and activity are taken care of every single day! I owe it to myself to spend some time every day preparing for the next day at school. and I owe it to myself to spend quality time with my family.

A good friend told me today that I need to remember to TAKE CARE OF MYSELF FIRST!

I am going to take care of me first! I hope you stick around while I figure it all out!

Jen

Last week’s weight: 198

This week’s weight: 193.6

This week’s change: -4.4

Total change:  -49.0

Before I tell you about my week, I have to reflect a bit about the number on the scale. I am not ruled by the number on the scale but it is a piece of the puzzle or game. Losing weight is just like putting a puzzle together – each person must create their own puzzle. I am working hard to find the pieces that best fit my puzzle. Part of the puzzle is the number on the scale and part of the puzzle is measurements. I finally took new measurements and there were actual changes between November and now. I have heard every option for how often to measure and I am not sure how often I will measure but probably not every week. Do you measure? How often?

Another piece of my puzzle has been setting reasonable goals. I admit I have not always been the best goal-setter.  I usually just kind of bulldoze my way through. No real planning just one day at a time. I joined two challenges this year (Perfect 10 and Rethink Your Shrink) that have been helping me set small reasonable and attainable goals.

My BIG goals are outlined in my week 3, Perfect 10 update. You can also find a list of last week’s workouts.

My smaller goals, I will discuss here:

1.  drink 80 oz of water daily I am great about this Monday – Friday. I don’t know why since I barely drink any water during the school day. 5/7

2. take multi vitamin and glucosamine every day I am horrible about this but I am getting better. 5/7

3. make time for workout As you can see if you check out my Perfect 10 update, I worked out a lot last week. I was a bit lazy the last two days but I am very happy with the progress I have made in the workout area. I look forward to working out even if I bitch about it before hand. I love that @ShrinkingJeans leads Biggest Loser commercial break workouts. I love how sweaty I get Walking at Home or on the treadmill. I love that my arms are starting to feel “tight” and I LOVE that I am getting stronger and tighter! I will continue to workout because I finally get it! I really LOVE that I found a workout I LOVE!!

Another piece of the puzzle is FOOD! Ya’ll know how much I love food. All food!! Good food, good-for-you food, healthy food, and just plain junk food. I have learned that some foods have no place in my healthy life plan and I know there are foods that if they were off limits I would rebel and binge on. No foods are off limit. Moderation. I have learned menu planning is essential to my weight & wallet management. I am planning healthy meals full of lean meats and yummy vegetables. I also allow treats and occasional “cheat” days but I don’t call them that. I have always managed to stay within my points and now that I am adding all the workouts in I am ok with some higher points splurge days.

Another piece of the puzzle is accountability! I NEED lots of accountability!! I tried ditching my meetings and just using WW online….I lost and gained the same 5 pounds the entire 4 months. I went back to my meetings and did a little better but then Christmas came and we went away and I did not track and I gained back a few pounds. I found a group of Moms on the same journey.  #Mamavation is an awesome motivational community of moms in various stages of the healthy journey.  The mamavation ladies are all just so sweet and supportive!

Now, on the other side of the coin I found the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans…how could I not check out a group of chicks with a blog titled that?!?! and they are a riot – super supportive & encouraging and not afraid to YELL at me to get my ass moving! I love how sarcastic, snarky and down right brutal their love can be – they are the best!

I join all kinds of challenges! Challenges keep the whole  journey new. I am not always the best challenge participant. Not  the challenge’s fault…but I lack follow through some times. I get all excited but don’t always finish what I start. I am currently involved in two challenges: Perfect 10 and Rething Your Shrink. I liked these two challenges and since the principals behind the challenges were so similar I felt (and still do) comfortable participating in both challenges.

Twitter is the best motivation!! I tweet to inspire and motivate as well as be inspired and be motivated! My twitter peeps are my friends. My twitter peeps know all the answers to all the questions I have!! My twitter peeps don’t let me get away with sulking or not working out! I may be addicted to Twitter but I swear it has huge benefits!

I rambled and rambled! This was a good week – mentally and on the scale. I am finding the perfect balance for me. I am finding what is right and works best for me. This has to be my journey, my way!! I have been traveling on this journey to health for over a year now and it really has been the last 3 weeks that I can honestly say, “I get it!!”

Did I tell you that Twenty Ten is the Year of JEN?!?!

Join me in making 2010 the best year!

At WW meeting I stepped on scale, here is what happened:

WW lady: “2 pounds”

Me: “wow, I lost 2 pounds”

WW lady: “no, up 2 pounds”

Me: “wow, I gained 2 pounds, really?”

I decided to chat it up with my leader before the meeting,

Me: “Stephanie (my leader’s name) should I be concerned with being up 2 pounds? I tracked, stayed within my points and worked out. I even worked out this morning and late last night.”

Stephanie: “you tracked?”

Me: “yes”

Stephanie: “Everything?”

Me: “yes”

Stephanie: “Well that is a success! You worked out…that is a success! You are here…that is a success!!”

I have been thinking about this conversation since then…it is all I could think about!

And damn it, I may have gained this week but it was a great week. Ok, to be fair…it started off slow but ended with a bang.  My workouts and weekly goals are recapped here on my Perfect 10, week 2 update. I am so tired of being a slave to the scale. I had a great week and the scale will not dictate whether or not I had a good week. My Perfect 10 update includes my BIG goals but here is where I post my smaller weekly goals:

1. drink 80 oz of water daily I did this 6/7 days

2. take multi vitamin and glucosamine every day I remembered 4/7 days. I MUST get better at taking my vitamins.

3. make time for workouts I totally made time for me and my workouts!! I worked out 5/7 days and on the other 2 I did enough around the house to be “moving”!

On Tuesday I had an absolute meltdown! I can’t even tell you exactly what happened. I said something to Big Man and he gave me some look and I got all snappy. I snapped at him he snapped at me and I burst into tears. I must tell you all that me and the Big Man never fight! NEVER! Our friends think we are weird because as crazy as it sounds we actually like each other…and we don’t believe that fighting is productive ~ definitely stems from how we both grew up and the last relationship we were prior to meeting each other!  Sorry for the ramble here – but I really love the big dummy! Anyway, I cried and cried and it took a little bit to stop. I can’t exactly explain what started it or what “it” was even really about. I was left feeling very tired after the tears ended.

Later that night, I tweeted about my meltdown and I was hit back with many similar stories from my friends. When I talked with my WW girls, I again heard similar stories from this week. Something must be in the air.  I was also tweeted back by @debroby and she told me that at the start of a new fitness regime it was normal to have freakouts!! REALLY?!!? This is normal. huh?!?! @mizfitonline has said this very thing before.

What does this freakout mean? Well, later that night I saw my girls at @shrinkingjeans tweeting Last Chance workouts during Biggest Loser commercials. I do not watch Biggest Loser but I needed to jump into the action. I did a few exercises and lots of tweeting with my friends @shrinkingjeans, @lissjoy, @girlsworld, @fabfattieShan, and @footdr69 !! I needed that time and I did indeed begin to feel better. Wednesday came around and I worked out and felt awesome. I even bumped it up a bit ~ while doing my walking workout I did the middle mile twice!!

I also walked on Thursday.

Friday we ordered Chinese for dinner. I ordered chicken & shrimp with veggies (steamed with sauce on side). I didn’t eat any rice but I did eat a few steamed dumplings.  I drank a ton of water after dinner to try and combat the sodium. I walked on the treadmill for an hour (at 3.0 mph) and worked up quite a sweat.

I woke up at 7:30 (ridiculously early for a Saturday) to get ready for a walk with my girlfriend, Tammey. She was at my house by 8 and we walked for an hour and almost 3 miles. It was cold but we were moving and talking and the time went by quickly.  We haven’t walked together in forever and it was nice…even though it was cold. Ya’ll know how much I hate being cold!! After our walk I had a banana and some water and headed to my WW meeting. I stepped on that scale and gained 2 pounds. ugh! Not what I was hoping to see but a good learning experience. This weigh-in really taught me to not rely on the scale.

After WW meeting, I went home to eat something more substantial than a banana. Then it was off to the Red Cross to give blood. I have not donated since I was in high school…in 1996!! My daughter went with me and snapped some pictures!

**I chose to give blood because it is what I have to give! I am not a rich woman but I have plenty of blood and I am healthy!! If you are healthy, please consider going to the Red Cross to give blood!

**I am going to go back again March 13, 2010! That is the next time I am allowed to go back and I will give blood every 6-8 weeks, it is the least I can do! Who is with me??

One final note: I will not be using my previous Saturday Scale Time anymore. I will instead give a week in review every week after I attend my WW meeting.  I do not want to focus on the scale as the most important tool!! My success will not be determined to a number on a scale!! I will continue to weigh in at my WW meetings because I think I should….what are your thoughts about the scale?

much love!!

Jen

This week: 197.2

Change this week: -0.2

Change since 11/8/08: -45.4

Change since back @ WW (10/10/09): -2.2

Summary of week: A loss is a loss is a loss!! The week started off slow. I was not feeling great most of the week! I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly was wrong with me but I felt run down! A few mornings I woke up with an earache but nothing ever really came of that – thank goodness!! I didn’t workout Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday but Thursday I walked 3.25 miles using inclines with Johnny Walker.  Johnny and I are back in love!! We had a date Friday and Saturday as well! Johnny showed me how much fun inclines can be and I worked up a hella sweat using varying inclines! Thanksgiving did not defeat me! I ate well – and I did NOT eat any pie!! Does it make me horrible to be thankful that my mother in law is not the best or most creative cook? She served a kind-of dry turkey with frozen broccoli with cheese sauce, canned candied yams, and store bought pumpkin pie & coconut custard. The food was bountiful and I enjoyed spending time with family but the food made it easy to not gorge or eat too many calories. I only went 9 points over for the day! Friday was a yucky weather day – I did NOT go shopping!! I refuse to go anywhere near stores on Black Friday!! I worked Johnny Walker for 99 minutes instead! Then sometime after dinner I felt the tell-tale signs of TOM rearing its ugly head! Cramps!! The night before scale time!! SO, when I jumped on tthe scale at my WW meeting I was ecstatic to see that I was in fact down a little bit! And little bit it was!! I lost two tenths of a pound! WAHOO!!

Hot 100 Update: This is my favorite challenge to date!! It isn’t about losing a certain number of pounds or inches in a certain amount of time but it is ALL about setting goals! I have never been good at setting finite goals – but during this challenge I have learned so much about myself and my limitation and how far I can push myself! I am learning when something is not right for me that it is ok to find something else.  I have stopped being so hard on me when I am not perfect!! I stop when my body hurts more than it should – mainly this is about my knees because I do want to get sore muscles. We are almost into December and I am so looking forward to enjoying the last month of the year! I will enjoy the holidays and I will enjoy the time with my family but I willnot neglect myself or my body during the holidays this year!!

Goals for the week ahead:

• back to 5 AMish workouts during school week
• 10 miles of inclines with Johnny Walker (If you haven’t guessed Johnny is my treadmill’s name!)
• 50 squats every day
• stretch every day
• track/journal all food and activity

Thoughts for the week ahead: This is going to be a good week! I am sorry  that I did not blog a lot last week but I was lilving it up with the family!! I am still working on that balance thing but I think I am learning more and more about balance every week!

How do you find balance?

This week: 198

Change this week: -1.4

Change since 11/8/08: -44.6

Change since back @ WW (10/10/09): -1.4

Summary of week: I am so PROUD of myself this week! I pushed myself to the limits! I pushed myself to get up at 5 and I succeeded 3 mornings.  I worked out all 5 workdays this week! I wanted to slack and be lazy, mainly because it has rained steady since Tuesday night! Hurricane Ida stormed through the US and remnants turned into a nasty Nor’eastern storm! Lucky for me I no longer live on the barrier island because they were flooded! We got some flooding and lots of wind! It was a sight! My friends who live on the islands were trapped because the bridges were closed and the water surrounded them!

Hot 100 Update: I am totally working this thing! I am learning so much about myself and my limitations and how much  I can push myself! I am not a morning person but I did manage to get up and moving at 5 am 3 mornings this week! I DID workout the 5 work days this week!! I am tracking everything!! AND, I am getting more organized. One of my more vague goals was to get more organized and come up with some sort of schedule. My life has been feeling so chaotic but the last few weeks I have really been putting in the effort to plan my days and my weeks. It is helping and I I really feel less stressed. It’s not perfect but it is getting easier!

Goals for the week ahead:

• Put in 5 sweaty workouts!
  
• make sure to stretch daily!!
  
• take vitamins every day
• journal
  
• get to bed by 11pm on work nights!
• get some activity in this weekend
  

Thoughts for the week ahead: I don’t know about the rest of you but I find myself being lazy most of the weekend. I usually clean the house and do whatever shopping needs to be done. I am lucky because Big Man does most of the grocery shopping during the week and he is awesome at getting good deals. He even goes to 3 different stores to make sure we get the best food for the best price.

But, of course I digress!!

I am just hoping to stay sane this week! The marking period just ended ~ always a busy week. Students get crazy at this transition and if you add in there is only a week and a half until their next long weekend: Can you say crazy teenagers?!?!

Stay tuned for more of my ramblings!