Get Fit Friday - 4 month update

Well, it only took 4 months. LOL! I FINALLY got myself in the gym this week. I started Saturday morning and have been a total of 5 times this week....even Sunday Morning before church. (I'm pretty proud of that.) I kept saying I was gonna go after work, but- goodness - there are 100 reasons not to go to the gym after work. If I go in the morning, the only excuse I have is that I don't want to get up and go. I did use that excuse twice. On Wednesday I didn't go and on Thursday I went in the evening. Interestingly, it didn't feel like an excuse at all... it felt like a choice. I consciously chose Tuesday night to take Wednesday off.

I am rewarding myself with a hydro massage and tan after each workout. It's totally worth it.  

This has been a hard week for me. I'm working through it and I will be fine at some point. They say that exercise is the most underutilized anti-depressant...I'm gonna need it to start working...like now.

That's all I have to say about that.

Here's where I started and where I am now. To be fair, I did actually gain weight until about a month ago. I started working out and weighed 257. so there's that...

Date 2/9/2018

Actual Weight         250.4

Bust                             48

Bicep                           16

Forearm                       12

Waist                         50.4

Hips                             53

Thigh                           28

Calf                           19.5

Hip/Waist Ratio         0.95

Date 6/8/2018

Actual Weight           252.6

Bust                          45.50

Bicep                        15.50

Forearm                   12.00

Waist                        45.00

Hips                          50.00

Thigh                        28.00

Calf                          19.00

Hip/Waist Ratio          0.87

Total lost

Actual Weight        +2.2lbs

Bust                          2.50

Bicep                        0.50

Forearm                   0.00

Waist                        5.40

Hips                          3.00

Thigh                      00.00

Calf                         00.05
Hip/Waist Ratio        0.90

How I honestly feel about these results:

Hmmmm... I'm not surprised. It took me a little minute to really get my mind set to do this. I knew I was gaining weight and I can tell now that I am losing weight. So, there's that. I guess it is what it is.

What's Working:

I haven't mentioned it til now, but I joined "Noom." Down loaded the app on my phone and all that good stuff. It is good in that it helps me defeat my all or nothing thinking. It helps me set realistic goals so that I do not always feel like I am failing. The goals are also short term and not results based. They are progress driven I guess. For example...I had a goal to go to the gym twice this week instead of "lose 2 pounds." 

My goals for next week are to bring my lunch from home 3 days, go to the gym 4 days, drink one  20 oz bottle of water on the way to work and one on the way from work, and to get up from my desk twice a day and walk down one flight of stairs and up the other, and to get up and stretch twice a day. So I'm gradually adding a bit of activity to my day and gradually changing my eating habits. This seems like something I can do for the long haul and get permanent results rather than something that will help me lose 15 pounds quickly only to gain it back.

What's not:

I'm not really going to camp out here. Beating myself up over not accomplishing everything I think I should comes very naturally to me. It does me no good to focus on the many ways I fail each day.

I am going to focus on the positive.

Going forward....

Going to stick with adding small changes to my daily routine each week. Going to celebrate my success and try not to dwell on my failures. I am going to continue to be gentle with myself and do my best to treat myself the way I would anyone else.  

Have a great Weekend!
K

Thursday's Thoughts on: What causes me stress and what will make my life easier

A while back, I started a list of questions that I'm trying to answer.  As I've wrestled with these subjects, I've learned a lot about myself. No, that's not exactly right.

I have made peace with myself. 

I have accepted things about myself that, up to now, I have believed were flaws to be hidden or changed. I'm learning to embrace who God created me to be. Goodness, I have typed those words so many times... for other women to read. I still find it ironic that I have refused to accept the grace I share so freely with other women. Satan is a crafty beast, no doubt about that. He has kept me in bondage for far too long.

As with all my writing, this is for me. Writing gets my scrambled up thoughts and emotions into print and seeing them in print often helps me put them in proper perspective.  Anyway, here are this week's questions and (hopefully) answers.

What is consistently causing me stress?

What will make my life easier?

I giggled a little (and shook my head a lot) the past two weeks as I considered the things I do and don't enjoy.

I do not like clutter, nor do I like chaos.

Now, you would not believe this if you visited my home on any random evening.

At some point over the last 21 years, I gave up. I gave up asking my people to pick up their shoes. I gave up reminding my people where the trash can is in the kitchen. I gave up asking my people to put their belongings in their bedrooms instead of on the living room couch. I gave up asking my people to put their clean clothes away and their dirty clothes in the laundry room. I just gave up. I resigned myself to my mother's pattern of barely making it through the week only to spend the majority of the weekend "catching up" laundry and house work.

A messy house causes me stress. Clutter causes me stress. Chaos causes me stress. I like clean surfaces, neatly made beds, clean floors, and fresh smelling bathrooms. You would not know this if you visited my house without notice.

Being fat causes me stress.  Now, you would not believe that if you were with me for any length of time. I have grown accustomed to eating junky foods and insane amounts of calories. I have allowed myself to grow lazy and unwilling to move my body in the ways it needs in order to be fit. (this has actually improved this week, as I will attest to in tomorrow's post.)

Finally, my finances cause me much stress. Again, you would not know this based on my spending habits. I am also working on this. I am currently in a "no spending" pattern...

These three things are the greatest sources of stress for me. They are all areas where I am self defeating, self sabotaging, and areas where I have convinced myself I am a helpless victim.

Thing is... I am actually in complete control of all three of these areas of my life... at least for the most part. I mean my people live with me and I can't control them, but for the majority of my day and night, I really am in control of these things.

There is one thing that will make my life easier.

I am no longer going to believe that I am a helpless bystander in my life. This has much more meaning than it seems here in print.

I'm no longer believing the lie that I have no control over what happens in my world day to day. 

I'm taking control of my body, my home, and my finances.

I truly believe that this simple step will make a huge difference in my quality of life.

Just my thoughts,

K


I wanna know....
What causes you stress?
Have you too believed Satan's lie that you are a helpless bystander in areas of your life?
What can you do TODAY to make your life easier?

Other questions I'm pondering....

What determines my worth?
What do I LIKE about me?

What do I truly value?

What is holding me back?

Wednesday's Weekly Recipe : Tona's Homemade Ice Cream

I have great childhood memories of summer time: staying outside all day, playing in the woods, building obstacle courses out of saw horses and old tires, digging in the field (for Dinosaur bones, of course), building club houses, pretending to be an Olympic gymnast on my metal swing set (that would tip right over if I swung too high), playing in the water hose (or the slip n slide), bringing home stray puppies, the smell of steak cooking on the grill, fresh corn on the cob, "sun" tea, ice cold watermelon, and my mom's home made ice cream.

Times have changed. There are no more "endless days of summer." Not much changes between the seasons now. There's just work, laundry, cooking, cleaning, church, sleep, repeat. Often I go through the entire week on auto pilot. Sometimes I get some painting, reading, or crocheting in, but even that is limited.

I haven't had home made ice cream in... goodness... a very long time.

I think I'll make some this weekend. If you need a sweet reminder of  long lazy summer days, here's my mom's vanilla ice cream recipe:

Easy recipe

2 cups whole milk

1 cup sugar

2 cups half & half

2 tsp. vanilla

Combine all and stir until sugar is dissolved

Pour in ice cream freezer

Follow manufacturer’s directions

Enjoy!
K

Tuesday Tips and Tricks...for the working mom... week 3

This week 3 in a series of tips to help working Mom's get it together. This week is near and dear to my heart because it is one thing that makes a HUGE difference in my day. One of my favorite little quotes is "Do something today that your future self will be proud of." This is one of those "somethings"!!!

Night Before Prep

While you are probably exhausted at the end of each day, you can save yourself a ton of stress and time by doing some quick preparations at night to be ready for the morning. Check out these blogs to learn what you can do the night before that will save you mega time in the morning.

• Have the kids help make their own lunches and do as much as you can the night before to save morning hassle, according to Renown Scribbles.
• Prepare your briefcase and the kids' backpacks and have them ready to grab by the door the night before, per Mail 4 Rosey.
• If you drink coffee, Making Time for Mommy says to program your coffee maker and get it ready the night before so that you can enjoy a fresh cup of coffee in the morning without waiting.
• Have the kids shower the night before to save time in the morning. Find more time saving tips like this on Our Kids Mom.
• Give your morning routine a makeover by taking care of as many things as you can the night before, as discussed on Eumom.
• Chop and prep vegetables and other food the night before for the next day's meal so that you can make dinner two or three nights a week, suggests Homemade Mommy.
• Go Girl Finance suggests planning as much of your day the night before as possible.
• Have a clean-up routine at night before you go to bed where you gather up the clutter and get everything put away. More tips on doing this can be found on Growing Up Lifestyle.
• Include the kids and your spouse in the nighttime clean-up routine. According to No Stops even toddlers can help pick up.
• Sign any school notes or slips the night before so that you don't have to rush around and do it in the morning says Things to Share & Remember.

Motivation Monday

I guess this is the theme in my life for now.
I have been challenged by someone I love dearly to just "Do what you can."
I don't do well with failure...or my perceived failure.
I don't suppose anyone does.
I am trying to be more gentle with myself....trying to give myself the same grace I would give you.
Part of that is accepting that I am not going to be able to do everything right the first time.

I appreciate this thought.

Just keep trying...
K