Yep, desperate times call for desperate measures. The semi-annual "Oh, my God. I need to get myself together campaign" has begun. I am really an all or nothing kind of person. I am either in a crazy working out, eating like a healthy person mode or I am a lethargic fast-foodaholic. I'd like to be a little more middle of the road, but this is just how it's been. Last spring, on one of my "kicks" I lost almost 14 pounds. For about the last 3 months - yes, the timing strangely coincides with the last day of school in June - I have been on a crusade to reverse all of my efforts and I have become fat and lazy. O.K. Just to give you a clear picture of how literal I am being here - I have gained 12 pounds in approximately 3 months. Yes, you read that right. I am not proud of this, of course. But the strange part is, I am not really sad about it either.
Like the rest of the world, in the Spring I was concerned with the coming of summer and was motivated by the fact that I needed to get into a bathing suit and be seen next to my very thin friends (o.k. it was really the pictures of me scantily clad in a hot tub that did it, but who cares about the details).
Then summer came.....I blame all my trouble on the skirted tankini bathing suit. Once I put that thing on, and I realized that no one would ever see the worst of my trouble zones, I just threw caution to the wind. Don't get me wrong, what they saw probably wasn't great and it got worse in a noticeable pattern, but they couldn't see the worst. The tankini is like a license to speed...once you have it you just go and go.
I am not even saying this sarcastically. I fully enjoyed summer....sitting on the beach drinking beer, enjoying burgers and cremees and fast food like they were going out of style and not giving pause to the inconvenience of exercise. Spending money virtually without thought and doing as little as I possibly could to maintain order in our house. I spent almost every waking hour with my kids, and although it left no time for exercise or maintaining my sanity necessarily, I don't regret it for a second. Granted, there were days where I could have been a better mom and patience ran thin. But, all in all, I had a great summer and I think they did too. Now...with the coming of the new year (because let's face it this is the new year to SAHMs) I need to get my act together. So, I sat down last night and made a long list of goals.
My friend Prudence is a master at creating goals, journaling, tracking and really sticking to them. I am trying to take a page from her book here. I figure if I at least put my goals out here for all the world to see (well, who's really reading my blog, but you know what I mean), then perhaps I will have some accountability.
The exercise/eating line items are the ones that need some constant attention. So, here goes. I will try not to bore you with all the details every day for fear of becoming too Bridget Jones, but I will keep you abreast of important milestones....in case they aren't noticeable when you see me in person.
Day 1
- Saw a number on the scale I have only seen when I am carrying another body inside me - let me be clear, it was not the maximum number I have ever hit. Dear Lord, let's hope we never see that. Just the same, it was a startling number.
- Ate fairly well, if you exclude the Ben & Jerry's ice cream cake from the list - it is my husband's birthday. What's a wife to do?
- Got on the treadmill for the first time in more than 3 months. Did 3.5 mi., not a 10 minute mile among them (and not because they were all less than 10 believe me), but not bad for a first time back at it.
- NO Diet Coke (unbelievable - I think the morning coffee stop at a neighbors house helped me out)
So, the Goals....
- Maintain eating journal
- Exercise hard 4x/week
- Exercise in some way every day (walks count)
- 1 Diet Coke every other day (I used to drink it like water)
- 10 8 oz. Glasses of water/day (see above)
- No fast food (not sure if Rocky's NY Pizza counts?)
- One-on-one time with each child each day (sounds easy but real one-on-one times 3 kids w/ school thrown in could be tough)
- No raised voices (or reasonably raised voices - let's be honest)
- Exercise Alex more
- Clean clutter – some progress every week