So there are a lot of things I need to take responsibility for: My spiritual growth, The state of my home, both spiritual and physical, my body, Champ's eating/sleeping schedule. And those are just a few of the more important ones at the moment. I'm happy to say I'm getting to the point where lazy is just not fun anymore! I don't really know if lazy was ever fun, but we'll call it that for lack of a better adjective. Today I am taking charge of it all! I'm ready to improve myself and my family.
About my Spiritual Growth~ I often feel like a Mormon fraud.... a Sunday Mormon if you will. I still battle with doing the ever so important scripture study and daily prayers and more importantly making sure I'm making Sundays as meaningful as possible (specifically taking the sacrament each week). While I won't go into great detail in my blog about this I do want to say that the important part is I am still trying and I'm getting better. Saturday night I was determined to study the Sunday school lesson BEFORE class and in doing so I learned some pretty amazing stuff. One of my new favorite scriptures is this:
This is was an important lesson to me about how important self reflection is and that we need to do it OFTEN. It is key in the repentance process. I've learned some new ways to go about this and I'm excited about it.
About my Body~ I'm going to start exercising! And even better I'm going to set goals. I'm happy to say I've only gained about 5 lbs from my last pregnancy (vs. 10 from the one before that) because I was consistent with my exercise the last 2-3 months; but sad to say I still have 5 lbs to lose from my last pregnancy (+ 1o from the one before that). I would like to have our next baby when Champ is about 2 years and 3 months. (I know, specific right?) Right now he is 3 months so that gives me about 15 months before I get pregnant and 45 lbs to lose. I want to maintain my "skinny weight" for about 3 months before I get pregnant, so really 12 months to lose 45 lbs. That means I have to lose approximately 3.75 lbs a month. Sounds doable right? I plan to do this by exercising in the morning before I eat so I'm burning extra fat instead of food calories. Every month I'm going to set a goal to help me eat healthier. Some of the goals I have in mind are: 30 days with no fast food, 30 days with no extra sugars and sweets, 30 days with no eating out, 30 days of no skipping breakfast lunch OR dinner.... stuff like that. I may be repeating each of these a lot. I'm going to drink enough water every day. I'm going to keep track of all of this on calendars. I'm going to follow these rules:
In Addition to all this I'm going to start running. I really REALLY want to do the couch to 5K program and hopefully before I get pregnant again the 5K to 10K program. Ultimately I want to be able to run a half marathon, but baby steps for now. I'm not positive I'll be able to do that BEFORE next baby (with winter coming up and all). Oh and one more thing~ Amy and I decided that if you are exercising and eating right, reading your scriptures can also help us lose weight on account of: filling yourself spiritually leaves less room for food.
About my Home~ I'm making chore charts! A short while ago I found some great lists on pinterest for what I like to call "home engineering" (I like to call myself a home engineer as apposed to a housewife or stay at home mom because it sounds so much more involved and smart~ I know I'm lame). You can find these lists here on the Martha Stewart site. Between these lists and some other lists, I've come up with an ultimate list for how to stay on top of my chores. The different lists include: Daily chores, Weekly Chores, Monthly Chores and Seasonal Chores. I'm currently working on turning them into subway art to hang in my hall (or laundry room when I have a house... someday) so they are there as a constant reminder. I want them to be apart of my decor so they have to look good and having them framed I can still check things off every day with out having to make up new lists every week/month. I'm still figuring the program I'm using out, and I'm still tweaking stuff but here is an idea for what I'm going for:
About Baby~ Champ is driving me NUTS! Bud was sleeping through the night at about 6 weeks - 2 months. Champ is STILL NOT. It's partially my fault because I haven't had him on a schedule. It's partially that even though he was getting there the good habits he formed were interrupted when family came to town. No matter the fault though it's time to do something about it because this whole waking up at 4:00 every morning is driving me mad. I'm going to put him on a schedule and if he doesn't improve in 2 weeks he's crying it out. That's right, no more loosey goosey mom anymore. He WILL sleep at night.
So that's about it for right now. This is the improvement movement. I'm taking charge. No more lazy, pregnant with a 9 lb-er, or fussy new baby excuses. I will find my skinny. I will have a clean house that invites the spirit. I will draw closer to my Savior. I must. My family depends on me and if I'm not at my best I'm not giving them my best. That's where I'm at.
And now for your viewing pleasure - a glimpse at my little family in current times:
Love the chore picture, too cute! Good luck with the weight loss/fitness goals. I found that eatting eggs white omlets in the morning made a huge difference losing my Clara weight (I had gained 53lbs!). The last 10lbs were really sticking and when I switched to that I lost it. THe protein filled me up. I also had 5 small 300 cal meals about to the 3 bigger ones. Might be worth a try! Your boys are sooo cute!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip Sonja! I'll have to try it out:)
ReplyDeleteyay for a new post, I really do love reading your posts:) So I'm not a weight loss expert, but I'm going to give you my 2 cents:) Be reasonable. Too many people try to set goals that are kind of unrealistic and for me at least whenever I tell myself I can't have something, then that's exactly what I want. Also when it comes to exercise, choose something you enjoy, and when you get bored switch it up, your more likely to stick with it if it's not totally miserable. Last but not least..be patient with yourself stress makes it hard to lose weight and really 2 months is not that long ago for having a baby. I feel like I'm just getting to the point where I feel a good balance in my life and Parker is 2 and now just in time to start over with a new one:) You really are an amazing person, I look up to you and all your sisters..maybe just one goal at a time, I think it's just important that we're continually improving, not perfection all at once:) I'm sure you know all of this, but I just hope you realize how amazing you already are!
ReplyDeleteYou go get 'em tiger!! I'm pretty sure we all feel as you do so you're in good company. Great list of goals. Love the chore list. Elias has only slept in his bed (with one little cry out) one night in almost ten months and that was two nights ago. So good for you for committing to it early. Sleep is VITAL in weight loss. Hence the 25...well 28...I still need to lose. You rock friend. Keep it up!!!! xoxoxo
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