Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Weeks 12 - 13 of Living Healthier in 2015

4/15/2015
For weeks of 4/1 - 4/15/2015
Weigh in Weight:  151 lbs.  gain of 1.4 lbs.

Weeks 12 - 13 were not typical weeks for me.  Part of week 12 was Holy Week and Easter.  After Easter services we drove up to my in-law's house which is about 2.5 hours away from us.  We then went to a retreat down at Chico Hot Springs, which we do every year the week after Easter.  So for the rest of week 12 and part of week 13 we were relaxing at Chico Hot Springs.  I allowed myself some leeway in the exercising department the last two weeks because it was so chaotic and then I just needed to rest after a very busy Lent, Holy Week and Easter.

I am shocked that I gained less than 2 lbs these last two weeks.  I was hoping to not gain any weight or just a few ounces if I did gain weight, but considering I didn't get much intentional exercise for two weeks, I'm impressed.  I think I actually gained more weight than my weigh in weight today, but I've already started to lose some of my water retention weight that happens when I travel, so I am down from what I weighed when I got back from vacation.  YAY me!!!

One goal I did stick with over the past two weeks is daily prayer and meditation and journaling.  So though, my physical activity and health needs some work, my mental and emotional state are going strong.  There is just something so therapeutic about writing in a journal.  My daily prayer and meditation have taken on different forms.  Sometimes in the middle of the day, when I get a chance to sit down for a few minutes and relax, I find myself meditating and praying about something.  Usually it is very random, but it is wonderful.  My prayers are typically prayers of thanks, sometimes prayers for patience and understanding when I am feeling overwhelmed.  I often prayer for the people I care about at random times throughout the day.  This exercise has been wonderful for me because it has really helped me to appreciate all of the blessings in my life.

And now for my goals for week 14, most of which deal with re-introducing physical healthy living back into my routine after 2 weeks of slacking.

Goals for week 14:  4/15/ - 4/22/2015
1) Treadmill speed walking at least 2x for 40 minutes
2) Get outside and be active on nice days, with my son
3) Be gracious to myself and allow myself to take a break when I need it

Note:  Next week I will not post until Thursday because I will be traveling to Minnesota with my son on a 6am flight next Wednesday morning.  Next Wednesday will be a day of recovering and relaxing as much as possible.  So until next Thursday, keep on keeping on!!! :)

Friday, April 3, 2015

I've Caught the Spring Cleaning Bug!!! It's Rummage/Garage/Yard Sale Time!

I've caught the spring cleaning bug.  Not long ago I was looking around our living room and a thought came to me, "I hardly use any of this stuff, why do I still have it in my house?"

So I have decided, after conferring with my husband, that we are going to have a rummage/garage/yard sale this summer.

Most of what I want to sell are books and some movies, but there is a lot more that I have to go through of mine too.  I have been dragging books around with me that I will not read again or haven't read yet and won't.  I have dragged old grade school and high school papers around with me that just need to be thrown away.

I have shoes that I won't wear again because they are either too small or have higher heels than I am comfortable wearing now that my feet have grown and I have children.  It's hard to run in heels.

I have clothes that don't fit me anymore or from trips that I have taken that I won't wear again.

Why do I keep these things?

The clothes I keep out of sentimental value.  The books I keep because I just couldn't get myself to get rid of them.  The shoes I keep because maybe someday I'll want to wear them again.

But after looking around my living room that day, I realized, I keep them because I am a bit of a hoarder.  I keep these things because I just haven't taken the time to go through all of my stuff and really, realistically weed out the things I don't use, won't use and don't need anymore.

My husband has agreed to go through all of his things thoroughly as well in the next couple of months and then we will have our sale in July or August this summer.

I've never had my own rummage/garage/yard sale before, so I've been doing some research to find out the best way to do one.  I've come up with a lot of good ideas so far and am excited to clear out our house of unneeded things.

All of the things we don't sell are being donated to various organizations that take donations around our area.  The things we can't sell or donate are being recycled or put in the trash.

It will be nice to have less clutter in our house, make a little money and give to those who are in dire straits.

I'm looking forward going through my things.  I've already found some great stuff that I'm going to keep and some things that we can sell.  :)

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Week 11 of Healthier Living in 2015

4/2/2015
For week of 3/25 - 4/1/2015
Weigh in Weight:  149.6 lbs gain of 6 oz.

Week 11 was a good week for me, emotionally and mentally.  Though I continue to gain a little weight, probably because I ended up having more sodium in my diet, unintentionally, this week, I feel pretty good in general.  We had a busy week here too, so I wasn't able to get in my speed walking exercises as much as I typically do.  I have started off week 12 on a much better note exercise wise.  I did what I could to stay active and got creative about getting exercise daily.  I wrestled and played with my son.  Together, he and I hopped around our basement den, him on his small trampoline and I around the floor.  You can work up quite a sweat doing this for 30 minutes with the occasional stop for a water break.

As I wrote in the beginning of this post, week 11 was a good week for me emotionally and mentally and I attribute this to two things: 1) Daily prayer and meditation; and 2) writing daily, whether it be in my journal, blog posts or working on my next writing project that I would someday like to get published.  I prayed and meditated every morning and then wrote down some of my thoughts down afterwards.  Some of what I discovered was very insightful and I have been able to calm myself and deal with stress better by not only practicing daily prayer and meditation, but also writing about it afterwards.  I want to keep practicing this exercise and make it part of my daily routine, so it's going on the list of goals for a while starting week 12.

I definitely need to work on eating more low-sodium food and meals.  I am going to spend some time in the next couple of weeks finding some more low-sodium recipes that we can make for meals.  Pinterest here I come!  Part of week 11 and part of week 12 are extremely busy because it is Holy Week.  For pastors and their families, it is one of the busiest times of the year.  (More to come about this in a future blog post)  So I have decided that I am going to give myself a bit of a break.  I am going to do what I can as far as daily, breaking a sweat exercising goes and get what exercise I can.  For most of week 12, I am going to focus on trying to stay calm in stressful situations.  I am going to focus on my emotional and mental health and be active daily.  I might not break a major sweat, but movement and being active is calorie burning too, which will hopefully help me maintain my weight under 150 and possibly I will lose some weight too.  My goal is to not gain any significant weight over the rest of Holy Week and Easter.  I think by staying calm in stressful situations and not overeating, I can do this.  Holy Week is about the forgiveness we have been given by God through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins, so that we may have eternal life through him.

And so I will conclude this post by saying have a blessed Holy Week and Easter!!!

I will be on vacation with limited internet access from 4/5 - 4/11/2015.  My next Healthier Living in 2015 post will be on 4/15/2015.  Until then, Keep on keeping on!!!

Goals for week 12 - 13:  4/1 - 4/15/2015
1)  eat low-sodium meals and foods
2)  Find low-sodium recipes (cook books and Pinterest)
3)  Stay active and get some kind of exercise daily
4)  Continue my daily prayer and meditation exercises
5)  Journal about prayer and meditation exercises