Week 18 of Healthier Living in 2015

5/20/2015
Week of 5/13 - 5/20/2015
Weigh in Weight:  153.8 lbs gain of 6 oz

I feel great.  The dreariness and gloom outside has gone away for a little while and it is warmer and sunny outside.

I am continuing to have issues with water retention, partly because I have not been able to do my speed walking exercises on the treadmill that produce sweat.  I am drinking at least 80 oz of water a day which helps, but the lack of exercise is the biggest problem.  I also need to pay closer attention to my salt and sugar in take.  I do pretty good on that front, but being better about it will help with the water retention as well as figuring out how to fit in my speed walking into the busyness of our lives.  Being able to walk outside and be outside with my son now that it isn't raining and cold will be helpful.

I do get daily exercise just by having a very active toddler, but I am working on trying to be more creative so that I sweat a little and get rid of some of the extra water my body is holding on to, when I play and do activities with my son.  My activities lately have been some light cleaning and yard work.  I dusted the living room, swept and mopped the kitchen floor, and swept the driveway and sidewalks.

So I am being active daily and getting some kind of exercise and I am drinking at least 80 oz of water a day; two out of three of my goals for week 18.  I still need to work on taking some time each week to journal.  I just need to do it, but I haven't made the time to do so.  I need to make writing in my journal part of my weekly, if not daily routine.  So I am going to continue putting it on my goals list until it becomes a natural part of my routine.

So I need to work on keeping my water retention to a minimum, find time to speed walk on the treadmill a couple times a week, and make time to write in my journal at least once a week if not more often.  I also need to be better about posting on my weigh in day.  I will be posting again tomorrow to give an update on week 19's successes and things I need to work on.  But I will post my week 19 goals here anyway so you can see what I was working on.  Until tomorrow, Keep on keeping on!

Goals for week 19:  5/20 - 5/27/2015
1)  Journal at least once a week
2)  Speed walk at least twice a week
3)  Daily activity and exercise
4) Drink at least 80 oz of water a day

Week 17 of Healthier Living in 2015

5/13/2015
For week of 5/6 - 5/13/2015
Weigh in Weight: 153,2 lbs gain of .6 oz

I swear, I weighed in on Wednesday this week, but yet again I am not posting for my previous week's journey until Saturday.  I am going to work harder to find time on Wednesdays, at the latest, Thursdays to post about my healthier living journey.

Week 17 went okay.  I gained a few ounces this last week, but nothing I can't lose or maintain easily.  I spent most of the last week working on and finishing a power point for my NRIT presentation on my book.  It required a lot of sitting in front of my laptop and didn't leave time to do speed walking on the treadmill and getting a good sweating workout in.  I did get daily activity and exercise though, by working in the garden and being active with my son daily.

One of my goals for week 17 was to start a new book and I did.  We are reading "Still Alice" for book club in June and I'm on the 5th chapter already.  It is a little slow in tempo so it's hard for me to get into but I think it will end up being a good and informative book.

I didn't make the time to journal during the last week.  I am adding it to my goals list for week 18 because I think it will be very good for my mental and emotional health to start journaling again regularly.

And so overall week 17 was an average week around here.  So until I post again, keep on keeping on!

Goals for Week 18:  5/13 - 5/20/2015
1)  Journal 2 times a week
2)  Drink at least 80 oz of water a week
3)  Daily exercise and activity

Week 16 of Healthier Living in 2015

5/6/2015
For week of 4/29 - 5/6/2015
Weigh in Weight: 152.6 lbs. gain/loss of 0 lbs.

During week 16, I gained weight, I lost weight and ended up at the same weight neither losing or gaining since my last weigh in.

I was much better about being active and getting daily exercise this week.  I even found time two days during the week to get in some speed walking on our treadmill.  Finding the time to get down and have a sweat fest exercising around here is a rare treat.  With the nice weather recently, I have been able to walk outside, around town a lot.  The fresh air and the warm sun are amazing and help to keep me balanced in a very healthy way.

I kept up with my water consumption as well, drinking at least 80 oz of water a day.  The one downfall is having to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.  But drinking at least 80 oz of water a day has helped me to maintain my weight and to relieve the water retention and constipation I can have sometimes.

My third goal for week 16 was to work on continuing to de-clutter my life of stuff I don't need or won't use again.  I went through several boxes of stuff and have a lot of paper recycling to bring to Great Falls the next time we go.  De-cluttering the crap from my life, allows me to focus on more important things like my family and friends.

We are planning to have a garage sale this summer, but after going through my stuff, I realized that most of it was just junk I hadn't yet thrown away.  I have a few things that we can sell, and clothes to donate.  Once my husband goes through all of his stuff, we will have a pretty decent stash to have a garage sale.

I'm not sure if I could ever live a minimalist life, especially with a young child at this point, but recycling old papers and magazines, getting rid of books I won't read or read again, general de-cluttering leaves more room in my life for the important things.  And I feel mentally, emotionally, and physically less weighed down by the clutter.  So until next time, Keep on keeping on!!! :)

Goals for week 17:  5/6 - 5/13/2015
1) Daily activity and exercise
2) Start reading a new book
3) Journal 3 times during the week

Rejection is Part of Getting Published...

A while ago I shared a post with you about submitting an article to the MOPS Hello Darling magazine on the Power of Friendship.  I was not accepted and therefore, I will post it here on my blog for you to read at your leisure.  Enjoy!!! :)

The Power of Friendship

The power of friendship is one of the most special gifts given to us by God.  As a pastor’s wife, my life is quite transient.  For my husband’s first call, we packed up our things and moved to a small rural community in north central Montana.  For him, it wasn’t such a huge transition because he grew up and lived all of his life in various places in Montana.  For me it was a huge transition. 

I am a big city gal.  I love the hustle and bustle of a city.  There is always something to do in a city.  I, respectively, lived in either Minneapolis or St. Paul on and off for 8 years before moving to small town Montana.  It was a major culture shock and I knew no one.  I had no friends here and the family I had in the area were my husband’s relatives.  I was completely alone.

One of my older friends that I made in the area, who was a pastor’s wife in her first marriage, said to me once, “When I felt so completely alone, I would pick up the phone and call my friends who lived all over the country and feel so much better after talking to them.”  This statement is so true.  I left my mom, dad, brother and many of my closest friends behind when we moved to Montana, but all I have to do is pick up the phone or use the power of technology and skype with them and I feel so much better.

But I have also made friends in my small community too.  It has taken a couple of years but I don’t feel so completely alone here anymore.  Friends are those people who make life fun and amazing. 

I have become closer with other pastor’s spouses, mostly women, who have gone through the same bouts of loneliness as I have and we have bonded so completely over our shared experiences.  

Leaving everything we have known behind to move to somewhere where we know no one; being mothers of young children and trying to find a way to get said children to sit through church at least once so you can enjoy an entire service without having to leave because your child is throwing a fit.  Or those with older children sharing their experiences and imparting their wisdom.  

Friendship, and female friendship in particular, is such a blessing from God.  It has saved my bacon more than once, and I give thanks daily for the gift of friendship.  Through thick and thin, true lasting friendship is the greatest gift of all, no matter how far away or how close in proximity ones friends may be.

Weeks 14, 15 and part of 16 of Healthier Living in 2015

5/2/2015
For weeks of 4/15 - 5/2/2015
Weigh in Weight:  152.6 gain of 1.6 lbs.

So it's been a while since I posted about my adventures in healthier living in 2015.  I had intended to post on April 23rd once I got to Minnesota for our brief vacation, but I didn't have access to a scale and frankly I forgot.  So then, I was going to make sure I posted on April 29th, so it would only have been two weeks between posts, but again, it was not on the radar.  So, I am finally posting in the middle of week 16.  We don't have any more vacations planned for a while, so I will be posting weekly on Wednesday or Thursday for the foreseeable future.

Considering I've been on vacation off and on through the month of April, I'm surprised that I haven't gained more weight than I have.  I'm not the greatest at paying attention to my exercise and diet all the time when I am away from home.  But I am not alone in this.  Most people gain weight when they travel.  I personally retain a lot of water when I travel.  Whether by car, train or plane, I retain water, mostly in my legs and tend to have problems with constipation no matter how much water and other fluids I drink while traveling.  Luckily, I bounce back quickly once I reach my destination and those problems go away with lots of active movement and water.  Activity and a lot of water helps me to get rid of most of my water retention and my weight goes back to what it was or pretty close to it.

So travel tip for all of you who have water retention problems like I do, a lot of movement, a lot of activity like walking or playing in the park with your kid(s) and drinking at least 80 oz of water a day while on vacation helps get rid of water retention and just plan makes you feel better in every way. :)

I've decided that even though I didn't weigh in until today, I am going to start fresh with week 16 on April 29th and post again on May 6th, so I can be back on posting schedule.  So until my next post, Keep on keeping on! :)

Goals for week 16:  4/29 - 5/6/2015
1) Some kind of daily exercise and activity
2) Drink at least 80 oz of water a day
3) Declutter and organize my stuff (will ruminate on this more in my next post)