Happy Tuesday, everyone!
Whew! It’s busy around BellaLand, let me tell you. For those who don’t know, I’m moving on September 11th; school has just restarted, bringing with it all of the chaos that becomes my life for 10 months of the year; I’ve quit smoking (today is Day 21 smoke free!!); and I’m trying to lose a certain amount of weight to get scheduled for lap band surgery. Any one of those things is enough to deal with, but putting them all together has proven to be quite a formidable challenge these days.
So after sharing my feelings of being a bit overwhelmed with Scale Warfare, I finally had the epiphany that I just can’t do it all. Well, let me rephrase that – I need to focus on a few of the things right now, and then incorporate more of them as other “to-do” items fall off the radar.
Forgive me if this post is a bit of a “thinking out loud” type of post. I really just need to work some of the organization of my life out, and it always helps me to write it on here, get feedback from you, and then set out to make it happen in my life.
Obviously work is a top priority, and as this is my 11th year teaching, I have that pretty down-pat. I just have to get used to getting up at 5:15 and going to bed at a decent time so that I can get at least 7 or so hours of sleep each night. I also have to figure out a way to get the grading done now that I have to get home earlier to be there for Lulu. (Last year I started staying at school a couple of hours a day to get grading done little by little, and it worked out really well, because once I left school for the day, I left work at work. You see, I’ve always struggled with a work-life balance and I finally got it sorted out when I changed to this method last year. Now that Lulu is going to be home alone during the day when I move to the new house (she’ll have a doggie door to potty outside at her leisure), I don’t want to leave her alone longer than I need to). Here’s what I’m thinking my “after school time” will look like once I move to the new house:
3pm: leave school
3:30: get home and take Lulu for a walk (if I’m not going to do a formal workout on my own at the gym) or to the dog park
4:45pm: go to the gym to workout/grade papers (if I’ve taken Lulu on a walk)
6pm: cook dinner
7pm-10pm: Eat dinner, enjoy the evening – t.v., reading, phone calls, etc.
10pm: make my lunch for the next day, get ready for bed
11pm: light’s out
Sounds do-able, as long as I’m organized. Once I have more time on the weekends, I can cook some make-ahead dinners so that I have more free time in the evening after school.
Until then…
Right now (until I move) my priority once I get home is to pack the house up for the move. Which means that I’m not going to worry about not getting my workouts in. That’s where the “enough” comes in. So I guess my Back-To-School Goals are temporarily put on hold until after September 11th. At least moving and packing boxes burn some calories, right?
This also means that my food has to be even more on-point than it is now. I had a bit of a backslide on Sunday in terms of making healthy choices, but I got right back to it on Monday when I went grocery shopping after work. I visited EatBetterAmerica’s site and printed out three new recipes that I’m going to be making this week and next. I made the Mexican Skillet Pasta on Monday, and it was delicious. I had lots of leftovers, which I’ll eat for lunches and dinners throughout the week. Because I don’t like to eat the same thing too many times in a row if I can help it, I’m going to make Skillet Lasagna tonight. And then this weekend I’m going to make the Chicken Tortilla Casserole. I’m really looking forward to the cooler temps that fall brings, because I can’t wait to start making a bunch of Crock Pot recipes again.
Along with eating healthy food, I’m going to keep up with my tracking in Lose It. I have to say that even though my choices this past weekend weren’t ideal, I do give myself a pat on the back because I logged every bite. I may have gone over my calories, but at least I have a record of it, and I’ll know what to expect on the scale tomorrow (nothing too thrilling).
It’s interesting to me that the thing I thought would be the most monumentally difficult challenge of my life (quitting smoking) has actually proven to be relatively easy in comparison. I don’t think about smoking at all anymore, most of the day. Once in a while I do still get the urge, but I’ve found it’s only after I’ve eaten a fairly large meal; otherwise I don’t feel that tugging need. Which is a great thing. I’ve actually amazed myself with how much determination I’ve shown with stopping smoking. So for those of you who still smoke: if I can do it, you can certainly do it. And I have to thank that surgeon for giving the ultimatum in the first place, otherwise I may have never quit.
All in all, things are very positive in my life. Busy, but lots to look forward to, which is so exciting. I hope all of you are having a wonderful week, and I look forward to any suggestions, ideas, or comments that you may have.
I love it!! I too made a list today of how my afternoons need to look now that we’re back in school. To some it may seem regimented, but I need the routine and I need to write it down to help make it happen. Congrats on day 21 and bless you for knowing how to keep life in perspective.
DUDE! You’re kicking ASS at the no smoking! They say it takes 21 days to change a habit, so there ya go! So proud of you, I can’t stop using exclamation marks!
Like MP, I need routine and writing it down helps solidify it in my head and helps me realize that it is doable.
P.S. You’ll totally lose calories packing/moving.
Chibi – from your fingers to the Weight Loss God’s ears! I hope that all this packing and organizing does help me shed some pounds; that would be awesome!
You are doing AWESOME! Congratulations on 21 DAYS SMOKE FREE – yahoo! I think prioritizing is really important, and September 11 is only 11 days away. It’s not like you’re banning workouts OR de-prioritizing them for a long time. Just give yourself permission to do what you need to do, and listen to your body if it says, “Mommy I need a workout!” You’ll do fine.
My arithmetic is terrible Miss. But I think you have cut yourself short on sleep. If you want to get up at 5.15 am you need to be in bed by 10 pm.
You do need to schedule things and I can imagine how difficult it is going to be to fit the marking into a satisfactory time slot.
I’m sure you can do it but in the meantime you have 10 days to moving day and just maybe you will have to compromise on work-out time. It’s really important not to overstretch yourself and expect too much of yourself. Maybe you can decide what is the absolute minimum of exercise for you and settle for that over the next three weeks.
I know you are concerned about this so look again and see what you can trim from your schedule. You don’t want to crash and burn now when so many things are coming together for you.
Blessings
I never get 8 hours of sleep, although I know I should. I usually get 5-6, so getting 7 would be a nice bonus. I’ll have to work my way up to 8, eventually. I’ve always been a night owl and my job means I have to get up early, so I have learned how to deal with getting an insufficient amount of sleep.
Congratulations on 21 smoke free days! I once read that quitting smoking has the same health benefits as losing 150 pounds. (I imagine they meant as far as high blood pressure, etc.) So, that right there is a huge leap forward. Also, if you think about it the other way, not quitting, yikes!
And keeping up the logging even if the food choices weren’t great is really facing up to it! I had some bad days and, um, “forgot” to log it all. You’re really showing self-awareness and courage.
Thanks for keeping us up-to-date.