Project Momma: 19 weeks

I am calling this last week "The week where I am showing you what not to do."  Why?  Because not only did I not meet my goals this week, I didn't really try.  Now I'm not saying that I let everything go and gained five pounds.  That wouldn't happen.  What I'm saying is that I had probably 10-12 treats this week instead of five.  And I probably only ate an average of three servings of fruits and veggies every day instead of five.  Seriously, if that's me "not really trying,"  that makes me pretty happy because a couple of months ago, those WERE my goals!

However, I did recognize a difference in how I felt.  One night specifically, I had a few treats (more for emotional reasons than really wanting them), and I felt AWFUL!  Then I stayed up late to watch TV because Ryan was gone.  That decision made me feel much worse in the morning.

I look back on the weeks where I was better about going to bed earlier and I felt so much better in the morning.  I was waking up earlier and reading my scriptures.  And because I felt better, I had a better workout, and made better food choices.  It's a chain reaction.  This past week I recognized the opposite chain reaction.  When I started staying up and late and sleeping in, I wasn't making good choices and I didn't have as much energy.  I didn't feel as good emotionally because I wasn't making that "me" time in the morning before the kids got up and I didn't make great food choices.  

I learned something else this week too.  Sometimes you just need a break from trying so hard.  I realized that this has been almost four months of solid improvement and goal making and it felt really liberating to not write down every serving of fruit and vegetable that I ate, or keeping track of my treats.  I obviously didn't go crazy eating treats though (for the most part) because I have made those habits.  And even though I had a couple of "free" days, guess what, I DIDN'T GAIN FIVE POUNDS! (Not that I would know because I haven't weighed myself for a few weeks), but a few days did not cancel out four months of hard work.  I feel like a lot of people put too much pressure on themselves and feel too much guilt when they "slip up" or stop trying.  It's called living a normal life.

It has also given me motivation to keep my good habits because I recognize how much better I feel physically when I am making better choices.

I decided today that thanks to my "chain reaction" discovery, I will only make and keep track of two goals this week.  Getting out of bed before 6:30 am, and lights off before 11:00 pm.  10:30 pm would be ideal (because if 10:30-6:30 is the Lord's sleep timetable for productive, hard-working, full-time missionaries, there must be some inspiration in it, right?) But I'll start with baby steps.  11:00 will be hard enough.

Milestones

I wore my "fat skirt" to church.  It's a grey pencil skirt that I love, but I originally bought it when Lucy was four months old for my sister's wedding.  I still hadn't lost all the baby weight from her pregnancy and so I bought a size 12 instead of 10, which is my "normal" size.  I had the hardest time buying a size bigger, but that's what fit me, so I did.  And I'm soooo glad, because I have clothes that fit me during this in-between stage.  However, since it's a pencil skirt it looks funny when I'm back down to my comfortable weight because it's too big and loose, but that's a good problem to have, right?  Up until this past Sunday I either couldn't zip it up, or it still felt too tight.
Find success in the little things!

I am teaching at the gym for the first time tomorrow morning, I'm nervous, but it will be fun.  I have missed that part of my life and it will be good to get back into that scene.  Fitness is always more fun when you're with friends.  

Take a family selfie if a good moment arrives, even if you're not wearing any make-up.  It's good to remember those moments too.  

I better end there so I can get to bed on time.  :)