Update Goal #4

Goal #4 Update:

By October 2010 I will have a set routine for my daily life with little man, this will include getting up in the morning and going to sleep by 10:30 -11:00 every night.

I am going back over my four goals and looking at deadlines.  One of the first goals that needs to be accomplished or re-evaluated is goal number four.  I didn’t think this would be a hard goal, and it hasn’t been overly difficult, but sometimes I just don’t feel like doing things.

I came up with a morning schedule. In my morning schedule I would get up by 6 am and do a thirty minute work out.  After my workout I would make a smoothie for myself and let Little Man have part of his breakfast.  After we had eaten our breakfast then I would go and shower.  Little man would be with big brother if big brother was home or he would be in the bathroom with me whilst I showered and did my hair and makeup.  So the schedule went something like this…. Exercise, smoothie, shower, wash face, brush teeth, get dressed, hair, makeup, get little man ready for school, ensure that big brother was ready to go and then out the door for us (this would be true if I had a job, but school starts next week, and I think I should be good!!).

I also came up with my evening schedule.  At night I would shower, wash my face, brush my teeth, get my pajamas on, take pills and vitamins, and read or write for 15 minutes.  Those things have been going well. It helps to have a routine in place for after I put Little Man to bed because often I feel like my whole world is only about Little Man and that should not be the case.  I will admit that he should be a large part of my life, but I should still be able to have me time.  So it’s nice to have a routine in place that is just about me!!

With that being said I have determined that there are some changes that need to be made.  One showering twice a day is too much, my skin was getting dried out and I am not in the habit of washing my hair every day.  So I have decided that I will shower in the mornings, then every other night so I can wash my hair.  The other thing I determined is that the trying to fit everything in an hour and a half is doable but I can extend the time if I need to.  I have the ability to be flexible. 

So with a little tweaking in the next little bit I will be able to have a working routine for my life as I prepare to return to the working world.  I have been working on this routine for two weeks now.  Week one was an amazing success, week two not so much, but week three is starting out better.  I have two more weeks to go and then I will be well established with my routine, it should be a habit by then!!

Budget Workings

I loath to admit this, but I hate working out budgets.  I know they are important, I know that to effectively manage your finances a budget is a key tool.  But I HATE them.  I just hate feeling so restrained with being able to spend money. 

I have live my grown up life with this philosophy.  Pay bills first, buy groceries next, and the rest of the money is mine to spend as I so choose.  This has obviously not left me with a lot of savings.  It's frustrating because I am now seeing the importance of savings but at the same time I still like to have things to entertain myself with. 

I have made a decision though, as of this moment, meaning the Month of August I am on an allowance.  I am allowed to have $200 in spending money a month.  This spending money is to be inclusive of my gas money as well.  It will not cover things like oil changes and maintenance on the car but gas money, coffee money, buying movies, going out money will be limited to this $200.  I have to start living within this very small amount so that I can pay off my bills and start a savings.  Granted this will have to be altered a bit if I start subbing and have to drive more than I do or if I start working again because then I will have a bit more money to work with.  For now though and until I have a full time job, $200 a month is my spending money.  That is it that is all.  Let's hope I can stick to this!!!

Life Style Life Interrupted

I have been working so hard to reach my weight loss that goal that I seem to neglect my other goals.....  I tend to do that get very focused on one thing and put blinders on to the rest.  I am getting up every morning and turning on my work out DVD.  I am feeling that I am going to have to start doing some other things as well to increase the effectiveness of this work out routine, but so far it's going great.

One happy thing to report is I have been watching my scale.  I have completed 14% of my weight loss goal, and dropped 6 pounds.  See now I am encouraged because I am seeing changes, not really seeing them in my clothes fit yet but it will come give me another 6 pounds and I will be floating down the road.  I guess it is true about working out, you will hit that hump where it just seems like everything is for naught, then all of a sudden you make it over and Voila things are moving forward.

Do I still have changes to make??  Most definitely, and I will make them.  Hopefully my family will support me in this and hopefully they will stop trying to sabotage my momentum.  Little Man is the worse for this at present.  He is not sleeping through the night again and he wakes up at odd hours just completely out of sorts.  I feel he may be teething, so hopefully this will end soon and he will get back into his routine. Tonight we are home alone and no one has to get up to work in the morning so he gets to cry it out.  I know it seems mean but I will go in and comfort him for a bit then it is time for him to fall back asleep and if that means he has to cry for an extended period of time then so be it.

Give up or Give In

Not sure what happened last night but it was a rough night.  Little Man went to bed around 7:30 which is becoming more and more usual.  I wish he would stay up until 8:00 then both boys would be going down around the same time.  Yes my 11 year old still goes to be around 8, his choice.  So Little Man is a little out of sorts lately, he is cranky and is waking up again in the middle of the night.  All he wants is to cuddle so I am not sure what's going on with him.  Last night he woke up at 1:30 and again at 4:00.  Usually it only takes around 10 minutes to soothe him the first time he wakes up and at 4 I would usually pull him into bed for his morning feeding.  But not last night, he cried for over half an hour and only fell back asleep when I laid with him on the couch, but even then, he kept thrashing around and tossing like he couldn't get comfortable.  It made for a very long night for me.

I have been following my night routine, but getting out of bed this morning at 6 am was not something high on my priority list.  Then I didn't know if I was going to do my exercise routine or anything for that matter.  I seriously considered taking a lazy day.  However, better judgement won out and I got up at 6:40 and made smoothies for Adrian and I then started my work out at 7.  So I was an hour behind schedule but I still got up and followed my routine.

It was hard making that first step to get out of bed and turning on the work out DVD was another hard task but once I had done it I just got going and I feel so great!!  I am happy I did my routine and work out, it has set the tone for the day!!

Routines routines routines

Today marks the beginning of my 21 day "let's make a routine a habit".  I have set myself up with morning and evening routines that I must follow for the next 21 days.  I have certain things I must do when I get up and when I go to bed.  These things include showering, exercising, brushing and flossing, make up breakfast, BCP, just regular stuff really, but things that need to be done.  I have also included in there 15 minutes of me time at night, 15 minutes for me to read or write or both, but just 15 minutes for me to do what I want before going to bed. 

Let's see how the next 21 days go to see if I can turn these routines into habits, that way I will have met another one of my goals.  Soon it will be time to re-evaluate my goals and come up with new goals or restructure the old so I can experience success in these goals.

That budget goal is now going to drive me crazy, but I think I may have it licked.... just got to put some stuff down to paper to work it out and then I think I will have it!!

Thank you

This is a big THANK YOU to those of you who read and commented on my previous blog.  I am being very diligent in not getting discouraged but it is hard when I feel as if I have been working so hard to lose this extra weight and I am not seeing any results (scale or clothing wise). 

After much consideration and thought I have determined that this is what is going to happen in the next few weeks.  1) I am going to go and see my doctor for a check up and try to figure out with him a healthy plan for me... maybe it will be to keep doing what I am doing and the results will come or maybe there will be something else we will add into my regiment.  2) I am going to become more Calorie aware with my eating.  I believe I am eating healthy but it may be that I am eating too much or still too many calories so that my metabolism is not really kicking in yet.  3) I will not be focused so much on the numbers but I will focus on my energy level, my moods, my fit of clothing, and my ability to challenge myself more in workouts.

If all this fails I will most likely be following a diet plan like Weight Watchers.  I have never been a big fan of diets, however, I do think that Weight Watchers is one of the better ones out there.  They don't give you prescribed meals, but let you eat a certain number of points per day.  So in with changing my lifestyle, this will help me to become more aware of what I am eating and how that eating is effecting things like my weight and moods. 

I have always said that if I have plan I am not stressed, it's when things don't work out or I don't see things working out that I get stressed.  As I have grown though I have learned to sit back, re-evaluate the situation and come up with a new plan to make my goals attainable.

Weight Loss Goal Update

So I am reaching a road block in my ambition to lose weight.  Not that I don't want to lose weight but it is so discouraging when the weight loss does not seem to be happening at ALL!!!  It is so frustrating to be doing all the right things, not eating junk food, not drinking pop, exercising, eating balanced meals and still the results do not come forth.  


I understand that I am not a 400 lbs person (friends if I ever get there please do me a favour and lock me in a room with only a mail slot to pass me carrots and water).  I don't want to die but I will obviously have a problem with food if I get to 400 lbs.  I understand that I may not see the results that the contestants on the Biggest Loser see in the first week, but I should be seeing some kind of results.  I just don't feel like I am seeing any.


Now with getting that out of the way, I am here to say that I am not giving up.  I am just going to up my conviction to this goal.  I am going to really start watching what I eat, and I am going to be exercising more consistently.  Harder work outs for longer periods of time with little workouts in between.  I have to lose this weight.  I want to feel great about myself again.  I did it before and I will do it again.  


If anyone has any suggestions or tips please let me know I will take them and adapt them for myself and my family.  Not only will I get healthy but my family will be healthy as well.  It will become a snow ball effect!!