A few years ago, a friend of mine told me that when she turned 30, something changed in her. Like all of a sudden she realized she didn't have to put up with other's people's crap; she stood her ground and stood up for herself; she just felt good. That always stuck with me. And let me tell you--I turned 30 last year...she was right ;)
It took a little while for me, closer to 31. And although I do feel a little more sure in my own footing and care a little less when people get their feathers flustered, I more so found the umph to quit putting up with my own crap. So here are some changes we've been making in this household lately:
1. In May, something clicked and I decided that at 31 (aka, a grown ass woman...insert eyeroll emoji), it was time for me to start making my bed. This is not a habit that ever ever stuck with me My mom makes hers religiously, but never required it of us; and I had no interest in extra "work". I'm just going to crawl back in it tonight anyway! Which is still true...but it is so much nicer to crawl into a made bed than have to figure all the covers back out. But mostly, it just looks pretty. My room automatically feels cleaner and bigger and more welcoming to me. It took a couple of weeks of making myself do it (my husband telling me every night how much he loved the bed being made definitely helped). But as they say, 21 days makes a habit--and so it was. By week three, it was a breeze. And now I'm to the point that I can't stand to walk back in my room if it's not made. Literally less than a minute to make my whole day feel better--winning.
(This also made me decide to make my kids make their beds every morning. Right now, that's just Arabella--Kaplan tries sometimes, but not regularly. She knows she has to have it made/be dressed/teeth brushed before she comes in for breakfast. It's lovely...and she likes the way it looks too!)
2. I decided in March-ish that I was going to set a goal this year to read a book a month. I would love for it to be a book a week, but that's just not realistic for me right now in this phase of life. But I felt like a book a month was very achievable. I love to read, but I had slacked off BIG time. And the major culprit aside from my children? The TV... ugh. I'm going to write a whole post about what all I've been reading so far, but I am happy to say that (thanks to the Harry Potter series!) I have smashed my one/month goal so far! I'm on number 14 :) I still watch TV some, but mostly just the shows that Hunter and I watch together. If I have a chunk of time, now I reach for my book instead of the remote. Beautiful.
3. As we hunkered down for school to start up again, my sister told me she was making a schedule for their family to follow each week as far as chores and exercise and such. Simultaneously--and without knowing my sister and I had talked about this--one of my best friends started asking what my schedule was for laundry and chores (it was "whenever whatever needs to be done"). The more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea of having a schedule and a defined routine. So I took a look at the examples that had been commented on the book of faces, and I set out to make our own chore chart.
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| For some reference, Arabella is almost 7, Kaplan is almost 4, and Landry is almost 2. My husband works full time and I stay at home. And Rosie is our robot vacuum ;) Pet care will be added eventually for the kids (we have an outside lab, so right now, daddy does all of her care taking). |
I tried to pick chores that needed to be done on a regular basis that were also age appropriate (Landry was tough, but he's learning as we go). I also added in some things we weren't doing often enough (ahem mopping...and also ceiling fans, changing sheets, bathrooms, and cleaning out the van...I don't like to clean...).
Hopefully with a laundry "schedule", the clothes we need will always be clean. And if I don't have SO much to fold at a time, maybe I'll actually just fold it once it dries...hmmm. But seriously--I have found now that I make my bed, if I'll bring my pile of laundry in there to fold, it gives me a chance to listen to a podcast away from as much children noise...and I'll fold it that same day because it's on my bed. The pile on the couch used to sit there for daaaaaays on end because I just didn't want to fold it. And then we were wrinkly and it was an actual mountain of clothes and we were digging through the pile for what we needed and I just hated it.
4. Hunter and I have talked regularly for the past year+ about needing to be healthier. We are both the heaviest and most out of shape we've ever been (let's face it, I've never been in shape)...but yet all we ever did was talk. Well when I made the chore chart, I also told him I wanted to start getting up early to exercise (who the heck am I??) every morning. WUT. So for the past two weeks we've been exercising, and since school started, we've been getting up at 5:30 to do so. Help me, Jesus...it is so early.
He enjoys running (I absolutely do not... He convinced me to run with him way back in the day before children, and it quickly got to the point that I didn't want him to come home from work because it meant we had to run. The worst. He however loved it and took the dog every morning to RUN 3 miles...the whole way. I can't breathe just thinking about it. But then he broke the tip of his toe the week before we had Arabella and that was that; hasn't run much since.) So now, once again, he wakes up in the morning and goes for a run.
I really enjoy my CU24 Advocare video. I did it consistently the first time I did the 24 day challenge several years ago and enjoyed it then (and could tell a difference). So I wake up friggin early and do my video. My schedule: MWF are actual workouts and TR are core stretch exercises. The weekends can be whatever. Each video is only 24 minutes (so manageable) and are broken into 9-12 different exercises that they repeat. There's also a beginner/intermediate/difficult pose for each exercise as well as a beginner/intermediate/difficult time limit. So you do what you're able for as long as you're able and don't feel like a failure when you can't keep up. Plus I turn down the volume on the video and turn up my pumped up playlist--music really does help you get pumped!
**PS--just found out that these videos are on YouTube! So you can check em out if you're interested.
5. And here's the kicker...FOOD. I mean come on. We're from south Louisiana. Food is everything to us (and hardly any of it is healthy). I'm pretty good about cooking most nights...but I'm not great about making sure things aren't loaded with carbs and cholesterol and sodium and processed everything.
My sister and I were able to sneak away and go see Rachel Hollis's documentary "Made for More" last week...incredible. I already loved her, but this attracted me to her like a moth to a flame. And I also went home feeling ready to keep some promises to myself. Since I was alone on the way home, I listened to one of her podcasts and she talked about going from a size 14 to a size 2 (I had NO idea she had struggled with that...she's a tiny person at only 5'1" and I've only ever seen her tiny waisted as well). She mentioned that she had done a podcast with the nutritionist whose book changed her diet (not as in a fad, but as in the food she consumes), so I went and listened to that one too.
And it all just made a lot of sense. Kelly Leveque wrote the book Body Love which goes into a lot more detail (it's next on my to read list!). You can go to the "Rise" podcast and listen to her interview with Rachel for some details and an interested conversation. She talked a lot about blood sugar, and why carbs are needed but can also be really bad...in a way that I understood basically (and I have very little knowledge about all that jazz).
So now, after our early morning workouts, we start our day with one of her fab four smoothies for breakfast. The ones we've tried so far have actually been pretty good. And I can guarantee you they're better for us than the pop tarts, cereal, oatmeal, or straight nothing we'd been eating...
For lunch, we've been trying to eat lighter. He usually has leftovers; or if he goes out to eat, he's mindful of what's on the menu and balances his entree and sides. I eat a salad for lunch almost every day (which is HUGE because I'm not a salad person). I also keep boiled eggs on hand at all times. Cucumbers, sweet potatoes (very little sugar, a little cinnamon), apple with peanut butter, a small scoop of chicken salad (with a green salad or cucumber)...some combination or variation of any of that.
And for dinner--that hasn't changed a ton. I don't do rolls or bread anymore just for the sake of having them. And most of our vegetables are fresh now instead of canned (although we do still have some green beans/peas/corn every once in a while). I've done a lot of broccoli, zucchini, squash, and cauliflower chopped up, seasoned, and baked (in whatever combination you choose). Also asparagus. And salads some nights too. But last week we had lasagna to go with it. And tonight I made some rice a roni. And this weekend we had macaroni as a side. We even had key lime pie Sunday night (and it was SO good)! And I'm ok with every bit of that--because we used portion control. And instead of having heaping helpings of all those things, we got an actual serving...and ate our vegetables first to fill us up more before we even got to the starches.
I cut the cokes out again (not that hard since I wasn't drinking them often, and he hasn't had one in like 13 years). We cut back on the wine/beer. And I cut back on the sweet tea :( He switched to half and half a couple years ago, and now actually enjoys straight unsweet tea (gag me with a spoon). I however am a proper southern lady and want my tea as thick as my accent and sweet as I am too ;) I don't ever keep it at home--it's that urge to stop at Sonic that's harder to break...but I've done well!
It's been harder at some times than others, but we already feel better. I went into this food thing refusing to do Paleo or Keto or Atkins or whatever named diet there is...I also refused to count micros or macros and anything (I don't do numbers and that crap confuses me). I really just wanted this whole experience to be about making better choices for our bodies. We're not that far from 40 (eeeesh) and that's kinda when you're body can start working against you more than for you. And I don't want to be in a bad place then and have to do a major overhaul...so we're trying to just be better to our bodies and ourselves in general. Plus, we want these changes to be something that we keep up with, not a phase we go through. Learning to make good choices is something we can keep.
Phew, that was a lot! I know this seems like a ton of change, but it's happened semi-gradually for us. And none of it is so major that it's hard to manage. I just wanted to share what was working for us in case you might be interested in making some changes too, but just don't know exactly what you want to do yet. Change is never easy, but it can be so so good! You really can do it ;)
xoxo, angie
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