Monday, April 30, 2012

Feeling more like me!

This past week, my beloved hubby cut me loose to visit my family for a week...alone.  And when I say alone, I mean alone.  By myself.  Sans children.  Me, myself and I.  Yes, he stayed home for a week, also alone, with all 3 girls and played daddy.  No he didn't 'babysit'...he played daddy for 24/7.  I had to laugh daily at his status, "It is now noon on day X of 7 being a single dad. All three kids are still alive!"  Ha!  He did fine.

My time away was busy, but good.  We celebrated my mom's 60th birthday the day after I arrived.  That night, we took my grandmother to the ER where I insisted that they do something more for her.  Don't mess with an angry redhead!  I went to breakfast to see a dear friend of mine that morning, and she said, "Why aren't you allowing yourself to enjoy your vacation?"  *Or something along those lines.*  I would love nothing more than to let loose for a week and not care about what I eat, but unfortunately, it takes a lot for me to get back on track.  So, I just don't even entertain that thought.  I also exercised while I was home.  I took my Slim in 6 and my band with me. 

The rest of the week was filled with seeing who I could in a limited time.  I feel like I should be alone for several weeks in order to fit everyone in.  Hubby's grandma was surprised to see me.  I spent time with my mother-in-law as well.  As usual, it seemed too short.  For a brief moment, I thought about staying a bit longer to help with my grandmother since she's still in severe pain.  She goes in for an MRI on Wednesday.

While home, I had some pictures taken by a friend.  I did them in part as a celebration for getting to goal, and in part, for my sweet hubby.  You can snag a glimpse by looking at my profile picture.  You can also see my friend's work here.

After a week, I feel more like myself.  And wow!  Ten days without riding my bike and I felt like a wimp this morning.  Sheesh! 

So where are you at?  Are you staying the course, even if it's hard?

Monday, April 9, 2012

Take that scale and....

...*you fill in the blank*.

Are you sick and tired?  Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?  Yeah,  I get it.

Are you letting the scale determine how you feel about yourself?  I often do.  It's hard not to.  In an effort to encourage others, I found this article.  It totally spoke to me.

I think I project my thoughts of others onto myself.  Or my perceived thoughts of others.  Does that even make sense?  I try to 'know' what they are thinking and how they feel about me.  Maybe that's why when my hubby and I are out in public and some random guy 'hits' on me, I don't see it.  My hubby sees it because he sees me for who I really am, not who I see myself as. 

Why do I care what others think of me?  Or how they see me?  When I walk through the grocery store, I often think about if I run into someone I know, what will they think of what I have in my cart?  Or the cashiers.  If they've noticed the amount of weight I've lost *which most of the women who work at our store have*...what will they think of what I have on the belt?  Crazy, right?  Or is it?

Part of this mentality is because we live in a small town.  Everyone 'knows' everyone else.  You generally can't go to the store *which is the only one in town and the only one between Flagstaff and probably Kingman on I40* without seeing at least one person you know.  So, it's a hot spot per se.  And, I might be guilty of checking out other people's carts or the stuff they put on the belt.  I might even *gasp* compare the stuff in their cart/or the stuff on the belt to how the person looks.  Smite me now!!!  Shameful, huh?  Please tell me I'm not the only one?  Please also tell me what an awful person I am!!

In knowing how I am, I think I imagine other people doing the same to me.  It's only fair, right?  So where am I going with this?  We just have this poor 'relationship' with the scale.  The scale is an extension of how we feel and how we feel others look at us.

So, how do we break this cycle?  I'm not really sure.  If I figure out, I'll let you know.  I think we are all creatures of habit, and this is just part of it.  But, if you have the answer...I'd love to hear it!  In the meantime, don't beat yourself up!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

More signs of spring!

After our two feet of snow just a few short weeks ago, the weather has begun to return to the weather that we caught a glimpse of just before the snow.  According to the weather 'man', we should be getting up to 68 on Easter which is huge.  Normally we're getting more snow or the sun is out, but the air is cold.

When I questioned my hubby about the possibility of getting a bike/bike trailer in my seductive usual way, he really wasn't sure about whether or not this would be a wise decision.  To sweeten the deal, I suggested that this would be an excellent way for this one-car family to be more car free *at least for me and the girls* this summer.  If he had to go to work early, it would be okay because we'd have the bikes!  Work late?  It's okay...we've got our bikes!  So after all of my seducing pursuading, he agreed.

I ordered both this past Thursday, picked up the bike trailer at Wally-world yesterday, and my bike arrived today.  Yes, it took me an hour to put what little bit had to be put together, together, but it was a lot of picky things.  After getting it all set up, air put in the tires of the bike trailer, getting the bike trailer attached to the bike, getting water bottles, and everyone situated, we were off!  The oldest kiddo and my shortest were with me.  The oldest road her bike and well shorty...was in the trailer.  As we worked our way into 'town', my oldest kept saying, "Mom?  Can you slow down?"  Wow!  I didn't think I was going that fast, not to mention I was pulling a nearly 30 pound short person in a bike trailer.

We picked up middle kiddo.  I squeezed carefully adjusted the seatbelts so that both of the short people could sit in the trailer together.  It was snug pleasantly cozy and they both enjoyed the ride home.  All told, I burned just shy of 300 calories for that trip.

This is what my new 'ride' and trailer look like:

My sweet little girls.

My ride and the trailer.  Oh the endless possibilities this summer!

After the shortest took her nap, we went out again.  This time, we went to the park.  On our way, the oldest asked if we would be able to ride to the pool for our swim lessons.  Umm...YES!  This second ride earned me 300 calories.  I have to say, that this has been a very fun and enjoyable day.  The only complaint that I got from either of the big girls was that I was going to fast, but with middle kiddo riding her bike the second time out, I went a lot slower.

I truly can't wait to get out and ride again tomorrow.