On the go with the Gaudreaus....

Oldies but goodies.....

When I recently signed in to photobucket to upload some photos for a weight loss challenge I'm participating in over at JP Fitness forums, I found some weight loss layouts from a couple of years ago that I want to move over to my blog here (especially since my former laptop crashed and this is probably the only way I'll ever see them). Even though they are a couple of years old, they're definitely still applicable. Enjoy! 

It's been so long since I've done scrapbooking of any kind... digital or paper. I really need to get back to it, but right now I've got enough to focus on! :) 

Bye, bye, DP.... I'm just not that into you. :)

Those of you reading here who also saw an earlier post on Facebook know that the above-mentioned DP is Diet Pepsi. Time for it to go. This is just a part of my overall plan to get the family's diet in better shape. By "diet", I really mean eating plan, btw. None of my kids are overweight, and in fact, Noah could stand to gain a few pounds! The problem is really not with how much my kids eat, but with the quality of their nutrition. It could definitely use some improvement.... more whole (clean) foods, and less junky processed stuff. In the long run, not only will cleaning up our nutrition be better for them, but it will make it a whole lot easier for me to stay on track nutritionally as well. After all, if the stuff is not in the house, it will be more of a challenge for me to eat it. I'd have to go somewhere to get it, and chances are pretty good that by the time I decided to go to the store, whatever craving I had may have passed. (At least that's what I'm hoping!). Admittedly, I should have done this a LONG time ago. I have always felt a bit of guilt for feeding my kids some of the things that I do (Little Debbies HAS to be at the top of that list... ), but I have continued to do it for a couple of reasons. 1) It's fast and convenient and 2) It's easier than fighting with them about eating healthy stuff. The third reason, btw, that I think a lot of parents feed their kids crap food is that it's actually CHEAPER than the healthy alternatives. That is so maddening, and just wrong... but it's probably not going to change, sadly. Just like the junky stuff that we can get cheap from overseas, you get what you pay for. Stepping down from the soapbox now....

Anyway, in my last post I said that I would outline my plan for keeping myself on track with regard to my fitness and nutrition. What follows first are some thoughts on nutrition: 

• Give up my one Diet Pepsi a day and replace it with more water. Substitute tea as well. 
• Generally follow the Zone diet by having several small meals per day. Include protein at every meal.
• Eat mostly whole, clean foods. Avoid processed foods as much as possible. 
• Clean up the family diet. Try at least one new recipe per week. Have the kids help choose some new things that they are willing to try. 
• Partner up with a friend at work who also wants to improve her diet. Use the SMARTpath website to work together and earn money while doing it! :) 

Now for fitness: 

• Regular visits to the chiropractor to help with my foot and overall wellness.
• Get to the gym AT LEAST 4 times per week. Minimum of 300 minutes of exercise per week, with 2 days of weight training and the remainder cardio. I will log this on SMARTpath. 
• Spend time at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans site for support and challenges. 
• Serve as our district Wellness Liason for the upcoming SMARTpath challenge activity...need to be a good role model, right? 
• Get back to working with a trainer after the first of the year. 

OK, so that's the skeleton of the plan. I have done well this week with regard to taking care of myself, so at least I've got the ball rolling in the right direction. 

I'll close with a quote I saw today that is just perfect. I think I'm going to write it out and put it on the fridge! 

"Well being is attained little by little, and nevertheless it is no little thing itself." ~ Zeno of Citium

 

Just do it. Again.

Here I am, 5 months since my last post, and making yet another effort to get back on track with my health and fitness goals. Last March I thought I was seeing the 190's for the last time. I lost 25+ pounds by the end of June and was feeling pretty confident. Heading into summer, I figured that I would be able to find the extra time to work out in order to get rid of the last 25 pounds I wanted to lose once and for all..... but no. Didn't happen quite like I envisioned. Instead, I got sick and spent the better part of the summer with bronchitis and pneumonia. I wasn't able to work out at all, and I had no energy... well, except to eat ice cream, which was probably my biggest source of calories. Great..... 

I have to give myself credit. When I get off track, I don't do it small. I go WAY off track. In fact, I can't even see the damn track at all. So in terms of getting off track, I'm a frigging expert. Oh yeah, anything you want to know about how to get off track, I can tell you. :)

Seriously though, I know that the sarcastic talk in the previous paragraph really is counterproductive. It isn't going to help me figure out the WHY. Getting off track really isn't something I want to be good at, but at times I feel powerless to stop it from happening. It's like a self-fulfilling prophecy. I have done this to myself so many times, despite all the reasons not to, that I just don't know how to keep it from happening. This is something that I have GOT to get a handle on if I am ever going to be truly successful for the long term. It's been nearly 5 years since I started at 232 pounds. In the time since then, I had about a year of actually staying at the weight that I was happy at. Not long enough. Time to get the work done to get back there. I know I can, because I HAVE. In my next post, I'll outline my plan of action. 

 

Insert creative blog post title here... I've got nothing!

OK, so I totally stole that title from the fitness log of my friend Donna, but I'm using it because I've got nothing creative in my head. I've typed 3 or 4 different titles already and that should be the easy part.... ugh. You wonder why I don't blog more, despite planning to do it regularly? Mostly it has to do with the fact that I think my writing probably isn't all that interesting to read in the first place (although my sister in law thinks otherwise, according to her....lol!). I mean seriously, who wants to read about the mostly boring but nonetheless much too busy life of 40 something me? Anyway, I often have an idea of something that I want to write about, but it doesn't always come out quite the way I envisioned, and then I get bogged down in the details and end up deleting everything or never really starting in the first place. I think too much. That's probably what it is mostly about. :) I guess, too, that I think if I don't write something that is going to have an impact on someone, than why am I bothering in the first place. So much pressure on myself! I mean really, this is just supposed to be a place for me to share stuff that may or may not be helpful to anyone but me... more a way to write down the junk in my head to look at it a bit more objectively. (See... now there I go again, getting all bogged down in other stuff than what I wanted to originally write about. ARGH!) This time, though, I'm not deleting my little tangents... I'm just gonna leave it all in here. So there! 

So tonight marks the last night of my "early 40's"... tomorrow I turn 46, and I am really not liking that much. Everyone can say stuff like "You're only as old as you feel" yada yada yada.... but really, you're as old as you are, kwim? I don't feel 46, and I don't think I look it either... but age is what it is. The reality is that, given my family history, I may not have more than 20 years left on this Earth. Pretty frigging depressing. Then again, I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and not even have that long. (I really hope that this isn't foreshadowing, just so you know!) My current focus in counseling is to "make the best of it"... which I can apply not only to marriage, but to life in general. Sometimes I think of it somewhat pessimistically... as in, make the best of things, even when they're not great. Suck it up and just deal with it... the grass isn't really greener anywhere else. Then again, I could think of the phrase in a different way, as in make the best of things, because life can change on a dime, and it could all be gone tomorrow. Still depressing to think about maybe, but hopefully it elicits a different type of response. Rather than fostering some resentment, as in the former case, it can bring about a feeling of appreciation for what you have and a willingness to work to make things better, since otherwise nothing will change. (OK, so I hope that makes some sense... I am beyond ready for bed and am sitting here singing along with Christine Lavin music while trying to type.... not a productive combination!) 

So, long story short (yeah, right!) to celebrate my first 45 years of life, I make the decision every day to take care of myself. I've got to say that I'm doing pretty well in the self-care department at the moment! :) Since getting back on track three months ago today with regard to both nutrition and exercise, I have lost a total of 25 pounds. The change in my attitude and self-confidence are the best birthday gift... and they didn't cost me a thing! 

 

Stop. Breathe. Reflect. Choose.

Met with my counselor today, and we talked a lot about my responsibility for taking care of myself. Really, it comes down to commitment.... I am the only one who is in charge of myself and my choices. I can choose to take care of myself, or I can choose not to. It is not up to my husband or anyone else to take care of me... it is totally and completely on me. I tend to blame people, events and/or situations for my downfall (talking weight loss here) or lack of ability to reach my goals, but instead I need to focus on the question "Am I taking care of myself?" If I am, then I need to just keep doing what I'm doing. Right now, for example, I am a bit frustrated with lack of movement on the scale.... but since I know that my nutrition is excellent and my exercise is on track, I need to just accept the number and move on to tomorrow. I AM taking care of myself, so the rest will follow. If I am faced with a situation that may make it difficult for me to continue to take care of myself as I need to, I will use the mantra that is the title of this post: 

STOP. BREATHE. REFLECT. CHOOSE. 

Every choice is mine to make, and I will own them. Hopefully more often than not, I will make the choice to take care of myself. I won't expect perfection, but I will be mindful of the process and make my choices knowing what the consequences may be. 

Hmmm..... 4 months later? Where did THAT time go??

Blogging is one of those things that I think I'm actually pretty good at when I do it consistently. Kinda like diet and exercise in that respect, huh? ;-) VERY similar, in fact. When I'm on a roll and doing well, life is good.... but when I get off track, everything pretty much goes to hell, and I'd just as soon crawl under a rock. Of course, sooner or later, it's back to reality for me. *sigh* 

I started my Happiness Project in January with every good intention of continuing it, but even in the second half of January I was already getting down on myself about my lack of success. Things started out ok, but I struggled with maintaining even those few things that I had set out to do to take care of myself, and as week after week passed, it just went from bad to worse. Before I knew it, February had come and gone without my so much as choosing a Happiness project theme for that month.... and so on. Pretty soon I was looking at March and wondering how the time had passed so quickly. 

It's not like things were all bad... I don't want to give that impression, because I definitely did some of the things that I had planned to. February vacation was actually a high point. Not only did I get some time to myself (my sister treated me to a manicure and lunch, I made it to the gym several times, I enjoyed some time scrapbooking with friends, etc.), but Arthur and I also made a decent amount of progress cleaning out part of the basement and reorganizing it, and we enjoyed some family time with the boys. By the time vacation was over, I was actually ready to return to school, which was a great feeling. :) However, my self-care was really sporadic at best... I felt as though I was short-changing myself and not living up to what I set out to do. The feelings of "guilt" about failing again at something were eating away at me and making me feel worse... not that there were probably many visible signs of this, but inside I knew that I was letting myself down. There's no fooling yourself, you know? Doesn't work. 

Since I knew that the Happiness Project as I was currently seeing it really wasn't inspiring me much for some reason, I decided to think about things a little differently. I decided that rather than choosing a different theme and moving on from the first month (or starting over), I wanted to really just make my whole project about taking better care of myself, in whatever ways were necessary. That would be my ongoing theme for the time being, and that would be enough. In my thinking, I cannot become a better wife/mother/teacher without first becoming a better "Lori" to myself. I need to be selfish, for lack of a better word. I need to put myself first sometimes, even when that little voice might be telling me that I shouldn't. This is my mission. 

At the beginning of March, I made a decision that I was done letting food control me. Too many times I have let one bad food choice snowball into a day, week, or more of unhealthy eating.... and the results are disastrous. Going off plan this winter resulted in a weight gain of about 10 pounds in the course of a month... more than 20 since the start of school. It stopped the day that I got on the scale and it read 193.6.... WAY too close to 200 for my liking. When I began my weight loss journey in 2007, I was at 232. When I reached "One-derland", I swore to myself that I would NEVER see the 200's again... and yet here I was within 6 pounds of doing just that. WTF?? NO. NO. NO. I could not and would not let that happen. I worked too hard to lose that weight in the first place, and I was not going to quit. That day was March 7. On April 4, I weighed in at 179.6. Heading in the right direction! :) 

Today's blog post, take two.

Spent an hour on this post the first time, but somehow lost the whole thing. Are you kidding me?? One of these days I will learn to save repeatedly.....

Sitting at lunch yesterday, I decided to share the fact that I have started a Happiness Project. Why do I do this to myself?? As much as I love my co-workers, they just don't get it. That's OK... because after all, this project is for ME, not for them. So let them laugh and poke fun at my project, and I will just let it go, knowing that they really do want me to succeed. They don't realize how seriously I'm taking this project, and they can't comprehend WHY I would want to spend time establishing goals, tracking progress, finding a sense of accomplishment about things as seemingly silly as ironing my pants.... *sigh*. One of my very best friends jokingly told me I need to "get a life." Um, hello.... little did she know, but she's not far off there. I HAVE a life, so technically, no, I don't need to get one. What I do need, though, is to make the most of it! :)

So this week has had its positives and negatives, but I'd rate it as more of the former. The most negative thing is that I haven't yet made it to the gym, but on the other hand, I have used Wii Fit every day, and that's actually not a bad workout. (Plus, mastering the advanced level on the skateboard arena made me feel VERY happy...lol!) I have been eating according to plan, drinking more water, and wearing makeup to school. I even took the extra time to iron my clothes yesterday, because the last thing I need is to feel like I should be featured in "The People of Wal-mart" videos! These little things I've done over the course of the last 3 days have definitely had the cumulative effect of making me a bit happier day to day. I always feel better when I feel in control of my food choices and know that I am doing the things I should be to treat my body with care. Mind and body connection for sure.

Want to share an excerpt from a blog that I came across thanks to my friend and trainer Matt Thorne, who posted a link to this on facebook. How to Waste Your Life

In case you don't feel like reading the whole thing... let me share a couple of thoughts related to New Years' Resolutions. Made me think, to say the least. I hope you find something thought provoking in it, too.

This past New Year, you probably had an opportunity to make a bet with yourself. You may see it as a resolution, but that’s not actually what it is. It is a bet, and if you lose, you will actually be worse off than you were before. The opportunity will be gone, and you will have less hope about being able to change. You will have lost the bet, and you should treat it that way.

Most things are done quietly and without much fanfare, and because media convinces us that important things happen with a lot of excitement, we are missing out on the great victories, or losses, of our own lives.

So this is a wakeup call.

Your decisions are costing you, silently, every day, and you are putting things off because it is in our nature not to fear things which are far in the future.

But viewing it as a bet puts the loss front and center, like it should be.

You are betting your life on the resolutions you made this New Year. You should want to succeed at them very badly, and should work hard to do so– get organized and learn more about it, not just hope (which is what most resolutions really are).

Bets are won by those that are confident and those that have more information.

So win your bets by becoming that kind of person.

People associate themselves very strongly with the decisions they make (even something as simple as enjoying coffee or going to bed late), but they don’t realize that they would be just as happy being the opposite kind of person, and be just a much “themselves.”

But no, there is no risk in changing. The real risk in staying the same.

 

Thanks Monday... I needed that. Not!

Good Lord...  reality hit me upside the head today. Vacation over. Lack of sleep. Maybe staying up until midnight wasn't such a great idea, huh? Especially not when I did it because I was playing in the skateboard arena on Wii fit plus because I just HAD to beat Benjamin's score. Seriously, how pathetic is that??! I am competitive to a fault... always have been. *sigh* One of those things that I try to squash in my boys, but I'm not exactly a good example of "it's more important to have fun than to win" sometimes! :)  Of course, I did have fun though.... especially because I DID beat his score! :)

Happiness Project update

I have been thinking the last couple of days about some other ways I can measure how well I "Treat Myself with Care and Respect." I realized that I left out one of the biggies..... which of course is eating healthy foods. Duh. The more attention I pay to including healthy foods in my diet, the better I feel. Drinking plenty of water goes hand in hand with this, especially during the winter, when the air is drier and we tend to be indoors a lot more often (at least I do... I am SO not a winter person!)

So in addition to my previous list, here are the additions:

• Follow the Zone diet/eating plan at least 80% of the time. (I have followed this diet, at least in part, for a couple of years now... when I follow it strictly, I have great success!)
• Drink at least 64 oz. of water per day.
• Try to "let go" of stuff that I don't need to worry about.... I don't need any more stress than I've got already! (This is my "I can't and don't need to control everything and everyone" attitude).
• Similarly, deal with things as quickly as possible to avoid nagging stresses... whether it's as simple as picking up a sock off of the floor the FIRST time that I notice it rather than walking past it 57 times and having it bother me every time (geez!) or planning out my 3rd grade health units well ahead of time so that I'm not trying to figure out what I'm teaching the day before I have to teach it. (This is what happens when I am making up the curriculum as I go along.... ugh.)

Admittedly, yesterday was not a super day in the self care and respect department.... only 5 hours of sleep last night, and the diet wasn't as good as it could have been, but I did get some nagging tasks done (like folding and putting away laundry, which I despise....). Today has been a great day overall, despite the fact that I had to go back to work AND I am still suffering the effects of the lack of sleep. My students were quite cooperative, and I came home this afternoon and took care of some planning for health classes.

Onward to tomorrow... looking for the positives every day!

 

 

 

One day down... am I happier yet?

Just kidding, of course! This definitely will not be an overnight success, but I feel like I took some positive steps yesterday in working toward my goal for the month. :)

I haven't made up a resolutions chart yet, and I want to keep track of my successes, so for today I'll do it here. Exercise was great yesterday... went to the gym and had my ass kicked in spin class by Robyn. Wow. I can't sign up for spin classes since I work at the gym, so unless there are left-over bikes, I'm out of luck. During the winter, needless to say, the classes fill up pretty quickly (especially during the resolution months lol), but I figured that I might have a pretty good chance at getting a bike on New Year's Day. When I called the gym at 8:45, the list was only 1/4 full, so off I went. It was a struggle, but I managed to get through the hour long class without collapsing, so I'll take that as a positive! :) That wasn't the end of my exercise for the day either. Later in the day, Noah and I did a 5 mile walk to fulfill his second class scout requirement. It was such a gorgeous day (low 50's) that I figured we had better take advantage of it and get out there while we could. It was definitely a challenge for him, but he did it, and hopefully he was proud of himself (I know I was!). This is my non-athletic boy.... and his conditioning could definitely use some work. Finally, I played Wii fit for about 20 minutes last night too.... and that was the end of my exercise for the day.

Sleep was great too... I knew that I had to get up early, so I went to bed at 9:15. Got my 7 hours in! It was nice to be able to get right up with the alarm and not feel like I wanted to stay in bed.

Wanted to share a great thought that I came across in my "Women Who Do Too Much" online calendar... seems very fitting for me:

We have so many memories we can touch.

The happy ones can be gently stroked.

The painful ones have taken on the patina of life and, hopefully, we have developed new strengths and skills to deal with them.

Have a great day!

The Happiness Project begins.....

Happy New Year!

Last night around 11, I suddenly had the idea that I really wanted to wake up to a clean kitchen for the New Year.... everyone else was sound asleep, and I had some movitivation, so I started working. I was hoping to finish within the hour, but I didn't quite get there. As the new year began, I was in the midst of scrubbing the inside of the fridge... woohoo, right? :) It was great though, honestly.... I accomplished a lot and knew that I would be very happy waking up this morning to a clean kitchen. What a great way to start off the new year... being happy. That's what this year is going to be about for me, as I've mentioned before. I want to see if I can make myself happier and appreciate my life more, so I'm starting my own Happiness Project today. I was inspired by Gretchen Rubin and her book of the same name, and even though I haven't completely worked out all the details, I do have a starting point. For each month, I'll be focusing on some different aspect of my life that I want to improve in. Honestly, it's a bit overwhelming, because I can think of so many different things that I could do better at.... between self, family, work, relationships..... there's a lot of stuff there! I don't want to try to do it all at once, of course, but it will be a building process, similar to what Gretchen did when she started her Happiness Project. Focus on one thing per month, and add another each month while maintaining the other stuff too. Admittedly, it's going to be a challenge not to let my perfectionism get in the way of this, but hopefully I'm up for the task. I have this overwhelming sense of optimism and excitement as I'm sitting here... I just know that I'm going to learn a lot and really strive to make myself a better wife, mother and friend to others (and myself!). I'm anxious to get started.

Something fun that Gretchen recently posted on her blog is about the "six word secret to happiness." It's based on the Six Word Memoir by Smith Magazine. I am thinking that I will come up with a six word phrase for each month of my Happiness Project, and that will help me to remember what I am focusing on. This month, I'm going with.... drum roll, please....

Treat myself with care and respect.  

In thinking about the year and all that I want to change, I know that none of it will happen unless I first take care of myself. When I am feeling positive about myself, I can't help but be more upbeat, and that transfers to the way that I treat others as well.

So what will this look like? Here are some thoughts about the things I need to do to treat myself with care and respect:

• Exercise regularly. (at least 5 days per week)
• Get more sleep. (aim for at least 7 hours most nights)
• Pay attention to personal care. (eyebrows, makeup, etc.)
• Don't go out in public looking like a slug. (lol)
• Keep looking forward, and leave the past where it belongs.

I will no doubt add ideas along the way, but this is my starting point. Wish me luck!