Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Have I mentioned that Tuesday mornings are tough around here? Yeah, I am pretty sure I have. Well, add 3+ inches of snow over night and a real feel of -15 degrees ( yes, that is a negative sign) and getting three kids and this momma out the door is a real battle. I am still sore and really bruised, so it was tough to drag myself out of bed. I got the girls moving and getting dressed and just like every morning I wake Samuel up and lay his clothes on the bed and leave the room to give him a few minutes to wake up. The girls and I continued to get ready and I went outside to scrap the ice and snow off the car and get it warmed up. I come back inside and expect to see Samuel upstairs getting ready to go, but that boy had fallen back to sleep! I finally got him up and ready and we were out the door. Thankfully this book club only lasts a few more weeks. One of the goals I am working on the rest of this school year is making our morning routine run a little bit more smoothly.

Speaking of goals, I know with the new year most of us make resolutions or goals for the coming year. The last few years I haven't really made any goals in particular. This year I have made 4 goals and I actually wrote them down. Most of  them have to do with spiritual growth and financial goals I want to meet by the end of the year and one of them has to do with my health. Yes, I have written down a number of pounds I would like to lose this year, it is a reasonable number and it will not get me to my goal weight and I am sure a doctor would tell me that I needed to lose more if I actually ever went to a doctor :), but my focus is more on making better choices and celebrating those small victories. I have struggled with my weight since I hit puberty around 5th/6th grade. I would later find out that I had poly cystic ovarian syndrome that would play a major part of my weight gain and trouble losing weight. I would have some success in weight loss during my college years but I was taking medicine that helped with PCOS. I would then get a hormonal driven cancer and take treatments that would pack the pounds on and then have a surgery removing all the hormones in my body that help aid with weight loss. The only time I was really successful with weight loss was during our adoption years and I am convinced it was just another act of God to help bring our kids home since the agency in Korea had a very strict weight guidelines and we wouldn't have our kids if I hadn't lost weight. I know I have put on weight the last few years, but the truth is a do not feel like what the scale number says or Yikes, how I look when I see a picture of myself. Most days I feel strong and healthy. Back in September Jeremy and started using My Fitness Pal app and he lost 30 pounds and I have actually lost 10 pounds since September. It really isn't that noticeable because I learned from Clinton and Stacey ("What Not to Wear") is to dress the size you are not the size you want to be. Making better choices and being happy with small progress has made me feel better and I actually have been fitting in pants of a smaller size. I have rejoined Weight Watchers to help keep me accountable, but I really am focusing on making better choices each day. At the end of the year I may not of reached that magical weight loss goal, but I want to be able to say that I better off than I was at the beginning of this year. Maybe some of you are in the same boat I am and have been wanting to make a change. I encourage you to just start doing something and be proud that you had the determination to take the first step. I plan on documenting some of my choices on this blog. I want to look back on this year and remember how far I have come. Every Tuesday I take S and C to breakfast after we drop Emma off at school. We used to go to Dunkin Doughnuts each time, but I had made a decision back in September to stay away from doughnuts. One they cause my fibro to flare up because of the amount of sugar and  kind of like the book "If You Give a Dog a Doughnut" if you give me a doughnut chances are I will want three, so it was just too much of a temptation to take them there. So I convinced them we should start eating at McDonald's. Now I know still not the best for you, but I felt like I am getting more nutritional value for the calories I was eating. I wouldn't get a meal, but I probably could of made a better choice. This morning I got the yogurt parfait instead of the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. My victory for this morning!

After school yesterday. It had just started snowing.

Trying to catch a snowflake

The trouble with having to wear a hat :) 

Going to school this morning

Breakfast 

My better choice for breakfast