So what is the goal here?

Good question....what is the goal here? What is my overall purpose and what are my expectations for my end results? Will I ever be finished? Before I tackle these not-so-easy questions, I actually have one for you: How did you do with my challenge for this past Sunday? Did you take advantage of your day, turn off the distractions and enjoy your families, hobbies or the weather? We did. I can happily report that after we got home from church we spent almost the entire day outside, and we all have the sunburns to prove it! This is also why I have been MIA from daily posting recently. I realized how MUCH I enjoyed not affixing myself to the TV or facebook. It was great and I have spent the last few days finding things to do other than these distractions. So now that beings me back to my blog post title. Yesterday after a super fun cardio workout on just a balance ball, Ben asked me what my overall weight goal is this time. Ideally, my ideal goal would be to weigh (and I can't believe I am putting this out into cyber-space) 105-108. This was where I was post-Connor, pre-moving. Right about the time I was running the half-marathon. I felt so confident and good in my skin. I worked hard but didn't beat myself up if we went out to eat and I had dessert after dinner. Post-move, post-baby, this puts me at about a 30 lb. weight loss target. I told Ben this and he just kind of looked at me and said, "Well, it's a goal to work towards." He's right, you know. Not that it is a goal to work towards, which it is, but that look that says "wow, you're being a little over-confident." He's right. I am being a little optimistic. I have lost 1 lb. so far, so says the scale at the OB's office. And it was that weight loss that made me change my "goal." My goal for weight loss after having 2 kids, being over 30 with a metabolism that hates me right now is to lose 1 lb. Yep, you just read that right. I want to lose 1 lb. And when I lose that 1 lb., I want to lose 1 lb. You see the method to the madness? Instead of shooting for the moon and beating myself up for taking steps back or falling down, I am going to wake up each morning and just put one foot infront of the other. Losing 1 lb. is going in the right direction and that it a fanastic goal for me. Ironically, during my run this afternoon I kept singing a little song in my head. Not a song actually, but the line from a song to keep me motivated. It's from Finding Nemo. It's the part where Dora keeps singing, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming." That's all I'm going to do here...keep my head above water and just keep swimming.

How much is too much?

Well, I would love to have something cool and exciting to update you on in my lifestyle journey....but alas, it is the weekend (and a gorgeous one at that!!) and we spent the entire day outside playing and soaking up sun. I guess, in a way, that is part of my lifestyle change. We didn't do anything today but spend quality time outdoors. We lived a slow life today and it was incredible. I guess that is actually where I wanted to go with this tonight....the joys of living the slow life, the simple life. I read something a few weeks ago that has actually stuck with me. The information came from a book on financial security but the reality is, this particular message rings true with every facet of our lives for the current generations. How incredible and amazing it is to me that this is the most advance civilization ever. EVER. We have more medicine, technology, communications, knowledge all at our fingertips. More conveniences than ever before and yet we are the most depressed, overly medicated, unhealthiest, most financially irresponsible group of people. So many people want to quick fix, the fastest way to the results they want. This is why so many people try all those fad diets, play the lottery, go to the doctor for EVERYTHING and demand a pill for EVERYTHING. What happened to good ol' diet and exercise? Eating in moderation? Instead of playing the lottery and wasting your money on the "come on lucky 7's...momma needs a new pair of shoes" every week why aren't we living within our means and stashing away money into savings accounts and retirement accounts? What happened to preventative medicine? Instead of taking more and more drugs why aren't we taking care of ourselves in the first place? It is jaw-dropping to think about how quickly technology has advanced in the past 50 years...we can't even keep up! The second you figure out your new iphone, there is a new model out. So again I say, take a minute and slow down. I challenge you to spend your Sunday (tomorrow) enjoying your family. Really soak up the slow life. Find peace in a technology-free day and let me know how you do!

Change of Mind

This afternoon while I was running around the house, picking up laundry, decorating Alaina's room (finally) and sweeping and moping the floors, I thought about what my blog topic would be tonight. I, at first, wanted to lament about "the curse of the second child" and how slighted they seem to be because of their birth order. Maybe I will save that one for another time. Then I was definitely going to talk about post-pregnancy. The mushy tummy feeling that you have no excuse for since there isn't a baby in there anymore and that need to want to look and feel better. I will definitely get to that one...possibly tomorrow. As the night has worn on and my Facebook continues to explode with comments, posts and links about the government shut down, I changed my mind. I decided to change my topics and talk about stress. Praise the Lord that Ben and I don't live paycheck to paycheck anymore like some couples we know or like we used to live on an E4's salary. Trust me (you non-military readers) when I tell you that the pay, especially for lower enlisted soldiers, isn't anything to write home about. It is certainly more of the attitude that you get minimal pay and great benefits. I can't imagine the stress that some families are feeling right now. I can't imagine the anxiety seeping through all parts of the world, especially our men and women serving in a combat zone. Goodness knows they don't need to worry about the stresses at home since they have enough on their plate with, oh I don't know, piddly little things like keeping themselves alive!!!! The last thing they should have to start worrying about it where the money is going to come from to feed or house their families and they are 10,000 miles away. I am sad that the state of the Union is so poor that this is what our country has come to. We have let pride's, ego's and, realistically, stupid and poor planning turn our great nation into a joke. If the government of the United States of America was a business, it would have been bankrupt years ago. Corrupt as all of Capitol Hill has become, what is more disgusting than anything is that men and women who aren't getting paid will still continue to serve admirably. They will still go to work at 5:30am. and get home after dinner, missing seeing their kids for days on end. They will still miss birthdays, anniversaries, special days because they are out training. They will still deploy. Some will come back with a purple heart, some won't come back at all....and this is first group of people to get the cut. This is first group that Congress decides should be the leverage and negotiation point to get their stupid bills passed. Awesome way to show your respect for all these people have done for this country and way to remind us how important we are.

Putting Yourself First

I think one of the hardest things about being a mom is the idea of putting yourself first. I don't know how many mom's told me after I had Connor "make time for yourself;" "you'll be a better mom when you stop being a mom for an afternoon." I don't know about anyone else, but I have a really tough time with this. I felt split, constantly. I knew I wanted some time away, just for me and not listening for crying, whining or demands but when I was finally away, my mind was still stuck on Connor. Is he alright? Is he being good? Is he causing trouble? Does the person watching him know that when he does "this and that" it means "this and that"?? I finally got to a fairly good spot before we moved from Savannah. I went to the gym and got a good workout in with no issue. Well, relatively speaking...if you have ever dropped your kids off at the Gym CDC you know why the care there is always in the back of your mind. But here I am, dealing with the same things about Alaina. Ben and I took the kids to the RASP Gym last night so I could do my first strength training workout. The idea was that Ben could help me out, there was a mat room that Connor can safely play in and Alaina would sleep in her car seat. I couldn't through my cardio warm-up before I was distracted. Connor was playing on the elliptical and then the row machine, falling off the stairclimber. Luckily, there were very few other guys working out and they were so focused on their grunts and growls that they paid zero attention to my little fire team invading the gym. Regardless, I got through 25 minutes of mixed cardio and then moved to the weight room. Here, Alaina started fussing. Great! Ben had Connor occupied in the mat room but as I stood in the weight room with all the machines, I felt such an overwhelming sense of clausterphobia. I wasn't comfortable there and in fact, despite the massive amount of pounds I need to lose, I felt downright small. Small, as in insecure and out-of-place. Yikes! This is so daunting. I have worked out with weights since high school but instantaneously I felt completely out of my comfort zone and like a fish out of water. I got a workout in and it felt good but wowza... I am currently looking up circuit training programs online to try and get a good feel for the main things I want to do in the gym so I am not wasting time. As I am googling and finding an overload of information, Alaina is screaming bloody murder and like everything and every project I try to get done, I am finding myself rushing through and trying to wrap it up as quickly as possible.