Powering Through My Disappointment

This past week, I have made an effort to get good runs in every other day, and have been pretty good about my diet. I'm going to blame my trip to the drive-in theater on Saturday for sabotaging my weight loss this week - though it was completely worth it! And even though I try so hard and work so hard, I didn't get what I was expecting at my Weight Watchers meeting this week. This is why consistently tracking is so important. I eat the same breakfast and lunch every day, but I have a horrible, out-of-control sweet tooth. It's not as bad as it once was, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. 

When I got back from my meeting, disappointed and on the verge of tears, I grabbed a mini cinnamon roll that was sitting at the front desk - I know, not the best idea if I want the scale to go in the down direction, but I'm weak! Then, I sat down at my desk and decided to get a little bit of perspective. So, I had a co-worker take a picture of me. I put that picture side-by-side with a picture of me from October. Funny thing about weight loss: you see yourself every single day, so you tend to not notice the difference. Add to that the fact that I'm very unobservant, (as my husband likes to point out!) and I really don't realize the difference the weight loss has made on my body. But when I look at the two pictures, I can't help but see the difference. This gives me confidence and motivation to stick with it, as hard as it may be some days:

I have found that the accountability that I have by going to meetings is better than what I ever had when I did WW online. One plus of the meetings is that you get awards for different milestones in your weight loss journey. I find these to be great motivation (much like a little kid hoping to get a "gold star" on a chart) because I like the attention that I get when given an award at a meeting. It's nice to have other people see that I'm succeeding - which I'll attribute to being the middle child in my family. But, having sat down and compared these pictures side by side, this is my new motivation. I still really want that 25 pound charm for my keychain though! Maybe next week....

This Crazy Little Thing Called Life

I never thought that I would start a blog. But lately I have had a lot of thoughts running around in my head and feelings that need a way to escape my crazy brain, so I decided to just go for it. Who knows how often I'll be able to actually sit down in front of a computer to write anything, but I figured it is worth a try. Plus, most thoughts just don't fit in a facebook status update. Life just doesn't exist in 250 characters!

My life is busy (but whose isn't?). I'm a wife, mother, daughter, sister, full-time youth minister; the list doesn't seem that big, but all these things take up large amounts of time. How is anyone supposed to balance everything? I wake up, get myself and my two girls ready, get out the door (eating breakfast in the car), drop the girls off at day care, go to work for 8 hours, pick up the girls from day care, get home, make dinner, eat dinner, spend some time with my kids (maybe an hour if I'm lucky), put the girls to bed, and by that time I'm exhausted so I usually head to bed without taking care of the dishes, my relationship with my husband, or even myself. Most days I feel inadequate as a housekeeper, wife, or mother. But I know that I am doing the best I can. My kids have a good life. They are well taken care of (though I may lose my temper or my patience and raise my voice from time to time) and know that they are loved. And I hope that my husband feels the same way too.

In the midst of it all, I joined Weight Watchers (another thing to add to my already busy plate!) and started running (what am I, Crazy?!). I think it has helped to calm me down a little though. It's the little bit of "me time" that I get. It may not be every day, but it's a start!

My faith and my family help me get through all of the craziness that life has to offer, and somehow I manage to thrive! :)