Wellness

My health goals for 2013 are more of a continuation of my overall wellness journey. 

From previous posts, you may have figured out that I run for fitness.  I can’t explain why I chose running.  I guess it just works for me.  I’ve settled into a winter fitness schedule that I am actually happy with for now.  I run about 8 miles per week.  Surprisingly, I haven’t let the cold weather interfere too much.  I suppose I would like to add a stationary bike ride during the week or some abdominal work/weight training for my arms, but I don’t feel any pressure to add to my current routine.

For this year, I would like to continue running.  I would like to run in another 10k.  I would like to do more trail running.  Unfortunately, my ankle hasn’t been up for the trail runs for the past couple of months.  I guess I need to put some ankle strengthening exercises on my agenda.

I have a confession to make.  I do not eat enough fruits or vegetables each day.  The other day I realized that I often don’t have any fruits or vegetables until dinner.  Now, before you start getting on me for this confession, I want to let you know a couple of things. 

1.  My kids do not have the same issue.  Our fridge is stocked with produce (when I actually get it together and make a list and go to the store).  Fruit is readily available for breakfast.  I make sure that they get fruits and veggies packed in their lunch.  Snacktime and dessert time around here is usually a piece of fruit.

2.  I don’t fill in my fruits/vegetable gap with junk food.  A few years ago, we started looking at what we eat and buy.  I used to buy soda, chips and cookies regularly.  We still have those occasionally but when I bought them on a regular basis, we consumed them within a day.  Seriously, we have no self-control (referring to Billy and myself).  When we have junk food around here, it is gone in a day.  If I make a sweet dessert for us, I try to only make it on the weekend, and I usually cut the recipe in half.  We are that bad.

Knowing that I need to add more produce to my daily consumption, I have been searching the internet to figure out exactly how much I should be eating.  I’m a bit behind.  For this year, I am going to try my best to upgrade my diet.  I expect that there will be days when I lag behind on the fruits and veggies, but that is ok. 

Because I am also trying to create simplicity, I don’t want to make this an impossible goal.  I decided to follow what I already provide for the girls.  A fruit at breakfast, veggies with my lunch, a fruit for a snack or dessert and veggies with dinner.  Sometimes I throw in veggies in a main dish for dinner (in addition to a side dish), but I’m not sure what that equals in the overall total.  I think maybe doing some prepacking will make it easy for me to follow through. Hopefully this will get me to my 4 ½ cups of fruits/veggies per day.  Did you know that adults should be eating that much?  I didn’t.  Perhaps you eat more than that.  Good for you. 

Fitness and diet are the obvious go-tos when we think of health.  We can’t overlook our mental health though.  Sanity is important.

At the end of the week, I often feel completely drained from my job.  Ok, if I am going to be completely honest, I often feel completely drained at the end of each day.  Renewal is incredibly important, especially in social work.  I know that I can’t help others if I haven’t created an opportunity of renewal for myself.

What works for me?  Fitness and diet go a long way.  Running in particular is a great stress reliever for me. 

While activity is important, doing nothing can often be as important.  I enjoy reading and getting lost in another world.  I like crafting and how that engages my brain without any real thought.  And sometimes, I enjoy mindlessness-tv, movies or simply staring into space.

Since I am already doing some of these activities, health may not seem like a true goal for 2013.  But I think that health is one of those things that we always have to work on. 

And it is work.  When I went running today, the temperature was 7 degrees.  It would have been easy to stay inside in my pajamas.  But I knew that I would feel better if I went running.  So I did.  And then I took a hot shower and got into fresh pajamas.

 

 

This post is part of my focus for 2013 to be awake.

Creating Peace

 

For me, simplicity is created by routine.  Not the rigid routine that doesn’t allow for flexibility.  Quiet routine that is freeing.  Routine that frees up time and mental energy to actually be awake.

The reality is that to-dos need to get done.  We need to eat, we need to wear clothes, we need to have a clean house (relatively clean).  This means that I have to cook, go to the grocery store, do laundry, actually put away the laundry and clean the house regularly.  I’m sure that all of you have similar to-dos in your home.

At times, these to-dos seem like a burden.  When I am trying to do meal planning before I make a grocery list, it takes forever.  Nothing ever sounds good when I am trying to plan our week. 

Or I put off the laundry until I am spending the entire day doing it, load after load.  Or the girls announce before school that they don’t have any clean underwear.

Or I put off cleaning/organizing certain areas of the house until it is in complete disarray.  Like the kids’ bedroom.  Or the pantry (specifically the baking shelf), and I can’t find anything.  Or I buy another bag of frozen green beans when I already have three unopened bags in the freezer.

So one of my goals is to find that simplicity in routine that can allow for the completion of those to-dos. I have been exploring a couple of ideas that may create peace.

Considering the ridiculous amount of time it takes me to make a grocery list, I need multiple ideas.  One idea is to create a document with meals divided into categories to help me with that meal planning piece, such as easy dinners, comfort food, etc.  Making the grocery list on Thursday nights instead of right before I go to the store on Fridays might also help speed up this process.  This doesn’t need to be so complicated, it’s a grocery list!

I clean my house every week but those cluttered areas or deep cleaning projects often get neglected.  Taking an hour each weekend to tackle those projects will help me stay on top of that, and I won’t feel as if I have given up my entire weekend to housecleaning.  I should probably clarify that I am not a neat freak.  I think everyone likes to see a little organization. I like to see it, not sure I like to actually do it….

I love waking up in the morning and seeing a clean kitchen.  I’m finding that I also enjoy waking up to a picked up family room as well.  Fifteen minutes (if that) of a quick pick up each night before bed (after the kids go to bed and can’t reclutter the house) would create a lot of peace for me in the mornings.  Of course, that means I would have to stay up for a few minutes after they go to bed.  I have an early bedtime too!  Don’t judge.

But simplicity is not just about routines and housecleaning.

I want to create simplicity in other areas of my life as well.

Billy and I have been embarking on a journey for quite a while to strengthen our finances.  Our biggest obstacle at first was a pretty basic concept, living within our means.  This year I hope to continue our progress in this area-pay down debt and continue saving.  Pretty basic.  But that’s what this is about…simplicity.  Frankly, life is more peaceful when your finances start to get in order.  I learned that the hard way from my days of working seven days a week.  Working seven days a week really complicates life.

There are some other areas that I am seeking simplicity, but those run into some of my other goals so I will go into more details in future posts.

Really, this idea of simplicity is a thread that I think runs through all of my goals for this year.  Life doesn’t need to be complicated.  I don’t need to overthink everything. 

I probably will still overthink many things and overcomplicate life.  That’s ok.  This is a journey.

 

 

This post is part of my journey for 2013 to be awake.

A Look at 2013

This year, I can’t seem to fit my goals into a structured format.  The idea of “I will do this, and that, and the other” doesn’t seem to be working for me.

I took some time exploring that concept of awake and what that means for me.  When it comes time to reflect on 2013, what do I need to see in my life to feel that I was awake this year?  Feel that I was more aware of the people and life around me.

Different ideas started to form.  Ideas that I felt that if nurtured, would lead me/result in me being more awake.  More present.

Here they are:

Simplicity.  Finding peace in the everyday routine and the doings of life.

Health.  Fine tuning fitness, food and my mental well-being.

Creativity.  Exploring new creative outlets while reconnecting with my favorites.

Relationships.  Being present and encouraging others.

I realize these seem a bit vague.  I started to elaborate and realized that each area was probably its own post, so I will have to follow up with those thoughts.

Although, looking at what I have written, I love the simplicity of it.  I love allowing the room for flexibility and new interpretation.  And I also love allowing the room for grace.

Awake

After a week of fighting a cold, I am finally starting to emerge from the fog of sinus congestion.  I forget how precious clear thinking is when I am sick.

This cloud has prevented me from thinking about my goals for this year.  I was starting to get a bit frustrated with this.  Every time I sat down with my journal to plan and dream, I was overcome with fatigue.

I was feeling stalled.

And then I read Amanda’s post on the One Word 365 Community, and I was inspired.  The purpose is to think about one word that describes what you want to focus on in 2013 and who you want to be by the end of 2013.

I love the simplicity of it.

I still like to create goals, but for now, I need simplicity.

I thought about it.  I let it simmer for a bit.  The instructions made disclaimers about not overthinking.  Well, I never do that.  Ok, I usually do that.

But not this time.

I tried out a few words.  They didn’t seem to fit.

When it comes down to it, who do I want to be?  I wrote a 31 day series on this, and I’m not sure I still have any answers.

Often inspired by music, I thought of a few lyrics from Mumford and Sons:

In these bodies we will live,

in these bodies we will die

Where you invest your love,

you invest your life

The lyrics are from Awake My Soul.  And there it was.

Awake.

My one word for 2013.

This past week wasn’t the first time that I have felt like I have been moving through a fog.  There are many instances in which I simply drift through life.  The to-dos become too overwhelming, work feels a little too close to my heart, and I simply shut down and drift.

I don’t want to simply drift.  Drifting is full of regret.

I want to pay more attention to the people around me.  I want to pay more attention to the life around me.  I want my soul to be awake.

This is a great starting point for me to start building those goals.  Really defining what awake means.

And as usual, building some grace into those goals.  There are times that I drift because my body and mind need to drift.  I need to recharge.  And that’s ok.  It’s also ok to build some goals and change those goals or even scrap them as I realize what really works for me.  Again, grace.  Perfection does not exist.

If you are struggling to find a little focus for 2013, I would encourage you to check out the One Word 365 Community.  This isn’t just for bloggers.  This is for everyone looking for some focus for the new year.

I sure can use the focus.  And the repetition of one word.  You know how much I enjoy repetition.

Life Around Here

Happy New Year!!  This was my first New Year's Eve that I spent at home in 6 years and I loved every second of it. 

This is the only picture I have of New Year's Eve.  This was my first plate of food.  Don't judge.

I feel the need to explain my blog silence.  Our laptop is dying a slow death and was completely out of commission for a few days.  In fact, I am trying to type as quickly as possible through this post before the computer shuts down on me again.

I think our laptop knows that we are looking to replace it.  It completely shut down when I got on the Best Buy website and started browsing.

I have been fighting a cold this week and have been shuffling through a fog.  Because of this, I haven't spent much time thinking about my 2013 goals.  It is hard to do when you aren't thinking clearly.

I am hoping to get the house back in order today.  Many years ago, I got a horrible stomach virus and was at the doctor's office getting IV fluids.  The nurse said, "Don't you know moms aren't supposed to get sick?"  I admit, I kinda wanted to punch her.  She made it seem like I had gotten sick on purpose.  This was after I spent the previous night in the bathroom.  I didn't punch her.  I was way to weak.  And I'm a nice person. 

But I see what she was talking about.  Maybe your house is different, but mine falls apart when I am sick. 

Fortunately, I got a full night of sleep last night and am thinking a bit clearer today.  Looks like it is time to get things in order.  And then maybe I can start thinking about my 2013 goals.