Post-Thanksgiving

Sleep

I love 4-day weekends! I've been sleeping well because I can sleep in, even if I'm awoken during the night.



Water

I don't think I drank enough water on Thanksgiving, but I've been trying to be more conscientious about it since.



Eating

On Thanksgiving day, I made sure to eat small, healthy meals throughout the day. For the big dinner, I did eat a lot, but I tried to just take a few bites-worth of each dish so that I didn't totally over-indulge. The day after, I made sure to eat small, healthy meals. However, today, I didn't eat very healthy: a burger for lunch, pizza for dinner; boy, were they good! But not very healthy. The other snacks and meals were healthy, at least.



Exercise

I ran for an hour the day after Thanksgiving to burn off some of the extra calories I'd consumed. Today, I did my morning toning exercises (because I'd skipped Thanksgiving morning), and my family went biking with some friends. Participating in a fun, family & friends activity is definitely a funner way to get exercise than just exercising for the sake of exercise.



Tranquility

Thanksgiving ran really smoothly because of all my advanced planning . I had a great day and was not a frazzled hostess. The past few days it's been great to hang out with friends and family.



How Do I Feel?

I feel that now that Thanksgiving is over, I can get back to focusing on other things in life. I don't usually think much about Christmas until after Thanksgiving, and now my family is asking me for Wish Lists, so I need to think about that. I look forward to getting back on track with other things in life.

The Holiday Stress is Building . . .

Sleep
I slept well the past couple nights. It always helps when the rest of the family sleeps through the night, too.

Water
I've been drinking enough water.

Eating
I've been trying to keep track of my eating on the SWEET Life Plan. Sometimes I'm impressed with how well I fill in the amounts for each food category, but sometimes I'm surprised at the holes in my eating, especially veggies.

Exercise
I woke up and did my toning exercises yesterday morning, as usual on Tuesdays, and I ran down the beach and back, as usual on Monday and Wednesday. This morning was particularly cold. That's when I really appreciate having good quality winter workout clothes.

Tranquility
I started cooking for Thanksgiving, yesterday, and I enjoyed it. I enjoy coordinating all the elements of a big family party: planning, cleaning, shopping, cooking, decorating, etc.

How do I feel?
I feel stressed. Last night I came up with a list of 11 things to do after I got home from work at 9 p.m. and before bed. Some were just daily things to do; some were leftover from previous days; some were special Thanksgiving things. My Thanksgiving things are taking longer than I had anticipated, so I've fallen behind on my schedule. Now, it's the day before, so I may be up late tonight getting stuff done.

It's really hard for me to accomplish things while raising my 2 daughters. I don't know how other parents manage to maintain a train of thought while being constantly interrupted by toddlers, and I don't know how other parents manage to ignore the constant noise and pleas for attention. Somehow, around my husband, my kids play quietly by themselves, but not around me. The minute I try to do anything, they need my undivided attention. Sometimes I try to involve them in what I'm doing, but it typically takes twice as long with them "helping" me. At the same time, it's also fun to do things together.

By Planning Ahead I Eat Better All Week

Sleep
Sleep continues to elude me, despite my best efforts. I went to bed at 10:00, but didn't fall asleep until after 11:00. Zoe woke me up at 3:30 and I didn't get back to sleep until 4:00. It was hard to get up at 6:00, even though I'd given myself 8 full hours to sleep! It's very frustrating because it's out of my control.

Water
I'm back to the 2 qt. pitcher of water. It helps me to have a physical reminder of how much I need to drink. Then, I'm more certain to drink it all.

Eating
For the first time in a couple weeks, I made up weekly dinner menus, and it really makes a positive difference. I feel less stress about what we are going to eat all week. I don't have to ask myself, every late afternoon, what we are going to have for dinner. I just look at the schedule. I just need to remember to defrost things, if necessary. Last night, because of my planning, I used up old produce before it went bad, and today, I went to the store to buy fresh stuff to eat the rest of the week (along with some Thanksgiving non-perishables). Cooking Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday works the best for me. I cook enough so that my family can have leftovers on the nights that I work (Monday & Wednesday), and I just plan to have quick, heat & eat meals the other couple days, which might end up getting replaced by eating out or with friends at the last minute.

Exercise
I ran my usual trek down the beach and back, 4 miles, and I did my ab exercises.

Tranquility
I experimented with a Thanksgiving idea today: I wanted to make individual, edible cornucopias. I tried to make them out of breadstick dough, wrapped around a cone of aluminum foil. It was really fun and ended up being a success! I’ll repeat them on Turkey Day, filled with a colorful, fall salad.

How do I feel?
I feel happy about my menu planning, grocery shopping ahead of time for some Thanksgiving staples, and cornucopia experimentation. However, I’m tired of not sleeping well.

Ah, the Weekend!

Sleep

Since I get up at 6 a.m. all week, I really look forward to staying up late and sleeping in on the weekends. So, yes, I got 8 hr sleep last night. Of course, it wasn't without interruptions. Zoe woke up screaming, so Nick brought her into bed with us. Later, Maya came into our room and wanted to join us, but the bed just isn't big enough for all four of us. It's better if I take her back to her room and sleep with her in her bed.

Water

Yes, I drank enough water today.

Eating

I definitely didn't eat enough vegies today, but I did eat a good variety of grains, protein, dairy and fruit. Hmm, almost makes me want to go eat some salad right now . . .

Exercise

My goal is to exercise every week day. If I do, then I look forward to not exercising on the weekends. So, no, I did not exercise today. It was rainy and I hardly left the house.

Tranquility

My tranquility came today in the form of planning for Thanksgiving. We are hosting the family, and I enjoyed pouring over recipes, and figuring out some technicalities of the preparation process: Which recipes can I prepare ahead of time? How long does each recipe take to cook? What method of cooking does each require (i.e., oven, stove, etc.)? How much involvement is there (for example, a turkey takes a long time, but there's little involvement from me)? What type of serving dish/utensil will I need? I also figured out the shopping/preparation/cooking timeline for the few days leading up to and including Thanksgiving. Now, I'm really looking forward to it!

How do I feel?

I feel good having gotten Thanksgiving planned. I still have to make my grocery list, but I have to do that anyway for next week's meals, tomorrow.

Reviewing the past week's SWEET Life Cycle, my results are:

• Sleep - 4 out of 7 days
• Water - 6 out of 7 days
• Eating - 4 out of 7 days (if I do go and eat some salad right now)
• Exercise - 5 out of 7 days
• Tranquility - 7 out of 7 days

My goal is 5-6 days per week, so it's disappointing to see that I only slept and ate well 4 days in the past week. Those 2 categories are always the hardest for me. I'll need to focus on them more next week. Tomorrow, I'll definitely plan for next week's dinners, make a grocery list and shop, which will help me eat better all week. Gotta get to bed earlier during the week in order to get enough sleep.