I'm determined to live the SWEET Life today. I've been keeping track, all day, on my SWEET Life Plan and will see every letter highlighted on my SWEET Life Cycle. Why the big push today? First, I went camping last weekend where two things happened: We ate a lot! Everyone brought so much food to share with everyone (there were 22 of us), and we were snacking all the time. Also, the shorts I brought in anticipation of the hot weather were uncomfortably tight in the waist, which they didn't use to be! Tight shorts on a hot day is a bad combination! In addition, it's the last week of the month and I'm not near my goal, which was the same goal as last month, which I didn't achieve either. I need to stop the negative cycle, now! I have to focus and live the SWEET Life fully and consistently to see the results I want to see. It's that simple.
Sleep: Despite a midnight interruption and two kids coming in to join us, I slept well. It was nice to be in my own bed again after two nights in a tent.
Water: I've been keeping track of each beverage I've drunk on my SWEET Life Plan, and I've drunk plenty.
Eating: After three days of camp food (i.e., too much and of varying nutritional value), I was ready to eat healthy and make sure I was eating balanced nutrition, marking off each portion on my SWEET Life Plan.
Exercise: I laid in bed this morning, awakened by my "exercise" alarm, asking myself if I needed more sleep. Eventually, I realized I was wasting my time laying in bed, awake! Either sleep, or get up! So I got up and exercised, using my new adjust-a-weight dumbbells. I'm now trying to do toning exercises on Mondays & Wednesdays and cardio on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
Tranquility: There was a surprise knock on the door at 8:30 a.m. It was our babysitter! I'd forgotten that I was starting to use her every Monday morning. What a pleasant surprise! That meant I got some Tranquility this morning, not doing anything in particular, just getting organized post-camping.
How did I do, and how do I feel?
Today, I lived the SWEET Life.
Showing posts with label consistency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label consistency. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
A semi-SWEET Life is better than nothing!
Over the past month or two, I've been blogging less frequently, about every 7-10 days instead of every 2-4 days. The reason is that I've been so busy that (1) I haven't had time to blog and (2) I haven't been living the SWEET Life as consistently. Because of that, I have to grudgingly admit that my scale has tipped up a few pounds and my clothes are a bit tighter than they used to be.
At the same time, I know that living the SWEET Life has prevented me from gaining a lot more weight due to the stress of being overly busy. I'm not stressed, my diet isn't out of control, exercise isn't a thing of the past, and plentiful sleep isn't a distant memory. Before living the SWEET Life, all of this would have been the case, being as busy as I am right now. In the past, I would have just focused on completing the tasks I needed to complete without regard to any of the aspects of the SWEET Life. Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise and Tranquility would all have suffered and my body would have been a mess.
Therefore, I do thank the SWEET Life for mitigating most of the effects of living an overly busy life. In the past month or so, I've been generally pretty good about getting enough sleep and tranquility, and I've been exercising 4 times a week instead of 5. However, I have not been good about paying attention to eating well, and I haven't been drinking 8 cups of water per day. So today, once again, I try to be diligent and live the SWEET Life fully.
Sleep
I slept 7 hr last night. Zoe did come in at her usual 3 a.m., but she fell right back to sleep and didn't move around much, so it didn't bother me too much.
Water
I filled up my pitcher and have been drinking it. I also made homemade mint lemonade with my girls, which I've had 2 cups of. Mmm, good!
Eating
I'm keeping track on my SWEET Life Plan today so that I eat a better balance of food groups (i.e., enough fruits and vegies)
Exercise
I ran at the gym and did my ab exercises.
Tranquility
My girls are napping, so I'm trying to get stuff done, which makes me feel good.
How did I do, and how do I feel?
Today, I 'm living the SWEET Life!
At the same time, I know that living the SWEET Life has prevented me from gaining a lot more weight due to the stress of being overly busy. I'm not stressed, my diet isn't out of control, exercise isn't a thing of the past, and plentiful sleep isn't a distant memory. Before living the SWEET Life, all of this would have been the case, being as busy as I am right now. In the past, I would have just focused on completing the tasks I needed to complete without regard to any of the aspects of the SWEET Life. Sleep, Water, Eating, Exercise and Tranquility would all have suffered and my body would have been a mess.
Therefore, I do thank the SWEET Life for mitigating most of the effects of living an overly busy life. In the past month or so, I've been generally pretty good about getting enough sleep and tranquility, and I've been exercising 4 times a week instead of 5. However, I have not been good about paying attention to eating well, and I haven't been drinking 8 cups of water per day. So today, once again, I try to be diligent and live the SWEET Life fully.
Sleep
I slept 7 hr last night. Zoe did come in at her usual 3 a.m., but she fell right back to sleep and didn't move around much, so it didn't bother me too much.
Water
I filled up my pitcher and have been drinking it. I also made homemade mint lemonade with my girls, which I've had 2 cups of. Mmm, good!
Eating
I'm keeping track on my SWEET Life Plan today so that I eat a better balance of food groups (i.e., enough fruits and vegies)
Exercise
I ran at the gym and did my ab exercises.
Tranquility
My girls are napping, so I'm trying to get stuff done, which makes me feel good.
How did I do, and how do I feel?
Today, I 'm living the SWEET Life!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A New Start: New Schedule, New Rewards
Last week, I lived the SWEET Life pretty well:
Sleep 5
Water 6
Eating 5
Exercise 4
Tranquility 6
Sleep
I've been making a point to sleep long enough so that if I don't sleep well, I still come out with at least 7 hours sleep. I'm hoping things will change starting tonight, after Zoe's annual Dr. appointment. Her pediatrician gave me some good advice about getting my girls to sleep in their own beds and stay in their own beds! Their middle of the night wakings are what prevent me from sleeping well. This week, so far I'm 2 for 2 on sleep.
Water
I'm finally remembering to take water with me to the gym and to my ESL class. That helps. I'm filling my pitcher with water at home, but it's important for me to be drinking when I'm out of the house too, especially if I'm exercising or out of the house for several hours! So far this week, I'm 1 for 1 and we'll see how the rest of today goes . . .
Eating
I've set up a new schedule where I cook Friday-Sunday, and we eat leftovers or frozen, quick cooks Monday-Thursday (when I work at night). So far, so good. I'm 1 for 1 this week, and doing pretty well so far today . . .
Exercise
I'm back in the habit of exercising Mondays-Fridays so that I can take off the weekends. I prefer that to having to "catch up" on the weekends. I'm 2 for 2 this week.
Tranquility
I've been able to rest and relax. It always helps when the girls nap. That's also part of my new schedule and pediatricians's advice about getting my girls to nap.
How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had a SWEET Life.
I feel a bit more organized and in control, even though my schedule just got much busier. I started working 4 nights a week last week, so I took some time to figure out what my new schedule needed to look like: (1) I wanted to get us ready sooner in the mornings. (2) I needed to make sure to have play time with my girls. (3) I needed to make sure I had time to eat an early dinner before work. (4) I needed to make sure I could get to bed early enough to sleep long enough and still get up to exercise in the morning. (5) I needed to be more consistent about "quiet time" so that my girls could get their naps in and not have to be woken up, and at the same time, I don't want them sleeping so long during the afternoon that they were up late at night.
The pediatrician gave me advice about having a reward system to encourage the girls to behave how I want them to. I figured out a way to do it in an eco-friendly manner (i.e., without consumption or waste). Now I just have to really encourage it and become consistent with it.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
To Exercise Or Not To Exercise?
Sleep
I was woken up at 5:30 by a combination of uncomfortable factors which also prevented me from falling back asleep: the noise of Nick snoring a little, the crowded feeling of 4 of us in one bed(!), and the need to use the bathroom. So, unfortunately, once again, I didn't sleep enough last night. I'll try again tonight . . .
Water
Hmm, gotta get on the water bandwagon; I haven't drunk much yet today, even though I worked out! Fortunately, I still have plenty of time today to catch up on that.
Eating
Nick made waffles for breakfast -- yummy! I like to dip them in yogurt, instead of smothering them with syrup. Sometimes I dip them in applesauce, but we're out of it at the moment. Had leftover make-your-own-burritos for lunch. Burritos are one of those foods, like pizza and hamburgers, that seems so much healthier if you make them yourself than if you buy them anywhere. Homemade, I know exactly what's in them; I use fresh, healthy ingredients, etc. I ate a couple "little cuties" too; my family loves those little tangerines. . .
Exercise
Since I've been so bad about exercising this week, I did double duty today: I went on a walk with a friend, then did a toning workout. The walk isn't much of a workout; it doesn't get my heart pounding, but it does get my legs moving. But it was nice to catch up with a friend. Otherwise, this week, I did one cardio workout and one toning workout. I'll workout tomorrow too, something to get my heart pounding.
Tranquility
It's the Saturday before Christmas, and I 've finished my Christmas shopping, which was my goal. That means that now, while my girls are napping, I get to do fun Christmas preparations like wrapping gifts (which I really do enjoy), displaying the Christmas cards we've received, sorting out stocking stuffers, baking cookies, etc. I wish I had a week to do just those fun, Christmas things, but I only have 3 days. At least I have 3 days.
How do I feel?
I feel better for having exercised today. I'm happy that my husband is home for the next 4 days, through Christmas. I need to take advantage of Nick being home and exercise each of those days! Hmm, that'd be a good idea. I've been discouraged about my lack of exercise regime this month. . . Looking back, I have managed to exercise 4 days each week of this month, but I feel like it's been by the skin of my teeth. The main thing I'd say is that it's been a struggle to exercise this month, and it's always on my mind. In the past months, I was finished with exercise before I even had my morning coffee, so it was never an issue. Hmm, I guess waking up 0n the cold, dark mornings to exercise does have it's benefits: I was in better shape and never had to think about when I was going to exercise.
I was woken up at 5:30 by a combination of uncomfortable factors which also prevented me from falling back asleep: the noise of Nick snoring a little, the crowded feeling of 4 of us in one bed(!), and the need to use the bathroom. So, unfortunately, once again, I didn't sleep enough last night. I'll try again tonight . . .
Water
Hmm, gotta get on the water bandwagon; I haven't drunk much yet today, even though I worked out! Fortunately, I still have plenty of time today to catch up on that.
Eating
Nick made waffles for breakfast -- yummy! I like to dip them in yogurt, instead of smothering them with syrup. Sometimes I dip them in applesauce, but we're out of it at the moment. Had leftover make-your-own-burritos for lunch. Burritos are one of those foods, like pizza and hamburgers, that seems so much healthier if you make them yourself than if you buy them anywhere. Homemade, I know exactly what's in them; I use fresh, healthy ingredients, etc. I ate a couple "little cuties" too; my family loves those little tangerines. . .
Exercise
Since I've been so bad about exercising this week, I did double duty today: I went on a walk with a friend, then did a toning workout. The walk isn't much of a workout; it doesn't get my heart pounding, but it does get my legs moving. But it was nice to catch up with a friend. Otherwise, this week, I did one cardio workout and one toning workout. I'll workout tomorrow too, something to get my heart pounding.
Tranquility
It's the Saturday before Christmas, and I 've finished my Christmas shopping, which was my goal. That means that now, while my girls are napping, I get to do fun Christmas preparations like wrapping gifts (which I really do enjoy), displaying the Christmas cards we've received, sorting out stocking stuffers, baking cookies, etc. I wish I had a week to do just those fun, Christmas things, but I only have 3 days. At least I have 3 days.
How do I feel?
I feel better for having exercised today. I'm happy that my husband is home for the next 4 days, through Christmas. I need to take advantage of Nick being home and exercise each of those days! Hmm, that'd be a good idea. I've been discouraged about my lack of exercise regime this month. . . Looking back, I have managed to exercise 4 days each week of this month, but I feel like it's been by the skin of my teeth. The main thing I'd say is that it's been a struggle to exercise this month, and it's always on my mind. In the past months, I was finished with exercise before I even had my morning coffee, so it was never an issue. Hmm, I guess waking up 0n the cold, dark mornings to exercise does have it's benefits: I was in better shape and never had to think about when I was going to exercise.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Post-Weekend Trip
Sleep
Well, I guess it's been at least 4 nights since I had a good night's sleep. :-( I did not sleep well on our trip. The hotel pillows were too big and firm, believe it or not. Usually they are too small and squishy. Besides that, we played a lot of "musical beds" with the girls. I slept a lot on the drive home, which meant that I couldn't fall asleep once we got home! Aargh! Gotta focus on getting better sleep this week.
Water
I feel very dehydrated from the trip, so I made sure to fill my pitcher of water today and am happy to be drinking it. My lips are peeling, and the skin on my face feels rough. I'd say that the hardest thing about drinking a lot of water consistently is that my body adjusts to having a lot of water, so I feel dehydrated easily if I cut out the water for a few days. Fortunately, it's easy to make up for it too and get back on track.
Eating
Surprisingly, we hardly ate any fast food on the trip. We stopped at Subway for lunch on the way down, which is pretty healthy, as far as fast food goes. We did make an emergency pit stop at a Del Taco in L.A. where I ate a chicken burrito, but that was the only fast food we ate! Otherwise, Saturday breaky was at the hotel, which had a pretty extensive continental breaky. I ate a hard-boiled egg, banana, waffle dipped in yogurt (instead of syrup), juice, and coffee. For lunch, at a nice food court, I ate a chicken breast and salad, which, incidentally, Maya selected! I did eat some Christmas cookies as a snack at an afternoon party, which certainly was not healthy. Then, dinner was a simple party spread with sandwiches, veggie platter, fruit, cheeses, mini-quiches, wine, and a variety of desserts. So, I'd say I ate too many sweets, but they were party-sweets, rather than sitting-around-the-house-sweets.
Exercise
I generally haven't been exercising as much in the past few weeks as I had been previously. I had actually gotten to the point where I felt I was over-exercising, even though I wasn't exercising all that much (30-60 min, 5x/wk). However, now, after a few weeks of inconsistent exercise, I've started feeling like a blob. I miss the lean, healthy feeling I had when I exercised consistently. I haven't gained weight, but I think I've lost some tone. I wasn't really planning to exercise on our trip although I had expected to take some walks to see Christmas decorations in various places. Well, that didn't happen. Saturday morning, after so much sitting in the car the day before, I had to do something, so I did my "hotel" exercise routine in the hotel room. I hadn't brought a resistance band with me, but I could improvise exercises for every major muscle group, except my biceps, without any equipment. It felt good to use my body. With young kids with us, we ended up watching them run around a lot, rather than us adults doing any running around. Little kids just don't make much distance when they run around.
Tranquility
I certainly had a lot of tranquility this past weekend. The purpose of the trip was to visit my family for Christmas because I'll be with my in-laws for Christmas & Christmas Eve this year. We also went to see the Boat Parade. We did all of that and had a great time. We went with our friends, in their car, all 8 of us! Nick didn't like being dependent on others for transportation, but I enjoyed having extra time with people because they were giving us rides.
How do I feel?
I need to get more sleep, drink more water, and exercise more consistently. I mostly feel I need to be more serious again about getting consistent exercise. I just feel better about myself when I do. Also, I'm remembering one great benefit of exercising first thing in the morning: I don't have to think about it again the rest of the day. If I plan to exercise when the girls nap, and one of them doesn't nap, then it gets more complicated to exercise. Also, cardio in the house while my girls nap definitely feels like exercise just for the sake of exercise, whereas I used to run on the beach, which I enjoy much more. It's also a bit time-consuming to shower in the morning, then again in the middle of the afternoon. Right now is the middle of the day and my girls just went down for their naps, so now is the time for me to do it!
Well, I guess it's been at least 4 nights since I had a good night's sleep. :-( I did not sleep well on our trip. The hotel pillows were too big and firm, believe it or not. Usually they are too small and squishy. Besides that, we played a lot of "musical beds" with the girls. I slept a lot on the drive home, which meant that I couldn't fall asleep once we got home! Aargh! Gotta focus on getting better sleep this week.
Water
I feel very dehydrated from the trip, so I made sure to fill my pitcher of water today and am happy to be drinking it. My lips are peeling, and the skin on my face feels rough. I'd say that the hardest thing about drinking a lot of water consistently is that my body adjusts to having a lot of water, so I feel dehydrated easily if I cut out the water for a few days. Fortunately, it's easy to make up for it too and get back on track.
Eating
Surprisingly, we hardly ate any fast food on the trip. We stopped at Subway for lunch on the way down, which is pretty healthy, as far as fast food goes. We did make an emergency pit stop at a Del Taco in L.A. where I ate a chicken burrito, but that was the only fast food we ate! Otherwise, Saturday breaky was at the hotel, which had a pretty extensive continental breaky. I ate a hard-boiled egg, banana, waffle dipped in yogurt (instead of syrup), juice, and coffee. For lunch, at a nice food court, I ate a chicken breast and salad, which, incidentally, Maya selected! I did eat some Christmas cookies as a snack at an afternoon party, which certainly was not healthy. Then, dinner was a simple party spread with sandwiches, veggie platter, fruit, cheeses, mini-quiches, wine, and a variety of desserts. So, I'd say I ate too many sweets, but they were party-sweets, rather than sitting-around-the-house-sweets.
Exercise
I generally haven't been exercising as much in the past few weeks as I had been previously. I had actually gotten to the point where I felt I was over-exercising, even though I wasn't exercising all that much (30-60 min, 5x/wk). However, now, after a few weeks of inconsistent exercise, I've started feeling like a blob. I miss the lean, healthy feeling I had when I exercised consistently. I haven't gained weight, but I think I've lost some tone. I wasn't really planning to exercise on our trip although I had expected to take some walks to see Christmas decorations in various places. Well, that didn't happen. Saturday morning, after so much sitting in the car the day before, I had to do something, so I did my "hotel" exercise routine in the hotel room. I hadn't brought a resistance band with me, but I could improvise exercises for every major muscle group, except my biceps, without any equipment. It felt good to use my body. With young kids with us, we ended up watching them run around a lot, rather than us adults doing any running around. Little kids just don't make much distance when they run around.
Tranquility
I certainly had a lot of tranquility this past weekend. The purpose of the trip was to visit my family for Christmas because I'll be with my in-laws for Christmas & Christmas Eve this year. We also went to see the Boat Parade. We did all of that and had a great time. We went with our friends, in their car, all 8 of us! Nick didn't like being dependent on others for transportation, but I enjoyed having extra time with people because they were giving us rides.
How do I feel?
I need to get more sleep, drink more water, and exercise more consistently. I mostly feel I need to be more serious again about getting consistent exercise. I just feel better about myself when I do. Also, I'm remembering one great benefit of exercising first thing in the morning: I don't have to think about it again the rest of the day. If I plan to exercise when the girls nap, and one of them doesn't nap, then it gets more complicated to exercise. Also, cardio in the house while my girls nap definitely feels like exercise just for the sake of exercise, whereas I used to run on the beach, which I enjoy much more. It's also a bit time-consuming to shower in the morning, then again in the middle of the afternoon. Right now is the middle of the day and my girls just went down for their naps, so now is the time for me to do it!
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