"Recovery"

I'm trying to accomplish more, so I'd planned out the day in detail, especially what I'd do, alone, during the 4 hr. I'd have a babysitter. But my babysitter didn't show up. I called after 15 min., to no avail. This was the stumble, the question was: Was I going to recover or fall to pieces? Could I go through with my plans for the day with kids in tow? Uh . . . I guess so. That's the "recovery." It's psychological: I had my plan, which included 4 hr of "alone time." Without the babysitter, then what? It's the same when someone gets sick: Do you throw all plans out the window or "recover," modify plans as needed, and continue with the day?

The same is true of living the SWEET Life: If you stumble, you need to recover, not fall. If I miss Sleep too many days, I need to decide to either take a nap or drink some caffeine to wake up, rather than slogging through the day unproductively. If I Eat junk food for lunch one day, I need to eat a healthy dinner, rather than thinking my eating plan is ruined and continuing to eat crap the rest of the day. If I don't Exercise, I need to plan ahead to exercise the next day, rather than dwelling on what I didn't do. In short, I need to "recover," not give up, and not fall to pieces.

Getting Organized

Sleep
These days it seems I don't get enough sleep Sunday - Thursday nights, but I do on the weekends. By Thursday or so, I'm ready for a nap! Over the course of a week, that doesn't add up to enough sleep. :-(

Water
With this hot weather, I'm really trying to stay hydrated, and the heat makes me thirsty, so it's pretty easy.

Eating
I was taking an exercise class yesterday and realized I'm kinda bulky. It's muscle, but I'm bigger than I want to look, and the #1 key to bulking up is to eat more than you burn off. For that reason, I need to eat less, so I'm taking advantage of the lack of appetite brought on by the heatwave and trying to really cut down. I eat balanced, healthy meals, but I just need to trim the serving sizes.

Exercise
I was going to exercise first thing, at 6:30 a.m., but I didn't sleep well, so I was going to take an exercise class at 9:00, but I had a hard time getting up after not sleeping well, so I was running late and didn't make it. Then, I was going to exercise by riding my bike to pick up Zoe, but I needed to get her quickly, so I drove. Then, I was thinking of going to the gym after dinner, but I had to help get the girls to bed and it was too late. How many times have we told ourselves the same story? I suppose most people don't have as many opportunities to exercise in one day as I have. It's pitiful when the end of the day comes and I haven't exercised and I have no good reason why not.

Tranquility
Today was a backyard pool day. I filled both of our inflatable pools, a 6'x10' rectangle and a 5' circle. I started them just 1/3 full of water, which heated quite nicely during the hot mid-day. In the afternoon, I filled them up to 2/3 full, mixing the heated water with cool, refreshing water. That's a lot of water! I also stuck our little play structure slide into a pool. Then, we had at it! First it was just me and Maya; later, a couple of her friends came over with their moms. We ate popsicles, drank mint lemonade with coconut rum and ate strawberries and little cookies. It was wonderful! I look forward to playing in the pools all this hot week.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Today, I had a _WE_T Life.
I feel good (except for the lack of sleep and exercise) ever since I finally sorted out my desk mountain of papers. I did that last weekend and have felt better ever since. I feel less overwhelmed, mostly because, in merely sorting the papers, I realized there wasn't much that required immediate attention. The biggest sorted piles I ended up with were trash, magazines, filing, and mail to open. Most of the mail was stuff to file. There was very little To Do in that huge mountain. I recycled the trash, stacked the magazines in a magazine rack, and told myself I was going to spend 15 min/day filing papers. Now, 2 days later, my filing stack is very small; I should finish tomorrow. In addition to filing, I'm spending 15 min/day tidying up my house, and I'm making sure to wash one load of laundry and spend some time completing things in my To Do file. I just feel more clear-headed and in control. :-)

Determination

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.

I need Tranquility!

Surprisingly, I have been living the SWEET Life the past week. I say "surprisingly" because I don't feel like I've lived a balanced, healthy lifestyle:
Sleep - 5 nights last week I slept enough hours.
Water - 7 days last week I drank enough water, although I'm not sure how carefully I paid attention to it.
Eating - Also 7 out of 7 last week, supposedly.
Exercise - 5 out of 7 last week, but I'm not challenging myself enough.
Tranquility - 5 out of 7 last week
Yesterday, I had a SWEET Life.

I really miss my girls' naps. I used to be able to count on 3-4 hours of Tranquility every day while they napped. That has suddenly dropped to zero! Not even a decrease to 1-2 hours, like some other kids! Not even a later start time for the naps, like some other kids! I spent a week or two wasting a lot of time trying to get them to nap, to no avail. I'm finally accepting that they don't nap, which means I have no breaks from motherhood for 11 hours/day. That makes for a . . . really . . . long . . . day, with no Tranquility.

But, no, it's actually not even as simple as that. They're still tired, but they don't nap, so they're cranky and hit each other -- quite the opposite of Tranquility. Or, I'll take them to do something, and one will fall asleep on the way there. So, then what? Once, I laid a blanket in a shopping cart, and Zoe slept the whole time we were in the store! Then, Maya fell asleep on the way home! So, they each got their nap, but I didn't' get any Tranquility! I have a photo of them both asleep in a Costco shopping cart, another unexpected nap. Since they were both asleep, I considered going home for some Tranquility, instead of shopping. Unfortunately, food shopping was a must that day, and I had other things to do later in the day, so I had to shop then.

Their lack of naps and Maya being out of preschool mean it's really hard for me to get any Tranquility. I don't feel like I have time to think or plan, and I was really looking forward to having time to think and plan and accomplish more once I finished my ESL class. That was two weeks ago!

The one thing I'd say I've accomplished, related to Tranquility, in the past couple weeks is that I've kept my house tidier than it'd been, which makes me feel relaxed and content.

Fortunately, things are starting to improve because I've arranged for babysitting! That's really what was missing: scheduled time when both my kids would be taken care of. It used to be during Maya's preschool/Zoe's daycare, but preschool ended a few weeks ago. Last week a friend reminded me that we'd discussed a babysitting exchange, so we put it in place. Unfortunately, I spent my entire free time preparing for Maya's birthday party. I also ran into our babysitter, who reminded me that we'd discussed her babysitting the girls half-day starting in June! So that allows me to write this blog right now. I feel more relaxed just knowing I have time to think.

Girls Gone Wild at Night

My life hasn’t been very SWEET lately, so I haven’t had much to blog about.

Sleep: A new trend of night terrors and waking has become a bad habit. Zoe wakes up screaming bloody murder, nightly around 12:30 a.m. It’s extremely loud, and if I let her “cry it out,” she ends up waking up Maya and Nick. Then Maya is screaming because she’s been woken up by her little sister’s screams. I thought we’d hit a turning point because Zoe started crawling out of her crib (which she’s known how to do for months but just didn’t do). I thought she’d just walk into our room during the night, which is its own problem, but is much quieter and less disruptive to me. But that only lasted about a week; she’s back to screaming again. Zoe also kicks like crazy in our bed. She’ll push herself down under the covers to the foot of the bed and then crawl back up to the head of the bed, constantly, down & up, down & up, for 2 hours! Seriously! It’s impossible to sleep with her kicking in my bed, but she’ll scream her head off and wake the family if I put her in her crib. It’s crazy.

Then there’s Maya. She regularly wakes up around 3:30 a.m. and comes to our room. At least she’s quiet; I don’t have to get out of bed, and she falls quickly back to sleep after climbing into our bed. However, that puts our queen-size bed total up to four people, including one wiggler, who, alone, is one too many people to sleep with. I often move to Maya’s, now, conveniently empty bed, where I sleep wonderfully, alone, however many hours there are left to sleep.

Yet, I have not even mentioned the difficulties we have in getting our girls to GO to bed. This problem started, as I expected, shortly after I started working 4 nights a week. I knew I would lose all control over bedtime and bedtime routines. I was, in a sense, happy to relinquish all responsibility for bedtime to my husband. However, I did not expect to come home at 10 p.m., exhausted and ready to go to sleep, and, on the contrary, find dinner dishes on the kitchen table, girls wide awake, laughing and running around, fully clothed, and without their teeth brushed! At 10 p.m.! After a couple months of becoming grumpy the instant I walked through the door to the excited greetings from my wide-awake girls, I finally had to tell Nick that it would make me . . . “less unhappy” . . . if I came home and at least the dinner table were cleared and the girls were ready for bed. Of course, what would make me HAPPY would be that the kitchen were clean and the girls were asleep, but I decided I might get better results if I asked for the minimum that would keep my mood neutral. So now, after a few months of girls gone wild at night, they are used to (1) staying up until 10-11 p.m. (they are 2 & 3 yr old!) and (2) passing out from exhaustion, with mom/dad, on our bed, which they affectionately call “snuggling.”

Well, I’m at a point where I can definitely count down the days until my Tu, Th evening ESL class ends: May 27, within this month, 3 weeks away, 7 class days left. That’s encouraging but still feels far off. Once it’s over, I’ll be home more evenings to get the girls in a “bedtime mode.” When I AM home for bedtime, it starts right ager dinner, which I make sure ends by 8:00. At 8:00 we brush teeth, put on p.j.’s, use the potty/change diapers, put away toys, and read stories, with lights out at 9:00. But then they want to “snuggle” or the aren’t tired enough to sleep because they’re used to staying up 1-2 hours longer!

The problem is that it’s really taking its toll on me. Why not on anyone else? I’m grumpy, less productive, hooked on caffeine, more emotional (for example, less patient), generally run down, and unhappy. The SWEET Life starts with Sleep, but I haven’t been getting enough for a few months now. That means I’m too tired to Exercise in the morning; too tired to pay attention to drinking enough Water or to Eating a balanced, healthy diet, and I spend what could be Tranquility time “survival napping,” which isn’t the same thing as Tranquility.

How do I get my girls to (1) go to sleep in their own beds (2) at an earlier time? And (3) sleep through the night? In their own beds?

End of Cycle Recap

The past, 4-week, SWEET Life Cycle ended Sunday. My goal was to "Be Able To see that I lived the SWEET Life 5-6 days every week." Well, I did a pretty good job of it. I did keep track every day, no days with question marks. My one weakness was that I only exercised 4 days a week instead of 5. I also wrote a few notes on it, explaining why I didn't do some things, like "chocolate, coffee" one day when I didn't eat well.

So let's see how things went today:

Sleep: I did sleep 7 hr, in Maya's bed, which was otherwise empty. However, that didn't really make up for the little sleep I'd gotten the night before.

Water: I did make sure to drink 8 cups of water today, 4 tall glasses-worth.

Eating: I cleared off the front of my freezer and prominently displayed my SWEET Life Plan so that I would remember to keep track of and check off the amounts of each food group. Yesterday, I ate no vegetables (!) so I made sure to focus on those today. I need to buy some easy to eat veggies, like baby carrots. Looking at the food groups on my Plan actually helped give me ideas for what to eat.

Exercise: I got up early and did my toning exercises at home.

Tranquility: That's right now because I didn't have tranquility all day. I set up a Skype account and want to use it to call my mom so that she can see her granddaughters and vice versa. It's too late at night to call anyone, so I'll have to try my first web cam/internet call tomorrow.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Today, I had a SWEET Life!
It's unfortunate that I'm up so late (11:30 p.m.) because I want to get up at 6:15 to exercise, which would not give me enough exercise.

I feel motivated because I've set a new goal and really put some thought into how to achieve it. But more about that the next time. . .

1/2 Week Synopsis

I feel a light at the end of the tunnel at the moment. Of course, it will be short lived. I was so backed up with schoolwork to grade and yet another test to write that it was having an adverse effect on my SWEET Life. But I've finally gotten caught up, only to give a test (which gives me a break during class time), which I will, then, have to grade.

The first few days of the week, I was skipping one aspect of the SWEET Life daily, but a different one each day. Today, however, I've already skipped both Sleep and Exercise, both of which I've already skipped once this week.

Sleep
I slept enough Monday and Tuesday nights, but not the past 2 nights. Right now I'm ready for a big night's sleep!

Water
Somehow, I didn't drink enough water on Monday, and I don't think I have today, but I did on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, my 2-a-day caffeine drinking has become a habit. :-(

Eating
I've eaten pretty well this week, a healthy variety, but on Tuesday, due to stress, I ate a lot of chocolate.

Exercise
So far, I've only had time to exercise Tuesday and Wednesday this week, but I want to the rest of the days.

Tranquility
I have had Tranquility every day this week! Hurrah! Of all things, during a stressful time, at least I've gotten a break from it a little every day.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
This week, the past 4 days, I have had a SSWWWEEE EETTTT Life.

Weekly Recap

Sleep: Last night I slept enough. However, since my kids kept me up the first three days of last week, I only slept well 4 out of 7 days last week.

Water: I filled my pitcher with water, but didn't drink much yesterday! That's rare; I drank enough water 6 out of 7 days last week.

Eating: I've been focusing on eating better, and I did 7 out of 7 days last week!

Exercise: I was too tired to exercise, after not sleeping well, Monday and Tuesday, and I was too busy Saturday, so I only exercised 4 out of 7 days last week, but that seems to be my norm since I started teaching ESL in January.

Tranquility: I got tranquility every day last week! 7 out of 7!

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had a S_EET Life.
Last week I did pretty well. The lack of sleep 3 nights in a row was out of my control and affected me the rest of the week. However, the main thing is that I'm paying more attention to living the SWEET Life. I'm also trying to get my husband to live the SWEET Life too.

Renewed Motivation

I'm renewing my motivation for living the SWEET Life. Having Spring Break last week helped encourage me because I had more free time to focus on it. Last week also started my latest 4-week goal cycle. My 4-week goal is simply to consciously live the SWEET Life, which I had become increasingly worse about doing over the previous 6 weeks.

We went to Lake Tahoe for 4 days with another family, which was great fun. I took my SWEET Life tools, with copies for the other adults on the trip. It was a lot easier to live the SWEET Life while on vacation because I recruited the others to live it with me for those 4 days.

Sleep
Last night I slept horribly! I went to bed late because I was trying to get some stuff done, and Zoe cried out for me, then squirmed around in my bed the rest of the night. Horrible!

Water
I drank enough beverages yesterday, although they weren't all water.

Eating
I ate well, but surprisingly, I didn't eat a lot of grains.

Exercise
I went running on the beach yesterday.

Tranquility
I got a lot of stuff done while my girls were napping, so, yes, I had tranquility.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had a _WEET Life.

A New SWEET Life Goal

I've started a new SWEET Life Cycle, which is a 4 week calendar tracking my SWEET Life. I circle the letter corresponding to each aspect of the SWEET Life each day that I achieve it.

The first 12 weeks of this year, I'd used two 6-week Cycles; however, it's easy to blow off the first couple weeks, then get really serious about it the last four weeks. Therefore, I think 4 weeks is a better amount of time to work towards a goal.

In the last cycle, it was the first time (in 8 cycles) that I didn't achieve my goal! :-( There are a variety of reasons why, mostly because it was based on an exercise manual I loaned to someone for a week, who still hasn't returned it, a month later!

In any case, I didn't live a very SWEET life five of the last six weeks. I simply didn't keep track of my water or eating very consistently. Also, I exercised four instead of five days a week, which makes a difference for me, personally. I have to eat less and pay more attention to what I eat when I exercise less than five days a week, which I didn't do!

Therefore, my SWEET Life goal for the next 4 weeks is to be able to see on my SWEET Life Cycle that I lived the SWEET Life 5-6 days every week for the next 4 weeks. So how did I do yesterday, the first day of my 4-week Cycle?

Sleep: I slept 7-8 hours Sunday night.

Water: I didn't drink enough water, especially considering we were in Santa Cruz, outside in the sun all afternoon.

Eating: I ate a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner, but I also ate some junk food at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Exercise: I didn't exercise, per se, but we were on our feet walking around most of the afternoon in Santa Cruz.

Tranquility: It was a very tranquil day, a wonderful day with family and friends at the beach!

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had a S_ _ _T Life. Not a good start to my new goal. This week is going to be difficult because we are going to Tahoe Wed.-Sat., where it also might be difficult to live the SWEET Life. But I have to put an effort into it and make it happen.

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!

Exercise Variety

Sleep
I've been sleeping well this entire week. I'm 7 for 7!

Water
I've been trying to drink my water, but honestly, I haven't been keeping track very well this week.

Eating
I generally always eat healthy, but I really have not been keeping track this week.

Exercise
I've had a variety of exercise this week. Monday I tried a Gliding DVD that a colleague lent me. It uses special pads to slide your legs or arms across the floor, like skating. It was tough! Tuesday, I had a very light workout. I ran in the morning on Wednesday, which was a nice change from going to the gym. It was light early enough in the morning to do so. However, today we started Day Light Savings time, which means it'll be dark in the mornings again for another month. :-( Friday I did a hard strength workout at the gym, based on exercises in a magazine. Typically those magazine exercises don't give me a very good workout, but I did them in a more intensive order than the magazine suggested to get a better workout. Saturday, my family took a bike ride, and it was beautiful weather to do so! So that makes 5 times this week.

Tranquility
I got some tranquility every day this week, 7 out of 7 days. However, I'm realizing that tranquility isn't as simple as getting both my daughters to nap at the same time. I do need more time to do relaxing things, rather than catching up or having the time to do necessary things. When my girls nap, I do work: housework, ESL work or personal training-related work, but work. I actually have very little time to do whatever comes to mind, and typically when I do "whatever comes to mind" I end up feeling like I didn't spend my time efficiently to get "work" done. Hmmm . . .

How did I do, and how do I feel?
This week, I have had a S??ET Life.

Commitments and Priorities

Sleep
I forced myself to catch up on sleep last night, sleeping in instead of exercising. Boy, I needed it after two nights of too little sleep. Two nights of sleep deprivation isn't much, but I'm too busy during the day to lose the productivity associated with being tired.

Water
I've been more consistent with filling my pitcher and making sure I empty it by the end of the day.

Eating
I've been keeping track on my SWEET Life Plan, which means that by afternoon/dinner time, I refer to it to see where my daily diet is lacking so I can catch up.

Exercise
My exercise has become sadly inconsistent so that I feel I have to make up for it on the weekends (instead of taking off the weekends). It's all about priorities, and sometimes, exercise is not as high a priority as other things. For instance, this morning, sleep was more important to me than exercise. On Tuesday, preparing for a meeting was more important than exercise. But I made up for a lack of early morning exercise today by taking a long walk with my girls. It's not the same intensity, but it was a beautiful day to check out the early spring flowers.

Tranquility
I feel like I haven't been getting tranquility recently. Or perhaps I've been getting at least 30 min/day, but not the 3-4 hours that I used to get when my girls napped well. It's a really long afternoon if they don't nap, and I feel they intrude upon my tranquility time if they don't nap.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had a _WE_T Life.
I'm constantly interrupted, so I can't concentrate on anything. I like the idea I heard yesterday about committing to a specific hour of the day to focus on one thing that needs focused attention. I always say I'm going to spend an hour a day on something, but that hour always gets pushed around. The idea of saying, "1:00-2:00 I will do _____," like it's an appointment, might help me.

Living the SWEET Life Saves the Day (or Month)!

Sleep
I slept well last night. It's nice not to have to set an alarm on the weekends. However, a couple other nights this week, I didn't sleep well. Once because I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep, and another night because I woke up extra early to get some stuff done while the house was quiet.

Water
I need to pay more attention to drinking enough. I don't think I did, yesterday. Well, I guess that depends on whether you count the 2 cups of coffee and the 3 alcoholic drinks I had yesterday. I don't usually count alcohol and caffeine because they are dehydrating.

Eating
I've been trying to pay closer attention to my eating, to make sure I get the variety of nutrients I need.

Exercise
I'm a bit behind on exercise this week, only having exercised 3 times so far. I need two more times to make my goal of 5 times/week. Strangely, I feel like I've been getting out of shape, even though I've continued to exercise!? I've been doing some exercises from a fitness magazine, but I think some of them are too easy for me, so I'm not getting as much of a workout from them. Also, I've been using an AMT cardio machine at the gym, which I don't think gives me as much of a workout as running does. It also seems to hurt my lower back, so this week I switched to the treadmill instead. I feel like I'm hunched over, my belly is pooching out, and my lower back hurts. Also, my pants seem to be getting tighter in the waist. So what do I need to do?

• For my hunched shoulders, I need to strengthen my upper/mid-back to pull my shoulders back in place.
• For my belly I need to strengthen my abs to hold them IN place.
• For my lower back, I need to strengthen and stretch it to relieve the pain. Stronger abs will also help my lower back feel better.
• For the tight waistbands, I need to cut out unhealthy calories (i.e., Valentine's chocolates) and make sure my workouts are burning calories and building muscle. All of those will increase my ratio of calories out vs. in.
  

I think another problem I have that could be contributing to all of these problems is that I need a new computer chair. Poor sitting posture, especially if it's for extended periods of time, can definitely make all of these problems worse.

Tranquility
I had one of the few massages I've ever had in my life yesterday. It was wonderful! I told the guy my aches, and he spent most of his time working on those parts of my body. Unfortunately, I felt like I rushed around all morning before the massage, and my girls didn't nap after my massage, so I didn't get to spend some time relaxing myself before it (i.e., in the sauna or hot but), or afterwards. I had to jump full speed back into mommy mode. But it was definitely a special, tranquil treat.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had a S_EET Life.
Honestly, because I've been so busy with other things, I have been paying increasingly less attention to living the SWEET Life, and the result is that I feel like I'm getting out of shape, despite having the habit of exercising. I know that it's a simple matter of paying more attention to living the SWEET Life, which doesn't necessarily take more time. I just need an awareness of how I'm living the SWEET Life.

At the same time, I know that I would be in much worse shape, and probably sick, if my SWEET Life habits weren't already in place. Without the SWEET Life, in the past month I probably would have gained weight from poor eating and lack of exercise, which I haven't. I'd feel exhausted from dehydration and lack of sleep, which I'm not, and I'd feel stressed out from lack of tranquility, which I don't. So I thank living the SWEET Life for keeping me pretty healthy during the past month of an overly busy life.

Living Day to Day

Lately, I've only had time to focus on each day as it comes. "What do I HAVE TO do today?" is all I have had time to do each day. I've had very little time to think or prepare ahead of time. Everything else has been on the back burner. Because of that, a lot of little, daily, household tasks haven't been getting done, like laundry, dishes, watering plants, etc.

Fortunately, since I have SWEET Life habits in place, I've been living the SWEET Life pretty well, as busy as I've been.

Sleep
Last night I chose to cut my sleep a bit short in order to grade some papers for my class tonight.

Water
I've been trying hard to drink my water, and I think I've been doing pretty well.

Eating
I've been trying to eat well, even though I haven't had much time to pay attention to what I've been eating.

Exercise
Today I chose to give myself the option of exercise, if I had time, preferring to give myself more time to grade papers for class tonight. I did get my papers graded, but I didn't have time to exercise, so I will exercise on Saturday instead.

Tranquility
Because the girls did tag-team napping, I didn't get my usual afternoon tranquility time. However, when I got home tonight, the house was empty, so I had a little time to myself. Realizing that was going to be my only Tranquility of the day, I made sure to take advantage of it.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Today, I had a SWE_T Life.
I hate when I have to ignore the big picture to focus on the shortest term deadlines, but it seems like life has been that way for the past month. What can I do? I envy those who are planning ahead or doing things that seem more pleasurable than essential. Now and then, I remind myself that this is only a phase. I will have a lot more free time when my girls are in school, and the reason I'm home now is to have my influence on them while I can, before they go to school. All I can do is set reminders for myself to make sure to do things ahead of time (such as set a reminder to pay a bill a week before it's due). I also need to enlist more help with the little, daily, household tasks, such as laundry, dishes, watering plants, etc.

Challenge the Body!

Sleep
I slept really well last night. I woke up this morning with Zoe in my bed instead of Nick, but I don't really remember when that switcheroo happened. I'm 4 for 4 this week.

Water
I haven't been paying too much attention to my water intake, but I think I have enough of a habit of drinking 2 qt. of water per day that I've continued to drink ample. I'm 4 for 4 this week.

Eating
The fridge is looking bare, but I've been trying to still eat healthy. The benefit of having mostly healthy foods in the house is that no matter what you have to scrounge up to eat, it'll still be healthy. What I really need to do is plan some meals, make a grocery list, buy some food, and cook! This week, I'm 2 for 4, but today is still wait and see.

Exercise
On Tuesday, I tried some new exercises I found in a magazine. Boy, was I sore yesterday! It's good to change exercises every month to challenge the body and defeat boredom. The problem was that a lot of the exercises said they were for the "arms" when they really just used the shoulders, not biceps or triceps. There were a lot of exercises for the legs, which became the most sore, and shoulders, but not much for the chest, biceps, or triceps, so I had to supplement. I also started doing new ab exercises and will take an abs class tomorrow. I suppose I should change my cardio workout too. This week, I'm 3for 4, skipping today because I have a lot of other stuff to do.

Tranquility
I've had tranquility time this week, which I've used to do whatever came to mind. The problem is that I had some important things to do during that time, which didn't get done.
I'm thinking about getting a massage, which I've only had a few of in my life. I can get one pretty cheap at the health club where I work. I'm 4 for 4 this week.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had a SWEET Life.
I feel a little stressed and tired. I teach an ESL class tonight and I have a lot to do to prepare for it, which is why I feel stressed. I don't like being so dependent on the girls napping in order to get important things done. I'm tired for a variety of possible reasons: it's towards the end of the week, my family has been sick so I might be catching something, it could be stress-related, etc. I'm torn between taking a nap to feel refreshed or having some caffeine and staying awake to have more time to prepare for my class.

The Culminaton of Living the SWEET Life

Boy, the month flew by quickly! I tallied up how much I lived the SWEET Life in January 2008, and the results are:

• Sleep: 22
• Water: 27
• Eating: 21
• Exercise: 20
• Tranquility: 29

My goal was not every day; it was 70%, which is 21-22 days out of the month, so I achieved my goal! Of course, the real question is how do I look and feel? Well, I've been living the SWEET Life for a long time, so I'm not expecting to see any changes. I still feel healthy, fit, well-rested, relaxed, etc.

However, I have been thinking lately about how I used to feel, before I was living the SWEET Life. I remember when I had body issues and thought, "if I were only 10 lb. lighter . . ." I remember having "fat" clothes and "skinny" clothes. I remember believing I had to live on exercise and salads in order to stay skinny. I remember when I was always hunched over from fatigue. I remember when my shoulders were always scrunched up to my ears due to stress. Yes, hunched and scrunched! I also remember, at the time, wondering what I would spend my time worrying about if I didn't spend so much time worrying about my body.

Now, of course, I'm so thankful that I don't have to waste my time worrying about my body or my health. I put on whatever clothes I grab from my closet because all of them fit. Whenever I weigh myself, the scale says the same number I always want it to say. I eat whatever I want; however, I've come to realize that "whatever I want" tends to be balanced and nutritious. Although there are still days when my sleep is interrupted, I generally get enough sleep and feel rested. Lastly, my shoulders are down and back in place because I am relaxed and tranquil.

Ah, here's to living the SWEET Life! May it allow us all to find other things to worry about!

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.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Sleep
I have not been sleeping enough the past few nights, again. This time was a different story, though. I had a lot going on yesterday, Jan. 22, so I lost some sleep Sunday and Monday preparing for the day. Because of that, I was really tired yesterday and drank a lot more caffeine than usual, which caused me not to sleep well last night! Aargh! I'm being more conscientious of my caffeine intake today so that I can sleep well tonight.

Water
Like I said above, I drank a lot of caffeine yesterday, three drinks instead of my usual one to two. I did, also, drink ample water though.

Eating
I'm trying to be more conscientious about eating a healthy balance; some days I don't know if I eat enough veggies. We ate both salad and snap peas for dinner last night, so that helped.

Exercise
I forced myself to exercise today, despite being tired, because I had skipped both Monday and Tuesday. I don't like to skip two days in a row, and I certainly do everything possible not to skip three days in a row. So I did an easy cardio workout while half-asleep at the gym. And some abs; I always need to do abs.

Tranquility
Yesterday was Zoe's 2nd b-day, so after my busy morning and before my busy evening, I had a fun, relaxing afternoon with Zoe, Maya and Nick. Of course, Zoe was napping for part of that time, which gave me a chance to check email and the like.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had a _ WE_T Life.
There were three things that I'd been working towards all month, and they all took place yesterday. I had a Moms In Business meeting, and I wanted to have my website online for it (livingthesweetlife.net). I started teaching an ESL (English as a Second Language) class at Chabot College, so I needed to prepare for it. And it was Zoe's 2nd birthday, which meant that I wanted to be fully prepared for the other things so that I could enjoy her birthday without being distracted. They all took place and everything went very smoothly because I was well prepared. I'm very excited and motivated about all three things, in fact. Now, I can get around to doing everything I've left to the wayside for the past week or so!

Follow-Through Makes a Positive Difference

Sleep
I've been sleeping very deeply this week, and I've been having lots of dreams. I think I"m making up for last week's lack of sleep. I'm 4 out of 5 this week.

Water
I'd say this week I've been drinking a variety of beverages, rather than just water. Some juice, soda, beer, wine, extra coffee, etc. It does all count as hydration, however, water is the best. I'm 4 out of 4 so far this week.

Eating
I haven't planned out my dinners for the week for the past few weeks. I really eat better if I do. My schedule is going to change next week, and I'll be working through dinner M-Th. Because of that, I'm going to start cooking Fri-Sun and not worry about dinner at all the other days of the week, which is a little strange. Sure, I'll buy some quick cooks like frozen meals, pasta and jarred sauce, etc. and I'll make sure to cook enough to have leftovers when I do cook. But it's strange to think that I won't be cooking or even home for dinner all week! I'll also have to remember to eat dinner early, before I leave for work! This week I'm 3 out of 4 for eating.

Exercise
I've gotten into a routine of going to the gym with my friend who just joined on M,W, F mornings, which is great! I do 30 min. cardio and some abs and stretching on those days, and she does 45-60 min. cardio. Today, because I hadn't done any toning exercises all week, I did my quick and dirty toning workout after my 30 min. cardio. I was pleasantly surprised that I finished most of it before she finished her 15 extra minutes of cardio. Then, we did some abs together. When I got home, my daughters were still asleep, so I was able to finish the last 10 minutes of my toning and stretching. I'm supposed to be doing my quick and dirty toning workout on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at home, but it's hard to get up so early every day. This week, I'm only 3 out of 5 for exercise, which is why I did my double workout today. Tomorrow, I have a personal training appointment at the club, so I'll run over there and get another cardio workout in for the week. I might do some toning on Sunday so that I'll get in 2 toning workouts. They really make a big difference. So many people are only concerned with doing cardio, but it's the toning that made a big difference for me. First, more muscle = higher metabolism = I can eat more! Second, I really thinned down and could see the muscles under my skin. Yes, eat more and thinned down!

Tranquility
Yesterday, my girls did not nap, which meant I got no tranquility. :-( By the time dinner was over, I really needed some time away from my girls, after 13-14 hours straight with them. Surprisingly, after her bath, Maya wanted to come in and be with me, instead of with her father who'd been at work all day . I don't understand that: aren't my kids tired of me too? Why don't they want to spend some time with their fun father whom they'd hardly seen all day? Today, Maya isn't napping, but she's watching a movie so that I can get a few things done while Zoe naps. I'm 4 out of 5 for this week.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Today, so far, I've had a S_ _ ET Life; I'll have to see how well I follow through on the Water and Eating the rest of the day. For the rest of this week, it's:
S = 4/5
W = 4/5
E = 3/5
E = 3/5
T = 4/5
I feel pretty good today, which is saying a lot on a Friday! However, Wednesday evening until Thursday evening, I felt quite foggy-headed. I couldn't think clearly, and I felt like I couldn't see straight. Whenever I'm not feeling my best, I think about the SWEET Life and what I might be missing. Am I sleep-deprived? Am I dehydrated? Am I eating too much junk or not enough nutritious food? Am I being sedentary? Am I stressed out? All those things lower people's energy-levels and clarity. For me, it could have been a little bit of all those things: making up for last week's lack of sleep, drinking beverages that were not necessarily water, not eating enough nutritious food, not exercising daily, and not having enough time to complete everything I need to. Thank goodness the weekend is almost here!