Feeling Adequately Inadequate

Every now and then I will be driving down the road and think of something so ridiculously witty and on point that I cannot wait to get home to write it out. Then I get home and life. Suffice it to say, today was one of those days. I have absolutely no idea what it was that I wanted to share with the world, but imagine it was terribly insightful and hilarious and then thank me for having a profound impact on your life.

Now that we have that out of the way, I feel the need to actually share something with my adoring audience. (Hi, hubby!)

But, I’ve got nothing. Absolutely, nothing. Which strangely sums up my life as of late. There is so much going on all the time, almost too much, yet I have the feeling that I am only spinning my wheels. Maybe this is what it feels like to be a stay-at-home-mom and homeschool teacher. I’m still learning, so I could be wrong. I don’t recall reading any labels about being a SAHM that said Caution: May Invoke Feelings of Inability to Accomplish Anything. Were they there and I was ignoring them?

I cannot be the only one that feels this way, can I? Am I?

The realization is ever present of how blessed I am to be able to stay home with our children, to not only take care of their everyday needs, but to also learn them a thing or two… or everything they need to know to be productive and responsible adults. Wow. I am blessed. But I am also a wreck.

My mind has been scrambled, like the image of the eggs, “This is your brain. This is your brain with 3 kids.” Down is up and up is to the left and I think I forgot to put the load of clothes in the dryer. 3 days ago.

My body is in shambles. Yeah, I don’t really want to go there. Big sigh. You know what 3 kids has brought me? 25 to 30 extra pounds. Thanks, kids. And the ability to carry 100 pounds worth of babies and bags in a single leap. Plus a sore back.

My house. Hm.

My clothes. Stained and bigger than I’d like them to be.

My car. Old, noisy, and filthy.

My entertainment. Cartoons, cartoons, and cartoons. Seriously. Even when they are all asleep and the man is not around, I find myself watching cartoons. The Jungle Book is currently playing. I chose it.

My personal time. Limited.

My life. Wonderful.

My heart. Full.

My worth. Endless.

My family. Priceless.

Growing and educating a family is not about meeting deadlines. This is something I need to be reminded of at times, because before children, I worked in a world where every single project had a deadline. And people counted on me to meet those deadlines. Now I work for little monsters who only understand “right now” and I’ve been commissioned to train and prepare them for Eternity. The thing about that is, I do not know when this deadline will be. So, I’ll spin my wheels. I’ll leave those clothes in the washing machine one more day (don’t judge). I’ll focus on my family’s emotional and spiritual needs and feel as if I’m accomplishing nothing, all the while knowing that every single thing I say and do adds to or takes from their well-being. Even the things I don’t say or do.

I’ll continue to feel inadequate, because how could I possibly be fit to do this kind of job? Yet, it is precisely this kind of job that I was created for, so I am the exact person to do it. Mistakes will happen, forgiveness will be sought, love will increase, wisdom will be obtained, and I still will not be able to remember what I originally wanted to write about.

~Lisa

Weighing Us Down

You know how when you are not doing so well with a task or goal that you do not really want to talk about it? Yeah, so, I'm sure you can imagine why we've been pretty quiet about our weight loss lately. But I do believe we are back on track. (fingers crossed)

Our latest weigh in has mixed reviews. Sweet man is up by about 12 pounds from his start weight back in August and I am down by about 5 pounds. So good and bad. We still struggle with doing well during the week and then going off plan on the weekends. Just have to get a handle on that and I am sure it will help tremendously is getting us to our goals.

Good news! We started Weight Watchers last week. We both like it so far. There is definitely a learning process that goes along with Weight Watchers and we are slowly getting it. I love how it forces us to keep track of what we are eating each day and how there is a place to keep track of our daily physical activity. Even if we go off plan and have a bad day, we still record it and hope to make up for it with extra activity points throughout the week. I'm praying this is the program that will work for us so we can get ourselves healthy!

Oh, the no soda thing, well I haven't been doing so well on that. I have managed to not start drinking it on a regular basis like I was before, but I still drink some ever now and again.

So to recap our weight goals, the man now wants to lose 174 and I have lost 5 of the 25 I want to lose. I read The Little Engine That Could to sweet girl the other day, and, well, all I have to say is "We can do it!". We can and we will.

~Lisa

September Menu and Diet

I realize that I have not posted our September menu plan, nor have I said much about our diet in about a month. To be honest, the diet has not been going well. But I have managed to only have 1, maybe 2, sodas since the end of July. Not too shabby.

I weighed in this morning and am just holding steady, which obviously means I need to be working out. Boo. I am not sure when the man last weighed in, so his update will have to wait until next time.

Speaking of working out, our family met up with friends from church (visit Smithfield church of Christ) at the park last night and walked a mile. The girls loved being outside and we had a great time visiting while walking. Mr. Man enjoyed it so much that he is already looking forward to doing it again next week and we are going to walk again tonight with just our family. Did I tell you that he signed up for a 5K that is coming up soon? More motivation to get out and walk so he can condition himself prior to the 5K.

I did make a menu plan for September and have kinda, sorta stuck to it. I even planned out breakfast and lunch for the first week. Hoping that next month I will be able to add more planned meals to the calendar.

It looks pretty similar to last month, but that is okay since I am still new to this. My goal each month is to find economical meals to make that are also healthy, or at least healthier than delivery pizza. Mmmm pizza.

Well now that I am hungry for pizza, I should probably get the big girl and I some lunch.

How are your getting healthy goals coming along? Hopefully better than ours!

~Lisa

Weighing In

Agh! Today is our first public weigh in. Scary stuff here. But first...

If you are confused about why I would post about our weight, read this. Caught up? Great!

For the most part, I believe I have done alright with keeping with our menu plan for August. As always, we have been quite busy and a few meals had to be moved around or just plain didn't happen because we were traveling that day. But I am actually quite pleased with myself that I have managed to sort of keep with a schedule for a week. Yep. Success in my book! In case you haven't figured this out about me yet, I am a mess. Quite literally. So for me to even remotely stick with a planned out schedule is something. Let's not even discuss my propensity for laziness or my skills at procrastination.

In the midst of trying to plan meals ahead of time, we are also trying to put Mr. Man on a gluten-free diet. He has many of the symptoms for gluten sensitivity, so we thought why not give it a go? If it helps him to feel better, then great! For anyone who might care to ask, no we have not had him allergy tested, nor have we talked to his doctor about this. We are totally self-diagnosing here. I have my CPA license and he holds a Masters in the Art of Teaching, surely those are enough to qualify us to make medical diagnoses, right? Seriously, though, those tests are expensive and we do not have the money for them. And if it is something we can figure out on our own just by changing the way we eat and not having to pay for tests, then we are going to give it a go. It also works out great with the whole eating healthier thing we are trying to do anyways. So we figure we would give it a month or two and see how he is doing and then take it from there.

Speaking of how he is doing. He somehow gave himself food poisoning or a stomach bug, not sure which it is yet. The boy will do anything to have a better weigh-in number than me! Yesterday he came home from work and was sick the rest of the night, poor guy. All I could think to do to help him was to remind him to drink plenty of water and to make a joke about how much weight he'll lose while sick. I am the best wife. Ever.

We are definitely eating healthier than we were a few weeks ago, so this is good. I miss sodas, a lot. But I have stayed strong and it has been 2 weeks since I had a Coke, or Dr. Pepper, or Pepsi, or.... Let me tell you, it hasn't been easy. Just typing this is making me want one. I cannot imagine what people with addictions go through! We have cut the snacking way down and have cut the fast food down quite a bit. Unfortunately because we travel so much, fast food is very convenient while on the road, so we still get it on those occasions. Ultimately I would like to get to the point where we pack our road trip meals, that way it would be healthier and cheaper. But for now, baby steps.

Husband started working out yesterday morning. Starting a workout routine that we will stick to is our next big "get healthy" goal. I am sure I could find a way to work it into our homeschool curriculum. This would probably be a good time to remind you that I am lazy.

Okay, so on to the numbers! In the past 2 weeks the Man has lost 11.8 pounds and I have lost 1.6 pounds. Not much for me, but I'll take it. We will probably give updates every 2 weeks and hopefully next time I'll be able to say that we have stuck with eating healthy and that we have been working out.

Are you trying to be more active and eating healthier too? How is it going for you?

~Lisa

Sunkist, You Demon

There is an almost full bottle of Sunkist just sitting in the door of our refrigerator staring a whole through me every time I open the door. It is on that shelf that just last week I forgot even existed, the one on the very bottom that I usually only use when I've run out of room every where else in the fridge. It is on the shelf that suddenly has become the most important shelf in our refrigerator. Oh, the temptation! Today is my 6th day with no soda and other than that terrible bottle of Sunkist and every single time I get in the car, I haven't been craving it all that much. Blugh.

It may be time to dump the bottle of Sunkist.

One thing I have learned since beginning this transformation process a few days ago is that talking about transforming is exhausting. I just do not know how I will be able to manage when I actually start this life overhaul. One day at a time I suppose.

We already fell off the menu plan bandwagon, but I am not completely giving up, just being flexible. We had a very, read extremely, busy few days with the 4th Annual BTSOP Alumni Lectureship that wrapped up yesterday afternoon, so I just wasn't able to find time to make what I had planned for yesterday and today. That is okay though, cause if there is one thing that every parent knows, it is how to be flexible.

I briefly stepped on the scales this morning and I haven't gained any, so that is a good thing. I need to figure out how often we will update on our weight loss goals and start doing that. Even if we are having a bad week it will probably help to write it down so that we will be holding each other accountable. We will do this! We may kill each other in the process, but we will definitely get healthy!

May I just say how much it means to me to have so many tell me that they are not only reading my silly writings, but also enjoy them! I really do appreciate it. It makes my day every time someone says something encouraging to me, you are all so very sweet! I am sure that I do not express my appreciation in person as well as I could, I communicate much better in printed form than verbal form. I also really enjoy the tips and ideas I have been given. During the lectureship I got to talk for a very quick minute about menu planning with an elder from a congregation nearby (thank you for supporting the lectures!!!), he said he is the chief cook and bottle washer in their home. That warms my heart.

So I know I am a little bit all over the place today. I guess that is a glimpse inside the workings of my warped mind.

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday and that you will be sure to take time today to worship our Lord and Creator as He desires!

Off I go to rid this house of that terrible demon. I almost promise I won't drink it.

~Lisa

Weight For It

Oh the never ending battle with weight that most Americans are fighting. Too much yummy processed foods thrown in our faces and not near enough "time" to be physically active. As a part of our getting healthier plan, Sweet man and I have started the infamous 3 Day Diet this morning. After 3 days we will then, hopefully, start eating an overall healthier diet. We have all heard it a million times: It is not about dieting, it is about a life change. Change the foods we eat, change the level of our activity, and probably most important is to change our outlook on those two things. 

I mentioned to my husband that I was thinking about blogging on our weight loss goals and he was all for it. Let me just say though, that we are putting this out there for positive encouragement. We do not want that negative kind, you know what I am talking about. But if you are close to us and can offer an uplifting word every now and again, it would be much appreciated.

So the nitty gritty of it. The man's overall goal is to lose 162 pounds! This blows my mind because I have never seen him at his goal weight, but I am excited to help him reach that goal. My overall goal is to lose 25 pounds, this will put me below my 'pre-you babies made me gain weight' weight. My first goal will be the 15 pounds I need to lose to get to pre-baby #2. 

I am quite confident that just eating healthier will go a long ways in this struggle for both of us! When you really stop and think about all the junk we put in our bodies it should disgust us, but they make most of it taste so good that we don't think about the gross effect. Hmmm, so similar to the sin problem, isn't it?!? If sinful activity wasn't initially 'fun', most of us would not even come close to it. Just one little snippet about sin from the Bible:

Hebrews 11:24-26 (ESV) By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

If you care to follow along with us as we bumble along, I will try to occasionally update on our progress.

Have a fabulous day. If we cross paths soon and I seem grumpy, it is because I have not had any soda since July 29th. You've been warned.

~Lisa