March

HELLO!

I have not posted on We Can Do This for a LONG time.  But this little blog gets daily traffic from one little printable that I made.  My Think Spring! post is where you can find the printable.

Anyway........
I went looking on the net for a printable that says  "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb".  I didn't find anything I liked.
So I decided to make one.

Without further delay...... 

 

Again, I used the free chalkboard background from the blog How to Nest for Less.

Just right click and save to your computer.  Then print.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

Still Trying

I am still trying to lose weight.  I go through phases. 

 I'm like a nursery rhyme:

 

There Was a Little Girl

There was a little girl who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead.

And when she was good she was very, very good.

But when she was bad, she was horrid.

When I'm dieting and watching and being "good"...I'm very, very good.
But when I cheat, I'm horrid.  We're talking pizza, cookies, French fries and ice cream.
Once I'm off the diet.. I'm really, really off the diet.  Then I have to start all over again.

Well, I'm here to say that I haven't given up. 

A few years ago, I joined Weight Watchers online and had success!  I lost about 18 pounds in roughly 3-4 months.  I felt good.  I had more confidence.  I should have stayed online and proceeded with maintenance, but I didn't.   I thought that I had the tools to do it myself.  And I did, but I lost my motivation.  I gained it all back plus a little extra.

Last month, I wanted to join WW online again.  But we are staring at a HUGE home remodel (we bought a fixer upper....check out my other blog The Windmill Cottage.)  We have a lot of expenses coming up, so in order to save a buck, I tried to do it on my own.  I kept a food diary in a notebook and used my points calculator I bought when I was on the program before.  I did okay, I lost 5 pounds in about 3-4 weeks.  This was with diet alone...no exercise.   Let me just say I was HUNGRY all day long.  And my only thought was about food.  How much could I eat?  When could I eat again?  How many points did I have left?  I really want to eat what my family is eating!  So, I quit.  For about 4 or 5 days, I just ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.  But that left me feeling bloated and sick with heartburn and indigestion. 

Now I am trying to eat smart AND exercise.    I know, this is nothing new.  Everyone knows you need a balance of the two to actually lose weight and gain health. 

  I started a mini workout routine. 

 

I do this two times in a row.  My four year old does it with me!  He wanted to do the routine one more time this morning.  I think he's going to be my motivational coach. 

It's not much, but it's a start (one of many, but I just can't give up).

 

This, along with making much better food choices and not starving myself,

 hopefully will help me to see results. 

 

We Can Do This! 

 

 

 

 



Dishes & Blessings

Thank God for Dirty Dishes
author unknown

 

Thank God for Dirty Dishes,

They have a tale to tell.

While others are going hungry,

We're eating very well.

With home and health and happiness,

I shouldn't want to fuss.

For by this stack of evidence, 

God's very good to us.

 

In our cozy little rental, we do not have a dishwasher.  I know there are a ton of people living without a dishwasher.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining or complaining.   I just miss one!  The main reason I miss my dishwasher is because I am the Great Procrastinator.  With a dishwasher, you can load your dirty dishes, out of site until, it is full.  Then you can turn the machine on and walk away.  And if you don't feel like unloading the dishwasher right away, you can let them hang out for a while.

Hand washing dishes means "Thou Shalt Not Procrastinate".  Ugh, not doing the dishes one day means I'll be standing there for 45 minutes to an hour just washing up.  Then the dishes sit on the valuable counter space to dry - cause you know I'm not standing there for another 40 minutes towel drying every dish. 

ANYWAY......

Like the little poem at the top suggests, dishes are a visual reminder of how blessed we are to be healthy and eating well (maybe a little too well)! 

Only on day four of my jog-a-day goal and already hit a speed bump.  My oldest superhero has an earache.  He stayed home from school today.  No jogging.  Hopefully tomorrow.

 

Great For You!

Tonight I made turkey burgers for dinner.  I'm not that great of a cook but I do make a mean turkey burger.  I was trying to come up with a side dish for a turkey burger but the only thing that I could manage was French fries.  But before you gasp and judge me for being such a terrible mom as to serve my children frozen french fries on a Monday night, take a look at this!  Look at the lower right hand corner of the bag!

See? It's okay.  These french fries are Great for you! 

There's even a little man doing a healthy jumping jack!  Or is he jumping for joy?

 

Can you even believe it?  I knew choosing french fries was not the best choice.  I didn't really want to make mac & cheese (really that is no better than fries. Is it?)  We had salads for lunch.  And the only other veggie I have is frozen peas.  My boys would rather eat worms than peas.  So french fries it was.  But then I spotted the little jumping jack man.  My guilt and shame was instantly lifted because choosing frozen french fried potatoes is GREAT FOR YOU!  What's next?  Healthy fish sticks?

On a less sarcastic note, I did it!  I actually went for a walk/jog/walk/jog/walk/jog/walk!
Bring on tomorrow!  Cause rain or shine, I can do this! 

~Big Booty Judy~

Hiya, hello...um...ya....that's me.....Big Booty Judy!  Enough is enough!
As I sit and polish off a bowl of Nilla Wafers and Nutella, I think to myself, tomorrow I am going to go for a jog.  I am going to eat a better breakfast, only drink water and tea and quit carbohydrate loading.   A lot has been going on lately.  We sold our house and are now renting.  We had two separate houses lined up to buy at two separate times and they both fell through.  The realty business out there is rough.  I'm glad I don't make my bread by selling houses!  But we are very happy renting the little house we are in and aren't in any big hurry.  It's kinda nice to just enjoy life and relax a little.  But anyway, back on point......I fell off the healthy wagon face first and then I rolled into a ditch full of Nutella!  I've been off track for months and my pot belly shows it. 
I actually lost some weight during the process of selling our house.  Packing an entire house full of crap counts as exercise, right?  You just never sit still.  There is always more crap to pack.  Honestly, I don't know how I managed to pack it all with two little boys that were home with me all day long!  And the stress of trying to show an immaculate home while your kids leave a trail of crackers and crayon everywhere they've been...oy vey.  And then there's the stress of looking at dozens of houses, bidding on several, loosing bids, making counter offers, signing paperwork at the drop of a hat with a husband that rotates shifts.  Ugh!  That kind of stress curbs your appetite.
But now, here I am.  All moved into my cozy little rental.  Kids are back to school.  No projects to do cause we don't own the house.  No artsy fartsy stuff to tool around with cause Lord only knows where my arts and crafts supplies are (packed up in a box in the furthest corner of the basement under all those extra plastic dishes and cups and utensils you JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH)! And nothing to do but eat.....
 No excuses now!  There is no reason why I can't go for a little jog/ walk tomorrow.  As soon as I drop off my little superheros to school, I will come home and go for a little jog down the road. 
I really hope I can do this!

~10 Reasons to Exercise~

It can be so easy for me to skip exercise.  I put it off and put it off, next thing I know it's the end of the day...I'm tired and I just don't feel like doing it.  I can think of 10 reasons during the day why I should be doing something else instead of exercising.  Isn't there ALWAYS something else to do?

But today, I did it.   Today I accepted NO excuses.  I let the dishes sit in the sink.  I let the Legos stay scattered ALL OVER the floor.  The bathroom could wait one more day.   Today was my day.  And tomorrow is mine too!  I won't meet my goals if I keep making excuses. 

I'm not gonna lie. I did not meet my exercise goal on the ~Spring Fling~ Challenge last week. But I'm not going to let that stop me!

Here are 10 Reasons why we need to exercise!

1. It renews your self confidence
2. It reduces your risk of cancer
3. It makes you feel good
4. It gives you energy
5. It helps you loose weight
6. It boosts your immune system
7. It reduces your blood pressure
8. It reduces stress
9. It builds muscle and prevents muscle loss as you age
10. It revs up your metabolism

And a bonus reason why you should exercise......
Because YOU ARE WORTH IT!

Now go out there and sweat a little. 
We Can Do This!

~blogaliciousness~

I've been messing around with the look of this blog.  Ya know, make it a little more blogalicious.  I really have no idea what the heck I am doing.  Just hoping that I don't up and delete the whole thing with one quick slip of the finger.  I'm pretty sure I backed this baby up....but...you know how that goes.  So if you visit and the place looks a wreck, (like... what the heck is she trying to do..kind of thing) sorry about that!  It's a work in progress.

Anywho, I've been doing some thinking about the direction of this blog.  I've been focusing a lot on the challenges.  You can read about the challenges here and here.  They are my most popular posts and I am really excited about them.  I want this to be a place where we can go to find motivation to get healthy and stay healthy.  Yes the main goal is to be HEALTHY!  Not necessarily to just get skinny.  Weight loss will come if we are making healthy life choices.

We need to take control of our health now!  Diabetes, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, osteoporosis...the list goes on and on.  These are the things that will steal our bodies away from us.  Forcing us to be on a list of medications.  We need to make better choices now so hopefully we will enjoy full, active and healthy lives no matter how old we are!  I know that healthy people get sick too.  And that sometimes no matter what, it's just in our genes.  I'm not trying to invent a cure-all.  I just believe that when we take care of our bodies, minds and spirits we have a better chance of defending ourselves against the aforementioned diseases.  If we take charge of our health, we can live fuller, happier lives.

And those three words at the top, that's my new motto!  I am going to try very hard to Live Life Well! 

I'm in this for the long haul, the rest of my life!  Join me!  And together...

WE CAN DO THIS!