Time is a Funny Thing

Here I am, at the computer once again, after taking my husband to the bus stop, getting the older kids off to school, and settling my youngest in front of the some cartoons while I enjoy my morning coffee. Each morning this week I've gone through this same routine. Usually I cut myself off by 8am in hopes of being the most productive little stay-at-home wife and mother I can be, but for some reason this week I can't seem to get my butt into gear.

This stay-at-home thing is new to me. I lost my job of 5 years in early July, and have since decided that I'm needed more at home than in the workforce. For the first few weeks, I was the most productive thing in the world. I organized closets. I washed sheets. I made beds. I paid bills. I did it all. Now, about 6 weeks into this new endeavor, I'm finding that I don't have time to get these things done. Ironically, I did have enough time to spend 3 hours in front of the computer looking at accessories for my Aerogarden. Funny.

I come from a long line of women with serious time management issues. I have also managed to spawn another carrying on the tradition. When my mom asked my daughter why she didn't practice piano this week, she said "well I really didn't have time. I've been SOOOO busy. Mom made me go to the gym after school this week, AND she has been making me go to the bus stop each evening to pick up Daddy". She didn't mention that she also played with friends and had sleepovers all weekend, and her excuses don't really hold up. It's about a 15 minute ordeal to go to the bus stop, and the gym thing was foiled by my youngest daughter's fussiness that particular time. The thing is, she really, truly believes that she doesn't have time to practice. Hearing her talk about her busy life got me thinking...

Do we have more time than we think we have? Are we prisoners of our extremely hectic schedules, or do we make a choice to have a hectic lifestyle by not managing our time? I highly suspect this to be the case. I guess it all comes down to priorities. What are they and what should come first? I guess my main priorities look something like this (in no particular order):

• Keep a Clean Home and Laundry Done


• Marathon Training


• Raise Well Rounded, Well Behaved Kids


• Budgeting/Billing


• Prepare Healthy Meals and Lunches


• Maintain My Personal Appearance

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I think this is a good list to start from. Notice how my personal appearance came last. Not on purpose, but I just thought of it last. I always make excuses that I don't have time to fix myself up each day. I spend most weekdays in workout type clothes, and usually feel so bad about my appearance anyway that I feel like no amount of make up or hair product is really going to help. The fact is, there IS time to make myself look better and feel better. I just have to decide that it is a priority. This week I'm going to make a plan of attack for managing all this along with some much needed free time. I'll get started on it right after I check Facebook. :-)

Read more...

Calling All Weight-Watchers GAGers

Hi Gals,

I wanted to quickly reach out and see if any of you following Weight-Watchers would like to meet weekly online (maybe AOL or some other agreed upon chat room) to discuss the program and hot weight-loss topics and challenges. We could do it on Tuesdays since that is our weigh-in day for GAG.

I used to do the meetings, but I lost my job about a month or so ago and don't have the extra money to dish out for the meetings. Since I stopped weight watchers, I've lost only .4 lbs. I know it works when I do it. Is anyone interested in showing up for an online meeting??

Read more...

Workout Plan, Next 7 Days

Here's the Plan -

Tuesday - 60min Run (including 4 x 400 sprint) - Done
Wednesday - Cross Training Day - P90X Plyometrics Workout
Thursday - Bridge Repeats- 4 miler
Friday - Power Yoga
Saturday - 8 miler w/ CLFC
Sunday - Rest
Monday - Easy 4 miler - 5mph

I know I really need some strength training elements in here other than the WAVE, but until the baby gets over her teething, I doubt I'll be able to go to the gym for a while.

Read more...

GAG - Week 1, Day 1 - Frightful Photos In Da House!

Well here they are folks. Kudos to all of you GAGers who knocked out this unpleasant task first think in the morning. I had to work up the courage to take the photos. So the plan is to follow weight-watchers and keep on runnin'. I can't wait to spend more time reading all the GAGer blogs. I'm also anxiously awaiting the team assignments.

Well I'm off for another attempt at a run today. My two oldest are at piano lessons and the baby is asleep, so it seems that I might finally get some me time. I hope everyone is having a wonderful first day!

Good Luck Everyone!

Read more...

Another Bad Run

Just coming in from bad run and feeling totally down in the dumps. Why is it that a 7 mile run can feel easy 3 days ago and yet today I can hardly put one foot in front of the other?? I guess I know the answer to that question. It's my life!

Don't worry. You won't find a lot of self pity or excuses here. I'm a very positive person with a can-do attitude, but I'm running into some road blocks that have been hard to overcome these days. My kids are 10, 3 and 9months. Each of them is going through some kind of stage that requires my full attention 24/7. My 10 year old has a terrible attitude, along with a medical condition that has me worrying about her all the time. My 3 year old is afraid of the potty, and my 9 month old is just plain spoiled and won't let me leave her at the gym daycare even for an hour. I've been trying to take my family to the YMCA two nights a week. I pack my husbands things, pick him up from work, and haul the four of them to the gym in hopes of getting a run in, but this last time, like the 3 times before it, I have been interrupted by my son's pooping issues or my daughter's fussiness. I went to bed last might feeling utterly defeated.

The marathon program goes something like this:

Saturday - Long Run
Sunday - Off
Monday - 40 mins easy
Tuesday - 45 Tempo Run
Wednesday - Cross Training
Thursday - 4 mile Hill Repeats
Friday - Active Rest

I'm struggling to come up with a routine that is kid proof. On Saturdays, I run with a group while my husband watches the kids. I live for these days. Thursday hill repeats are pretty safe as well. I run those with a group at 4am on a giant bridge with a group (and heckling truck drivers), but the other mid-week runs are hit or miss. Because I only got 15 minutes in at the Y yesterday, I woke up around 4am to hit the road, but I couldn't bring myself to stay out for more than 25 mins. I even walked quite a bit during that time. I have a treadmill that I will try to use today for a while during nap time if by some stroke of luck I actually get them to sleep at the same time.

On another note, today starts the GAG Challenge: http://gag2009.blogspot.com/2009/08/day-before.html. It's a 16 week concentrated effort on fitness and weight loss. Later today I'll be posting my weight and body pics (gulp). The idea is that the GAG Challengers will all be working to win prizes and compete with each other to lose the most weight, but really we will all be winners. It's more about community and support. The challenge ends on 12/22. I lost my job (4 hours before going on my summer vacation..go figure) in early July and have only lost .4 lbs in about 2 months. You would think that running 20+ miles a week would help, but I guess I've been taking the carb loading principle a little too seriously.

TTFN

Read more...