Goals, Mother's Day, and Meal Plan
Hello all!
We had a really great Mothers Day weekend here... it was chilly and rainy so we just stayed in and did a huge spring cleaning of the house. Everyone pitched in and the house is now sparkling and everything is in its place and organized. We were beginning to get pretty sloppy with putting things away and staying organized and I just couldn't get ahead of it, being busy with school and baby. This all-hands-on-deck weekend was the reset button I needed and I think we're now all motivated to keep things tidy!
So we cleaned most of the day Saturday, and then Sunday after church L was not feeling very well so instead of going out for lunch as planned we ordered Chinese and came home for a family nap time. It was wonderful!
The sun did finally come out late Sunday afternoon, and I got to spend some quality time outside with the girls, drawing with our Easter egg chalk (thanks, Zach and Piper!) and picking flowers. Daddy mowed and each girl got a ride around the yard on his lap, and then...
Mama drove the mower for the first time ever! (Not with the baby... she joined me for this pic afterwards... haha!) So now I know how to drive it... I'm halfway to being able to mow the lawn myself if it was ever needed.
So we have the reset button of a clean, organized house. I have also been sticking to my guns in the past week about not feeding J until 5 AM. If she wakes before then I just let her fuss a bit, and she has been putting herself back to sleep just fine. She has even become a bit more consistent about not even waking up before 5. That feels great-- a 5 AM wake-up for me is so much better than the interruptions during the night. It also brings more consistency to our daytime schedule when her feedings always happen at the same time, and that lends some regularity to her naps as well. This has allowed me and M to put together a new-and-improved workout schedule that guarantees that we each get a little time every day. We both are better for it. So that's my first resolve in the "goal" category of this blog post-- being more regular about waking up early and getting a workout in before the day starts. These past seven months I have been giving myself a free pass about getting up early (usually trying to squeeze a workout in later in the day) while sleep was bad with J, but I'm ready to start becoming a morning person again. It just works so much better for me and makes me feel more on top of life. I'm also trying to be better about prepping things like lunches and homeschool checklists the night before, so we start off our day with things ready to go.
I did some longer runs in the past few weeks and some of my hip and pelvis pain seems to be returning as a result. So, despite the fact that I just signed up to run a half marathon in September (!!!!) I'm going to experiment with doing zero running in the next month to six weeks-- just strength training, body weight exercises, and lots of stretching during my workout times. I'm going to try to strengthen the muscles that hold these bones together, give myself a bit of a break from impact activity, and see if that helps. I also have a Y membership now and so I can go swimming or take a spin class. When the girls' activities die down in the summer I may check out something like that, especially since they offer child care!
Lastly, with regard to goals, I have resolved to stop my bad habit of mindless snacking. When I'm sleep deprived, I tend to get pretty out of control with eating all day long. I don't know if my body is subconsciously trying to keep energy up or what. Breastfeeding hunger plays a part, but I was snacking even when I wasn't really that hungry. Also the girls are now bottomless pits who snack every five minutes so I was just going right along with them. Anyway, my goal these days is to pay more attention to what I'm putting in my mouth and eat only when I'm really hungry (which also means trying to drink water first to be sure I'm not mistaking thirst for hunger).
Oooooookay, enough rambling. As you can see I like to declare my goals in a public place so I feel like I have some kind of accountability. :)
Here's our meal plan for the week!
breakfasts:
cereal/oatmeal
overnight oats
hemp protein pancakes (I have been throwing hemp powder into our pancakes lately... we have a huge bag in the pantry that I'm trying to use up. It gives us an extra kick of protein in the morning, and J approves of them too :)
lunches:
sandwiches for kids-- pbj, hummus and pickles, or tuna
scrambled egg roll-ups
more smoothies
suppers:
make-your-own pizza
peanut chicken and rice with roasted veggies
black bean tacos with and homemade guac
tofu nuggets with oven fries and roasted cauliflower
Happy Tuesday everyone!
We had a really great Mothers Day weekend here... it was chilly and rainy so we just stayed in and did a huge spring cleaning of the house. Everyone pitched in and the house is now sparkling and everything is in its place and organized. We were beginning to get pretty sloppy with putting things away and staying organized and I just couldn't get ahead of it, being busy with school and baby. This all-hands-on-deck weekend was the reset button I needed and I think we're now all motivated to keep things tidy!
So we cleaned most of the day Saturday, and then Sunday after church L was not feeling very well so instead of going out for lunch as planned we ordered Chinese and came home for a family nap time. It was wonderful!
The sun did finally come out late Sunday afternoon, and I got to spend some quality time outside with the girls, drawing with our Easter egg chalk (thanks, Zach and Piper!) and picking flowers. Daddy mowed and each girl got a ride around the yard on his lap, and then...
Mama drove the mower for the first time ever! (Not with the baby... she joined me for this pic afterwards... haha!) So now I know how to drive it... I'm halfway to being able to mow the lawn myself if it was ever needed.
So we have the reset button of a clean, organized house. I have also been sticking to my guns in the past week about not feeding J until 5 AM. If she wakes before then I just let her fuss a bit, and she has been putting herself back to sleep just fine. She has even become a bit more consistent about not even waking up before 5. That feels great-- a 5 AM wake-up for me is so much better than the interruptions during the night. It also brings more consistency to our daytime schedule when her feedings always happen at the same time, and that lends some regularity to her naps as well. This has allowed me and M to put together a new-and-improved workout schedule that guarantees that we each get a little time every day. We both are better for it. So that's my first resolve in the "goal" category of this blog post-- being more regular about waking up early and getting a workout in before the day starts. These past seven months I have been giving myself a free pass about getting up early (usually trying to squeeze a workout in later in the day) while sleep was bad with J, but I'm ready to start becoming a morning person again. It just works so much better for me and makes me feel more on top of life. I'm also trying to be better about prepping things like lunches and homeschool checklists the night before, so we start off our day with things ready to go.
My bowl of overnight oats prepared the night before... in the morning just zap it and enjoy!
I did some longer runs in the past few weeks and some of my hip and pelvis pain seems to be returning as a result. So, despite the fact that I just signed up to run a half marathon in September (!!!!) I'm going to experiment with doing zero running in the next month to six weeks-- just strength training, body weight exercises, and lots of stretching during my workout times. I'm going to try to strengthen the muscles that hold these bones together, give myself a bit of a break from impact activity, and see if that helps. I also have a Y membership now and so I can go swimming or take a spin class. When the girls' activities die down in the summer I may check out something like that, especially since they offer child care!
Lastly, with regard to goals, I have resolved to stop my bad habit of mindless snacking. When I'm sleep deprived, I tend to get pretty out of control with eating all day long. I don't know if my body is subconsciously trying to keep energy up or what. Breastfeeding hunger plays a part, but I was snacking even when I wasn't really that hungry. Also the girls are now bottomless pits who snack every five minutes so I was just going right along with them. Anyway, my goal these days is to pay more attention to what I'm putting in my mouth and eat only when I'm really hungry (which also means trying to drink water first to be sure I'm not mistaking thirst for hunger).
Oooooookay, enough rambling. As you can see I like to declare my goals in a public place so I feel like I have some kind of accountability. :)
Here's our meal plan for the week!
breakfasts:
cereal/oatmeal
overnight oats
hemp protein pancakes (I have been throwing hemp powder into our pancakes lately... we have a huge bag in the pantry that I'm trying to use up. It gives us an extra kick of protein in the morning, and J approves of them too :)
snacks:
fresh fruit
cucumber sticks
fig bars
rice cakes
smoothies
lunches:
sandwiches for kids-- pbj, hummus and pickles, or tuna
scrambled egg roll-ups
more smoothies
suppers:
make-your-own pizza
peanut chicken and rice with roasted veggies
black bean tacos with and homemade guac
tofu nuggets with oven fries and roasted cauliflower
Happy Tuesday everyone!
I just read an article on running and cross-training (especially involving bikram yoga because I just picked that up and LOVE it). Basically it suggests focusing more on cross-training and less on running. So I support your idea to do swim/spin class! :)
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