Well my friends, this baby girl of mine graduated high school last week and I really don’t know what to think of it!?
I don’t know how it’s possible that I now have TWO children who are graduated!??! Really.
I love this sweet girl with all my heart and I’m just so grateful that out of my six kiddos, I got this ONE precious girl.
In my nostalgic state, I was going through some old pics and found a few I thought I’d share….
This is our little family in December 2006.
In some ways this feels like just a few years ago and in others, it seems like decades ago!
I will say that I’ve enjoyed every stage of motherhood, but when I look back on these days somehow things seemed quite a bit simpler. Having small kids is definitely stressful and chaotic, but there’s something that’s just so nice about having all of them follow the schedule I set out and having them stay safely under my wing, for the most part.
Teenagers are awesome, but it’s super stressful to watch them forging their own ways, setting out on their own journeys, having their own life experiences (for better or worse!) and leaving the “safety net” of just following and doing everything I tell them to do! Ha ha!
Man, this motherhood gig is awesome, but heart wrenching in so many ways!
Sadly, I don’t have a ton of pictures of my daughter and I together when she was little. This one was at her first birthday party…
I used to love to do her hair in little tiny ponytails. If you look closely, you can see one sweet little pony sticking straight up on the top of her head.
This pic is one of my all-time favorite pictures of my sweet girl with her baby brother….
She was such a little mother and has always taken such good care of her brothers! They are very lucky to have her in their lives.
Folks, oh how I love my kids! A little too much, I think.
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Well speaking of kids getting older….I’m feelin’ older lately too guys! In fact, I took this little selfie over the weekend while I was out on a run and I just thought, “MAN, when did I turn into an old lady??”
I’m hoping it’s just the picture or the lighting or somethin’, but I think in reality it’s all the stress, “wisdom” and experience over the years that’s starting to catch up with me!
It’s alright.
Although it boggles my mind, I’ve accepted the fact that I’m only getting older and there’s nothing I can do about it! Gah! I’m 43 by the way, in case you’re curious. I’m still about 18 at heart (and in maturity) though and always will be!
I gotta say that recognizing and accepting the fact that I’m only getting older actually motivates me! It makes me want to take better care of my health, keep on exercising, keep on lifting weights and lose a little bit of weight and keep it off!
Things start to become a lot more “real” as you age! In the past, I always wanted to lose weight or get in shape to look better, feel better and feel better about myself. Those things are still factors and motivators to me, BUT I now want to lose weight and stay in shape so I will age more gracefully, my body will stay mobile and agile, I won’t develop diseases and conditions and I will hopefully be able to live a long, active, fulfilling life!
It’s weird that I can actually picture myself as an old lady now!
In fact, not too long ago I was talking to my mom and she was telling me about a lady who came to speak to her church group. She told me, “She was such a nice lady who was probably around your age.” Then she said, “Wait, she was probably just a little older than you because she said she was a grandma.”
Record scratch!
I was like, “Say whaaaaaa?” She was “just a little” older than me because she was a grandma!? HOLY. SMOKES. Am I really to this stage of life!??
My oldest son is 20 1/2, so I guess technically I am almost to that stage of life!!! Wow.
Thanks for listening to my “freak out, life realizations, boo hoo sessions” by the way. I really appreciate it. Y’all are like the best therapy out there. Ha ha.
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Anyway, moving on. I told you guys in my last post that I’d been struggling just a bit with this Oxygen Magazine Challenge I’ve been doing. I’ve been loving it so much, but my nutrition has been going downhill the past couple weeks and I can SEE and FEEL it.
It makes me mad and sad that I’ve been strugglin’, but I understand why! Life has been extra crazy lately, a little extra emotional, I was burning the candle at both ends, I hadn’t been getting adequate sleep, and my body just started to say “Uncle.”
It kind of reminds me of whenever I would get pregnant. I would always have big plans to workout through my entire pregnancy, eat well, not gain a lot of weight and then bounce back quickly after having the baby.
Welp, as soon as that morning sickness hit, I was like, “Uhhhh, I don’t care if I gain 500 pounds, I’m going to eat whatever sounds good and just sit here on my butt because I feel so cruddy!” All my motivation and good intentions would just fly right out the window.
When the body is weary, worn out and feelin’ like crap, it is so so so hard to stick to healthy goals and to stay motivated!
Soooo, now that summer is here and life is calming down a bit, I’ve been giving myself some pep talks and trying to get back on track once again. I still have over two months left in this challenge and I intend to crush it from here on out.
In fact, today this random song popped in my head and I realized it was exactly the message I needed to hear!
I fall short and struggle ALL THE TIME, but I’m not one to stay knocked down for too long. I’ll never quit trying and I’ll never give up. I LOVE the message of this song!
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Even though my diet has been a bit “meh,” I’ve still been trying to kill it in the gym and get my workouts in…
I’ve still been going to a couple of my favorite classes, but I’ve also been doing some of the workouts from the challenge as well.
I’m loving the workouts from the challenge because most of them are only about 30 minutes long, but every single minute is utilized. They are very effective and efficient workouts.
The style of the workouts for this challenge is circuit training/HIIT style, which IMO is such an awesome way to workout. If you’re a busy person (aren’t we all?), don’t have a lot of time and want a lot of bang for your buck, then HIIT, Boot Camp, Circuit Training is the way to go!
Love it.
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As I’ve found myself struggling a bit these past few weeks, I keep reminding myself to focus on the things that really matter, the things that actually move the needle and have a direct impact on my life.
The main things I keep trying to focus on are:
- Intermittent Fasting (I’m a huge fan of this and our coach is too!)
- Cutting Sugar (this has been one of my biggest downfalls for me and it squashes my motivation and healthy living mojo quicker than anything else!)
- Having a green smoothie protein shake every day (super easy way to get so much good stuff in the body + it helps to keep me motivated and feeling my best!)
- Getting my sleep (I suck at this, but I keep trying!)
When I can consistently do these things, I consistently get good results! It’s hard to stick to all of these things, but after I do them for a week or so, it always becomes much easier!
I’ll tell ya, another huge thing that helps me to stick to a healthy diet is to eat a lot of the same things often! I think people tend to overthink healthy eating and make it way harder than it needs to be!
I always tell people to identify 5-6 easy, quick meals that you can always throw together easily and that always sound good to you. Make sure to keep ingredients for those things on hand and when you don’t know what to eat…..make one of those meals!
Some of my quick and easy “go-to” meals are:
- Protein Pancakes
- Green smoothies/Protein Shakes
- Healthy Wraps (made with a Flatout): Tuna, Turkey, Egg Salad, Scrambled Eggs, etc.
- Omelets or other egg concoctions
- Oatmeal (protein powder, fruit, flax seed, chia, peanut butter, etc. mixed in)
- Leftovers from dinner
- Greek Yogurt creations (cocoa, stevia, fruit, protein powder, nuts, peanut butter, etc. mixed in)
- Rotisserie chicken with fruit or veggies
Healthy living really is all about finding healthy foods you like, finding forms of exercise you don’t hate, getting decent sleep and tending to your emotional health……CONSISTENTLY!
That “consistently” part is the hardest. Ha ha.
Well, I have so many other things to share, but I think I’ll wrap it up. My main message tonight is that I hope y’all know that although I love health and fitness SO MUCH, I struggle all the time!
I’m always learning, always trying and always figuring out what works or doesn’t work for me. I’ll never have all the answers and I’m sure I’ll never have it all figured out, but I will always try to find joy in the journey and in the whole learning process!
So, if you struggle with healthy living, with losing weight or with sticking to goals, please know that you are NORMAL! This is life. My hope is that you will keep learning along the way, never beat yourself up and never quit!
I love you all! xoxo
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