In need of a schedule

Over the past 2 weeks, I have tried my hardest to leave work at work and leave on time. I have definitely felt the work load waiting for me each day increase. However, it has been really nice having more time, and more quality time, with the kids.

One day last week I came home late and I immediately noticed a difference when I came home. I felt so rushed and pressed for time. It totally changed my mood.

This week I am hoping to continue spending more quality time with the kids and less time at work or doing work at home. I am also hoping to add in exercise. I really want to try and exercise first thing in the morning so that it is done and out of the way. However, I find myself always going to bed late because I have so many things to do which makes me exhausted in the morning and I would much rather snooze than exercise.

So, I have come up with a plan. Not sure how well it will go the first week but I am hoping it is a routine we can stick to.

Go to bed at 9pm.
Wake up at 5am. (This will give me 8 hours of sleep - I usually average 5-6 a night.)
Exercise 30 minutes and get dressed.
Leave by 7am. Drop kids off, go to school.
Leave school by 4:30pm.
Pick kids up and get home by 5pm.
Start fixing dinner at 6. (This will give us an hour of play time.)
Dinner at 6:30.
Playtime til 7:30 then baths and kids in bed by 8pm.
Me in bed by 9pm leaving me an hour of "me" time.

We have never been good to sticking to routines so I am hoping this will have a positive outcome. What I see in this schedule are several things lacking right now.... quality time, a set schedule and bed time, me time, exercise and more than 6 hours of sleep.

1 Week towards my goals

Well, I had a great week. (I hope you did too!) I worked towards my goals this week.

#1. I left work on time, or as close to it as possible, most days this week. Friday I stayed late and I guess the kids noticed because Colton told Kyle "I guess mommy is going to miss dinner because it's dark." He said this because he noticed I wasn't home yet. Crazy how he noticed that only after a few days. Honestly, it was really nice have more time with them before bed time.

#2. I left work at work. Friday was the only day I brought my computer and papers home. I need to be at home mentally and not just physically. I made that change this week and I really noticed my stress level decrease.

#3. I made healthy choices and changes in my diet. I started the week trying to count calories and I quickly realized that was just too much for me. Baby steps.... so, I decide to make healthy choices, portion control and eat more smaller meals and snacks throughout the day. I guess it worked because this week I lost 6 pounds. I did not exercise at all because I did not want to overwhelm myself... again, baby steps. :)  BUT my classroom is on the 2nd floor so I go up and down the stairs several times through out the day.

(Kyle has also decided to get on board with making healthy choices. It has made a huge difference in my own progress. It was always difficult before trying to eat a salad while he ate a pizza. So, it is nice not having those temptations, at least for right now while I am trying to kick the cravings and addictions. By making healthier choices, he lost 5 pounds this week.)

Wishing myself, and you, a great week! Let's set those goals and try to do our best to work towards them!

Love,
Tammy

MAKING the time

I am not setting a resolution for this year, and I am especially not setting it as "lose weight." The past few years that has been my resolution and it has yet to happen.

As I previously posted, my GOAL for this year is make more time for ME.

(I cannot remember where, but I recently read a good quote....  A goal is a dream with a deadline.)

My goal for 2012 is to focus on me... this includes many aspects... health is #1 - I want to get in shape for medical and personal reasons. I also want to be more mentally calm. I spend so much time taking care of everyone around me that I forget to take care of myself. I want to read more, take more bubble baths, buy myself a surprise, etc.

So, today I started working towards this new goal - the health aspect of it. It was a tough day for me. At one point I had to ask Kyle to go to the gas station and get me some hard candy. He thought that was random and I told him I needed something to occupy me. He looked even more confused. I had to compare my weightloss attempts to his tobacco-loss attempts. I had to explain to him that I am a food addict and I needed to keep my mouth occupied so I wouldn't go snack. Honestly, it worked and the boredom cravings past. (I am emotional eater - boredom, stress, sadness, etc.)

Sooooo anyways, one of the biggest reason I have had a hard time with eating right lately is because I just don't make the time to plan. Jillian Michaels once said "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." So, tonight I decided to plan so I do not fail. It took quite some time to plan my meals and snack for tomorrow, but I did it. Hopefully it will get quicker and easier with time. But now that I am finished, I am so excited about how organized I am. :)

An inside view of my lunchkit for tomorrow:

I LOVE Chobani greek yogurt and now they make it in kid size! That's it in the back right. I cannot eat cottage cheese by itself but I do like the cottage doubles - front right. I have my grapes in the middle and on the left is the fixings for my turkey burger.

Below is everything for tomorrow, except dinner.

Here I have my banana and cream of wheat laid out for breakfast and my whole wheat flat bread for my turkey burger. YUM!

Honestly, I am really excited to finally put me in the front of the line of importance.

This was such a silly post so if you read it, thanks!