whole-fortied.

So, for those of you who have known me for a while, you know that I have “whole-thirtied” before. If you haven’t heard about the Whole 30, it’s worth a google search. Basically, though, its an almost-paleo approach to eating only whole foods. It works to help you get rid of your sugary, starchy, junky cravings and work real food into your diet. It helps you eat what you need and cut out the extras. And when I did it for real, the first time, it really stuck. And it really worked. I am not exactly sure WHY it works for me. I think it’s because you don’t snack (I’m a grazer), and because there aren’t a ton of carbs involved and that’s what keeps me fluffy. I also think it works because, at least for me, it makes you feel BETTER. Once I get over the 15-or-so day hump, everything seems better…my skin, my attitude, my sleep, my bloat/inflammation. So, I saw some actual results pretty quickly and that makes me stick with something. Overall, I think I lost about 25 pounds just by changing how I ate. And that, my friends, kept me in business. Really, I’m shallow.

So, I think I did my first Whole 30 three years ago? But maybe it was even more than that. I started it in January with the rest of the world, but I basically changed my eating lifestyle for over a year. I loved all the food I made and I didn’t miss anything. I should make sure to note here that, for my general sanity, when I’m doing Whole 30 I still have ONE good (read: with creamer and splenda, just the way I like it) cup of coffee in the morning and I still drink wine. And once I get used to the change I usually add back in some vodka-sodas and gluten free beer and/or cider. Look y’all. You have to make things work for you!

Then, I won’t lie, at some point I decided I just wanted to eat pizza. And when I go down, I go down in flames. And y’all, here I sit, feeling bloated and yuck and having gained that weight back all over again. And there are so.many.things.to.blame. I have a million actually pretty good reasons that I’ve gotten back here. Also a million bad ones. But either way, here I sit.

And here we go. Onward and upward and starting my Whole-Forties. Get it? Ha.

I’ll do my best to write about my journey, not because I think you find it to be a super-fun read, but because it might keep me honest and on track.

Today, is day-one-ish. Once I drop off the littlest, I’m going to head to the store for my first haul. Because my first tip, if you are looking for one, is that you HAVE to plan ahead. And my cabinet full of snack-sized chip bags and fridge full of cheese and kid lunches isn’t going to cut it.

Here we go!

 

 

 

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cycled

A random list of things that I have been thinking about this morning:

• I need to exercise. Like, anything would be an improvement.
• I need to stop eating. Just kidding. But I do need to stop eating Halloween Candy. And probably chips. And maybe pizza.
• Because I wish my jeans fit better. Or at all. Let’s be honest.
• I LOVE FALL.
• I LOVE FALL CLOTHES. So, I wish my jeans fit better.
• I love leggings.
• I love leggings so much that I SELL THEM.
• I love pizza.
• I love wine. Red wine. When it’s chilly. And it is.
• And beer.
• There is SO.MUCH.LAUNDRY.
• I have no idea how it is November.
• I miss reading. I have taken to audiobooks because there is so.much.driving.
• I really should take more showers and actually get ready for the day more. Before it’s time to go pick the big boys up at school.
• If I shower, though, I’ll never exercise.
• I need to exercise.

Ironically enough, I was apparently also thinking about most of these things 6 years ago today, when I actually wrote a real blog. On the regs.

justification…(and TMI, probably)

So, I guess I’m just cycling back through.

xoxo

sinking.

Y’all. Just listen.

Half of my kitchen counter is covered in clean dishes that need to get put away. The other half is covered with mail and papers and all sorts of things that probably should have just left for school in my children’s bookbags but instead remain on the counter. The sink is full of dishes that need to be cleaned. The dishwasher needs to be emptied. There are crumbs from last night’s dinner under the kitchen table and all the cups and bowls from this morning’s breakfast are still sitting around the living room. All throw pillows and blankets are on the floor in the living room. There are boxes of stuff FROM LAST SCHOOL YEAR on the floor in the dining room along with several containers of random dishes that don’t fit in the kitchen cabinets anymore. We had some drywall replaced in the playroom over the summer and it’s still not repainted. All the laundry that I managed to get done yesterday is crumpled on the couch in my bedroom because it had to get moved off of the bed last night so we could sleep. If I walked into the bathrooms upstairs I would certainly see unflushed toilets and damp towels on the floor and toothpaste all over the counters and sinks. No beds are made. There is dust on every surface. Someone walked inside with their cleats on last night and the trail through the living room and kitchen reminds me that the soccer field is muddy even when it hasn’t rained in days. I have dead plants on my porch. If you open the cabinet that has the water bottles in it they will all come tumbling out onto the floor. I have been using the boys closet as a storage unit for anything that didn’t have a place to go since the beginning of the summer. This morning I couldn’t find the one shirt that someone wanted to wear for picture day. Instead of ironing clothes for picture day last night I put them in the dryer for 5 minutes this morning. I dressed both big boys in long pants which means that at least one of them will come home with holes in the knees of these pants from playing on the blacktop at recess. I am supposed to be in 4 places at once tonight between 5:30 and 8:30. I haven’t showered since Sunday morning. Or maybe Saturday night. We are out of dog food and milk and bread and lettuce and lunch meat and sanity. Today after school we have piano lessons AND tae kwon do AND 2 soccer games. I have a small business that I’m needing to pay attention to this morning. And all I want to do is sit on the couch and watch tv because where do I even start?

I stood in the bathroom with my husband this morning and reported to him that I feel like I’m failing. He reminded me that actually, I’m fine. And, while that is the truth, it doesn’t also mean I can’t feel like I’m sinking. And admitting that I feel like I’m sinking means that I’m about to start swimming again.

remember?

Y’all. Remember when I said that I was going to get REALLY organized and start September off with a BIG OLD BANG of smooth sailing organized goodness?

Well, just LIFE.

I will tell you, it’s interesting to me that no matter what you change about your life to make it easier/better/smoother, life happens. And here’s what I’m thinking about today…that’s a GOOD thing.

Life is tough. Sometimes it’s tough because you can’t find someone’s belt in the morning and sometimes it’s tough because someone you love is sick. Sometimes the HARDEST thing in my day is getting everyone out the door on time. And it makes me FRANTIC. But if I think about it for just one minute I will realize that if that’s hard to me, then I’m just lucky. But that doesn’t mean it’s NOT hard.

I know, I know. I’m talking in circles. Welcome to what it’s like inside my head.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that I’m doing my best. But I’m doing my best at so many things that it’s kind of like I am mediocre at everything. Or that’s how I feel. That’s what happens, I think. Stretch yourself thin enough and you can only do so much.

But it’s hard not to be stretched thin. Family. Kids. Dog. Sports. School. Work. Church. Friends. Self. And let’s be honest, Television. 🙂 And, you know, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week. Etc.

Last night, when my husband and youngest were trying to show me something they thought was cool, I heard a ding and couldn’t help myself because HABITS…I looked at my phone. And I missed what they were showing me. And I thought, this is just RIDICULOUS. And THEN I thought….I need to reassess.

So for the rest of this week, I’m reassessing. I’m not quitting anything or doing anything dramatic like throwing my phone out the window. But I’m trying to really NOTICE what I’m doing. And figure out how to make all this stuff- the really hard stuff and the it-seems-hard stuff and the easy stuff and all the stuff in between work.

I’ll report back. It probably won’t be organized or pretty. But that’s life.

 

Real Life.

Today my children entertained themselves ALL.DAY.LONG.

This is something I’ve wished for all summer long, but today, it happened.

And, dear LORD, I am thankful. Also, feeling a bit guilty, but mostly thankful.

Now, there was some crying, a bit of redirection, a lot of snack-making, and (let’s be totally honest) a LOT of screen time.

But these are dire times, y’all. I’m busting my booty trying to make sure my kids don’t kill each other while I get us ALL ready for school (supply lists! graphing calculators! new uniforms! clean uniforms! bookbags! lunchboxes!). I have friends who have several more children than me and I just don’t know how they do it. Three is really pushing my organizational skills to a new level. Level CRAZY.

I’m also taking on the responsibility of PTO President this year. Let me tell you something, my friends. It’s all fun and games until you are actually IN CHARGE of the Start-of-School Teacher Breakfast AND Open House. Which are two days BEFORE school starts. WHICH MEANS TOMORROW!

Also, I have been trying my best to run a little business out of my house for the past 5 months. This summer it has suffered from a bit of neglect, but it’s taking back off full force this month as well! And for this, I really am thankful, but HOLY SHIT there couldn’t be more going on this week unless I was having a baby.

Which I’m not. Ever again for those who may be wondering.

In other news, this may be the only day of the summer that I actually haven’t found time to snack endlessly, so I’ll take that as a win for the day in my hoping-to-be-more-healthy-because-I’m-40 plan.

Luckily for you, I was waiting for the UPS man and needed a distraction. And so this lovely post was born.

xo

 

Run this life?

So, y’all. I decided to see if I even remembered how to log in to this bad-boy of a blog anymore. And, what-do-ya-know? I do.

Here’s the thing. I definitely no longer run as exercise. Hell, I barely run this house. And my life? Most days I go to bed either laughing or wanting-to-cry while running back through everything that went down all-that-live-long-day.

Maybe I’m getting my summer hangover- it is almost back-to-school around here.

Maybe things really ARE that funny and/or sad/crazy around here. (Definitely)

Maybe I’m just getting old and really REALLY need to write some of this down before I forget. Like I’ll forget TOMORROW. For real.

Either way, I’ve decided to get back to over-sharing on the interwebs. I’ve got it written down IN PEN in my life reorganization plan. Which starts in September.

But I may as well get some practice in.

You are welcome in advance.

#shithappens

Listen. I have another draft of this post in my folder.

It was entitled: #fail.

But. Here’s the thing. It’s a NEW YEAR.

And, also, SHIT HAPPENS.

So. Much. Shit.

In my previous draft, there was a lot of whining. I’ll sum it up: the first 6 months of this big “year-I’m-turning-40” didn’t go as planned. My summer involved some hard family stuff and a lot of fast food eating on the road to and from my hometown. To say the beginning of my kids school year was stressful is an EXTREME understatement. My favorite jeans still don’t fit. I still can’t do a headstand. My closets aren’t cleaned out and I ate the crust from my middle-child’s pizza for dinner last night along with half a bottle of wine. I mean, right?

But, this is my NEW DRAFT. This is the real deal. And all that shit, y’all, it’s just part of real life. And that’s okay because this shit is MY real life.

So, here we go.

As a friend of mine likes to say…ONWARD AND UPWARD.

I’ve got some things up my sleeve for this year.

And just knowing that makes me feel a whole lot more like myself.