Day 2

So here I am at day 2, feeling rather accomplished. I have eaten the way I had hoped, and exercised in accordance to what my goals were. Super. Feeling good. Yep, no problem here with goal setting and sticking to it. Except tomorrow. I mentioned I homeschooled so from 8 am until noon I am busy. Not to mention keeping up after two little ones who could give a rip about learning anything. Plus I have a small little hair business to tend to, and tomorrow happens to be a busier day with all that. Really from 8 am until 9pm I am going non stop. What’s wrong with this picture? I have become the very person I loathed about 3 years ago; the mom who is so busy with all these activities that she has no moments to her self. No down time. God did not wire us to go go go. He made us to stop, each day I might add, and literally smell the roses. I used to think that once a week was fine to stop and rest. The more kiddos we add to this family the more I see it’s imperative to do so each day.

So here I am at a cross roads. Wake up tomorrow, accept the day that I schedule before me and go on only to collapse in a heap at 9 pm, or work out another option. There are always plan B’s, even when it doesn’t look like it. As I started writing  tonight I never imagined this is what I’d be writing about. I guess it fits though with goal setting. Most of us can’t finish anything because we have too many ‘things’ on our plates. We live in a cyclone society and there is tremendous pressure to be doing something all the time. All the stuff is really good, but not all of it is helpful. The Bible says, ” All things are permissable, but not all things are beneficial”.

So tonight as I make my tea and head to bed I wonder what’s going to give tomorrow. My prayer for myself and my family is that I wouldn’t sacrifice them or my personal goals. I pray that tomorrow  I would take my children and stop for a while and smell the roses. Who knows, they may enjoy some Hip Hop Abs and a walk in the park. Call it P.E.?

Day One… here’s where we are

Here I am at the close of day one, this is how I stand in my personal challenge:

Everything I ate was deck of card size, save for the huge portion of salad at dinner, check!

Excercise for 40 minutes, check!

Longing for more Weir,TX bbq, check!

The Deck of Cards Challenge

Welcome to my “Deck of Cards Challenge”

As a general rule I am what you might call a bit of a flake. My husband would say I just lack stick- to- itiveness. Whatever you would call it, I rarely follow through with anything these days. In my early 20’s  I was driven, but for some reason add one husband, four kids, a dog and two cats,  I can’t reach any goals.

Recently  I came across an article that talked about portion control. Being a fanatic about healthy eating, my ears perked up and I read on. “A person of average build and activity should only eat portions the size of a deck of cards”. The article was talking about meats. It went on to say that if you are eating starches the portions should only be the size of a tennis ball. Excuse me? Oh wait, there is good news… you may have half of your plate be fruits and/or veggies. Or more for that matter! Well shout  hooray with me everyone! I pondered this and relayed the info to hubby  thinking maybe he’d be interested in this new thinking. Wrong. His exact words were, ” Is that article from the American Starvation Society?” So no then?

The idea pestered me for a few days. What hung up in my mind is that I thought ‘this is why our nation is fat.’ This is why I live in the fattest state in the country. Portion control. I looked at my own plate that evening, yep there’s a problem. Which got me thinking something else. If hubby won’t join me, I’ll go ahead and try this Deck of Cards business and see if I’m equally satisfied, and perhaps a scant bit thinner. After all, who couldn’t lose a pound or two.

Oh wait, I don’t follow through with anything. I will start it, but then when a weak moment hits and I make an exceptional dinner and maybe feel like I need an extra helping, the cards will spill over and I’ll be done with my goal. Come to think of it, I really want to exercise more each day. Oh crap, another goal. I was just talking to someone about that and spouted off the ” you just need to find the time” business. My personal excuse is I have four kids, plus I homeschool now, when will I ever find time?!  Then there is having my quiet time with God each morning before my little treasures wake up. See that last one is super important because where I may eventually get some “God” time in the day, my emotional well being, then in turn the kids emotional well being is much better if that is #1 in the morning.

This morning as  I was getting ready I thought  ‘that’s it!’ I need to do some goal setting and stick to it. How long I’m thinking… hhmmm, how long? A month? Maybe 6? No no no. That is way too lofty and too committed. A week. That’s it. One week, 7 days. Of course I will need to blog about my experience. I love writing after all, and oh let’s not forget, writing is in the list of goals. Many of you know, some don’t, but I have 1/5 of a book written. Crap, that is depressing, considering the book is about the happenings from last school year. I better get that sucker written before I forget what happened. I could just make it up as I go. Who would know? I never said it would be true. I do like reading fiction, perhaps I would be better at fiction writing anyway. I digress.

So here it is, 7 days to eat portion sizes no bigger than a deck of cards, hence the ‘Deck of Cards Challenge’. Exercise each day and of course spend time with the One who wants to spend time with me the most. Wish me luck and I will let you all know how I fair. I may be thinner, grouchy and starving. Or maybe, just maybe, I will be a new student of discipline.