Lovin and Livin
This is a place for me to just be me… (All content Copyrighted Yeve Eeffoc 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)Challenge Update Week Ending January 22nd
So last week was a rough week. It was the 1st full week of doing exercise.
There were many times I wanted to just not go but I didn’t fall into that. I went! And then there were many times I would pull in and see how crowded the parking lot was and think I should just come back later (cause hauling the carseat with Baby Monkey in it a long way is rough after working out). But I didn’t – I would park and haul them all inside!
I weighed myself today and I am down to 204.2! YAY me! Two weeks of eating right and hard work and I am doing okay.
I did measure some of me but I want to do more measurements. I only did the neck, waist and hips. Plus when I used to measure I used to measure down a certain amount and measure in that same spot each week and I forgot to do that this time. So I am not sure if I am measuring in the exact same spots or not. But I did lose some inches in the spots I did measure.
So just a reminder I have 112 miles to walk/run and I have 4107 minutes of cardio to do (my choice).
At the end of this past week I was down to 3377 minutes of cardio left to do and 112 miles!
I have almost done 1000 minutes of cardio! YAY!
Not only do I have that challenge going on but I have since added more miles to my 112! I have another friend (Panther) whom was looking to do 250 miles of walking over the rest of the year. So I decided to join him in his challenge!
I am hoping to be done with both of these by the end of July.
And I got an extra special surprise today! I was talking to my friend about the bodybugg and she has one. I then started to look into it and well they are on sale right now. And then I found a 15% off (or was it 20% off) coupon code online! I got the bodybugg and the watch that goes with it (I need the visual to see what I am actually doing!) for $159.20!
It is an early birthday present! I am so excited!
Challenge Update Week Ending January 15th
Well I started Monday morning.
The scale was tipping a whopping 211 pounds.
I was going to do measurements for the neck, arms, chest, waist, hips, thighs and calfs but didn’t do it.
I have to walk and or run 112 miles. I have 4107 minutes of cardio (my choice).
On Sunday I still had 112 miles to go but I was down to 3897 minutes of cardio.
I am trying to average 70 minutes a day at this point so that I can have one day of rest during the week.
This week I focused on the eating from Monday to Thursday and on Friday our family joined the YMCA.
That was even more of an adjustment for me. Wow talk about feeling as if I was starving by Monday. Friday and Saturday I was okay with my eating by Monday I felt as if I was dying. It was then that I realized that I was not accounting for the breastfeeding I was doing on top of the other calories I was eating and the exercise I was doing.
It has been a week of trial and error.
By Sunday I had blisters but I pushed through it. By Monday they got covered in bandaids and I pushed through.
I am doing okay. I need some different shoes but I am doing okay overall.
I am excited to be on this journey of health. I feel good about myself!
Challenge Update!
I just wanted to post and say – I have decided that I am going to post once a week (Monday) to give you a rundown of the past week.
I will post tomorrow with all of the information.
Today though I did want to say that I have been busy this past week. Adjusting my eating habits and then joined the YMCA on Friday and added exercise to the mix.
Last night my knees were killing me! I seriously wanted to die. I took some Tylenol (can’t use Advil type products) and prayed to God that my knees would be feeling better so that I would be able to continue today. I want to say I woke up and me knees felt great.
Although today while at the Y it became very apparent that I need different shoes. I have blisters. I was on the treadmill for about 20 minutes when I started to feel the rubbing (more than I had yesterday) and by 30 minutes when I looked at the spot that hurt my heals were red and on fire. I finished another 10 minutes on the treadmill and then transitioned over to the recumbent bike. I hate doing the bike because my left foot goes numb. It is just like when I do the elliptical – my left foot goes numb.
So any suggestions on how to deal with blisters other than going out and getting a new pair of shoes (I really need to clean my closet and find my running shoes because those are lower on my heals) so I can do the treadmill tomorrow – I would greatly appreciate!
Nervous
Yesterday a friend posted on facebook a challenge to her friends to get her moving. Actually I have seen a lot of people doing a challenge similar to this.
They post something like, “However many people like this status that is how many miles I will walk/run this year” or something similar to that.
My friends challenge was – each like was a mile, each share was a mile, each comment was five minutes and each like to the comments were a minute.
Well let me say I was racking up a lot of minutes and miles for her. Then all of a sudden I was feeling the urge to do the same thing. So instead of doing my own I told her I would join her in her challenge. However many she had I would do the same amount with her. This however does not mean I am going to go out to where she lives – it just means I am doing the same amount in the same amount of time.
So from now (but my now isn’t starting until I join the YMCA – next Friday) until the end of April I have:
- 4107 minutes
- 112 miles
So when you break it down with the miles 68 hours and 45 minutes to do.
For the miles I figure right now I am probably about 3 miles per hour. My hope is that as I get a little more fit I will be doing about 4 per hour. So for this purpose I am just going to use the 3. So for the miles I have about 37.3333333333333333 hours to do.
So from January 13th to April 30th I have 105.783333333333333 hours to complete in exercise.
Now that may sound like a lot but if I break it down even further it looks MUCH better!
It is approximately 15 weeks. That comes to about 7.0522222222222 hours per week.
But mind you that is with figuring out the hours with 3 miles (in regards to the miles – not the minutes. The minutes there is no reduction there – it is no matter how I figure it out 68 hours and 45 minutes!). So as I get in shape a bit more by the time I get to the miles part I might be doing 4 miles per hour and that would lessen what I have to get done per week.
So I am nervous because this is a lot to do in a little time. But I am going to feel so good about myself when I have actually completed it.
I plan on giving updates. I am not sure if I am going to give them weekly or daily or what. But I will be giving updates with countdown.
So today is January 7th and I have a challenge -I have until April 30th and I have a lot of minutes and a lot of miles to go!
Looking for people to hold me accountable! Hope I can count on your!
January 2012
I have been putting off posting. I don’t even know why really. I have been trying to figure out why I have just stopped posting. I start posts and put them in drafts and then never go back to them.
I have finally come to a few conclusions:
- I am letting myself become lazy with my blogging.
- I am not allowing myself vent.
- I am wanting to make changes in my life but making excuses.
- I am needing to make some major changes in my life.
Things have been a bit crazy around here. Just a few of the things would be issues with Oldest Monkey. I am gaining weight again and eating horrible. Spiritually things are getting better but not completely on track which is frustrating. I am changing and because of that things that used to not bother me now bother me, which is leading to issues in my marriage (sort of).
I really thought things were going well. I had been praying about things and it seemed that God placed things in my life to help me work through and deal with some of the things I had been praying about. Then it always seems I get hit upside the head and realize things are not going as well as I thought they were.
Back in December I had a feeling by the way Oldest Monkey was talking he was running out of options with places to live. I prayed about it and the next time he showed up I said something along the lines of if you need to move back in you need to sit down and talk to Jack in the Box and I and we will discuss it. It was no things are fine, don’t need it, blah, blah, blah. And then not even a week later he came over and said I need a place to live. Jack in the Box and I sat down and talked to him about the rules and he agreed. He agreed to get enrolled in school. He agreed to the curfew. He agreed to look for a job. He agreed to help out around the house.
Instead it was him looking for a job the first couple of days. Helping out a bit here and there but mainly when he was told to do something he delegated it to his brother. Then it turned into other issues. And now after a disagreement we had this past Sunday he hasn’t been here since.
Tonight I am thinking (if I have the energy) that I am going to pack his stuff up. I want to help him. I want him to make it in this world. I want him to succeed. But I need to set boundaries. I need to implement tough love.
Our home is not a place for him to come and go from when friends are sick of him or when he over stays his welcome and has no place else to go. If he is going to live here he has to abide by our rules and he isn’t. So as much as I feel the need to allow him to be here – the other children and their safety needs to be taken into account.
I am back to gaining weight again. I am eating horrible. I am emotionally eating. The plus side is that I am recognizing this. The other plus is that I haven’t resorted to drinking pop again – I am still drinking my water. I am just eating terrible. Eating when I am not hungry. Overeating when I am hungry. I have made some choice and decisions recently and I know that I must follow through with them. I have decided to go forward with a shake drink thing. It will help me do a few things: lose weight, get my sugar issue under control, and lower my cholesterol. Overall my goal in the past has always been to get skinny. Truth is I need to not worry about being skinny I need to focus on being healthy. I could be skinny and not be healthy. So I have changed the way I am thinking about things. This is about me teaching myself, my husband and my children the importance of being healthy!
The last part is a killer for me. I am changing in my walk with God. I have been praying a lot. I have a long way to go but my heart is changing in regards to some things. Things that made me uncomfortable before now really make me uncomfortable. There are things that just bug me and I know why they bug me. How do you tell your husband that you hate your children being around his nephews? The things that come out of their mouths really bother me. No one have ever really corrected them and it bothers me now. It bothered me before but now it really bothers me. I don’t think it is appropriate and it is wearing on me. And one thing my husband does is shots in the winter on Sunday mornings. So he misses church – it is 10 weeks. It bothers me but I have done an okay job getting over it. Last year we went each Sunday after church to sit and wait with him to be done. This year I am not doing it. It is a club full of guys (and some women) but the mouths are not appropriate for my children. They also have a banquet at the end of the year. I went last year and this year I won’t be going. I didn’t have fun. I didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t drink the rest of them did. I didn’t enjoy listening to the conversations because it was pretty much the same as it was at the club just a fancy facility. When Jack in the Box asked if I would be coming this year I told him no. He was upset. Was asking me why. Asking me if I would go to the banquet with him. I just keep on saying no. When he asked why I made up excuses. I have tried to tell him the truth but it just never comes out fully. I should not be embarrassed as to why I don’t’ want to go. It isn’t even that I am embarrassed it is that I don’t want to hurt his feelings about his friends. So I have said things like no place to breast feed and what fun will it be to sit there for 3 hours with an infant who needs naps, etc. Which are true but not the real reason why. It in many ways makes me feel horrible. Jack in the Box your friends are nice and all I just don’t like the way they talk or what they talk about. And your nephews I love to death but they way they treat each other and talk to each other isn’t what I want our children learning or to be around.
I just don’t see those things going over all to well. Sigh.
I will get there with His gentle pushing or He will whack me upside the head with a two x four when I need a big push!
MIA
I have been missing in action.
I have had so many posts running through my head.
I haven’t had a lot of time though to write. I am hoping that all of these thoughts don’t leave my head by the time I actually get to write!
Today is December 30th. There is one more day left in this year.
I have big changes planned for me, this family and for our financial future. I guess these are not just my plans they are the plans that Jack in the Box and I are making together.
For the first time in a very long time I am feeling very good about who we are and what we are doing.
I sat down yesterday and worked on our budget for next year. Twelve months of bills. Two months of credit cards, three months paying off the van, and six months paying off one of our loans. By the end of next year if everything stays on track we will have a mortgage, a car payment and student loans to pay other than our monthly bills. We will have an emergency fund. We will have a savings account. We will have the kitchen painted and with a new window. Our living room will be done. Our two bathrooms will be done. Our hallway and dining room will be done (other than the floor).
This year that is coming up is going to be a good year. God has blessed this family. I have made my requests. I have continued to pray for help and for healing.
He has blessed us this past year and for that I am forever grateful!
This new year is about to start and for the first time in a long time I am actually excited about it becoming a new year!
It Is Almost That Time
It is almost Christmas time and I have been attempting to post for a while now.
I seem to start posts and then something happens and they never get finished. At least I have some drafts going for when the world slows down.
Life has been crazy for a time. When we get to this time of the year things are crazy. We are dealing with (okay so I get to deal with) the Ex and the Oldest Monkey who really doesn’t have a clue.
I try to be flexible with people. I try to understand. And all it ever does is just turn around and bite me in the buns in the end.
I have been doing a lot of thinking and praying. I have been realizing I have a lot I need to change. It is all good and it will all be good in the end! God is good all the time – it is me who isn’t good all the time!
Taking it to Him is the only way to go in these times! The time of frustration for me!
Big Picture
I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. When I think it isn’t always a good thing but this time it is pretty good.
I am getting to this new place where I am seeing the bigger picture.
I have always looked at light like it is this big puzzle. It is a big puzzle that I don’t have the picture for. I can’t look at the box top and see what the final product looks like. I am putting this puzzle together piece by piece just trying to guess what the final product looks like.
It isn’t easy but there are moments in this life when I am putting the puzzle together that I get a glimpse of the big picture and I can say wow this is going to be beautiful when it is finally finished!
The goal here on earth isn’t about having the biggest and best things. It isn’t about collecting the most important things to impress others. It isn’t about anything other than doing what is right by Him!
When you are doing things that are right by Him you don’t always go with the flow. You don’t always have the biggest and best things. You work hard for what you have. You have to make sacrifices.
I have heard that if you don’t feel it when you give – you are not giving enough. If you don’t have to arraign your life to be based around Him then you are not giving enough.
I am not sure if I totally agree with that but I do think there is some basis around it. He does provide us with our jobs, our finances, and I do think that when He provides you with much you should give much back!
I don’t think it means you have to stop doing everything you want. I don’t think it means you never go on vacations. I don’t think it means you put yourself in a predicament financially. I do think though that if you are not tithing and you are spending more on fun things, coffee, eating out and things like that you are not doing enough.
We as a family are not doing enough. We are finally going to get to the point where we are tithing the 10% and I am excited about it. It is going to hurt because it means we are not going to be saving like I would like to. But it also means that we are depending upon Him to provide what we need fully. That is a great feeling!
I am excited about getting our credit cards paid off (I know I keep on talking about it). It has been so a relief to even think we are going to be so close to getting them paid off!
He is amazing when you stop and think about it! He provides you with what you need when you need it. Even though we have a lot of things we need or should or want to get done around the house – I WANT TO GET THESE PAID OFF! Then we can take that money and set it aside to pay for what we want to get done with CASH!
It might take us longer but in the long run if we are paying for it with cash – there is no interest on any project! So if we spend $5.00 or $5000.00 – that is exactly what it cost us!
Also we might not have been tithing fully but we have been donating things to a local church who has a program to help those with addictions! It has been a great feeling to be giving to those who really need it! I could be selling them stuff and making money with it but instead I have been giving to those who really need help.
I have been making a lot of small changes. I am hoping them lead to much bigger and better changes in the big picture that I don’t see. I am hoping that when the last puzzle piece has been put in to finish my puzzle – that the big picture I have been working on my whole life is a portrait of Him!
A New Direction
For a while I have been saying how much I would love to be debt free. Honestly though even though we were moving in that direction we were such a far way off. We still are a far way off but we have a plan that is more concrete now than it ever has been.
In Bible Study I am reading The Christian Atheist by Craig Groeschel. The last two chapters we have read have been about believing in God but pursuing happiness at any cost and about believing in God but trusting in money more than Him.
No one wants to be in debt. I think it happens because so many people are in pursuit of the next bigger and better thing. They better cell phone, the bigger TV, the new car, the better camper, the bigger ring, and the bigger house. It drives you to spend and do things that you never thought you would do. And when you have that newer things the happiness it brings is only fleeting. Then you are already seeking out the next best thing.
I was like that for a long time. I always wanted whatever was bigger, better, newer and it led to a huge downfall. We never had the bigger and better thing because by the time we got the current bigger or better thing another one was out!
I have been praying for a while about this type of thing and then these chapters came up. He was talking to me.
I want to truly be free and out of debt. I want our credit cards paid off. I want money to be in savings. I want an emergency fund. I want our student loans paid off. I want the cars paid off. I want the house paid off.
It isn’t going to happen over night but it is going to happen. We just need to keep our eyes on the prize. The prize of living within our means. The prize of giving to those who are less fortunate. The prize of feeling it when I give. The prize of tithing and feeling good about it. The prize of knowing what I am doing is the right thing.
Most people can’t pay for things with cash because they are not living within their means and they are unable to save. I want to be paying for things with cash. I want money in savings.
We are heading into a new direction and for the first time in a really long time I actually feel good about it.
