Running

Aaron and I are going to start running together tomorrow! I'm really excited! I started walking last week, but it will be so fun to do this as a couple! It'll be nice to spend the time together (which we rarely get, especially without kids around) and it will be great to motivate each other to be healthy. It will make it so much better since we both want it!

I need to get some shoes that will be better for my feet, but the super padded ones that the shoe companies have convinced us to wear will have to do for now...

Walking

I've been wanting to get outside and have fun as well as exercise for a while, now. It is finally (hopefully permanently) warm enough to do so and I just talked to a neighbor about walking together. We are going to start walking tomorrow and we're going to do it everyday. We found a time that we can always go and everything!

I'm really excited! Having someone to go with will make is SO much easier to do.

Healthy body, here I come!!

Nope, this picture has nothing to do with my post!

Whew! We have started on an adventure of lifelong good health! Aaron and I have been dissatisfied with our health and decided to start doing something about it.

Aaron's idea was inspired by my uncle. He's 69 years old and he is in amazing shape! He rides his bike all over the country just because he wants to. Even when he isn't biking, he is constantly moving. He wore our whole family out in one day!

We were so inspired by him that we decided to follow his example and try being more active. We take any chance we can to ride our bikes or walk to the places we need to around town. Our van still works fine, we've just decided to leave it parked as much as we can. Even when we do drive somewhere, we tend to park far away from the entrance so that we can get that little extra walk in.

The general rule is that if it is safe and feasible, we don't take the van. Sometimes, time, kids, health or weather affect the decision, but we try!

So, we walk/bike to work, school, grocery stores (most of the time and not for big trips) church, Grandma's house, etc. So far, we like it a lot!

I feel so much better and have so much more energy and ambition to do the other things I need to be doing. It takes more time to walk, but I still seem to have plenty of time to do the things here at home, even the fun stuff!

So, I challenge you to do the same! Or come up with your own plan, whatever!

Oh, and that is a picture of Doodle at Bear Lake! She sure had fun in the dirt! There is a similar pic of Princess up there with the same makeup! I should find it...

Headache

I've been struggling with a headache for almost a week. I was starting to get concerned! It also hurt on the outside, which is something I've never experienced before. So, I've been taking Ibuprofen around the clock just to have a mild headache.

Last night, I asked Captain Marvelous to massage my back and neck. He rubbed a sore spot that was all knotted up. As he was working that out, it hurt up into my neck and head. That was the culprit! After the massage, I felt a lot better. I woke up this morning (not refreshed due to someone little to be left unnamed) without a headache for the first time in days!

Aaaaahhhhh!!!!!!

Healthy

I amazingly lost 5 lbs in the past 6 weeks!! (that's how long it's been since I weighed myself) I've been feeling frumpy and eating badly, so I am glad I have done okay.

Well, I'm out of my frumpy mood and ready to be healthy, again. I wish I could go outside to walk or something, but it is way too cold for my girls. I need to call my SIL and go with her in the evenings. For now, I'm using Wii Fit. Hey what great inspiration to be able to run with Ned Flanders, Chuck Norris, and Miss Piggy!

So, wish me luck! So far, I am pre-Doodle weight. I just need to get pre-Link and Princess and we'll be good. I'd really like to get to where I was when I got married. I liked that size!

Oh, and if any of you have ideas of ways I can exercise for free and in the winter, I'd love to hear them! We do have a exercise machine in the basement...

Health Habits

I have been working on getting healthier. I feel like I've made some large steps. I eat a lot less, especially snacks. I think I may have actually shrunk my stomach because I can't eat as much as I used to be able to. And, honestly, I used to be able to eat more than a lot of men I know! It was sad!

I have also been more active. I don't go to a gym, but I am up and moving a lot more. I run and dance with the kids at home. I have been doing more push-ups, crunches and squats. Yesterday, I took a two mile walk to pick up Luke from school. He really liked it, so I plan on walking to pick him up walking two days a week.

I don't think I've lost much weight. I don't own a scale on purpose. But, I feel better. I feel less frumpy and more energetic.

I think my schedule will help with getting healthier as well. When you don't have time to eat lots of snacks, you don't. It helps that there aren't a lot of snacks around!

So, if any of you have any ideas of how you stay active, I'd love to hear them. I'm really not a gym kind of girl, so I want to do as much as I can at home!

SMART Habit Saturday

I missed another week, but I have still been trying to remember to take a vitamin and working my way through 64 ounces of water. I have been doing okay. I feel good about what I have been able to do.

This week, I want to work on exercise! I have been eating better and now, I want to work on exercise. I want to do something physical every day. Aaron wants to as well, so that should make it easier!

If you want to become a better person one habit at a time, go over to The Lazy Organizer and learn all about it!

SMART Habit Saturday

Hey, look at this, I'm early, today!! I have been out of the SMART loop for a few weeks. I have actually been doing really well on some of the things that I have done as SMART habits, many, many times! Since I got my Palm Pilot, I have been doing REALLY well with my scripture reading. I downloaded some of them to my eReader and it has been great! I also set scripture reading as a task that I have to check off everyday! It is great! I have also been a lot better at exercising the last couple of weeks. I have mostly been just going on walks, but it has been really good for me, the kids and sometimes Aaron!

As I am writing this, I don't know what to work on this week...

I'm still thinking...

Okay, I know! I want to make sure to take my vitamin and drink at least 64 ounces of water everyday. Both of these things will help me to be healthier. I have a bottle that fits 64 ounces and that helps a lot. I can measure it easier.

So, I hope you all have a great week!!

If you want to join up, go here and here to learn all about SMART habits!!!

Really Live

I found Dumb Little Man several months ago. It is a blog dedicated to giving tips for anything and everything in life. It is a great collection!! A few days ago, the topic was 39 Ways to Live and Not Merely Exist. I really liked what they had to say. It wasn't just advice for exotic places to see, but ways that you can really live and enjoy life.

This world, this life has so much to offer that it is a shame when people don't go out and explore it!

I really think that people should to the things they enjoy. Life can be hard and we all need things in our lives that can make us happier! It drives me crazy when people decide to go into careers that they hate, just to make money.
Don't get me wrong, we all need money, but if you can get it doing something that makes us each happy!! Going to work is hard enough when you like it. I have had plenty of days that I didn't want to go, even when my job was something I loved to do!!

Here and Doing Okay

I just wanted to post a little note to say thank you for all of your loving support and prayers! You are awesome! I have gotten a lot of emails and comments lending support and it has been wonderful. I'm glad that I joined this caring, loving community of bloggers! I have a loving family that has helped me so very much, as well.

I am doing alright. I wouldn't say that I am stable, yet, but I am on my way. I am starting to get back into my normal routine. Well, I am actually starting to get into a better routine. The doctor told me that as long as I am not cramping, it is okay to do the things I was used to doing. I went for a nice walk with the kids and Freckles this morning. It was great, except that she isn't such a good go-for-a-walk kind of dog, yet. We haven't been so good about taking her our for walks, so it is too new for her. She has to smell EVERYTHING and goes all over the place. I think she'll eventually be a great walking companion, with a little work. We brought Freckles home and then walked to the park. The kids had a lot of fun and I enjoyed talking with another mom who was there.

So, since I had a wake up call when I got on the scales at the doctor's office, I am going to focus on getting healthy!! Our diet isn't too bad, other than the fact that I eat too much. But, my activity level is horrible!! I need to get out and get active!! So, that is my new goal. If anyone has any tips on what gets them going, let me know!!

2 Extras

Today I am watching two kids from church. Their mom is at Disneyland with her oldest daughter! How fun is that? I hardly know these kids, so I hope things go well when they arrive. We'll have them from 9am-6pm! It could be interesting. One of them is about Belle's age and the other is a six month old. It'll be fun to have a baby around, today.

I am getting over a cold/flu that totally knocked me out this weekend. It came on really suddenly and then I was just wiped out for a day and a half. Now, I just have the gunk in my sinuses and throat! So far, no one else has caught it. I hope it stays that way!

Funk

I have been in a weird funk for a few days. It has been mostly influenced by my good friends, my Hormones!! I hate that chemicals in my body can so affect the way I think and feel at this time of the month. I am not usually affected this much by hormones, but I think there are other factors at play as well. Anyway, I don't know what to do with myself. I am not used to feeling...well depressed. I am the kind of person who gets upset, cries, gets a good night's rest or two and then I am fine. I don't really get depressed, so I don't know what to do about it. Although, Aaron made a good point, since this is most likely due to hormones, now is not really the time to make a plan or try to figure it out. If I just wait a few days, I should be fine. One thing that helped was last night, I talked to a new friend from my community class. We just talked like we had known each other for a long time. It was really nice. In some ways it was better than talking to someone I know. There wasn't any of the life stuff and views that we knew about teach other to get in the way. The judgements and emotions that many times creep into a relationship were missing as well. We just talked about life, kids, family and lots of other stuff. It was nice to just talk to another woman who feels the way I do about a lot of things. I don't make close friends well. I have a lot of acquaintances, but not a lot of good friends that I get together with and just talk about nothing. I pretty much have two Friends like that and one is moving! Another thing that has helped (especially because a big part of what I am upset about is not being pregnant) is having such cute and sweet kids around me. They are both so wonderfully sweet! Belle loves to open her arms and come running to me to give me a big smiley hug many times through the day. That just melts my heart!

Personal Stuff

I don't know if I want to share this, but I am going to anyway.

I got pregnant this fall/winter, but in late December, I had a miscarriage. I was only 4 weeks along and had only just found out that I was pregnant. I have been wanting to have a baby and other than in December, I have been unsuccessful! My "baby" is going to be two years old in August and I feel like it is time for number 3!! Well, apparently Heavenly Father doesn't think so. I am okay with that and I trust His plan over mine. He usually has better plans than I do! I am trying to accept that now is not the time. Until that time, I can't keep trying, hoping and praying over this. I have no more energy for that!

So, my plan is to work really hard at getting myself healthy and actually ready to get pregnant again!! I am in a size 20 and I want a size 12! I know that isn't going to happen this summer, but that is my ultimate goal! I mostly eat well, only I eat too much. AND, I pretty much don't exercise at all! I am going to start TODAY to go for daily walks with the kids. They need it and so do I!! I have also been reading "Intuitive Eating" (which I'll blog about when I have finished it) and I think it is helping me improve the way I think about food.

So, if anyone has suggestions for what helped them stay on an exercise program, I'd love to have them. I never seem to be able to exercise consistently for more than a week. And that in itself was a miracle!

Procrastination

In our lesson in church, today, there was a section on procrastination. President Kimball said, "One of the most serious human defects in all ages is procrastination, and unwillingness to accept personal responsibilities now." That really jumped out at me. I have really been learning that procrastination is a huge waste of time. I haven't thought about some of the habits that I have been creating lately, but I have really been working on procrastination, lately. I have been learning that if I just do most things when they come up, then they don't pile up, become late, or any other thing that I don't want to happen. It is so much easier, right now, to wait and do whatever it is that you want to do, but eventually I'll have to get to the stuff I may not want to. I think it is especially tragic when I put off the things that I don't have to do, but that I really need to do for me, my sanity and my spirituality. Anyway, I really want to get to more of the things that are sitting around needing to be done...

Nutrition and Fitness for Kids

In the middle of my crazy day, I found this website. I have hardly used it and I have learned things I had no clue about. I was looking for some fitness information for my activity days girls. If you've got kids, you should check it out!

Gmap Pedometer

I found this on Dumb Little Man (which by the way is a great blog. He puts tips for just about anything you can think of in life!) You use a map to trace routes for walking/running. It can calculate the miles you would go as well as estimate calories burned. I made a couple of routes that I can walk and get the exercise I need. You can save them and go back to remember later. Although, I don't think I'll be using it all that much until it is warmer... I'll have to go do my walking at Wal-Mart or something!