13 February 2012

setting goals.

liz

liz3

liz2

I never talked about New Year's resolutions and in my mind I made a few but have not acted on them. So, I thought if I actually sat down and wrote a few words on my personal goals perhaps I would be more inclined to carry them out.

I consider myself a healthy person. I eat healthy, I try and eat mostly organic foods and focus on local and what's in season. I don't eat vey much meat and I live a dairy free lifestyle. Yet I know there is room for improvement. While I do workout I don't workout as often as I would like. I'm lucky to workout four days a week and I haven't been to the gym in years. A few weeks ago Danielle talked about cutting out sugar from her diet and it made me think. How much sugar does my family really consume? I do try and avoid sugar but it is in everything!! As you know, I love to bake but I always use natural sweaters like cane sugar, honey or agave syrup and I watch my portion sizes when I indulge in these treats. I know my weakest point when it comes to sugar is wine. Jon and I will always be passionate about food, wine and beer. We love tasting wines, talking about wines, reading about wines and meeting winemakers.

I have my biggest battle with sugar at night. My days are nonstop until the kids are in bed, which is usually around 8:30. I then make the whirlwind cleanup, do some laundry, make lunches, sometimes run and then shower. I don't actually sit down until 10:15 at the earliest and at this point I love to enjoy a glass of wine and dark chocolate while I work. The problem is it is already late and I SHOULD be in bed but my "me" time is just beginning. I usually work until midnight (some nights later) and then Jon gets home. Since I haven't seen him all day I like to chat with him over a glass of wine and watch a show, which I ultimately always fall asleep during. Jon nudges me to go to bed and I make my way upstairs. And, on most nights Jess wakes up shortly after wanting to come in our bed or to be rocked, Jonas somehow always "sleep walks" into our bed about an hour or two later and Josh wonders in around 6:30am asking if it's time to go downstairs. And yes, unfortunately, it is time to go downstairs so day can begin.

Consuming these sugars (dark chocolate or another sweet treat and one or two glasses of wine) this late in the evening is taking a toll of my body. The lack of sleep and late night sugars are making my body tired, my skin dull and my mind groggy (yes, I am only having one or two glasses of vino). Every morning I say "I will go to bed early" but there are just too many items on my to do list and I won't sacrifice my time during the day because that's for the kids.

As you can see I need to improve in the health department! No sleep equals coffee all day long which I know is bad. This NEEDS to change.
SO, here are some goals I have set aside for myself:

1. Go to bed earlier. Plain and simple.

2. If I can get to bed earlier then I can rise earlier to accomplish some of my tasks. This morning time would be great for a quick run, blog posts, catching up an emails or on kid's school paperwork.

3. Replace my evening sugars with green tea. I love tea but find that I hardly drink it anymore. If I can get in bed earlier I can drink my green tea while I read or write.

4. No sugars after 10:00pm. I can still enjoy a glass of wine or some dark chocolate but I should avoid combining them and I need to consume them earlier in the night.

5. Cut back on my "to do" list. Prioritize what is most important and focus on those.

Basically, I need to work on a new schedule for myself. If the kids go down at 8:30 then I should set aside fifteen minutes for a quick clean up and then work for only half hour or forty-five minutes. While I work I can have that "sweet treat" as long as I'm in bed at a reasonable hour. My body and mind work hard all day long so I need that rest at night to catch up and prepare for the next day.

I did make one small New Year's resolution that I have stuck with...wearing less jeans. In fact, most days I don't wear jeans anymore and I actually put more effort into dressing myself. I have a closet full of fabulous cloths that I hardly wear. Now is the time to break them out! Ironically, after I snapped these photos I headed out for a meeting and changed into jeans, kept the blouse and added a new sweater that I just purchased. The sweater didn't work with these pants and I was so excited to wear it ;)

Oh, and Bailey says he also has a goal. He vows to work on staying in our home and not running away on a weekly basis which then results in elevated stress levels for Jon and I. He feels horrible about the strain he puts on us and promises to work on it!

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