Absentee Blogger

Lately I've felt like an absentee blogger, mostly only blogging on Wednesdays for some wellness encouragement and accountability, but I've just been too busy/exhausted/stressed/busy trying to be healthy/taking photos I don't even have time to download/etc. to spend much time here. I barely have time for catching up on my reading, never mind writing (glad to see I'm not the only one who is MIA though, lol). I hope things are settling down soon on all fronts, so I'll be back. Absence makes the heart grow fonder : )

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

So, I was super busy over the weekend, I couldn't blog a Thanksgiving/gratitude post like I wanted until now.

I hosted my immediate family's Thanksgiving celebration for the first time ever, now that we are in a home big enough, with enough furniture and dishes to handle my family size. It was exciting, fun, scary, chaotic, and I'd love to do it again so I'm doing Christmas for Sean's family at our house this year as well. My first turkey was given the thumbs up, of course I did have mom on the phone for a bit and then hovering to help the last hour of cooking : ) My mom and sisters all brought dishes to help out, which they ended up partially preparing at my place and my new, large kitchen all of a sudden seemed small. It was a little like bumper cars because no one knew where all the dishes and utensils were, which we all have memorized in mom's kitchen, but it worked and dinner was great! The kids were also a handful, being in a new place they hadn't been yet, with a kitty that they are both fascinated with yet terrified of, but I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with them, as I always do.

We also celebrated Sean's birthday on Friday at Flea Whiskey's, playing some pool, as well as at both our Thanksgiving gatherings, as per usual. Thank goodness, because otherwise we would have 2 desserts for his birthday and then 2 again for Thanksgiving!

There was only one damper on the weekend. We got a call early Sunday morning about Sean's brother Scott, who has an evening/weekend part time job delivering pizzas, and the night before, Saturday around 9 pm, he was jumped - robbed of the pizza money (none of his possessions were stolen) and beaten very badly. His cheek bone is broken in 4 places and they almost thought he may need facial reconstruction. This is just another in a string of bad luck he's had over the last few years and it's amazing he's still such a survivor, we almost wish he wouldn't be/act so tough some times.

So on that note, here is my list of things I am so very grateful for this year (in no particular order):
Scott's health and safety - that his wounds did not require surgery, they just require time to heal, and that he didn't lose his life or his car/possessions in the robbery
Our Family - it is great to be surrounded by family that gets along so well, we enjoy each other's company and time we get to spend with each other, and who we can rely on and draw support from during the hard times
My Hubby Sean - my husband rocks, I have been given so many reminders of how much he means to me and does for me, and I am learning every day what marriage is supposed to look like, and how deep love can grow, when the decision is made to let God work on it with us. I look forward to every morning I get to wake up and face the world with Sean, especially knowing no matter what happens we will be falling asleep in each other's arms every night.
Our Home - I am constantly reminded of how God has blessed us with this perfect home, the timing was impecable from the sale of our home, to the offer on this one, to the changing market and mortgage rates, everything worked out in our benefit and we are so blessed. We now have the home we've always wanted, where we can feel comfortable having lots of friends and family over, hosting events/meals, having room to expand our family if that's what God blesses us with. And it's a home we could immediately settle in to without a lot of work, all the work is purely cosmetic for our own tastes/comfort. Not only did we end up with our perfect house but God took care of us financially, between the sale and purchase of our homes, the only debt we have is our mortgage and our lease, we were able to put a big chunk down on our new home and have savings to spare. We are honored God has heaped all these blessings on us.
My Job - I love what I do, I love that I get to be the administrative wizard who gets to help people every day doing the things I'm good at, and they appreciate me!
My Admin Assistant - who was finally offered the job on Tuesday and is signing the offer letter as we speak....and she just so happens to be a friend! It will be so great working with her, not only because she's a great friend but because I know we will be an awesome team, she will be someone I can really rely on
Our Friends - people who have always been there to share life with, even after times of busyness and being incommunicado, we can always pick up right where we left off. Some move away and others move back, but the encouragement, support, caring, laughter and love are never far away. We are especially glad our friend Ben will be leaving the army in a matter of months and will never have to go to war again.
My Country - the election this year may have been deemed a 'complete waste of time' by some but this election really spoke to me this time, about why I should be grateful to live in Canada. First of all, I am grateful I have the right to chose who is going to govern most of the things that will affect my life; the economy, the laws/justice, freedoms, finances, our environments, education, health care, etc. Second of all, I am grateful for some of the silly squabbles between our parties, because our main concerns are not genocide, famine, extreme poverty, huge populations ravaged by easily treated diseases, a war torn country, dictatorship, violations of human rights, etc.
My God - who never gives up pursuing a perfect relationship with me, no matter how imperfect I am, He never lets me feel guilty or unworthy, He always reminds me He loves me the way I am and just encourages me to draw nearer to Him. He has changed me so much over the last year, both inside and out, changes I've tried to make on my own for ages, changes I didn't think I had needed to make, and He has made my life so much more healthy, fulfilling and enjoyable, despite being in limbo about motherhood. There would be nothing to be grateful for without Him.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and an opportunity to reflect on all the blessings in your own life!

Living Well Wednesdays - Seeing things in a new light....again

So last week, knowing Thanksgiving and a birthday celebrations were happening Friday, Saturday and Monday I restrained my calories and did all my exercise through the week, I had a great 'star' week in preparation, and so I did indulge myself but didn't gorge myself over the weekend. I missed out on exercise yesterday because my neck and back started getting very painful yesterday afternoon and so I ended up one pound this morning, but it's not getting me down. It's just one pound.

What is getting me down is a revelation from my doctor's appointment on Friday, a revelation that has been a few years in the making but nobody told me....I'm shrinking!! Last time anyone told me my height was years ago, I can't even remember that's how long it's been, but at that time I was just over 5'8 1/2", now I've been told I am 5'6 1/2"!! TWO INCHES!! That's a lot to learn about all at once but it's been on going for a little while because I checked out my driver's license photo taken last November and it was just under 5'7 1/2". So I've lost an inch in a year, and who knows how long it took me to lose that first inch. But I mean, people, hello! You can see the before and after measurement, why aren't you telling me I'm shrinking!!!! I've always identified myself as a tall person and so it's taking some getting used to but the worst realization was yet to come.

At the end of my doctor's appointment, when we were discussing my height and weight, he asked me if I was aware of what BMI (Body Mass Index) is, which I do, and so he told me with my 'new' height and current weight I was just under 30, which means it estimates the amount of body fat I have as making me obese!! In March when I thought I was 5'8 1/2", before I lost 25 lbs, my BMI was 30.5 and I would have agreed I was obese but not now! I'm confident enough in my body, now, that I know I am not obese, that is ridiculous, but that is what my BMI says I am! Just because I shrunk! I always thought the BMI was a little skewed since my old BMI said my weight should be 140-170, and last time I was 140 I was told I looked anorexic. Now the BMI says my weight should be 117-156....that is ridiculous as well! I am 186 right now, can you imagine what I would look like minus another 30 lbs? And that would be the MOST fat I should have on me! BMI is essentially saying I'm 30lbs over weight at my new height! I'm not going to go to that extreme.

The BMI does have a disclaimer for body builders, which I wouldn't classify myself as, but I am thinking I do about 60 minutes of weight lifting per week, at least, some of my 'extra' weight has got to be muscle. I'm actually pretty sure I've got some solid muscle on me, which makes me quite happy actually....that's a perspective I may not have realized had it not been for this enlightenment. Plus, I've always known I have a heavy bone mass because I've always looked less heavy than I really am, but they don't have any calculations for bone or muscle mass that I can use to get a more accurate BMI so it sucks my doctor is going to be preaching about BMI. I know I still need to lose about 17 lbs, I'm sticking to my original goal, and if I'm in a size 10-12 I will be very happy, but it's still a little disheartening to think my health is going to be judged on the fact I'll be 'overweight' if I'm over 156 lbs.

Living Well Wednesdays - Better late than never

Ok, according to my chart I did about the same as I did last week, I did better on the weekend but not as well during the week, but I wasn't watching my chart for an overall view of how I was doing, which if I had I could have seen what was going on. I didn't notice until after that I had less stars in my calories column, and less in my exercise column, but I had more in all my other columns, so even though I had the same amount of stars I gained half a pound back. I hesistate to place value one healthy action over another but eating and exercising are the most directly related to weight and so I still need to place a stronger emphasis on those areas. It wouldn't matter that I was eating all fruit and vegetables if I'm still going to go over my calories AND not exercise as much. I can allow for not meeting calorie goals (not gorging) every day if I'm exercising right, or vice versa, but not slack on both at the same time, that's not balanced. So, better late then never, I learned I need to see how I'm doing as a whole, not just daily, not just total stars, but where those stars are placed.
One thing I also want to focus on for the future is getting out of the habit of snacking in the evening. I have been snacking just about EVERY evening that I have not hit my max calories and now it's just a habit to snack, even if I am not really enjoying the snack past the first few bites, which is ridiculous to continue eating it then, but I still do. I need to listen to that voice that says I don't need a snack, or the feeling that makes me want to put my snack away because I'm not enjoying it anyway. My 'need' for boredom munching is making me ignore that help from the Spirit and I need to start remembering at those times that "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." I need to be in the frame of mind that temptation is something to stand up against, not justifying so I can give in to it.

Living Well Wednesdays -

So this last week was ok, one of those I didn't do my best but I still behaved, and lost 0.5 lb for that, which is a loss, so I'm happy. I'm really loving having my chart, I can check my progress in the morning and after work, see how I'm doing, what choices I should make to meet my goals. One thing I've noticed right off the bat is I give myself too much leeway on weekends....and weekends often start on Thursday, lol. But now that I know that is my pattern I'm going to make sure not to continue that.

This week is super busy so that's all I really have time to write today, but I'll leave you with a word that I picked up from recent work promotions, sustainability. It reminds me to live life in a way that I can sustain.