As 2018 comes to an end I can’t help but be excited for what 2019 has to bring.  I feel like 2018 was kind of a blur.  Between a busy spring for me and a busy fall/winter for my husband it was all I could do to survive.  Looking back it’s hard for me to even remember anything I accomplished this past year. 

I completed a 80 day health and fitness program that changed the way I put together my meal plans and also pushed me to compete hour long workouts in the mornings.  Even though I didn’t follow the meal plan 100% (Vegas Vacation!!) I lost a little weight and had some awesome muscle gains. 

We got a new to us 1 year old puppy.  She challenged my patience in just about every way possible.  She climbed over the fence and ran away a few times driving us to get a wired fence around the chain link to keep her in.  I don’t think she’s had an accident in the house for a while now either.  Apparently it’s a lot hard to retrain older dogs, which have been in a shelter for an extended period of time, then you’d think it should be.

My older daughter went from toddler to her own little person.  She is still doing her gymnastics class and we tried soccer this past fall.  My younger daughter went from a baby to a sassy toddler.  She is quite the handful most of the time but has this sweetness to her that’ll melt your heart.

I am going to start 2019 out with an ultimate detox.  I signed up for a mindset reset course to help with some of my anxiety triggers.  I also plan on going vegan for the first three weeks of the year along with a yoga routine.  I am half excited and half think that I am crazy for doing something like this.  I convinced my husband to do it with me, I may have forgot to mention that it’s a vegan meal plan, but we are debating a bet to see who loses a bigger percentage of weight.  Even if I don’t win not having to hear him complain about having nothing to eat is going to be amazing.  After we finish I am planning on maintaining my results by keeping my meals healthy 90% of the time. (Right now it’s closer to 75%)

After that I am not sure what 2019 will bring, hopefully a housekeeper, maybe a personal training certification, or maybe I’ll just take some time to slow down.  If you want to join me during my mindset reset or ultimate cleanse send me an email and I’ll get you some more information.

As mom’s we have this illusion that we can get it all done.  I will be the first to admit that I always overestimate the amount of tasks I can reasonably get done in a day.  This usually results in being in a constant state of anxiety because I am usually running late.  I am trying to keep tiny humans alive, along with myself.  I enjoy working out and eating healthy because I think it is one of the reasons I can consistently perform at such high levels.

Dinner gets made most nights but it is far from a gourmet meal.  If I could figure out how to sneak veggies into peanut butter and jelly we’d have that every night.  Sometimes she at so much during the day that all she wants is a banana and I am secretly excited I don’t have to cook anything.  Most nights I have a shake for dinner and she always has a little bit of that.

Dishes get done about every other day.  The only reason they get done so often is because I need the bottles for the baby.  I have, on occasion, just washed the bottles in the bathroom sink because I didn’t feel like dealing with the rest of the dishes.  The worst mistake I seem to continuously make is loading and running the dishwasher on a Sunday night.  I never have time to unload it during the week and the dishes pile up way faster when I can’t hide them in the dishwasher.

I do a few loads of laundry each week.  They always get washed, most of the time they make it into the drier, and sometimes get folded and put away.  Instead of sorting my clothes into lights and darks they get sorted into “need to be folded or hung up” and “can sit in the clothes basket all week”.  I feel like as soon as I get ambitious enough to finally go through the clean clothes sitting in the basket it’s time to do another load.  Towels always get washed last.  They rarely make it out of the drier until I have to actually dry another load.

Most of the time I could care less what the living room floor looks like.  I swear toddlers see empty space on the floor and go find toys to dump onto it.  The other day I got everything put away and my daughter was like “look mom I am throwing toys” Great child, just great.  On the plus side it drives my husband nuts to see all the toys on the floor so we have started to divide and conquer.  I can’t stand seeing dishes in the sink or on the counter so I deal with that while he cleans up the toys.  Maybe one day we’ll be better about actually making the toddler do it.  I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a toddler clean before but it’s pretty similar to watching grass grow.

At the end of the day though, whether or not it “all got done” I enjoy cuddling with my toddler on the couch watching cartoons until she falls asleep.  Most of the time this includes having a glass of wine (or three) for me.  Sometimes I obsessed over everything that didn’t get done, but I am getting better at just living in the moment.

PS my parenting style is not for everyone.  I am not asking for advice.  If you are living a crazy busy life like me though, embracing the chaos and just looking for some confirmation that you aren’t alone then you’ve found it here.

Busy

There are very few people sitting around with tons of free time on their hands so I always cringe when someone says they are busy.  I have a hard spot with this one for two different reasons.  The first one being that if you get the “excuse” that someone is too busy it really just means that something is not a priority for them.  If it is really important then you’ll find a way to get it done, if not, you’ll use the excuse that you are too busy.  This might mean that something has to come off the priority list.  We all have a lot of stuff to do every day and it will never get all done.

The other misuse of this word is when people equate being busy with being productive.  I can spin my wheels for hours on a task, while someone else could have completed it in 30 mins or less.  I have seen people wear being busy as a badge of honor and then when you break it down many of the activities could have been completed by someone else way more efficiently.

Fine

I just finished a book on this and what prompted me to get some of my thoughts on paper.  We really need to stop saying we are fine when most of us really feel stuck.  This is another default answer when someone asks you how you are doing.  I have decided to change my answer to this question to either Great or Meh.  To mean fine means you are bored.  If I am doing “Great” then that means I am taking on new challenges or projects.  Kicking ass and taking names.  If I am just “Meh” then it probably means I have run into a roadblock somewhere that I need to work through.  The best part about owning up to the “Meh” feelings is that they turn into feelings of greatness once you get through them.

Tired

I don’t want to put this one on the list because I use it all the time.  It seems to be my default answer any time I get asked how I am doing.  I need to take my own advice and prioritize this one higher J  This one falls in the same category and being busy.

Or

I have noticed that a lot of times people have an either/or mindset.  I would challenge you to start thinking in the “And” mindset.  Why can’t you be a spouse, parent, work, AND have a hobby?  If the first thing that pops into your head are excuses then your back to thinking either/or.  If all of those things (or more) are something you really want, create a roadmap and multiple options to get there.

I almost didn’t commit to following the program with about 45000 other people.  I bought the equipment, loaded up on my supplements, and was ready to go…….then I realized some of the workouts were an hour long.  I already was getting up at 4am to get my workout in and if I was going to do this then I’d have to be up by 330am.  I put it out there that I was having doubts and one of my fit family members said she got up at 345am for like 4 years or something crazy like that.  After that I told myself I couldn’t complain about 80 days if she did it for years.  I sucked it up and changed my alarm.

I am SO glad I decided to do this.  The meal planning at first was a little bit of a challenge for me since my go to meals didn’t fit.  This ended up being a blessing in disguise.  I am now eating for fuel and not just to eat.  I am combining foods that I don’t typically eat (tuna, cucumbers, and quinoa) and sometimes even just throwing stuff together just to get my food in.

Honestly I cheated a little bit on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday and had a couple of glasses of wine.  While it was great at the time I totally regretted it that night and the next morning.  After a couple of days of almost no added sugar my body was totally rejecting it.  I think just having to write that is going to push me to follow my meal plan perfectly from here until vacation at the end of February.  I am excited for the meals I put together for week 2.

The workouts are tough, but not impossible.  I also realized half way through I was using the longer resistance bands when I should have been using the shorter ones.  Live and learn.

Some other things I learned…plantains do not taste like bananas.  I have been adding them to my shake for a healthy carb but I think once I run out I am going to mix it up a little.  The most important thing is that I can do whatever I put my mind to.  I feel like I am finally practicing what I preach about getting out of your comfort zone and how big of a role mindset plays into everything.

I am really excited for what the next few weeks are going to bring.  Maybe I’ll end up with six pack abs, or maybe I’ll just be happy with breaking out of my comfort zone.  I’ll for sure get a free shirt for finishing and submitting my results.