The last couple months seem to have brought a lot of changes with them. The biggest of them, from which a lot of little changes have spurred, is that JC has returned from war. This, of course, means that we all have to learn how to be a whole family again. Part of JC being home means that I have a daily reminder that I have a fitness goal. Seeing my husband get up at 0530 every morning to work out inspires me to be more vigilant in my workouts. A big part of the reason that I have slacked is that my accountability partner recently PCSd. With her being back stateside, thus in a fairly different time zone, we talk much less often. Of course, less communication is often followed by less accountability. Essentially, I am back to where I was before I met her--knowing what I want to do but never actually doing it. Sure, I am a better than I was a year ago, but I still have a lot of ground to cover before I am where I want to be (and no, these are not far-reaching, ridiculous goals, but something that can be achieved in a year). So, I'm jumping back on the wagon, and next week is the kick-off!
Starting Monday, I am going to start getting up at 0600 to walk. Some of this might change a little, but right now the plan is to either eat a pre-breakfast, put Jes in the stroller with some Kix, carry Ron in the Ergo, and have at it. Upon returning, I will finish breakfast and resume my day as normal (though hopefully getting more done from having an early morning energy boost). Aside from walking, JC bought a piece of gym equipment (strength training) that will be set up soon, and he also gave me Zumba for the Kinect. I am fairly excited about that one. I did a couple tutorials the other day, and those by themselves wore me out! Who knows; the Zumba may take the place of the early morning walk, depending on how it goes and what the weather is like. That would allow me to work out without waking the kids. Hmm....
On the food front, I also fell back, particularly due to JC grilling a lot, JC getting me loads of Ben & Jerry's ice cream to make up for the year of not being able to surprise me with it, the in-laws visiting and taking us out, and vacation. I'm definitely not complaining about any of those items, but I did let myself just enjoy it, though I did control myself a bit better than normal...well...not with the ice cream. :\ On 1 August, I started a two-week challenge to ingest at least one green smoothie every day. So far, I have succeeded. Two days into the challenge I realized that I am far more likely to succeed if I prep the ingredients the night before. As I am not a morning person, using a sharp object to cut produce with bleary eyes first thing in the morning is probably not the best idea. So far, my smoothies have been 1/2 c yogurt, 1/4 c aloe juice, 2 t chia seeds, 1/4 of a cucumber, 1/2 an avocado, 1 c berries, 2 c spinach, a red plum, 1/8 c parsley, and a bit of other fruit (1/2 a banana or a handful of grapes or some such). It has actually been very tasty, though very thick and creamy. The cucumber was weird at first, but I now find it very refreshing. The avocado taste is covered by the other foods and lends the majority of the smoothness to the smoothie. Aside from the smoothies, I am trying to incorporate more veggies in general. I found a sesame green bean recipe that JC has become addicted to, so much so that I have had to say no to his request for it a couple times just so I don't start to hate it. After having it about 15 times in the last month, Jes finally decided tonight that he does indeed like them; he even asked for more (I turned him down after a third helping). Last night, I made lima beans. I learned that JC is not even slightly interested in them, though he did try them. I think lima beans are just a no-go in this house.
One of the newest aspects of my health is that I am now using the sympto-thermal method of natural family planning. Without getting into great details at the moment (if you want to know more, just research "NFP" or "STM"), it deals with tracking my cycles so I know what is normal, what is not, when I am fertile, and when I'm not. This actually came up at a perfect time because, after just having had Ron unexpectedly, JC and I both agree we want to wait a bit before another baby, and with everything that the pill did to me before, I am not willing to go on it again. I am almost nine months postpartum, and I am still waiting for everything to start back up, though from everything I know, it should be happening fairly soon.
Here's to good health!
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