athousandwords

This week is going well so far! I've gotten all my workouts in, met all my healthy food habits, eaten paleo the whole week so far. Tonight I think we're ordering out so I may do a non-paleo day - or maybe just dinner. I find it better if I don't derail myself the whole day, and I still have paleo food I can eat for lunch. I did a little bit of organization on Tuesday, cleaning out the kids' bathroom. I don't have any pictures because honestly there wasn't a ton to do - rehomed a few things, wiped down the drawers, and straightened out the things that remained. I also cleared out the vanity cupboard that we had barely anything in and took off the door so I could keep the kids' stepstool inside - out of the way but still accessible. It doesn't look "pretty" but I was so tired of it just floating in the middle of the bathroom and constantly tripping on it. I also started dreaming about making over our laundry room - adding cabinets and wallpaper and a folding shelf... but that project probably isn't going to happen any time soon. 😭

They're so hard!! 😭 I find that doing them with shoes on instead of barefoot helps? But yeah, I feel like it's really tricky to get proper form. The weekly perspective definitely helps! ❤️

Yeah, it's definitely not easy teaching kids about money! We've let 4yo have some practice paying for things - ex, when he spends his $2 at the store, we make him put his things separate and pay the cashier himself. But we're sort of inventing ways for him to get money so that he can have those experiences. Currently, he doesn't have a ton of chores - he likes to do laundry, he can be convinced to help with dishes, and we ask that he clears his own plate from the table and help pick up his toys/room whenever it gets too messy. When he turns 5, we're going to start a regular allowance, but it won't be tied to chores - those are just household things that he's expected to do without the promise of money. Then when he gets a little older, we'll probably have some "jobs" he can do to earn more: mow the lawn, weed the garden, clean windows, etc. Things that we would consider hiring out or would normally do ourselves. Eventually I'd like to give him responsibility over his own spending - I read a great finance book where the parents gave their daughter the amount they would typically spend for back to school shopping or clothes or toiletries and let her make her own decisions/budget. That's pretty far down the line though! Awww poor love! I hope she recovers quickly! ❤️

Ohh I've been wanting to read that one. I'll have to bump it up on the reading list. Thanks!

Week 2 All things considered, this week wasn't actually bad? I hit 3/4 of my goals - including eating paleo 4x a week. I got so down on myself through the weekend that I forgot that I did really well at the beginning of the week. Anyway, I don't want to dedicate more brain space to negative thoughts about Thursday (or Sunday when I was at my in-laws and just took a pass on my goals) so let's focus on what went well this week! I'm really enjoying the C25k training! I'm up to 25 minutes as of this morning and felt pretty good about my pace last week. I've been running 11'30" miles and that feels impressive considering where I started. The bodyweight workouts are getting easier. Walking lunges just about killed me on week one, but this week my legs were barely sore. Our meal plans have gotten much more creative since doing more paleo! I've gotten to try some new recipes like braised cabbage and bring back some old favorites that I'd forgotten about. I've really, really cut back on alcohol this challenge. I was drinking 2-3 times a week before, compared to twice so far in two weeks. But also hubby and I split a bottle of wine on Saturday and whew was I feeling it. I organized our linen closet this weekend and cleared out a ton of old, mismatched towels and sheets that we've been holding on to for far too long. I'm so excited by how much room there is now. I really should have taken before pics, but enjoy a couple after pics! These are a little misleading, since a bunch of our beach towels and guest towels are in the wash, but imagine how stuffed it was before! I tried the instagrammy trick of wrapping the sheet sets inside the pillow cases, and I'm hoping it helps prevent the random mismatched sheets we had before. And I added some freebie labels using post-it notes and twisty-ties, because IMO if you don't label spaces, they'll just get taken over. But there's still lots of room to re-home things here - the baskets on the top are just empty containers I'm planning to use when I get to the laundry room and bathrooms. .

I love this rule. Also: "Never miss a Monday." Words to live by. Thanks for checking in! Weekend was not great, but I'm trying to move past it. It wasn't terrible in perspective, just not as good as I wanted to be. 😒 I mean, it sounds awfully sensible when you put it that way. I'm trying to get better at listening to my body and brain and break out of some of the unhealthy food relationships I've been in, but it's hard and it sneaks up on you sometimes. Thank you though, that's good perspective.

Your workout log is so pretty! 🤩 Sleep honestly does help a lot. It's amazing how much more you can focus on things like housework and projects when you have a full night's sleep. And you're training hard without getting a decent rest! Hopefully Sophie eases up on you and you're able to play catch up soon. Teething is such a pain for everyone. 😩

Way to go on week 2! Congrats on crushing that 5k!! I struggle with doing chores around the kids too, especially when we have busy weekends. Tonight the 4yo was surprisingly willing to clear the table and wipe it down, but it took a lot of prompting. Over the weekend we bribed him with a couple dollars to spend at a yard sale if he emptied the dishwasher and helped me fold laundry. I'd rather not pay money for chores, but at the same time I'm trying to teach him about money and earning it... It's a work in progress. I love that you're already thinking ahead to next challenge! I think you're doing great on this one so far - can't wait to find out what you're planning for the next one.

Executive dysfunction is so hard to push past. I do the same thing you mentioned with books - I can't start A because I need to read B for book club, and C&D are due back at the library soon, and E is for work. Buuut I'm only interested in reading A so instead I will read none of them. 🤦‍♀️. What's the part # on the bulb? Maybe we can do some google fu and find it on ebay or replacements or something? At least it would get one thing off your plate. And in the meantime, do the 2 things you said you would do: eye mask and organize my food. No need to prioritize the list, those two are already at the top. Ignore the rest of the list if you can.

Oh noo I'd be a total wimp without AC!! Good on you for recognizing that you needed to roll with the punches, and making a plan to get through the killer heat and work projects. I think your new goals sound great!

So after yesterday's empowerment post, I went down the shame-y rabbit hole of binge eating after dinner. 😫 It was a non-Paleo day for me because we had no dinner food in the house, so hubs went to pick up groceries at Costco and brought home a pizza. Not a huge deal, except I could not stop eating. Four slices and I kept eating Oreos until my stomach hurt (since I was already eating non-Paleo, so why not?). I could hear the rational side of my head saying: hey, this is straying into binge eating territory, shouldn't you stop now so you can still tick off that healthy habits checkbox?? While the id munched away thinking: tomorrow I'll be back to eating Paleo and I won't get to eat these cookies or leftover pizza. 🙃 This morning I went extra hard on my run, so that felt good. I did get to tick all my checkboxes for today at least. It was a blip, I'm back on track, but it's frustrating. It's one of the things I hate most about dieting - I only make progress if I'm being restrictive, but being restrictive makes me want to binge eat like there's no tomorrow. I know the "correct" answer is just eat in moderation, but my brain and my body don't work that way.

The heat and humidity this week are just killer. My "run" yesterday felt like jogging uphill in pea soup - it was also the first time I've remembered to put my fitbit in running mode so that I could see my pace. Currently at about a 12min mile. My goal is to get to a sub-30 5k, which honestly feels pretty optimistic, considering I have yet to run a 5k at any pace. But I figure it'll keep me motivated through fall. Last night I made pure paleo comfort food: bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, and crispy brussels sprouts with spicy aioli. Felt nice to have something "cheaty" while still staying on track (unless you don't could white potatoes as paleo... but my paleo efforts are "lots of wiggle room" at best). On the bright side, even with wiggle room, I'm seeing some changes! I stepped on the scale today and was down several pounds, which is likely just water weight, but I'll take it as a win! Which reminds me, I found my tracking spreadsheet from the last time I was on NF and added my starting measurements from this time around. I spent a hot second feeling down about how much I've gained in the last 5 years, then added some new columns to remind myself that I gained so much more than weight. Also I'm pretty proud that I'm not back up to my heaviest weight. Sometimes I feel like I've fallen on and off the wagon so many times with my health. That incessant feeling of "well, if you hadn't quit, again and again, you'd be at your 'ideal weight' by now." 🙄 But right now I'm choosing to be proud of the fast that even if I do keep quitting, I also keep starting. And that all of those restarts and 1-month here, 3-months there attempts at being healthier have at least slowed the steady weight creep. Maybe this time will fail too - maybe I'll never get to that sub-30 5k, and 2 months from now I'll be feeling guilty about being right back where I started. But the last 6 weeks have made me healthier, even in the short term, and all these little bursts of motivation mean something.

This heat is zapping all the life out of me. I feel you. 🥵 Sounds like you did errands and went to the dentist? I mean, that might not fit your challenge goals, but it's definitely ticking off some boxes!

I felt like a super whiny baby tonight who did not want to spend her free time organizing. All the motivation I had 2 weeks ago when I set this challenge has been zapped out of me and I'm suddenly feeling extremely sentimental about getting rid of things like: my broken Fitbit that I replaced a year ago, 2 open tubes of chapstick (out of 4), and two notepads that I've never used. I finally forced myself to clean out the very tiniest spot on my list - my nightstand. Which is literally just a teeny drawer and a shelf. It took maaaaybe 15 minutes. But the important thing is that I got it done, despite my procrastinating. Hopefully the rest of the challenge will go better. The rest of the day went well - I got lunch with a co-worker and accidentally blew off the entire afternoon because we were having so much fun chatting. 😳 We went to an awesome little tapas place where she could order keto and I could do Paleo. 🙌 When I got home I made shrimp scampi with zoodles and remembered that I don't really care for zoodles. Not sure what I'm going to do with all the leftovers now... I should probably choke them down and not waste the food, but that sounds so unappetizing. The kids actually ate it, which was surprising, but I don't think I can get away with serving them all the leftovers...

Week 1 Wrap Up: 👟 Bodyweight Workout 2x a Week / 👟 C25K 3x a Week On track! Had gorgeous weather for the start of the challenge, which made this goal a breeze. Ok, the Bodyweight workout was hard, and I was really feeling it all week, but at least the weather wasn't working against me. 🥦 Eat Paleo 4 Days a Week I only managed 3days, due to some poor planning. Felt pretty good about putting together a paleo meal plan though, so I think this will just get better over the course of the challenge. 🍴 Healthy Food Habits Generally good here - I missed Saturday, but I was pretty much prepared for that since I was hosting a big dinner and was planning to go off track a little. Nothing here is really challenging or restricting so far, although some days it's hard to remember to drink 8 glasses of water. I'm getting better though! 🏠 Minimize | Organize | Optimize No progress here - I just had too much going on last week. Hoping I can do some extra work this week to make up for it. I really just need to start...

Thursday & Friday both went well, checked all the usual boxes (exercised, Paleo, healthy habits - yay). Yesterday was a "cheat" day because I was hosting my Book Club and prepared an elaborate and delicious Cuban feast to match our book of the month, Loosing My Espanish by HG Carillo. The food was amazing, the mojitos were delicious, the company was much needed after a long week. Just look at this delectable Cubano con tostones! 🤤🤤🤤 Anyway, the plan was to get back on track today, but we had lunch at my in-laws and there was no Paleo option. But I'm keeping up with my other healthy foods habits at least. 💪 Still feeling good about this challenge so far.

How're you doing today? I hope you got some sleep and a break from your family and mice. ❤️

Wednesday: C25k ✅ Eat Paleo ❌ Healthy Food Habits ✅ Organize ❌ Yesterday was another non-paleo day, because I finished up the rest of the nachos for lunch and had a couple of the chocolate chip cookies I foolishly made on Sunday. But I made sure to go to the grocery store and stock up on paleo dinner options for the rest of the week. Last night I made these amazing medium-rare tuna steaks with crispy green beans. And because I work from home, I left one in the marinade overnight and seared it fresh for lunch. unnnghhh so good. This morning, I honestly thought I wasn't going to be able to do the Bodyweight Workout. I've been so sore since Tuesday - like, audibly groaning as I walk down stairs or sit on the toilet. 😩 But apparently in this case, the best cure for what ails you is to have some more of it. I loosened up after the first set and was able to finish all three. 🦾 One more run tomorrow, and then I'm looking forward to taking the weekend off! I honestly can't remember the last time I worked out 5 days in a row.

Word. The number of times I have to stop myself from eating a lonely uneaten chicken nugget or snacking on some crackers with the kids... Anyway, I'm doing part-time paleo because I know from experience full paleo just isn't sustainable for me! This at least helps me diversify my diet.

One of our friend's younger kid is the same way - she doesn't walk because her big sister will get her anything she points at! 😁

Okay, Day 2. NF Bodyweight Workout ✅ Eat Paleo ❌ Healthy Food Habits ✅ Organize ❌ After eating paleo leftovers for lunch I definitely suffered from some poor planning for dinner. We didn't really have anything in the house so we made some nachos with leftovers. Totally not paleo but really delicious at least? 🤷‍♀️ I put together a meal plan today and got a grocery order in at least, so I should be set for the rest of the week to succeed with this goal. Also I think I'm just going to need to pass on the Organization goal for this week. With baby girl being home, waking up early and trying to work whenever I'm not watching her, and spending my evenings finishing a book for the book club I'm hosting this weekend, I just don't have the time. Maybe on Sunday I can play catchup, or maybe I'll just make up for it next week. I've got enough going on that I don't need to borrow stress.

Definitely! It's so good and comes together quick. We've used kale or brussels sprouts (chopped) instead of mustard greens, and if you have a Costco membership, we can usually find paneer there - or at an asian market. Enjoy! Silver lining - her daycare class just had a teacher test positive for Covid, but most of them were out with HFM anyway. Yay? 😬 But yeah, she's been a trooper and is doing a lot better already!

Looks awesome! Really great improvement. And I love that you started with your bedroom. I always feel like I need to tackle the public spaces first, then I never have enough energy left for my own space.

Virtual hugs. I wish there was, like, a mom for hire service that would bring you soup and rub your back. I feel like I've had days where I need it, too. 😞

Ahhhh I love the RP!! So fun! I'm doing this C25k podcast by Chubby Jones and really like it! She's recorded multiple versions of each week, so I can listen to a new one each day during the week and not get bored. I'm on week 5, which is the only week that I feel ramps up kind of quickly, but I'm slowing it down by doing a full week for each "day."