Detailed Cleaning - Living Room Edition

Before:

First Step - Declutter !!

Next:

1. CLEAN COBWEBS - X

2. CLEAN WINDOWS - X

3. STRAIGHTEN BOOKCASES - X

4. WASH ORNAMENTS AND WHAT-KNOTS - X

5. CLEAN OUT END TABLE - X

6. STRAIGHTEN CLOSETS/ DRAWERS - X

7. WIPE FINGERPRINTS FROM WALLS - X

8. POLISH FURNITURE - X

9. CLEAN OUT MAGAZINE RACKS - X

10: CLEAN DESK AREA - X

11. CLEAN UNDER CUSHIONS - X

12. MOVE FURNITURE AND VACUUM - X

AFTER:

Time Spent - 90 minutes

Back To My Routines

It is Monday, the start of a new week and I will be back to my routines today. As you may have noticed, I have been concentrating on my Body Clutter a little bit more than my Home Clutter and it is beginning to show. One thing I have a problem with (among many, it seems) is that when I add something new to my day, I get sidetracked and have a hard time organizing my days with the new 'thing' involved. Somehow, I always end up off track.

I am starting to believe in the To Do Lists. It can be so easy to get overwhelmed when you only think about the big picture of what needs to be done instead of taking it one small, bite-sized peice at a time. I haven't made a To Do List in a long time, but today I am going to. Even if it's just today, I know that it will help me get things accomplished.

1.) Loving Movement (check)
2.) Quiet Time (check)
3.) Weekly Home Blessing:
    a. Vaccume (check)
    b. Dust (check)
    c. Sweep / Mop (check)
    d. Change / Launder Sheets & Blankets (check)
    e. All garbage out and to dumpster. (check)
    f. Clean out garbage cans. (whoops, have to do this tomorrow)
4.) Zone 4: Mission #1 - Master Bedroom / under the bed (I have no 'under the bed' so I will work on 15 minutes of decluttering and do a 27 Fling Boogie. Will also have children do their 'under the beds'.) (check)
5.) Errand Day (check)

There, not so bad. And off I go  *poof*

Diet News - Day 13 !

So, I've been doing the diet and exercise thing now for 13 days.  And I've been doing pretty good, I must say.  I've stayed under my calorie goal every day. I've had some issues with exercise, but only because I irritated an old rotator cuff injury and had to find other things to do besides TurboJam for a little while.  I've faced temptation and found other ways to satisfy my cravings besides the homemade chocolate chip cookies that my DD14 keeps making!

I have started a new blog that is devoted only to my journey to fitness and you can find it at:
From FAT Mama to PHAT Mama . 

If you want to keep up with more detailed posts about how I'm doing, I suggest heading over there and following along :)

My official weigh in day is Sunday and though the scale did NOT move one bit last week, I have kept doing what I've been doing and have high hopes for this week.

What goals have you stuck to this week that you are proud of yourself for?

Back On My Diet - Day 2

I have been utilizing the SparkPeople website to keep track of my fitness and nutrition goals for the last two days and it has helped me to see that a lot of my calories are coming from foods containing a lot of FAT! (Go figure, huh?)  I stayed within my range today for everything and really, it isn't all that hard.  I'm not finding myself feeling hungry at all. The swelling in my leg is not bothering me as much, either. Due to the cutting of salt, probably.  Here are my stats from yesterday:

May 8, 2011

Total today: CALORIES: 1,355; CARBS: 121; FAT: 61; PROTEIN: 90
Daily Goal: CALORIES: 1.350-1,700; CARBS: 180-260; FAT: 36-62; PROTEIN: 60-140
Remaining Today: CALORIES: 0-345; CARBS: 59-139; FAT: 0-1; PROTEIN: 0-50
Water today: 9 Glasses so far ( I ended up having 11)

I also went on a 30 minute hike through the woods which burned over 200 calories, so that's cool.

Today I will be going grocery shopping and will stock up on some healthier, low-fat foods. I will probably get some microwave dinners as well as it is easier to keep track of their nutritional value and only Beth and I are mindful of what we are eating.  Much easier than cooking two different meals for dinner. 

Today I will also be breaking out my exercise DVDs.  (Man, I wish I had cement floors and more space!)

Zumba looks so fun! But, I refuse to buy any more till I have conquered and or gotten sick of the ones I already have!

Back On My Diet - Day 1

Sadly, I went off any type of healthy eating and exercise plan during the last few months.  I didn't exactly binge the whole time, in fact there were periods of time in which I didn't eat a single thing all day ... for days.
Of course, as my Healthy FlyGirls would tell me, that totally threw my body into 'starvation mode' and now that I am eating somewhat normally I have gained every single pound I lost this year thus far.

So, I am going back on my 'diet' today. Eating more healthy, cutting salt and 'bad' cabs, drinking my smoothie within one hour of getting up and (sigh) exercising. I am so badly out of shape since I am not working outside of the home anymore that it just is not even close to being funny. I have a million and one exercise DVDs so I have no excuse. I just haven't been doing any of them.

My DD20 has been monitering her calorie intake with a group of people online. I'm not sure what group, I didn't pry. And she has been doing very well. My FlyGirls are all doing extremely well with their plans and their progress. It's time to get off my ass and start putting my smoothie where my mouth is. :)

So, today I am jumping in right where I'm at, taking it one day at a time and getting back on track.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Update on Today

Eaten today: CALORIES: 1,271 CARBS: 103 FAT: 75 PROTEIN: 55
Goals: CALORIES: 1,350 - 1,700 CARBS: 180 - 260 FAT: 36 - 62 PROTEIN: 60 - 140
Remaining today: CALORIES: 79 - 429 CARBS: 77 - 157 FAT: 0 PROTEIN: 5 - 85
Water: So far NINE eight oz. glasses

Dude! I Got An Award!



Jessica over at Ramblings of a Stay-At-Home Mom stopped by and granted me the Versitile Blogger Award!  How totally cool is that??  Definately head over there to check out her blog. You can find all sorts of great stuff!

There are a few rules that go along with accepting this award...

1.  Thank the person who awarded you.

2.  Share 7 things about yourself.

3.  Award 15 discovered bloggers

Since I have already thanked Jessica over on her blog, here are 7 things about myself that you may or may not know...

1.)  I LOVE American Idol and watch every single episode and sometimes cry when someone I have been rooting for gets voted off.
2.)  I also love The Voice and cry every time someone comes out with their hopes and dreams on their sleeve, sings their heart out and not one of the judges turns their chair around.
3.)  Though I get thrown off often, by the grace of God I always (somehow) get back up on the bucking bronco of life and try it again.
4.)  I recently cut off all my hair in a stage of depression. Now I'm butch.
5.)  While I am very good at writing out my feelings, I am not very good at speaking about them. (I'm working on this)
6.)  My children and I have a very loving yet laid-back relationship that others just don't understand sometimes. They feel free to speak to me about anything and everything and we all think the most insane things are funny.  Yesterday I was trying to make pizza and asked DD14 to hand me the cookie sheet. She got it and started beating DD20 with it. While trying to get it from her before I dropped the pizza, I tried to grab it in mid-whack and she about broke my fingers. She looked at me with her "OMG" face, I called her a name that I normally wouldn't call anyone in my "Exorcism of Emily Rose Angry Voice" and then we all couldn't stop laughing for 30 minutes afterwards. Yeah... we're a bit strange... deal with it.
7.)  I absolutely LOATHE Jersey Shores. Ugh, what a waste!!!!!!

OK, on to the BLOGGERS!  I've awarded the Versitile Blog Award to 15 SPECTACULAR Bloggers that I have recently (or not so recently) discovered and think they deserve some well-earned recognition! Here they are in no particular order:

1.) Welcome To Our Good Life
2.) Up The Hill
3.) The Puffy Mommy
4.) The Flying Penguin
5.) FlyBaby In Maine
6.) Our Simple Crazy Life
7.) Creating My Sanctuary
8.) Just A Bunch Of Momsense
9.) Miss Single Mommy
10.) 7 Little Steps
11.) Juice Box Dreams
12.) DecorVoyeur
13.) Blogging With Goodly Intentions
14.) Seriously Folks
15.) Becoming Versed

Whew, this took a long time, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to pass the award along!

Getting Back To Myself

Well, since taking some time off in order to re-evaluate my life and goals and dig out of the depression that I was going through, I am finally getting back to my old new self.  I don't want to be as before, I want to be made new. So, here is the plan...

1.) Get back to FLYing with my friends at the FLYLady Facebook Page and the Healthy FlyGirls Support Group Page.
2.) Even though I utterly failed at the 90 Day Challenge, continue reading through the bible until I am done.
3.) Read something that contributes to my Self-Improvement every day. This will be a new series of posts entitled 'What Am I Reading'.
4.) Work every day on building my home businesses with Scentsy, Homemade Gourmet & Affiliate Marketing via my blogs, network marketing, etc.
5.) Continue to bless my family and not be a martyr.
6.) Count it all Joy.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me through the craziness of this year so far.  I love you all!