Only Nick

 This week is F.F.A week at Nick's high school.  Each day there is a different theme including bring your tractor to school day.  Today the theme was anything but a backpack day.  Right away Nick knew he wanted to bring his 12-foot kayak to school.  He asked his principal (see picture above) what the rules were, and he was told he could bring anything as long as it did not have a motor.  I am fairly certain that if Nick's principal knew he planned on dragging his kayak through the halls he would have told him No.  But then Nick said his kayak was a huge hit!  Even his principal approved...again, see picture above.  As Mike said....Only our Nick!  

Challenges

 The last two years haven't been easy.  Heck the last six years haven't been a walk in the park either.  Besides being in the trenches of parenting I remember thinking life was pretty easy for my 30-something self.  I turned 41 and life kind of hit me head on.   

In the past two years the entire world has battled Covid, lockdowns and mask mandates.  There has been very little that has felt normal these past two years.  Additionally in my own personal life my oldest son graduated high school, Mike started a new career (a very welcomed change), Jay moved out.  Jay moved back in.  My job changed significantly.  I imagine that even if my job didn't change, Covid would still have changed it in some way, shape or form.  After two long years I've adjusted but it hasn't been without challenges.  As much as I love working from home, it's isolating, and the winters make the isolation feel even worse, then you add in Covid peppered with mindless social media for entertainment and it hasn't been a great combination for me.  I voiced some of my frustration with my sister.  God bless my sister.  She pointed out I needed to start reading again.  I knew she was right.  Two days ago, I sat down and wrote out some weekly goals for myself which I intend on making this a habit.  I broke the goals down into the following categories.

Physical

Personal Development

Thoughtful

Family

Spiritual

Part of my personal development goal this week is to blog three times.  My blog postings through the years have gotten less and less.  When my boys were little, they provided me with funny and entertaining blogs.  Now that I'm older I feel there is only so much to write about my pre-menopausal self before it become downright boring.  Plus, I don't feel I'm as imaginative as I once was.  It requires some thought and if I'm honest I'm a bit lazy about producing any meaningful content these days.  However, I recognize I still like to write.  If writing about my boys was my only goal, I would have given up on this blog years ago.  Writing and yes even reading are still hobbies I enjoy.  They just don't seem to come as naturally to me as they once did - kind of like everything else these days.  Ha!  

Minus 25

 Today I have officially lost 25 lbs which is quite fitting (literally - ha) because I embarked on this journey nearly one year ago on March 7.  I'm a 47-year-old pre-menopausal woman.  It took me an entire year to lose 25 lbs.  There are no quick fixes.  Do I feel like I've lost the weight for good?  Have my habits changed enough to stay healthy?  I've recapped what worked for me and what I've learned along the way. 

My journey has gone from intermittent fasting to no carb to low carb.  As time went on, I got sick and tired of waiting until after 10 to have creamer in my coffee or heaven forbid drinking my coffee at 8 am without creamer.  Also, telling myself certain foods were bad (carbs) got annoying.  If I really wanted to change my relationship with food, I knew I couldn't put foods into "good" and "bad" categories.  Now I eat what I want (but I do stick to relatively low carb) when I want and that works best for me.  

I know that in order to lose weight I must be in a calorie deficit.  I used an app and kept count of my calories.  These days I still keep count but I'm not religious about it.  I pretty much know how my day should look, eating wise.  

I get 12,000 steps/day.  No excuses.  No one is going to show up to do the work for me.  I strength train 10 minutes per day five days a week.  I know I've built muscle.  I did not see any definition or change with this until maybe 9 or even 10 months into this journey.  Patience is a virtue when it comes to this.  I know that losing weight is 80% nutrition and 20 % exercise.  I don't equate exercise with weight loss.  My philosophy is move, move and then move some more.  I'm convinced my stand-up desk at work has added years to my life.  If you work at a desk, get a stand-up desk.  It's a game changer.   I probably get 50% of my steps from standing up at work and simply moving.  Working out is not rocket science.  I used to think that if I didn't sweat then I wasn't really working out.  That is bullshit.  

I've figured out different, fun ways to get my protein.  Hunger was also a huge issue for me in years past.  I'm sure I wasn't eating enough calories and I certainly wasn't educated enough on the value of protein.  Protein has helped me build muscle and keep me fuller longer.  The app Tik Tok - although I'm convinced it's the devil's playground - has helped me tremendously in educating myself in all things protein and coming up with fun ways to get it.  

When I travel or go out to eat, I do not restrict myself.  I know now that it's what I do 90% of the time.  The 10% of travel time or going out to eat is not going to make or break me.  

One thing I'm still working on is my cocktails.  I lost this weight without giving up alcohol.  I simply added those calories into my daily intake.  In October I gave up alcohol and honestly, I didn't notice that much of a change.  I'm not tooting the alcohol horn.  I know it's something at the very least I should limit.  But it goes back to what works for me.  I enjoy my nightly cocktail and long term I knew I wasn't willing to give it up. 

Sleep!  As I got farther along in this journey, I noticed my sleep improved.  I also learned sleep is vitally important for weight loss.  Even when I have my nightly cocktail, I stop all alcohol at 7pm and switch to water.  It has not been an issue for me.  I take magnesium before bed and sleep soundly.  

Mentally and physically, I am better.  I feel better.  I look better.  I think that if I really ask myself what has changed this time around it's that I never saw this as a diet.  I saw it as a lifestyle change.  The way I eat and the way I move is simply a part of my daily routine.  

Jay's "Charlie Brown Tree"

 While I realize it's February so why am I posting this pitiful looking xmas tree?  In early December I decided to bring Jay his own little tree for his bedroom (since he wasn't living with us).  I was hoping it was something that could bring him some joy during the Christmas season.  I decorated it with some of my favorite ornaments of his and bought some cheap lights.  I didn't tell him I was bringing to him.  He politely thanked me.  Weeks later he mentioned he was annoyed because one of his buddies fell on it and did some other inappropriate things to it (which I won't mention in the blog).  I teased Jay, saying I was surprised that little tree meant so much to him.  Weeks after Christmas he moved home and the tree came with him where it currently sits in his room.  What's my point in writing this?  Sometimes it's hard to know how to connect and relate to your adult children.  I'm discovering it's the little things that probably mean the most - things where little words are spoken but the acts are big.  

 Last night my sister had a birthday dinner for Luke (who will turn 11 this week).  My Aunt Karen wasn't there but Michelle and Kerry were.  Karen is visiting Kelly in FL - show off.  Any way we had a nice time together, as we always do.  The older I get the more I appreciate having relationships with extended family.  What a blessing! 

Winter Storm 2022

Well we finally got a significant snow fall!  It started snowing overnight last night into today.  I'd guess we have about 10-12" on the ground right now and more snow is forecasted overnight tonight.  Nick had an E-learning school day today with an official snow day tomorrow.  Mike and Jay didn't work either so all 4 of us were home together.  Lots of together time!  I got Mike to take a walk with me today.  He is all decked out in his new ice fishing gear.  He was sweating by the time we got home from our walk.  Me, not so much. 

Nick's friends stopped over this morning on snow mobiles.  Nick greeted them bare chested because why would you put a shirt on in a snowstorm?  Ugh!  

I'm not gonna lie.  I hate winters in IL, even when the snow is pretty.  The cold annoys me, and the snow is just a pain.  Yeah, I know I'm complaining.  My dogs hate it too, just saying.