July W.I.S.H - Summer of Independence!

[Summer2018]

Things that went right: I have been exercising every day. When I can walk or swim outside, I have, but between the unhealthy air quality and storms, I have needed to rely on my treadmill daily. The treadmill was a great investment in my health. Now I have no excuses to not exercise.

Things to keep working on: Even though I have been trying to eat healthy, I have been overindulging due to stress. It was actually easier to stick to the plan while I was in school. I was able to compartmentalize my stress and focus on my work, and once I got home and the stressors got to me, I had less time to get into trouble. I have a lot of time to dwell on the negative, and unfortunately I have given in to eating more than I should too often. I'm up a few pounds, and I'm disappointed in myself. I've got to get a grip.

 

[Summer2018]

We have more storms coming in today and a flash flood watch. Even though the flood waters got lower in my area, we have still had a slow steady stream of water coming in. We really needed the rains to stop so that we could recover, but now we are getting more. Will it ever stop?!

 

[MickeyMom76]

So far this month’s healthy living has been focused on mental health. Lots of vacations and letting some things go. During the school year, I tend to be hyper focused and hyper organized and over plan everything. During the month of July, it’s like I’m a different person….on vacation from planning and organizing. I have two vacations planned for this month, which were previously planned. One was the trip to Mexico that was rescheduled from last year. The next one is a trip to Vegas for our anniversary. We leave tomorrow, just the two of us. So during the week in between, I’ve been extremely lazy (although I did do a workout each morning) and I’ve been fairly carefree with my eating. But I know once I get back from vacation, I will get back on track with meal planning, starting a new workout program and drinking more water.

 

[MickeyMom76]

It was actually easier to stick to the plan while I was in school.

I completely agree!!!

 

[MickeyMom76]

We have more storms coming in today and a flash flood watch. Even though the flood waters got lower in my area, we have still had a slow steady stream of water coming in. We really needed the rains to stop so that we could recover, but now we are getting more. Will it ever stop?!

Looks like a big storm over the northeast. Hopefully it passes quickly and then you get a break after this one. I’m so sorry! Hang in there.

 

[Oneanne]

We have more storms coming in today and a flash flood watch. Even though the flood waters got lower in my area, we have still had a slow steady stream of water coming in. We really needed the rains to stop so that we could recover, but now we are getting more. Will it ever stop?!

Oh no. Hope nothing more happens.

 

[Oneanne]

July has been a pivotal month for me, with the biggest shift coming in getting my eating realigned. I've lost -4 of my -5 pound July goal and I figure so far I've saved about $150 by not going to Starbucks, so added bonus. Another big change has been getting back to reading, I'm on my third book for the month, and I've been reading on the front porch, so getting outdoors time. My phone screen time was down 16% last week and I've barely had the TV on, plus I'm feeding my brain some good stuff to think about instead of mindlessly watching reruns of Chopped or scrolling thru Instagram.

My thing for this week, and the remainder of the month, has got to be getting more exercise. I have a massage today with a new person, who my doctor called an "elite" bodyworker, and I'll looking to this as the reset I need to get going. I get bored whenever I think about walking in the neighborhood, but I have got to start somewhere.

 

[sjrec]

Staying focused when I was working was so much easier! I couldn’t go out to eat and some days were so busy I didn’t sit until lunchtime. I worked with pretty health conscious people, so rarely dealt with junk food being brought in. I have been doing too much mindless grazing!

 

[Oneanne]

TUESDAY TOPIC: Love Letters



Let's all pause and take a few minutes to write love letters to our bodies, to thank them for all they do for us.

 

[Oneanne]

This came to me as a topic because of the massage I had today, which was unlike any I've had before... throughout she kept talking to the muscles she was working on, thanking them for the hard work they had been doing, coaxing them to relax and let go. It got me to thinking I should be doing the same.

Dear Body,
Thank you for carrying me thru another day. I know I've been neglectful and that we have challenges, but you keep coming thru and taking me where I need to be. I hereby pledge to pay more attention, so I make adjustments and corrections before you have to scream at me to get attention. And I pledge to follow thru on the things I know you need, like more movement and better nutrition.

I love you!

 

[Summer2018]

Dear Body of Mine:

You have been through an awful lot and you keep going anyway. Thank you for giving me my baby girl even though you went through multiple procedures and surgeries to bring my miracle into this world. You never gave up. Even though they ache, your legs are long and beautiful. These legs danced and walked miles and miles of shoreline just for fun. Thank you for blue-green eyes that see every wonderful thing around me. Thank you for my creative mind and hardworking hands that make Art. Thank you for my voice so that I can sing and laugh and cry and pray and teach. I appreciate every scar on you because those scars show everything that you have survived and show how resilient you really are. You have never let me down, but I am sorry for every time that I let you down. I promise to do a much better job of taking care of you from now on. I love you.

 

[sjrec]

Dear Body,

I haven’t always treated you the way you deserved-too much of the wrong foods and not enough exercise. But you never gave up on me and when I finally started treating you right, you returned the love.
Thank you for the legs that take me on long walks, the arms that can hug my loved ones, my eyes to read all those books I bring home and even my my wobbly and off key voice so I can sing in the car and the shower!
I promise to take better care of you as we continue to grow old together!

This was a great exercise-I am going to be better about treating my body as something that deserves love and care instead of something that I am unhappy or disappointed with!

 

[Summer2018]

This came to me as a topic because of the massage I had today, which was unlike any I've had before... throughout she kept talking to the muscles she was working on, thanking them for the hard work they had been doing, coaxing them to relax and let go. It got me to thinking I should be doing the same.

Dear Body,
Thank you for carrying me thru another day. I know I've been neglectful and that we have challenges, but you keep coming thru and taking me where I need to be. I hereby pledge to pay more attention, so I make adjustments and corrections before you have to scream at me to get attention. ANd I pledge to follow thru on the things I know you need, like more movement and better nutrition.

I love you!

Thank you for this new way of viewing our bodies...it's mentally, physically, and emotionally healing for me as someone who has always had body image issues. Please share with your massage therapist how much good she has done for someone all the way across the country on whom she has never laid her healing hands.

 

[piglet1979]

I have started a quest to find the best anti-chafing solutions prior to our vaca. The chub rub is real my friends. Trying body glide, goldbond friction defense, monistat antichaf, megababe, vaseline body balm...its a tie right now between goldbond and monistat...stay tuned for a winner HA

DH has issues with this in the summer. After chafing has started he uses cortisone 10. But nothing before. I didn't even know they made this kind of stuff. For me as long as I wear shorts that cover my thighs I am good. But it is bad if I wear a dress (I always wear spanx for this issue) or a bathing suite.

MOTIVATION MONDAY

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Happy Mid-summer and Happy Mid-July!
For a mid-month check-in, what are a couple things you've done this month that are helping you move along your path to healthy living and what are a couple things you are motivated to do this week to further you along in that journey?

For this month I feel like I have done a good job of maintaining. I have been off of work since the 2nd and really have not watched what I was eating. I did try and walk each day. I weighed myself this morning and I am the same weight as July 1. So I call this a win.

What I need to work on -- Getting more exercise in. I tend to get lazy as the day goes on.

We have more storms coming in today and a flash flood watch. Even though the flood waters got lower in my area, we have still had a slow steady stream of water coming in. We really needed the rains to stop so that we could recover, but now we are getting more. Will it ever stop?!

Oh No! I hope you didn't have any more flooding. We have been getting a ton of rain lately. We had flooding on our sun porch yesterday . DH had to shop vac it and we have fans out there today to try and dry it out. We are supposed to get a ton of rain again today. Hopefully this storm won't reach out to you guys.

 

[Oneanne]

Thank you for this new way of viewing our bodies...it's mentally, physically, and emotionally healing for me as someone who has always had body image issues. Please share with your massage therapist how much good she has done for someone all the way across the country on whom she has never laid her healing hands.

This is wonderful! She realy got me thinking as well, and refocusing on what is right with my body instead of what isn't.

 

[piglet1979]

Sorry, I didn't get on for my last day of hosting. It ended up being a really long day. DD and another girl at the barn were sharing a horse for the show. They both work for an hour on Saturday to get the horse nice and clean (he is pretty much white with brown spots). As soon as they put him in the stall he rolled and got dirty again. Because of this DD and the other girl needed to be at the barn by 6:30 am to clean him up again. DD and I got up at 5 am to get ready a pack what we couldn't the night before.

The show went great despite it raining. In the first class DD got 5th place out of 6 riders. This class the horse was being judged. Lesson horses are not the best for this. Her second class she got 3rd place out of 6 riders. This class, the rider is being judged. This is what they work on at lessons so this was a bigger deal.



This is DD after getting her 3rd place




This is DD on the horse that she was riding



My mom got this one. It is my favorite of her. We were getting pictures of her with her ribbon and my mom was able to sneak this on in without DD knowing.

After the showing she had to go back to the barn to unload but after that we went home did a quick change to get out of our drenched clothes and went straight to DS's soccer games. He had 3 back to back. We got there in time to see the end of the first game and all of the 2nd game. I can't tell you if they won or loss them but it was fun to watch. They were sliding all over the place. Because of this they canceled the 3rd game because of the the field conditions.

After getting home I unloaded everything from the car and then promptly took a nap.

 

[Summer2018]

Sorry, I didn't get on for my last day of hosting. It ended up being a really long day. DD and another girl at the barn were sharing a horse for the show. They both work for an hour on Saturday to get the horse nice and clean (he is pretty much white with brown spots). As soon as they put him in the stall he rolled and got dirty again. Because of this DD and the other girl needed to be at the barn by 6:30 am to clean him up again. DD and I got up at 5 am to get ready a pack what we couldn't the night before.

The show went great despite it raining. In the first class DD got 5th place out of 6 riders. This class the horse was being judged. Lesson horses are not the best for this. Her second class she got 3rd place out of 6 riders. This class, the rider is being judged. This is what they work on at lessons so this was a bigger deal.

View attachment 589107

This is DD after getting her 3rd place


View attachment 589108

This is DD on the horse that she was riding

View attachment 589109

My mom got this one. It is my favorite of her. We were getting pictures of her with her ribbon and my mom was able to sneak this on in without DD knowing.

After the showing she had to go back to the barn to unload but after that we went home did a quick change to get out of our drenched clothes and went straight to DS's soccer games. He had 3 back to back. We got there in time to see the end of the first game and all of the 2nd game. I can't tell you if they won or loss them but it was fun to watch. They were sliding all over the place. Because of this they canceled the 3rd game because of the the field conditions.

After getting home I unloaded everything from the car and then promptly took a nap.

Beautiful photos!

 

[Oneanne]

WOOHOO!

 

[Summer2018]

WOO HOO! We were spared more flooding! It basically alternated between misting, drizzling, and showering, so no real accumulation, thank God.

WOO HOO! We may finally be able to enjoy the pool today after more than a week of bad weather...I believe that we've only been swimming once in July. Hopefully the tropical storms/hurricanes can take a break on the eastern seaboard and switch coasts giving the west much needed rain to put out the wildfires.

WOO HOO! I still have 4.5 weeks until I have to set up my classroom and 5.5 weeks until I go back to school. I'm going to try to focus on the positive rather than dwelling on the stress around me so that I can enjoy the remainder of the summer.

 

[Summer2018]

I know that I am two weeks early, but since I will be away the last week of July, I would like to request my week now. May I please have: August 16-22?