Training Day

Well I am ready to begin my new health regime and I have already fallen off the wagon before I even got on.

Breakfast: 3 southern style buscuits with honey. (sigh)

Okay, the key to long lasting health is not ever making a mistake but getting back on course when you have veered slightly.

I do, finally, have something in my favor this time around. My husband is wanting to loose some weight too and that is a big plus for me. It is so hard trying to eat right and be healthy if your significant other is not on board.

The Plan: I don't really have one. I am on the non plan plan. I am going to try and make better choices when it comes to food and I am going to move more. I am not sure if I have mentioned that I take Taekwondo but I do. There is something that we recite at the beginning and ending of each class. At the end we say, "I shall live with perserverence in the spirit of Taekwondo, having honor with others, integrity within myself and self-control in my actions." I love that. It is a good "mantra" for lack of a better word. I have decided to tweak it to suit myself during my journey to better health...here goes..."I will have honor with my body (the Lord's Temple), integrity when it comes to exercise and self-control with the food that goes into my mouth."

So, there you have it. This is day one. I would love any feed back, ideas, recipes, new exercises, encouragement, etc.

Surly it's just all in my head

Okay...things are starting to creak and moan. This can't be happening. There's not like some little switch in our DNA that flips when we hit a new decade and makes our joints start to rebel, right?

What is going on here. One day fine. Have a birthday and then WHAM!

My knees are starting to give me fits. They're cracking and grinding and pert near refusing to straighten when I have been curled up on the couch. Even my hips are giving their two cents.

Hmmm...what to do, what to do. Is there some kind of joint juice? Do I start to hit the calcium harder. Magnesium? I am too young for arthritis, right?

Man...thirty may be harder than I thought.

Testing...testing...

So, I kind of have a big mouth. That is why I put a couple of things that have to do with my mouth on my "list". Temper, inside voice etc.

Well wouldn't you know I was tested on these very two things today! For those of you who don't know, I teach preschool. Two and three years olds to be exact. I have two classes. One that meets on Monday and Wednesday and one that meets on Tuesday and Thursday. Our M/W class is just easy breezy. Our T/Th class is another story. We have a couple of kiddos who are having a hard time adjusting and wail the entire time and then we have three in particular whose sole mission is to dump every toy, glue bottle and marker onto the floor; not a good combo. Where does my mouth come in you ask?

If you know me, you know I am LOUD. It is just the way God made me. My voice carries. I don't mean to be loud, I just am. So, if I am asking a boy not to dump the blocks I just picked up, apparently the entire building can hear me. Hence the spot on my list for developing an "inside voice".

Moving on to dealing with my mouth when my temper is in the equation. It isn't so much what I say but how I say it. I am working so hard to keep calm, cool and collected with my class I can allow myself to vent on those I love. It doesn't even have to be mean or hateful. I can choose to convey the horrible day I have had in that pathetic poor me voice.

My goal...choosing to give it to God every five seconds if I have to. It is all about choice. I can choose to remain positive with all those around me and save the "mouthing" if you will, for my private time with the Lord.

Now about that inside voice. I am at a loss...

The List

I have decided if I am going to better myself in this first year of my thirties, I better make a list. I also decided that since thirty is the number then I should list thirty things. That turned out to be harder than I thought. I of course listed the obvious...Bible study, prayer, exercise, eat right...you know, the usual. The kind of stuff you see on most peoples resolutions at the beginning of every year. Then I listed finish my degree. Then I realized I need to pick a degree to finish. You see I changed majors ALOT. I want to be a better mom, work on my temper, become a better steward of our resources. Then I added some fun stuff like develope an inside voice and dye my hair black like Gina Carano's. Still I am a little more than half way to thirty things to better myself. Hmmm... any suggestions?

And so it begins...

So I take my shower last night and I am brushing my hair out and checking out my now 30 year old skin. Hmmm...is that a wrinkle? Is that a freckle or an age spot? I dive into the drawer and pull out my RE9 REpair corrective eye cre'me and Oil of Olay Age Defying intensive nourishing night cream. Yes, crows feet and laugh lines, I'm comin' at ya hard! Now I am full blown checkin' myself out. Is this the body I thought I would have at 30? I see rounded shoulders, stretch marks, a flabby stomach...is that a vericose vein?!?! Now don't get me wrong. I mean I know I have had 3 big, healthy babies (one of them weighing in at 11lbs 1oz at birth) but what role have I played in my body staying in this shape. What habits have I formed that I need to replace with better ones? Judith Viorst was quoted "You end up as you deserve. In old age you must put up with the face, the friends, the health and the children you have earned." That will make you think.

Well there you have it. Don't you love that in an attempt to better myself in the first year of my thirties I start with my looks? Vanity Vanity...

Oh well.

It all started on 8-24-1979

Today I turned 30.


30.


Thirty.


The number doesn't scare me. I haven't had a melt down or a pre-mid life crisis. People keep asking "do you feel old"? Why? Should I? As I sit here tonight I am starting to think about where I am at 30. I find myself asking "is this where I thought I would be?"


That is a very good question. The answer is yes and no.


I am happily married with 3 healthy, beautiful children. Something I always wanted...check.


I haven't finished my college degree...hmm...


I live in a beautiful home on a beautiful piece of property with great neighbors to boot...check.


My husband and I just celebrated our 10 yr. anniversary and we are more in love than the day we were married.


I have a good job.


We pay our bills.


Life is good.


Still there is something about entering another decade of your life that makes you want to take inventory of your life. Break out the old "things I want to do before I die" list. I mean I have moved up an entire age bracket for crying out loud!


My life is great. Can it be better? What have I done in the last 30 yrs? What can I do in my next 30.


For now I will start with this first year in my thirties...starting tomorrow.