A beginning

Well, it's Monday and I'm back! I have to say, I haven't gotten much accomplished yet, at least not off my big list (laundry, unfortunately, is not on the big list). As any good procrastinator, however, I have a good excuse (much better than my dog ate it). :)

I have actually started working on several items that are on my list. I wanted to take swimming lessons with Katie this summer and we had our first class this morning. I also really wanted to switch up my blog this summer and I've been spending a little time doing that today. As with last year, I have a few things that will take less than an hour, some that will take several hours, and some that will take much, much longer. My key is trying not to do too much in one day. Have you ever tried to be really efficient and make a list for yourself of all these things you were going to do and then felt defeated when hardly anything on the list got done even though you were busy all day? That's me. I do all of this prep work and then end up feeling defeated because I didn't get everything done and exhausted because I didn't put REST on my list!

My lists now consist of a few big items to do and sometimes include other items like "shower" (important for those busy summer days), "eat lunch", and a few rest items like "watch an episode of Bones". That way, I feel like I accomplished something, even if all I did was take a shower. :)

I debated with myself (and still am) about putting items like a weight tracker on my blog. I'm very embarrassed about my weight, even when I'm not feeling fat. My mother is only about 2 or 3 inches shorter than I am and not especially skinny (I got my good childbirthing hips from my maternal genes) but she weighs about 60 lbs less than I do. 60 lbs!!! I was shocked when I learned this 4 or 5 years ago (especially since my father was kind of appalled to find out that I thought 165-175 wasn't all that bad a weight). Since I am tall, I don't usually look especially fat (except when I was pregnant but that is a story for another day). Subsequently, when people find out how much I weigh, their eyes get kind of big and they make a good show of trying not to show their shock. So, why did I put a weight tracker on my very public blog? I am trying to lose weight and don't have another good way to track it, losing weight is on my summer to do list, and I need some accountability. That is, I need someone else to see, besides me, myself, and I, that I have not lost a single once in a month and perhaps need to redouble my efforts.

So here is my goal: To lose 10 lbs and/or build cardiovascular fitness (sometimes this doesn't always include weightloss, but I'm hopeful). Before I got pregnant in 2005, after 3 years of back trouble and back surgery, (then healing and exercising but then falling off a horse), I weighed 185 lbs, 20 lbs more than I weighed when I got married in 1998. I gained a LOT of weight while I was pregnant: 60 lbs lot of weight. When Katie turned 2 I had lost all 60 lbs plus about 7 more. YAY!!! Then I reinjured my back in July of 2008 and walking or any exercise at all was extremely painful. It was all I could do to care for my daughter, play a little bit, and teach. So, here I am, back at 185.5 as of this morning. Yuck. I wanted to be healthier, lower weight, and stronger when I got pregnant again. I was last summer before getting hurt again. Now I need to rebuild before trying to get pregnant again.

I shall prevail.