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At least it’s not another post about water, right? It’s hard to write about health when I’ve been sick since Tuesday night. I actually managed to get up early and workout on Monday and Tuesday morning. My plan was to workout every weekday morning for 4 weeks, so it became a habit. I guess I’ll have to start over next week.

But back to the topic at hand. I tend to get really negative when I’m sick, so I thought I’d look at the benefits to what I see as the worst kind of plague to hit mankind…the stomach flu. I would seriously rather be sick for a week with the real flu than to suffer 24 hours of a stomach bug, but the stomach bug is what hit me. So what’s so good about the stomach flu?

It cured my coffee addiction. I haven’t had a cup since Tuesday morning, and the thought of coffee makes me cringe right now. I was hoping to give up the caffeine at some point, and what better time than now? I’m already past the caffeine withdrawal headache, too. I think it coincided with my dehydration headache.

I caught up on my sleep. I had been going to bed way too late and getting up way too early. After being up sick all night on Tuesday, I’ve slept the better part of the last two days. Wednesday I slept for two hours in the morning while the kids were at school, and then slept another three after my husband got home from work. And yesterday after dropping my daughter off at school, my son and I came home. He sat on my bed and watched a nice, long DVD, while I snoozed right beside him. After another long nap yesterday afternoon, I was pretty much back to my normal self.

I lost 6.5 pounds. Yeah, I was pretty shocked too. I’m sure it was mostly water weight, and I wouldn’t recommend the stomach flu as a way to lost weight. But if I have to have the stomach flu, I’ll take the weight loss. Now to get back on track with the workouts, so I don’t gain it all right back.

So that’s my not-so-healthy post of the week. If only the stomach flu miraculously caused my house to sparkle, I’d be one happy camper. Unfortunately it seems to work the opposite, though. When mommy gets sick, the house falls apart. I have a lot of work ahead of me this weekend…

Photo by joka2000.

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My family hears that phrase a lot from me. Usually it’s when I’m about to go over the edge into a serious mental breakdown. Ok, maybe not so serious, but I do hit that wall of “I’ve had enough!” frequently.

Why is “me time” so important to me? And make no mistake. I think it’s paramount to my survival as a stay at home mom. No doubt about it.

The reason that I need me time is that I’m fairly introverted. I’ve heard it said before that the difference between extroverts and introverts is that extroverts are energized by being around other people, while introverts are drained by too much social interaction.

It’s not that I don’t like being around other people. I do. But I do find that big social outings drain me of energy. Constantly answering the “Why, mom?” questions from my children wears me down. Having friends over for dinner, while enjoyable, takes a lot out of me.

Unlike the extrovert, I am recharged by spending time alone. It doesn’t really matter what I’m doing. Working on my blogs in a quiet house energizes me. Reading a good book relaxes me. Even paying the bills or cleaning the house is enjoyable, as long as I’m home alone.

Fortunately my husband caught on to my need for “me time” shortly after our daughter was born. I still remember the day. It had been a rough day. Liz had cried off and on all day long. I had been a stay at home mom for nearly 4 months, without a break. My husband called me on his way home from work, and the stress in my voice must have been unmistakable.

When he got home, he offered to take our rented movie back to Blockbuster. And he told me he’d take Liz along, too, so I could have a little break. After he dropped off the movie, he called to tell me he was taking Liz to Walmart to look at the toys, so I could have even more “me time”.

I remember breathing a huge sigh of relief that night and totally relaxing for the first time in months. I loved being a mom. I loved staying at home with my daughter. But I needed to recharge. I needed a break.

That night a new tradition was born. Every Friday night my husband takes Liz, and now Sam, too, out, while I stay home alone. Sometimes they go to the park. Sometimes they go out for ice cream. It doesn’t matter to me. I get to be home ALONE!

I don’t do anything special during my “me time”. If I’m motivated, I work. If I’m not, I relax in front of the TV. The important thing is, I’m at home, relaxed, and not responsible for anybody for a couple of precious hours. After my “me time” I’m recharged for another week, and my family learned long ago that I’m much more pleasant when I’ve had a couple of hours to recharge.

“Me time” for mom is a weekly tradition where everyone wins!

This post is part of MamaBlogga’s January Group Writing Project on “Me Time”.  For more details, visit MamaBlogga.

Photo by (UB) Sean R.

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Photo by joka2000

I’m still working on drinking enough water, though I’m happy to say I’ve done a lot better this week. After reading all of the comments on last week’s post, I went out and bought some cheap bottled water. It’s amazing what a difference convenience makes! I had a couple of days where I actually hit my target of 8-8oz glasses of water!

I’ve also managed to cut back on the coffee this week. I made a deal with myself that when the morning coffee is gone, I won’t make another pot. It’s helped that it’s been a little warmer out this week. I tend to drink more coffee when it’s cold. We’ll see how it goes this weekend. We’ve got a nice freeze going on outside this morning. So far I’ve resisted the urge to make more coffee though.

Ok, enough about the water and on to other things. I started reading a great blog this week called Nutrition Fitness Life. I have to tell you, if you need motivation and inspiration to lose weight or live healthier, that’s the place to go! Susan writes about stuff like avoiding the temptation of M&Ms, using a good breakfast to hold off sugar cravings, and waking up early to exercise. That last article actually inspired me to roll out of bed at 4:30 Wednesday morning to workout!

So how are all of you doing on drinking your water? Working out? Do you have any inspirational sites or advice to share? Let me know in the comments!

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Photo by FlexxyB

My one goal for the month of January was to drink less Dr. Pepper and more water. I’ve managed to cut way back on the Dr. Pepper….I’ve been averaging less than two a week, down from 1-2 a day…but I haven’t increased my water intake. Instead I’ve switched to coffee.

I realize that part of the problem is that I have a serious caffeine addiction. But beyond that, I just don’t like water, except on a really hot day. Even then I usually prefer iced tea.

So now I need to cut down on my coffee consumption. And I still need to increase the amount of water I drink. I hate buying bottled water, but I’m beginning to think that might be the way to go. I love convenience, and having a cold bottle of water in the fridge ready and waiting for me might encourage me to drink more. But I hate spending money on water.

On a related note, a women’s group I’m a part of at church has been discussing the book The Cure by Timothy Brantley. While a lot of his suggestions are too extreme for me (eating a raw diet, etc), there are some good suggestions for healthy changes to make in your diet.

One of the suggestions is to drink only structured-clustered water. Yeah, I didn’t know what that was either. Apparently it’s the most pure form of water, found in deep springs that aren’t exposed to outside air. I’m a skeptic, but the leader of our group brought along samples of Fiji water, which is one of the brands Brantley recommends. I have to tell you, that was some good water! I couldn’t believe the difference between that and tap, or even the cheap bottled water.

Unfortunately Fiji water is also expensive, so I won’t be stocking up on it anytime soon. But if I had the money, it would be tempting. I really do think I would drink a lot more water if it tasted that good. If you don’t believe me, head to Target and buy a bottle…just one, because it’s expensive. Then let me know if you taste a difference. Who knew? I always thought water was water.

Do you get enough water? Do you prefer bottled or tap? Do you even like water? Feel free to share!

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Photo by fdecomite

Last week I told you that two of my goals were eating more fruits and vegetables and dropping 20 lbs (though I stepped on the scale today and it’s more like 25! ). Though I haven’t gone gung-ho and joined a gym or started running 10 miles a day, I have made some small changes over the last week that I think will help over time.

First, I started walking whenever I could. I’m fortunate to live in a small town where everything is in walking distance. I can walk to the post office, the grocery store, the library, and even Walmart (though that’s a bit of a hike).

On the not-so-rainy days, I’ve been trying to get out once a day to walk. I know it’s not exercise, but when I think back to the days when I could eat anything and not gain a pound, I realize I was a lot more active. So little by little, I’m trying to incorporate more activity into my life. As the weather gets better, that will get easier.

Also, I’ve been putting extra vegetables into my food. For Christmas I got the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. In it she talks about how she purees vegetables, and adds them to her meals, and her children don’t realize they’re getting the extra veggies.

Since my kids hate their vegetables, and I’m trying to get more into my own life, I thought I’d give this method a whirl. So far it’s not been too bad. My husband did wonder why the meatballs in the spaghetti pie were a little bit green (broccoli), but other than that, nobody seemed to notice anything. And we all ate some extra cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, and squash this week.

Hopefully by continuing to make small changes in my day to day routine, I can develop a more healthy (and hopefully thinner) lifestyle.

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For the last day of my week-long focus on goals, I’m going to focus on health goals.  This isn’t my favorite area to work on, but the older I get, the more I realize I really need to take better care of myself.  I’m going to break my goals down into the things I’m focusing on this month and the things I’d like to accomplish by the end of the year.

For January I’ll be working on two things.

1.  Drinking water.  I do not drink enough water.  Not by a long shot.  I think water is boring.  However, I can also tell when I’m dehydrated, because I start to get headaches.  So this month, I am banning all pop from the house, and I will be drinking water with my meals.  I’d love to say I’m going to carry out the pop ban for the entire year, but for now I’m going to limit my goal to one month.  It’s less overwhelming and more achievable for  me.

2.  Sleep.  My husband’s crazy schedule is starting to affect my schedule.  A good example was last night.  I was up until 2 am when Jim came home from job #1.  I said goodnight to him, but woke up again when he left for job #2 at 4:30.  Chances are, I’ll be catnapping here and there throughout the day, while my kids are hopefully occupied with something constructive.  In the coming weeks, I will be focusing on trying to get to sleep at a decent hour at night (I’m shooting for 10:00), so I can be more productive in the morning.

Over the course of the next year, I have two more health related goals.

1.  Lose 20 lbs.  I know, I know.  Everyone has this goal.  And it was my goal last year too.  This year, my husband is on board with me, though.  Losing weight is always easier when you have the support of your family.  Maybe I challenge my husband to a race to see who can lose 20 lbs first. 

2.  Consistently eat the RDA of fruits and vegetables.  Up until now I’ve had my good days and my bad days, but my fruit and veggie eating habits are really inconsistent.  I’m giving myself a year to straighten up.

Now you know all of the goals I’ve set for myself this year.  I know there are a lot, but I love structure and a good challenge.  Blogging about my progress will hold me accountable too.  I hope.  Maybe. 

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