So we are almost half way through January and a lot of people have already given up their resolutions. For me little steps have worked wonders. I have to admit that this week I have worked harder on improving myself – which really has gone against my jar being a relaxed affair. I do, however, tell myself that I have not set myself any hard and fast rules I have to follow and am just trying to take one day at a time. I would be lying though if I said I had not found it difficult. Although I do not want to let others be my excuse I am very grateful for the support. This includes over 30 of you who linked up last week.
The most supportive person has to be Iona over on Redpeffer who has also been drinking water with me. I’m on day 12 and have only had 1 cup of tea and a couple of glasses of juice all year and LOTS of water. Well apart from the night drinking with the girls (realistic goals remember, and the hangover was LOADS better). The hardest part for me is I did not realise how hard it would be socially – but I have done it: At the hairdressers, Meal with my husband, Coffee with friends, when my friend came to visit for tea, at my nan-in-laws.
I have felt drained – physically and mentally, and I think it has helped me to remember to keep eating (otherwise I do think that I would just pass out!). Bonus though it is free so I have already saved quite a bit of money, as well as being healthy. My husband is also joining me with water drinking as he says he has seen a real change in me (I’m less moody for a start). I think the difference has been one of mind as well as physical. Such a small thing to achieve (drinking water each day) but I am doing it – it is helping with me with my self-esteem – I am doing it! So making me feel better outside and in.
The other thing I have been doing is decluttering. My house is an absolute nightmare, I’m such a hoarder and I hate to see things go to landfill. I decided that actually it is one of the things that gets me down, and as it is such a big job I decided to break it down into little goals to aim for. I did my bottom drawer (with my sleep and underwear), my youngest’s underwear drawer, our cups, and my make-up. The hardest thing for me about decluttering is either feeling like I ‘could’ make money from something. Trouble is it either does not sell or I just simply do not get around to selling it, but I cannot just put it in landfill. This time I gave away some unused make-up (which was hard as even then I tried to convince myself that ‘one-day’ I may use it AND I made an invitation to play with the rest.
For me this was a huge step I just set out some paper, some shaving cream and the make-up with brushes. I must admit I was hoping to practise writing and letters, but after less than a minute of seeing he had no interest in that I just let him play. I finally saw the importance of this and how much he was just developing by doing it. He LOVED it, saying, “oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” as he mixed the powder, and the shaving cream, discovering that the eye-liner which was white at the end wrote black. I could see how he was strengthening his hands as he pushed down on the foundation bottle.
One of the things I had pulled out of my jar is spending 15 minutes quality time with each of my children. Now this sounds like something I should just be doing – but I really do not tend to spend much time with the older two on a one-on-one basis. I tried to talk to them about what things we could do together this year but we actually ended up talking Minecraft (both of them separately). I hope, if nothing else, that it made them feel like there was opportunity to talk and that I do care about them – I need to make sure I do it more often.
I have looked at how I can stop making excuses and combine things – my 6 year old wanted to go for a bike ride and it was a perfect excuse to get some exercise, combined with going to see his Great Nanny. Making exercise easier was also on my mind and I thought about what I liked doing. On a Monday I take the middle 2 swimming whilst the youngest has his swimming lesson. I have a race of a couple of lengths of the main pool with my 10 year old each week (it’s surprising how tiring that is!). This week I have also had a disco ball (I exchanged a Christmas present) as I love to dance and this burns lots of calories.
Lastly we have our son’s review for his Statement of Special Needs and it reminded me that he is moving forward and so should we. Sometimes it is easier just to stay stuck in the old routine, I mean does anyone like change? So tonight he has gone to bed in pants for the very first time – even if he wets, you can see he appreciates our confidence in him.
This week I think I have relaxed. Relaxed my expectations, I am taking each day as it comes. I keep telling myself it takes 30 days to change a habit – and well if I can do one more day, or even just make it to the end of this one. No pressure, it does not matter if tomorrow I drink tea, because today I have drunk lots of water. I remember my goal – which is to be healthier.
How have you been this week? What have you been up to?
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