Sleep, oh Sleep

I woke up with great intentions to run this morning, but Darling Daughter woke up at the same time too.  I cannot keep the child in her bed.  I decorated her room, and it is adorable.  I mean, I'd like to have her room as my room.  I love her so much, but she is so super attached to me.  She follows me around all day when she's awake, and she likes to sleep right next to me.  Right now she's laying on the couch, in need of a few more hours of sleep, watching Dora.  I need suggestions on how to get the child to stay in her own bed.  Cry it out does not work for her.  She'll generally fall asleep up there, but join me in my room at some point in the middle of the night.  I know I just need to get up from my sleep and put her back, but I get so little sleep that I value every minute of it!

And speaking of sleep, one of my friends told me about this SleepCycle app for the iphone.  I downloaded it for .99 cents.  It was the first app I've ever spent money on (yes I'm that cheap!). 

Here are my graphs for the last two nights:




When I look at these graphs, it's blatantly obvious to me that I'm not getting enough deep sleep at all.  The first night, I spent the majority of the night towards awake.  The second night, I began waking up around 1:00 until finally my alarm clock woke me up at 4:58. 

Oh, that's another neat thing about this app.  If you set a wake up time for 5:00 AM, it will wake you up at the lightest stage of your sleep when you're closer to awake than deep sleep from about 30 minutes before until your latest wake up time that you set.  So, on Thursday it woke me up at 4:38 AM and then today it woke me up at 4:58 AM.  This supposedly leaves you feeling more rested during the day then being woken up during a deep sleep phase. 

I've always thought I was a light sleeper, but these graphs confirm it. I now know why I don't wake up rested very often.  I need to figure out how to get better quality sleep.  Maybe get Darling Daughter out of my bed?

Weight Loss Tips #9: Taste the Rainbow

I've been thinking about food a lot the last couple of days, as I try to readjust my diet after the holidays.  Unfortunately, there is still a huge, Costco-size bag of Cape Cod chips in my pantry.  They are my downfall!  I swear, I could eat that whole bag in one sitting if I wanted to. 

Nothing taste as good as skinny feels, right?  I don't know if that statement is totally true, because the cheesecake that's sitting in my fridge right now taste darn good, maybe better than skinny.  Maybe it should be nothing taste as good as healthy feels.  But talking about taste, there are some food choices that can help you lose weight without feeling like you're depriving yourself. 

• Add Color to your Diet, Lots of It:  Not food dye coloring.  Add natural blues, reds, blacks, yellows, greens.  The more colorful your diet is, the better and more natural foods you are eating.  Some great-for-you and tasty bright foods are: Blueberries (wonderful antioxidants), Cranberries, Mangoes, Bananas, Apples, Tomatoes, Avocados, Blackberries, Oranges, Brussels Sprouts (seriously, if you have avoided these your whole life you need to try them roasted!).  Colorful, natural foods are usually beneficial foods.  They provide certain vitamins that can help you have more energy to get moving. 

• Go Nuts for nuts!  I eat a lot of peanuts, but I'm slowly learning to love other nuts like cashews, pistachios, pecans, walnuts.  I mentioned in a previous post that I make a little bag of trail mix to take to work most days with nuts, raisins and a few chocolate chips (just for that bit of sweet!).  Nuts are a great source of protein, so they'll curb your hunger.  Plus, they've been shown to fight against coronary heart disease. 

• Oats Aren't Just for Goats: I need to listen to this one, because I don't eat oats often enough.  Oats are so seriously good for you.  Not the processed packaged oats that I buy for my kids, but the oats that come in the cylindrical box with some old man's face on it.  Ding Ding Ding, those are the ones!  Oats are a great source of dietary fiber.  They expand in your stomach making you feel fuller in the morning, plus they get your digestive track moving, which is great for your overall health. 

• Reduce the Processed Food: Does anyone remember that Breyer's commercial, where the six year old is trying to read the ingredients off the other brand?  He's saying things like riboflavin and mononitrate, and wondering what the heck those things are.  Does anyone else wonder what the heck those things are and what they might be doing to your body?  Well you should!  Last I checked, an apple was just an apple and organic beef is just beef, without added processed chemicals.  Reducing processed foods means you have to get creative with lunches, if you're like me and work.  Make yourself a sandwich, eat tuna, take leftovers. I am not an all natural eater, though I would love to be, so I do allow myself one frozen meal a week.  Remember that processed food has a lot of other stuff in it that can hurt your weight loss attempts. 

Think before you eat.  Before long, you'll start gravitating towards the good choices instead of the bad, and you'll notice that it will make a change in everyone around you too. 

 

Check Out Last Week's Edition

Goals for 2013

I just pushed a button on my phone, setting a huge GOAL for 2013 for myself.  My goals for this coming year are similar and different from last year. 

Here they are, in no particular order:

• Run 315 miles this year: I set a RunKeeper goal to run 315 miles.  This is slightly over 2 miles 3 times a week.  Basically, this means I have to run on all my Taekwondo off days, plus maybe on a few Taekwondo on days.  I'm sure I can do it.

• Run a 5K: I'm setting a goal to run ONE 5K.  I actually hope I can do this somewhere around March or so.  I'm also doing a training program with RunKeeper, to get me prepared.  Now if I can just get over this cold and hit the pavement a little bit more.

• Finish my Novel: This is one of my biggest goals this year.  I should be done in the next month or so, I'm guessing.  I've already reached the climax and my main character is just floundering right now in between two large life decisions.  I need to get her settled and then put it away, returning to it to edit.  Some of you may be lucky enough to read the first draft!

• Start working on Short Stories: I've never been a short story writer, but I really think they are the key to getting novels published.  If you can get some short stories published, then you'll have recognition that will help you with a longer piece.  So I'm going to try my hand at it.

• Keep the Weight Off: Clean out my closet of all the too-big clothes and keep the weight off.  I'm going to do this by maintaining my healthy diet and incorporating exercise in my life every day (see above). 

So those are my goals this year!  I'm psyched to accomplish them and to see what 2013 holds!

What does 2013 Hold?

I can hardly believe this year is over.  2012 was a trying year for me and my family.  We went through a lot of hard times, but a lot of good times too.  I think I've probably grown into myself more this year than any other year since college.  Losing my hair was a huge wake up call for me for some reason (some people might say that's post traumatic stress syndrome).  I've discovered what it takes for me to motivate myself though and to live my dreams, every day.  I don't feel lost the way I did at the beginning of last year. I feel happier, more well rounded, and healthier.  I feel like I'm a better person, a better mother, and maybe a better wife (on a good day). 

This year has been hard for some of my family members too, but all of us have had some pretty major accomplishments. 

Hubby pretty much started out the year by tearing is Achilles tendon.  He was recovering from this the rest of the year, until about September.  After a second surgery to treat Staph, he quit smoking.  QUIT SMOKING!!!  What a major accomplishment for him!  I am beyond proud of him, as this was something he's been struggling with since his teenage years.  He took my lead and began exercising and losing weight too.  We both looked at our demons, and we both started dealing with them...apart and now together. 

Son Number One finished up first grade and started second.  His grades continue to be in the all A range, and we were super proud that he made an A in conduct the first nine weeks!  How thrilling for him.  He also joined the gymnastics's team and attended his first meet, coming in third all around.  He has found his passion, and there is nothing better for a parent than seeing your child do something they love. 

Son Number Two started preschool, and I realized he has a brain...and he's smart!  He has always been my quiet child (except he has a very loud voice--I know so funny!), and I really did not know he knew as much as he did.  He can add!  He has made great friends in preschool, and he fits in well, as usual causing me no problems on that front.  I'm so proud of my little guy.  In other news, he finally moved on from Lightning McQueen to Ninjago.  He still likes Lightning, but he's not as obsessed with him as he used to be.

And Darling Daughter, my one and only girl.  She has grown from a one year old to a terrific two year old.  She is demanding, funny, sweet, and my little shadow. She follows me everywhere.  She loves to give kisses.  I love how when she wants my attention, she'll take her still-pudgy baby hands and move my face towards her and then make her eyes round orbits as she talks to me.  She is adorable and she's a handful!

What about me?  This year has been so up and down for me.  At times, I just wanted it to be over.  I wanted everything to change.  2012 has been about change for me and growing.  I think I finally discovered what it takes to make myself happy. I cried a lot this year, laughed a lot, wrote a lot, exercised a lot, and I began to accept myself for who I am.

I really came to terms with my hair loss this year.  I began experimenting with going out without wigs and hats. I do think I need a tee-shirt that says: I don't have Cancer, It's Alopecia, overall people have been really nice and just ask questions about why I'm bald.  I like the way I look bald, and besides being cold in the winter and having to wear more suntan lotion on my head it doesn't really bother me.  At some point, I'd love to give up my wigs all together, but I'm not sure if my work environment is ready for that quite yet!

I lost almost 60 pounds!!!  I turned my life around, completely changing my lifestyle and began setting a good example for my kids.  I exercise almost every day, and we eat a lot healthier and a lot less than we used to.  This was definitely one of my biggest accomplishments this year!

I really began to write again, and I realized that writing is a huge part of my life.  I hadn't been writing, almost since college, and something was missing.  As a writer, I have this need to put my ideas and stories on paper.  Since I've been writing every day, I feel like I have accomplished so much.  My goal next year is to finish my novel (over halfway done now) and to produce some short stories and try to get them published. 

I'm excited to see what next year holds!!! 

 Bring on 2013!!!!