Maintaining New Year's Resolutions - Getting Healthy

Last week I talked about maintaining your New Year's Resolution to lose weight. However, today's post is more about getting healthy. They are very different things. Not everyone who is at their ideal weight is healthy, in fact, some people may need to put on weight to become healthy. For most, an ASPECT of getting healthy is to lose weight ... but for our family, we have discovered there is a lot more to it.

I have stressed multiple times that I am working on bringing my mind, body, and soul to better health. That is one of the biggest things I hope to pass along with this blog. This includes weight loss, but it also means mental health, emotional health, stress management, and physical health. Let me expound on a few things that I am doing this year to help our family become healthy and stay that way.

This was our family in the fall of 2011 ... just as life began to spiral downhill ... but you would NEVER know it from this photo. My wonderful husband was working 70+ hours a week and my kids were being home schooled. Peanut had serious issues with bullying in the school she was at and Bullfrog was just too advanced for their curriculum. I was silently struggling with post-partum depression, low milk supply, and the overall burnout. We put on a very good front ... no one in our circle knew how bad things were. To everyone on the outside, our health as a family was great.

What I'm trying to say here is ... you are NOT alone and you do NOT have to feel ashamed for not having your life's health where you want it. Make it your goal this year to improve the following areas and you will find success everywhere. There are many days when I get to the end of the day and think to myself ... man alive, parenting SUCKS. However, I never reach the end of the day anymore and think, there is no hope for anything but what we have.



We have made a LOT of changes since October 2011. Obviously, we have added a family member (not the one on the far left, he's been around for a while now and we love him to bits). We have a LOT of room to improve; actually, I have a lot of room to improve. Here are some of the things I am working on to help get healthy this year.

Sleep

Before I would work until 2 to 3 in the morning. I would then be up by 8am to deal with the kids and maybe grab a few cat naps here and there. It was NOT working for me and everyone knew it. I was a grouch and lived on caffeine. I now make sure I am in bed by 1:30am at the very latest. I still get up around 8am with the girls, but I at least feel a little more rested. I also give myself the big OKAY to take a nap during the day. Turtle doesn't always nap, but she does get quiet time in her room by herself. It is a safe area and she can nap if she wants. During her quiet time, I sleep. I usually aim for a 2-hour nap but sometimes I only get about 90 minutes. While that may sound extreme, it is what works for our family. You need to find what works for your family so that you can function without the grumps.

Changing Diets

One of the biggest things that had bugged me about our financial state was our inability to be picky about what we ate. Having IBS, it made it difficult to eat so I wasn't struggling with intestinal issues. So, once we had the ability to tailor the diet, I did. This has become more important because Turtle has struggled since birth with constipation. In fact, we landed at Children's Mercy back in early 2014 because little girl was just breaking down in tears trying to go potty. We did EVERYTHING .. Miralax, increase fiber, increase juice (especially prune juice), increase water ... nothing was working. After talking with hubby and talking to a specialist about options ... we realized we had one last ditch effort. We are now a family who is gluten-free, lactose-free, and soy-free. It has been a HUGE change. It is too early for me to tell you all about the entire benefits we are seeing. Right now, we have just noticed that our little Turtle is no longer crying and struggling to pass even just a small amount of stool. The doctor did tell us that it will take a full two weeks to really see benefits and up to six months for the effects of everything to completely clear. We are hoping the transition continues to be an easy one. So far, we aren't having to fight too hard on it.

Household Duty Delegation

If there is one thing that drives me batty .. it is all the parent shaming. People feel they know what method is best and if you do something different, then you must be "bullied" about it. One of these areas ... household chores. I am a firm believer in delegation. If you HAVE the ability to hire a housekeeper ... DO! There is NOTHING wrong with it! Honestly, I would LOVE to someday be able to afford to have a personal chef come and make me breakfast and lunch ... I enjoy cooking dinner but the other two meals are such a chore for me. Wouldn't it be awesome to hire someone to come take something off your hands? Guess what ... you have children! Peanut and Bullfrog both have set chores they are responsible for each day. While we don't HAVE to pay them ... we do. Right now Monkey is working on picking up after herself, so we haven't looked to add anything else. Turtle is good to follow directions period ... so she's a work in progress. Until my husband took on a second job, he delegated the kitchen as his areas. Your health and the health of your family relationships depend on delegation. Hold a family meeting and get this sorted out ... sooner rather than later!

Here are a few other things that are helping me manage my stress, and improve my health:

• Art therapy - coloring, cross-stitch, embroidery, etc.


• Writing


• Exercise


• Talking with friends over a cup of something hot


• Date nights with hubby!! <- SO important


• Reading


• Simply getting out of the house by myself


• Pampering myself (makeup, massage, haircut, brows done, mani/pedi)


• Attend church & read scriptures

What are things you do to keep your mind, body, and soul healthy? Did you make a resolution to get healthy this year? What steps have you taken to make this a reality for you? Let me know in the comments below!