Hey Girlsies,
Time for Wellness Wednesday, 10.2019. Reviewing my progress on the wellness goals I established in January. Then talking a moment or two about gratitude. And with that, may I say that I am always grateful for your friendship. Readership. Is that even a thing? You know what I mean, though.
WELLNESS WEDNESDAY 10.2019
Shooting for perfect scores in every area. But I still have some work to do.
PHYSICAL HEALTH 4.5 (Holding steady)
We were riding bikes, hiking, walking and working out quite a bit. But in September, we began to slow down and haven’t gotten back up to speed yet. Going to keep this at 4.5.
- Work back to running 5K (want to run more regularly again) – My leg is much better, hallelujah. Registered for the YMCA Thanksgiving Turkey Trot to be held on 11.28.2019.
- Lift weights (at least 4x a week) – Every time we hit the gym. On average about 4X a week, although we’ve been slacking this month.
- Walk 7,200 steps a day and 3 stories (build walks back into my daily routine) – Getting back on track with the walking. Have begun walking in the mornings some again, with PC these days, and have a hike planned for this weekend. Maybe the pilgrimage up to Mt. Cristo Rey.
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NUTRITIONAL HEALTH – 5.0 (HOLDING STEADY)
Keeping this goal a perfect 5.0, too. My lifetime WW weight is 138 and I am keeping my weight at that or a little lower.
- Eat more veggies and fruit (and cook meals at home 4x a week) – In September, we slipped a little on tracking our Weight Watchers points like we should but we are getting back to it this month. I am not wanting to lose any more weight but do want to continue to eat well. Have lots of home cooked meals planned for the groceries we bought today.
- Drink 75 ounces of water a day (pretty good at this already) – Always.
- Alcohol and sweets on weekends – Ice cream is my downfall. But we only indulge a couple times a month. And I usually have a beer or glass of wine on Saturday.
MENTAL HEALTH – 4.0 (Up a point)
Have gone back and forth this summer deducting and adding a half point to this category because I never finish anything. But I have turned a new leaf…just in time for fall…and am actually completing things. Books, art projects. Knowing the end of the year is fast approaching, and I have to wrap up some of these loose ends.
- Work puzzles and play word games, practice Spanish (Wordscapes, Word Classic, jigsaw puzzles, Brainscape/Duolingo) – Happily back to word games and my Spanish practice online.
- Weekly art date (do something creative or attend something artsy) – Painted rocks and worked on my mural recently. Visited the cutest holiday decor shop in El Paso with Lauren. Have several other art dates planned to include something special for Dia de los Muertos. Either Viva Los Muertos at the El Paso Punk Rock Flea Market or the Day of the Dead Festival offered by Fort Bliss Resiliency Through Art. Did the pin-up photo class at Fort Bliss, remember? And maybe Chalk the Block this weekend.
- Read 3 books a month (in order to meet my Goodreads goal) – Continuing to make my best progress in this category with my reading. Finished Ask Again, Please by Mary Beth Keane on Audible during my drives over the mountain and back to help with Lucia. Using Embraced: 100 Devotions to Know God Is Holding You Close by Lisa Terkeurst for my morning quiet time. And am reading Whisper Me This by Kerry Anne King on my Kindle before bed. And our virtual book club just began reading The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib. It is the story of a young, former ballerina’s battle with eating disorders. A battle I know all too well. Would love to have you join our group! Holler, if you are interested! We have 69 members and with you, we’d have 70. Crazy!!
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SPIRITUAL HEALTH – 4.5 (Up .5)
Bumping myself up a half point in this category. May not get my quiet time done first thing in the morning every day but I am fitting it in between the appointments and Cia-sitting.
- Quiet time 5x a week (M-F, bonus points for the weekend) – Packing my Bible, devotional and journaling materials to-go with me on the days I can’t get to it first thing in the morning.
- Attend church more regularly (at least once a month) – Yes, and there’s a women’s conference this week that I would like to attend.
- Gratitude journal before bed – Almost every night.
RELATIONSHIP HEALTH – 4.0 (Up 1.0 point)
This is a tough time for us and we are both on edge and nervous about the job situation. But we are being kind and patient with one another.
- Unplug at 9:00 pm – Not happening as often as it should.
- Date night 2x a month (bucket list activities) – Shared my autumn bucket list, here and we have several ‘free’ date activities planned for the weekend.
- Skype with Brennyn/Cady & Lauren/Lucia (read books to my babies) – I have been talking with Cadence on the phone and FB Messenger quite a bit. She is reading Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed at her mom’s and Junie B. First Grader, Boo! And I Mean It at her dad’s. We are reading both together; I read a page to her and she reads a page to me. Sent my Cady Coo a care package this week and Brennyn called while she ‘unboxed’ the things I’d sent.
MAINTAINING HEALTH – 4.5 (UP .5)
- Use sunscreen on my face daily (moisturizer with SPF) – Using SPF 47 on my face. Returning to use a product to lighten my sun spots. Still haven’t asked for a referral to a dermatologist but will next visit to my new PCP.
- Floss – We’ve had the Turewell Cordless Water Flosser for a month. I like it but the dentist said it isn’t an alternative to flossing. Darn!
- Take vitamins and minerals daily (multi, vitamin B, C, D – LMNOP – flaxseed oil, biotin, magnesium, probiotics) – My vitamin D came back high so I have slowed down on it. And we have cut back on the melatonin that we’ve been taking to ensure a good night’s sleep (but crazy dreams). And since biotin can cause false negatives on blood work, I am only taking it every other day. Everything in moderation, right?
FINANCIAL HEALTH – 4.5 (HOLDING STEADY)
- Save money for Christmas – Have begun!
- Pay off Amazon card – Done. Good progress on the Loft card, too. My credit score is smiling.
- Have money in my checking account at the end of the month – Yes, pennies. But a penny is a penny, right?
- Looking for a part-time job. Still helping with Lucia for a little extra money each week. Making my VIPKids demo video this week. Applied to be a flight attendant with American Airlines. Also watching for sub jobs at schools near our house. Fingers crossed.
Just a few months left in the year to earn a 5 in each category. Now let’s talk a sec about our optional theme…gratitude.
Gratitude
For several years, I have kept a gratitude journal. But there are days when I refuse to think of something to be grateful for because I am overwhelmed by the problems in my life. Terrible attitude but the truth. So, I need to work on that some. Because even on the worse days, I have so very many blessings in my life.
Came across this blog post sharing 34 Ways to Show Gratitude. As we approach Thanksgiving or better yet, just because, it’s helpful to have new ways to demonstrate gratefulness. Hope you will take a sec to check out the whole list. Here are a couple of things that I try to do and am glad to be reminded of again.
- Show off gifts you have received. Maybe ‘show-off’ isn’t exactly the right verb, here. But wear the clothes and jewelry gifted you, display the crafts, read the books. And say thank you again when you do wear – display – read them.
- Share praise. Compliment good service, hard work. Take a moment to go the extra mile and notify the boss or supervisor, write the positive review, pass out an atta boy.
- Hand write letters of encouragement. My BFF Sharon is so thoughtful about doing this. She has sent me several very sweet cards recently because she knows I am down in the dumps right now. And I like to send letters and notes to my mom and her friends. Letter writing is a lost art.
Check out my recent Thankful Thursday post, here, to read some of the things and people I am most grateful for.
Your Turn
How are you progressing on your goals this fine Wellness Wednesday, 10.2019? Won’t you share something you are most proud of in your efforts toward a healthier you? And if you have a wellness related blog post, how ’bout linking it up with us? Then take a few moments to stop by the blogs of some of the others.
Off to bed. Didn’t sleep well last night, making a mental list at 2:30 am of things we can start cutting around here, in case our finances take a big hit soon. Hulu, home phone, collision insurance.
Thank you for being here today for Wellness Wednesday 10.2019, for cheering me on with your kind comments.
Hugs and kisses,
Just look at you! Nothing lower than a 4 and a big old 5 out of 5 for nutrition. Brilliant!
Our big nutritional aim is currently to lower our red meat consumption. Too much is not good for us and not good for the planet so that’s our goal. We’ve introduced at least one vegetarian meal a week into our meal plans and always have salmon and/or white fish and also chicken. I have to say that by doing that, when you do have red meat, you appreciate it more – we made beef argue for a bolognese sauce on Monday and it was so tasty! Our aim is to have red meat just once a week – wish us luck! (And don’t mention the words ‘steak and chips’!)
Beef argue? What the heck is that Mr Autocorrect? Beef ragu is what I meant!
Ha!! You are the cutest thing. You ALWAYS bring a smile to my face.
Admirable goal – working toward eating red meat once a week. I should pay more attention to how often we eat it. Probably in the form of ground beef (96% meat/4% fat). I do make a number of chicken dishes, and soups with chicken. I should follow your good lead and see if I can cut us back to once a week, too.
Well done with your wellness plan, Leslie. You’re either holding steady or gaining more points. Thank you for co-hosting the Wellness Wednesday link up with me and staying connected since your first visit to my blog. Have a beautiful week!
Thank you, Natalie. I have enjoyed growing our friendship through blogging and getting healthier together! Looking forward to making next year even bigger and better. Maybe we can add some prizes?
This is such a great post Leslie. I love the idea of a point system to grade ourselves. I still use those power sheets and I’m about to evaluate myself for the fall – yikes! Now I want to sit down and read a novel. Oh how I love a good read I can get lost in. And ice cream is my downfall in florida. it’s everywhere and it’s so good! Now I need to catch up to your workout routine!
Thank you, Chrissy, for coming by!! Ice cream has to be the best treat! I bet you see it on every street corner in Florida. We had some today after a difficult weekend. Hate to use food to comfort me but hey, it works!
Hi Leslie, your list is coming along and your scores are high; so well done. I’m encouraged by this to do better with the peaceful times, I tend to overthink and this gets me all anxious sometimes. I need to read more maybe that would settle my thoughts as well. My savings is well not, so cudos to you for at least getting your finances in order. Really nice post, very thought provoking.
Shugunna, think about joining us next year. We will do Wellness Wednesday again, 12 posts, only 1 a month, and they have helped me be accountable and work toward being overall healthier. If you are interested, let me know and I will add you to the email group.
Thank you for cheering me on.
It is a privilege to subscribe to your beautiful site, Leslie. Your topics are interesting, informative, fun with great photos!
Turkey trots seem to be popular in many places. I can relate on the ice cream as my downfall (when I keep it in the house:) I always appreciate book suggestions. Quiet time is huge on my mental, spiritual, physical health. Sometimes a challenge to find quiet time around here. My eyes gravitated to the “floss.” I was a dental hygienist for over 25 years:) Interesting on the Scoring system. A fun and interesting post filled with many gems:) Erica
My dear, new friend, your comments are so heart-warming. Thank you for leaving such sweet words. We went out for ice cream today after a very trying weekend. I don’t keep it in the house, although I know it would be much cheaper to do so, but at least this way, we got out for it, blow the diet for one day and then move forward. Ha!
Want to invite you to consider joining a group of us for a recipe swap post in November. We are going to share a favorite soup-chili-stew and do a blog hop, from one person’s blog to the next, each sharing a recipe. If you have a favorite soup-chili-stew, won’t you share it with us? Please let me know if you would be interested!
Hi Leslie, Just returned home and enjoying catching up with all. I will not do a recipe share at this time, although I would love to get some suggestions from reading. Perfect weather for bringing the crockpot back into the kitchen:)
Oh, my crock pot is my BFF. Wish I could get more comfortable using my Instapot but it seems to require me to do more. Granted the meals are ready faster but what could be better than throwing things in the crock pot and closing the lid? Welcome home! Thanks for running by.
It seems like you’re doing great. I love that you applied to be a flight attendant, how cool would that be?! I am going to check out that blog post about gratitude. I also just got a book from the library called The Gratitude Diaries, which I’m hoping will help me with expressing gratitude as well.
Thank you! I heard back from American Airlines that they were not interested in hiring me. Boo. But something will come up, I hope.
The Gratitude Diaries sound interesting. I will look into that book at my library. Thanks for the suggestion.
Well dang! You are doing amazingly! Lifting 4x a week?! I need to up my game in that area I think! Of course I’m sitting here icing my ankle from some ridiculous tendonitis that I hope resolves quickly and I can get back to running too! If you find any good products to help lighten sun spots I’d love to know. I have melasma from pregnancy and it’s pretty stubborn and I’m sure there is some sun damage in there too. I used to take melatonin too but had the same issue. Now I take some CBD. It helps me get to sleep faster I think. Way to go!
Thank you for cheering me on my wellness journey. My daughter has melasma. I will check to see what she uses. I know Lauren is very self-conscious about it and now that she is pregnant again it seems to be worse. I have used moisturizers with vitamin C and they have helped lighten my freckles/sunspots/liver spots. But I am just not enough worried to be religious about using anything.
Haven’t tried CBD for sleeping. We have several ointments with CBD that we rub on sore muscles. Is the CBD you take to sleep in a capsule, or a drop of oil on your tongue maybe? Would like to know more.
I went off the carb wagon last month. Ate myself into carb heaven. But its over now. I’m sick of carbs. Back on the Keto diet. Didn’t do too much damage to my weight.Still, it should have gone down a bit further. Instead, it went up.
Oh well.
Back on the wagon!
We have been slipping lately, too. But have promised to get back at it tomorrow. For real, tomorrow!!
I will disagree with your dentist about the water flosser to a degree. Studies have shown that it disrupts the colonies around the tooth just as well as flossing. Granted I still use my pick every day also, but just saying!!
You’ve been so good at your physical activity…I’m so proud of you. We are finally going to start a Pilates class on Friday so I can get off my butt!! Now we need to incorporate some weight lifting and cardio!
XOXO
Jodie
Thank you so much for sharing the studies about the flosser. I feel better about having bought it and will continue to use it.
We are on a temporary break from working out and eating well but tomorrow we get back to it! Have been worried about PC’s job situation so prefer to just sit at home and wallow in self pity than going to the gym and doing something that will make us feel better. Ha!!
Your fitness goals are inspiring. That’s the area I have trouble with. I’ve been making an effort to get back to healthier eating again though. I’ve been cooking some great soups and stews lately.
Would love to have a tried and true, great stew recipe. I remember my mom making something she called goat pie. It was like stew in a crust. Have meant to ask her if she remembers the recipe. Would you want to do some kind of link up for a favorite soup or stew or chili recipe?
I always enjoy reading these posts, Leslie. 🙂 I need to be better about doing my gratitude journal. I joined a CBS bible study group that meets on Wednesdays for 3 hours in the morning and I’ve been really enjoying it. What I like about it, is that it focuses on 2 books of the bible each 9 months that it runs. So, I’m learning about Daniel now and then after Christmas we start Revelations. I always struggle with understanding the word and this really helps when we cover it little by little (and in a group!). I would love to do a 5k again, I miss running races. I should look into some turkey trots around here!! I haven’t been doing as much crafting, I need to get back into that, too!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
You are such a busy mama and wife and blogger. But I know you love crafting and running so maybe you can get back to doing a little bit of both between now and the holidays. A turkey trot would be a perfect 5K. The weather should be pretty agreeable still in November. I want to get a tutu to run in.
Your Bible study sounds really good. I don’t always understand the Bible when I read it in the KJ version. I use Bible Gateway to read it in different versions to help me understand. And I can’t remember who is who and all the stories. But at least we are trying, huh?
A friend of mine has a gratitude journal just for the Thanksgiving season and I am thinking of getting it. She has some Bible journaling pages in it, too, which would be fun.
I’m so inspired by your fitness goals! I’ve really been slacking in the weight training department since my daughter went to college and I need to get back into it! I love the idea of hand written notes of encouragement! I try to play sudoku daily for my mental health!
Jill – Doused in Pink
I have tried so hard to understand sudoku – my daughter has explained it a half dozen times – and I just don’t get it. I think just because it’s numbers, my mind shuts down!! Ha! Words and letters are ok, but anything even resembling math (unless it’s multiplication) and I panic.
We have been real slugs this week as far as exercise and eating well goes. PC bought a half-dozen chocolate chip cookies yesterday and you would have thought we had never had one before. We ate this in record time! Have pledged to get back on track with the exercise and Weight Watcher’s this week.
You are always so ambitious! I started the Keto diet a week ago and LOVING it. It’s been going really well for me.
My oldest daughter does Keto and has had some luck with it. We do well with Weight Watchers but have gotten off track a little and have pledged to get back on it tomorrow. No, really. Tomorrow.
Wow! Impressive! Lots of wellness goals, and accomplishments! Great job! Thanks for linking up with us at the GATHERING OF FRIENDS LINK PARTY 8, pinning!
Thank you, Sylvia for pinning. If you are interested, we will be doing Wellness Wednesday in 2020 again. Hoping to make it bigger and better. Would love to have you join us.