Thursday, April 15, 2010

I finally did it!

For the most part, I have never struggled with weight. I wouldn't say that I was skinny, but I have never been overweight...until recently. With each pregnancy I would say that I kept 3-5 lbs. Now times that by 4 and you are talking about 15 -20 lbs. of extra weight. Then add to that a homecoming (my husband coming back from Iraq), a cruise (one has to try all the delicious foods) and a miscarriage, and I am not comfortable where I am at right now. So...I decided to join Weight Watchers.

I went to my first meeting last week. It was eye opening. I thought that I didn't have horrible eating habits, nor did I think that I overate, but when you are tracking everything you put into your mouth, it gives you a little change of perspective. I did great the first week, losing over 5 lbs. I wish that would happen every week but I know it won't. I have also tried to do some form of exercise everyday. Water has become my drink of choice, though I am missing a good sweet tea with lemon every now and then.

Last year when I was doing P90X, I did not incorporate a diet along with it. It was enough for me to find 50 minutes in my day to exercise with my husband in Iraq and homeschooling the girls. I look back and think that if I would have just made some changes to my diet, I might I have seen the results then that I had hoped for at the time.

While I am here in PA, I am determined to remain faithful to the task ahead of me. As with most of the things in life, consistancy is the key! I'm a bit worried about next week, when we will be in NYC visiting family and I will not be preparing my own food. I just need to be careful and watch my portions. I am one who will skip a meal and then eat a candy bar or cookies. Away with that! I am turning over a new leaf and going to stick this thing out.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Back "Home"

I have wrapped things up in Texas and the girls and I are back in Pennsylvania. All of our stuff has been packed, boxed up and is now in storage. We cleaned our duplex and cleared out of housing. My dad flew down to join me on the long adventure back east. The first day we drove from Fort Hood to Nashville, TN in a short 14 hours :) The next day we were on the road for just under 12 hours. It was nice to get home. I guess you could call it home. I was born in Maryland and when I was five years old, my parents moved to Pennsylvania. After college, I got married and we lived in PA. It was only when my husband joined the Army that we had moved from PA. My parents' house will be our temporary home until our upcoming move to Korea.

My husband received his tickets for his travel to Korea today. He will be flying out the first weekend in May and hopefully it won't take too much longer and the girls and I will be able to join him. In the meantime, we are trying to get into a routine here at my parents' house. I love visiting my family but when the stay extends beyond a week or two, I get anxious about it. Are the kids too loud? Are they cleaning up enough after themselves? Are we in the way? When it's not my own space, I want to make sure that where ever we are staying, that we are not taking advantage of the family or home and that we are doing our part to keep it clean and tidy, which is not always easy with 4 girls.

We have only been here just over a week and the girls are already reconnecting with old friends and cousins they haven't seen in quite some time. I know that being in transition is not easy but I am trusting God for the strength to get through this season in our lives. I can see how the changes are effecting the girls. We have already had attitudes flaring, whining getting louder than normal and complaining about schoolwork seems to be more frequent. I need to give each day to the Lord and lean on His grace and strength.

Since my husband is still outprocessing in Texas, I am again, a single parent. I can't wait for his two weeks of leave so we can just spend some time as a family again...but once he leaves for Korea, I'll be back to being a single parent yet happily married again. I am not complaining. I know that when my husband decided to enter the military, that this would be part of our life. I have learned alot and grown much in the last two years while being away from our family and having gone through our first deployment.

I will end with this....no matter what life throws your way, GOD IS FAITHFUL!