Day Two: Move-My-Body Challenge

I've got a couple minutes to post before heading out the door to get the little one at day care.

WooHoo for me for day number two of the Move-My-Body Goal! Today was approximately 40 minutes of "strength training," which translates to some varying exercises in my living room while watching the show, Brothers and Sisters, on DVR. I did sit-ups, push-ups, squats, and other fun things with some 5 pound weights (hey, at least it's a start). Actually, I followed the routine from the Abs Diet for Women book.

How did I feel beforehand: Honestly, I was dragging my feet and kept putting it off. Instead of doing it at 8:30 a.m. after dropping Lindsay off at day care liked I had planned, I didn't start it until 12:30 p.m. after doing some work and having some client calls. But I got it done never-the-less and that's what matters.

How did I feel during: Using my muscles felt good and it was nice to have the distraction of the TV; it helped the time fly by.

How did I feel afterwards: Great! I could feel the workout in my muscles and felt proud of myself for not giving in to the procrastination completely.

An aside: It really does help to be taking this day-by-day. When I find myself beginning to wonder how long I'll keep it up, or what I'll do two days from now or what will happen if I get bored of some type of exercise, I've found it helpful to stop and remind myself that all I need to worry about is today. And then once I finally did it today I was able to say, "Okay, done for today....don't have to think about that anymore...until tomorrow."

Easy Recipe of the Week: Lasagna

Extra-Easy Lasagna

3/4 pound ground beef (or turkey)
3 cups marinara sauce (recipe calls for Prego Traditional)
6 dry lasagna noodles
1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz. package)
Fresh or chopped frozen spinach (defrosted and drained)
1/4 cup water

1. Cook meat until browned; stir to separate. Spoon/drain off fat.
2. Add marinara sauce; heat through; stir often.
3. In 2-quart oblong dish (this is smaller then a 9x13 baking dish), spread 1 1/2 cups of marinara mixture (half the mixture) on bottom of dish.
4. If using fresh spinach, mix into ricotta by using a food processor. If using chopped frozen spinach, mix defrosted and drained mix in with the ricotta cheese using a fork.
   
5. Top with 3 noodles, half the ricotta and half the mozzarella cheese.
6. Repeat with 3 more noodles, remaining ricotta mixture and cheese (leave a small amount of mozzarella out to use on top).
7. Top with remaining marinara mixture and sprinkle with small amount of mozzarella cheese.
8. Slowly pour 1/4 cup water around the inside edge of the dish and cover.
9. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.
10. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Tips:

• Find ways to alter this recipe for variety and varying tastes. Last night I used sweet Italian Sausage, which everyone (including my 2 1/2 year-old) liked. Often I use the Traditional Prego sauce, but sometimes I use the Trader Joe's Vodka Marinara Sauce, which provides a creamy taste and consistency. Add lots of spinach if you like. Add less or no spinach if you like. Play around with it, be creative and find ways to get healthy foods into your families bellies. You can throw nearly anything into a food processor with the ricotta and most will never know.

• Although this recipe doesn't take long to make, you can eliminate the dinner-time chaos by making this in advance and then just cooking it an hour before it's time to eat. This is necessary for those who work outside the home and don't have time to make and bake the dish after work. Make the recipe as indicated above; however, leave out the water until you are ready to cook it. Yesterday morning I made the lasagna and then covered it and wrote a reminder on the top to add 1/4 cup water (I've forgotten to add the water before). When I got home at 5:30 p.m. I added the water, put the foil back on and stuck it in the over. A delicious dinner was on the table by 6:30 p.m. (including some warm bread I stuck in the oven while the lasagna was cooling and a Cesar salad from a bag.
  

• Enjoy a no-brainer dinner night as a result of making this dish. Depending on your family size, you should end up with plenty of lasagna left over for an easy, no-brainer meal the next night. Or freeze the remaining to use over the next few weeks when you don't want to cook.
  

How do you explain the concept of inanimate objects to a 2 year old?

I was inside the house while Lindsay was outside playing in the backyard.

"Mommy, I want to take the wagon for a walk."

"Fine, walk it around the back yard."

Screams heard. I go running.

"Lindsay, what is wrong?"

"The wagon won't listen to me."

Day One: Move-My-Body Challenge

It did it! After dropping off my daughter at day care this morning I did about 30 minutes of "interval training" (alternating between fast walking and jogging). With my ipod on my "upbeat" playlist, I alternated between walking one song and jogging one song.

How did I feel beforehand: Just getting started was the biggest struggle for me. Before I made the decision to get my exercise clothes on and grab my ipod before walking out the door, I kept thinking off all the reasons why I should just come right home (to take a shower, to check email, to drink my coffee, to waste time doing anything but walking). Then I realized that I have to make a different choice (which feels hard right now) until it no longer feels like a hard choice. My learned behavior in the morning has been one way and now I want to change that to incorporate time for moving my body.

How did I feel during: Actually pretty good for it being the first time out in awhile. I liked alternating between the walking and jogging because I like the variety. It also really helps me to have the upbeat music that I like. I did feel tired towards the end, but a very different tired then I've been feeling by not doing anything.

How did I feel afterwards: Awesome! I feel like I have so much energy and my mind feels clear.

Move My Body Goal

Today begins the 30-Day-Move-My-Body Challenge. I am officially tired of being tired. I am tired of complaining that I am tired. I am tired of having the time and flexibility in my schedule to regularly move my body, and just not doing it.

As a life coach who helps others in achieving their goals, you'd think that living my own would be simple. Yet, yes, there are still areas in my own life where I want to improve, feel better and make more positive and empowering choices. Moving my body is one of them.

I am not sure why today was the day. Maybe it's being inspired by witnessing my husband, who in just three weeks, has gone from playing hockey a couple times a month to getting up at 5:30 a.m. to exercise at least three days a week. So, while he was out running for the second day in a row, I was lying in bed (awake) thinking about how I *could* get up and do 20 minutes of pilates--but didn't.

Whatever the reason, today is the day! And I invite the thousands of you reading this (ha!) to join me. Here are the guidelines I am going by:

1. Take it one day at a time.
2. Shoot for 30 minutes or more.
3. Plan how and when you will move your body the night before.
4. Stick with the plan, but don't beat yourself up if you have to alter it (i.e. instead of a walk in the morning because it was raining, I danced with the kids before bed).
5. Be creative and choose ways to move your body that you enjoy (jump rope, ride your bike, dance in the living room, do sit-ups while watching T.V., etc.).
6. Track your progress to help you stay motivated.

And behind all of this is really the most important thing. I am doing this because I want to feel good--actually, feel better. I want to have more energy. I want to think clearer. I want to feel better in my clothes. I want to be healthier and happier.

Small action. Big relief.

It’s amazing how taking one rather small, simple action can provide you with such big relief.

After losing all our computer files a number of years ago when my laptop was stolen (and no backup had been done), my husband and I have been discussing the need for a regular backup process. Every so often one of us would burn certain files onto a CD, but with no regularity and we were never quite sure we were saving all that we needed.

When discussing the back-up issue with a friend a couple of months ago, he told me about an online site that he uses, www.mozy.com. I was intrigued by how simple he told me it was and the fact that for a relatively low monthly fee ($4.95, in fact), the program could be set up to run at a certain time every month without me even thinking about it.

Let me say right now that I get nothing for mentioning this service. It’s really just a testament of finding a simple, low-cost service which provides me a *great* deal of relief.

After asking this friend numerous times to remind me the name of the website (I don’t have the best memory), I finally requested that he send me the web address in an email so I wouldn’t forget again; which he did. And there it sat in my inbox for another couple of weeks.

Well, not anymore. This morning I found the email, clicked on the link, briefly reviewed the site, gave them my payment information, downloaded the software and now my computer is going through it’s initial backup process. Great. Done. Something else to check off my to-do list.

But what I am amazed about is the amazing feeling I have of a weight having been lifted from my shoulders. It wasn’t until I signed-up for this service that I realized how much *not* having any backup was weighing on me. In the back of mind I was carrying the concern (more like sheer terror) of what would happen if our computer crashed today.

Today was such a reminder about how taking the simple actions we keep putting off on the things that we don’t necessarily *want* to do but that we are thinking about anyway can free up mental and emotional energy. Now I can take that energy that went towards the, “What would we do if our computer crashed?” and direct it towards more of what I want in my life.

Maybe the will or home emergency kit I’ve been trying not to think about (but do anyways) should be next.

How's your Attitude of Gratitude?

Focusing on what you are grateful for is not a new concept, but it’s a practice worth mentioning as it’s a key ingredient in one having a happier, more abundant life (and I don’t just mean money). When we focus on all the things—big and little—which we appreciate about our lives right now, we see and will experience more of those types of things. Too often we focus on what we don’t like, don’t have and don’t want to experience. Our mental energy gets caught in a state of worry, fear or dread for what may or may not come. Incorporating the practice of having an Attitude of Gratitude, even for just 5-10 minutes a day, can actually change your life.

Getting Started

The first step in living life with an Attitude of Gratitude is to create a way to easily adopt the practice into your life by making it a part of your regular routine. I recommend writing down your gratitude list because I believe there is power in getting words on paper. Plus, it becomes a nice little documentation of sorts as to what was going on in your life without writing any long journal entries. However, some people prefer (and get the same results) from running through a mental list of all they are grateful for while they are walking or showering or commuting to work. The when, where and how is less important then just doing it.

If you decide to write it down, choose a time of the day that makes the most sense for you. For me it’s become the last thing I do before I turn out the light and lay my head on the pillow. Set aside 5-10 minutes to go through a running list of all you appreciate and are grateful about the day and in that moment. These can be long, full sentences or short bulleted points—your choice. The important thing is to get them down and actually spend a moment feeling the gratitude for those things you are acknowledging.

Living It

This practice can and will shift your focus as to how you experience life. The more you integrate the above practice into your daily life, the easier it will become to go to a place of gratitude throughout the day. For many, this practice helps them see things from a more positive perspective in all areas of their life because they are training their mind to look for the positive, appreciate what feels good and attract more of those positive feelings to them. Like really does attract like!

For Moms

This is an especially important and valuable practice for moms, but one in which can all too easily go down the tubes because, um, honestly, when do you have time to add yet another to-do to your already l-o-n-g list?

Make the time! As moms, it’s way too easy to get caught up in our worries, concerns and challenges with our children. We can get so focused on there not being enough time to do it all, enough patience to get through another battle, enough energy to keep up and the list can go on and on. The funny thing is, by practicing your Attitude of Gratitude, you will often find that you begin to feel like you do have enough time, patience and energy and your experience as a mother shifts from ‘getting through the day’ to really enjoying the day.

Test it out. For one week, make time every morning or every night to jot down 5-10 things that you are grateful for and see what happens!