Today is Monday.  Three weeks ago today I made a lifestyle adjustment.  Not necessarily a New Years Resolution, but more of a change in the way I live.  I started to really look at the way I was doing things around the house, the way I was eating, and the way I was {not} exercising.  I knew I had to make a change and I figured, what better time than the start of a new year to turn over a new leaf.

So, three weeks ago I started going to the gym again.  I started eating better and being more aware of what I put in my mouth.  I started being more purposeful, if you will, around the house – making the bed, bringing the laundry down, tidying rooms up when not in use.  I’m planning meals for the week and trying to avoid letting folded clothes sit in laundry baskets for more than a day.  It might not sound like much, but it’s making a difference in our lives.

In the past three weeks, I’ve lost 8 pounds.  This is a big deal for me.  It’s not that I consider myself overweight or anything.  It’s just that I know that I can look better and feel better.  Not for anyone else, but for myself.  I want my children to see me as an active and fit parent.  Now, three nights each week, I go to the gym and they know that mommy is going to exercise.  On the weekends I use our treadmill at home. After dinner I get ready to leave, my husband cleans up the dishes and then gets the girls ready for bed.  Not only is this a chance for me to work out, but it’s a chance for me to have alone time.  It might sound crazy that I actually enjoy going to the gym, but I do.  It’s the only time that I get to drive in my car completely alone listening to whatever music I choose as loudly as I want.  And when I get there I don’t have to unbuckle car seats or lug anyone or anything in with me.  It’s amazing.  And while I’m there working out, I can read my Kindle or watch TV or stream Netflix on my iPhone.  It’s really quite relaxing.

When I get home, the kitchen is {usually} cleaned up, the girls are in bed, and my husband is waiting for me.  He’s very proud of what I’m doing and that makes it even more rewarding for me.

I don’t believe in dieting.  I’m not saying that it doesn’t work for some people, but for me, it has to be a lifestyle change.  I just have to eat less and move more.  And that is what I’m doing.  The scale doesn’t lie.  Eight pounds of me are gone and I hope they never come back!

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