A Mommy Story

It’s been nearly two and a half months since I gave up soda. Since that time, I’ve had small drinks of Diet Coke twice – and both times now, I’ve found it doesn’t taste good at all. When I’m feeling a craving for caffeine, I opt for tea or iced coffee instead, and I’m completely satisfied with the changes.

The money we’ve saved by not buying soda has helped offset the costs of buying more organic foods. We want to avoid GMOs and pesticides as much as possible, but the costs for that add up quickly. Now that summer is here, more farmer’s markets are opening and I need to start planning my visits to them during the week so we can pick up more fresh, local produce. (Why must so many be on Saturday mornings when I don’t want to be awake?) We have some fantastic local farmers who I’d rather give our money to for freshly picked food as much as possible.

I still struggle with sugar. I’ve wanted to keep cutting back on sugar, but it’s so, so hard. Cutting out salt is easier than sugar, especially in the evenings when I always seem to crave a sugary treat. I’m making better choices when I can – real fruit versus added-sugar treats – but I admit that this is a constant struggle for me.

My fitness goals have been painfully ignored due to a lack of planning on my part. I start every day with the intent to work out, but plans often get in the way. My last attempt at running proved to me that the muscles in my legs may have memory, but my heart and lungs quickly forget everything I taught them.

Last Friday, I dusted off a strength training DVD I used to use regularly, with the intent of motivating myself to work out more by seeing how well I can still do it. That didn’t go so well. My legs were shaking throughout, and there were times I couldn’t finish the number of repetitions asked of me. I did make it to the end, but it wasn’t pretty at all.

The next day? Oh, I hurt. The day after that? Even more.

It did motivate me, though. Feeling those muscles again made me realize that I need to get moving more and carve out time in my schedule to exercise.

My weight is still holding steady about five pounds over my lowest weight. I’m aiming to erase that five pound gain entirely before the end of summer. I’m running in the Color Palooza 5K in a week and a half (let’s be honest, I’ll be walk-running that one), and I might sign up for more 5K races just to give myself forced goals. I hear there’s a 5K coming up where they spray you with water and dump water on you at several points – for someone who sweats as much as I do, that sounds lovely.

What are your healthy living goals right now? How’s it going?