Sparkle

Bam! In the blink of an eye, the Lil' Dude is 3 year old.
And bloooob, blooob, blooob ..... the baby weight is still happy, hanging out with us.

Oh that darn thing!
I nursed him till he was almost 2. The weight came off relatively quickly (AT FIRST) until the "busy time of the year" for me at work hits. While I hustled at paperwork and reports, I also shoveled Rolos into my mouth like a champ! Oh those sweet little gold bite-sized pieces of smooth, chocolatey, sweet delight. My friend's mom said, "A moment on your lips, forever on your hips."  Oh how true!!!

Fast-forward to December 2015. Busy time hit. I didn't gain weight. I lost inches. I am good. Ooh. Whatever I am doing is working. :)

I may not be obese, but I do struggle with weight, self-image ... all that things that affect women. You know --- the pooch, the saggy Bingo arms, how your clothes don't lay flat on your body, or how they ride up, or how the clothes just don't look right. That's just the aesthetic aspect.

Mentally, I was tired. I was sluggish. I was blah. I didn't sparkle like I used to. How does one sparkle when you have to tend to a toddler, to the home, to your full-time work, to other obligations? Losing sparkle was just how "the way it is." Isn't it?? All these adulting is rubbing my sparkle off.
Forget sparkling. I am surviving.

If you have been a follower of this blog, you know that I love being active. I am not actually a sedentary person. I love working up a good sweat. I love feeding my body with goodies (and some junk). Imagine how un-sparkly I was when I wasn't exercising like I ought to be and when I was just shoveling junk into my body.

Now, it is almost 4 months into my fitness routine. It has been working out pretty well so far. It is something I can do and don't mind doing.
Do I love it? No. Not all the time. However, I do look forward to it more than not.
I am not at the point where I can just let it go like Elsa. It is still a conscious effort for me. I plan my meals. I schedule my workouts. But I feel good when everything is in order. There is purpose. When I was running far and long, I have a goal every day -- 3 miles, fartlek, 10 miles, negative splits. Now, I am back to having daily goals. And I thrive when I have goals.

I am taking care of myself.
I am happier.
And you know what?
I sparkle.

The Week That Could

Oh gosh. Where do I even start? 

This past week's fitness activity is rather lackluster. Uhm... practically non-existent. Goodness!
Other than the mile I walked on Monday, I really haven't done much! I am definitely feeling some guilt.
Baby C must be settled in a position, which is putting some pressure on my lower back/sciatica nerve. Sometimes I feel some tingling in my legs and some numbness. Other times, it just hurts. So instead of walking on the treadmill, I tried to move around the house getting chores done. I figure that's better than just sitting on the couch.

Baby C is moving quite a bunch. Baby C moves a bunch whenever we talk politics and economics and food. I think Baby C will fit right into the family.

Here's what I have been doing all week. 

Celebrated 4th of July at boyfriend's work place and at his aunt's church for the volunteer fire department.

  Celebrated my baby's daddy's birthday. 

His sister made him a cake. 

There were a lot of candles to blow out. 

Thank goodness the fire department wasn't called in on this. 

The cake was colorful and tasty. 

P.S.: Happy Belated Birthday Dream Big Runner! 

We also had a college friend over at our place for lunch on Saturday. 

Friend is currently a biking fan and does a lot of mountain biking or trail biking (I don't know the proper biking lingo) so we had a good chat about the bikes, and he and my boyfriend chatted about polymers. Weird research people!

It is going to be another big week this week. 

I tried to psych myself up to can some tomatoes but I just couldn't muster the courage. 

So, I am having to do it this week. 

And hopefully, Baby C will find another nook to settle in and give me a break from the sciatica/back problem and that I can get some walking in. 

Hope your week was wonderful.