What I envision myself as while doing yoga (Credit: Rance Costa of Flickr)
Confession: I only take care of myself when I have to. Better said, I only take care of myself when someone else is at stake. If I have to be functional, or if I am carrying around a mini me, or if I’m currently a 24-hour diner. Even when I have a nurseling still but they are eating solids and I have gone from diner to snack pack, I start to slack off on the self-care arena.
Don’t be like me. Seriously.
I’m working on it, and the first step for me is food journaling. Hubby is doing Weight Watchers, and I’m tagging along. Partly because the baby weight isn’t shedding as completely as it did when I was 19, and mostly because I need to track and pay attention to what I eat. Otherwise, I wind up with 2 days worth of Oreo’s and banana ice cream in me and wondering why I have a headache.
This post was going to be all about getting nutrition from food rather than supplements, but if I’m completely honest, I don’t even take my supplements! Bah. I just can’t be bothered.
I really mean it: Do not be like me.
Anyway, back to Weight Watchers. The biggest benefit I’m getting right now is the food diary, at least for awareness. On top of knowing that I didn’t quite keep my standards up on a given day, seeing that usually helps me connect nutrition with mood, particularly around that time of the month. So, there’s one. Food diary. Check.
Another big area of slackage when I’m not pregnant or nursing a little-bitty is definitely that of hydration. Life is busy right now, and who has time to get up and get a glass of water? And if I sit down with one, MoxiLady wants “wahwer” which just means she wants to take a sloppy drink and then spit it out with a big grin on her face. That might not be so bad if it weren’t followed by a soaking wet baby climbing on my lap to nurse.
*Where* I envision myself going after I do yoga...mmmm, shakes...(Credit: Hakan Dahlstrom of Flickr)
Solution? Not sure. I’m thinking keep a water bottle next to me that I can squirt into her mouth? Or just pour water out of a gallon jug when I do get a drink so that I can see how much I’m getting.
So, with food and drink monitored, what’s left? …Do I have to? …I really have to. …I should exercise, shouldn’t I? I suppose it doesn’t have to be anything official. I could run around with the kids. I could go for a long walk with Hubby, the double stroller and the BabyHawk. I could get a big exercise ball to sit on and roll around on it some.
But again…it’s gotta be tracked or I’ll just explain away not doing it. For this, I need outside help. No diary or jug is going to make me want to sweat. I need a buddy. I need another mom who isn’t taking care of herself either, and together we need to realize that we are the reason we stay healthy.
Bodies go through amazing and intense changes to accommodate the growth of another human being. And then, those same bodies are run ragged trying to get those human beings to the age of 4. How are we going to enjoy them if we don’t replenish them?
So. Find an exercise texting/fb’ing/accountability buddy. Who’s game?
What keeps you from taking care of yourself?
