Daily Devotionals & Balance

I have a busy day planned. I woke up and immediately felt the urge to wing it. I am such a "winging it" kind of person. My husband has been hired for some odd jobs at his lodge this summer and the boys went with him so my head, spinning with so many things to do today, just wanted to say, "Go!" this morning.

But I had to slow down and remind myself the benefits of some semblance of a routine, which I am trying to develop so my days can be more productive. The regiment we tried out was great for a couple of weeks; really great. We all wouldn't mind doing it for another couple of weeks. But we all realize that such a strict regiment like that is not realistic for our lifestyle. Definitely too strict for us to live by, but everyone liked having a more regimented day, so I have to come up with another one that might actually work for us.

It's hard for me, always has been, to keep a routine. Partly because I just like to move to whatever activity needs my attention most, or what inspires me... other part because I like to procrastinate and get lazy.

We homeschool, and after years of having co-ops, classes, play dates and all kinds of planned activities, this January, I pretty much dropped them. I felt like our schedule had grown into a monster that had been taking over our lives. Because the kids studies/classes/activities can change every few months, so can our schedules.

I work from home, which can be absolutely great with the freedom & flexibility I have, but can be disasterous if I don't keep on track. Sometimes it seems the more free time I have, the less I get done.

Now hubby-- who had always had a regular office job/schedule--  is now working sporadically and planning on going to a trade school this fall and starting a new career path. He had always been at least our one anchor to a regular routine, getting up, kissing him good-bye, getting dinner ready for when dad comes home, planning family nights or his days off-- now he spends a good deal of time home wandering about the house.

Our car is gone; it died and it was over 10 years old and not worth $7,000+ dollars to ressurect, so we are walking/bussing, and it is Florida-- so let's face it, it's too damn hot to make many plans outside the neighborhood, but being home with little to do seems to be a big part of the problem right now.

So today I wanted to skip breakfast and just start running, and I had to say, "Wait."

So I did my daily devotionals. My devotionals I do on most days consist of going to my shrine, lighting a candle & incense, saying a prayer to Goddess and God and making an offering (some herbs, a flower, milk, honey, etc. in a little bowl). Then I meditate for about 10 minutes or so feeling the strength of the Divine Powers radiating within me, filling me with the strength and joy and peace I need to get through the day.

I also do a minor devotional to the elements, which in my path are the sacred essences of life. I step out on the screen porch, do some stretching, then greet and draw upon the energies of the Air (wisdom), Earth (stability), Fire (courage) and Water (compassion) to help me in my day.

Then, I sat and ate some breakfast and planned my food for the day. I didn't sit there and calculate calories/fat/carbs, but I did at least decide on a track I was going to take. 

I got some chores done and am now off to the gym, then coming home to get some work done, cook dinner, make up a list of other things to do for the week, hang a shelf, and back to work.

I don't know why it is so hard to get through my thick skull and remind myself running off half-cocked usually accomplishes less than stopping, centering myself, and formulating a plan... then approaching my day with calm deliberation.


Little issue though... seems the scale is stuck again; for almost 2 months I seem to be having this plateau, and now that I've been counting everything I know I am not overdoing it, so in some reseaarch I am learning maybe I am underdoing it. A lot of people advise that, when you are having a stubborn plateau, you should shake things up and do them differently. If you're on low carb, go high carb; if you're on high carbs, go low carb. Change exercises. Eat more, instead of less.

So.... my plan is to keep up the gym (since I just started that, it's new), and do an extra set everyday. Also, to increase my calories for a few days to see what happens, then decrease my carbs way low to only veggies & fruit for a few days & stay away from grains.

Lets see if that shakes things up.

Best part is, though, it's not discouraging. Just par for the course. This is, after all, about life, and life-long habits, not numbers on the scale. No matter what I weigh, I have to keep doing the right thing.


EDIT- Hold on, scratch that... I just remembered a couple of weeks ago I switched to a new, better scale and it was registering me at 2 1/2 pounds higher, so I adjusted my ticker. So I have been losing this  month, I just forgot about the adjustment.

REPORTS

Gym-- heading there now for 3 sets of each machine & 1 hour on the treadmill.

Going to attempt 1 min. 30 seconds on the elpitical, twice, somewhere within all that.

Food:

Oatmeal w/1 tsp brown sugar, cinnamon & 1/2 apple
tea w/sweetener

Planned--
lowfat yogurt
green smoothie
celery w/peanut butter
pork chop (broiled)
butternut squash (roasted)
garden salad w/ fat free ranch dressing
air popped popcorn, no fat/butter