The woman that can do it all
Recently I met a woman with two sons, both of her boys are in school. The woman is amazing, she has her own wet saw and has been tiling the bathrooms and kitchen of their recently purchased home.
She keeps pretty busy with their farm and horses but I don’t think she “works outside the home”. So I, having four young sons, two who are still at home with me, asked her, “How long did it take you to catch up on your ‘to do’ list once your youngest started school?”
“Three years,” she answered without hesitation.
I was stunned……but in a strange way, I felt encouraged!
I am not that woman
I was encouraged because my “to do” list is always a mile long, and never ever finished. But I put everything on it as it comes to mind throughout the day. Here’s an example:
buy milk, cheese, eggs
fix towell bar in bathroom
make cookies for Jackson’s class
learn PHP
go through Canon photography tutorials online
lose 10 pounds
reschedule Tyler’s orthodontist appointment
become a more attentive wife
You get the picture!
Of course, I can’t possibly accomplish all these in one day or probably even one year. But I still have a list, in fact, often, it isn’t hard to prioritize what needs to happen today….and no matter how crazy family life can get for us “home managers” we still have to keep our own health and well-being up there at the top somewhere, whether we are trying to lose weight, maintain a healthy weight, or just make healthy changes to our lifestyle.
But how?
How DO crazy busy moms achieve and maintain weight loss?
By daily remembering this: we cannot wait for life to slow down, for our “to do” lists to shrink in size or for kids or spouses to start cooperating. And at the same time, we can’t just go tackle huge weight loss plans either, we have to chop our weight-loss goals into teensy weensy little chunks! On the one hand, life is gonna happen, it seems like there is always a season of this or a season of that. Life always seems to toss something unexpected into our path, interrupting our best laid plans! It can be so frustrating. As a result, this may not be the time to make great big weight loss goals that involve loads of changes all at once! We will inevitably fail with each overwhelming attempt because life will always get in the way. We can’t put everything on hold just so we can perform twice a day workouts and eat nothing but raw vegies! We have to roll with life as it comes and somehow make it work for us, so we can accomplish one small goal at a time, one day at a time.
The sad, fat girl in me
I have struggled with my weight my whole life (or at least since middle school!) and although I am a nice normal size right now, I was once very fat and I may struggle the rest of my life just to not be that way again. I have experienced how fast my weight can get away from me and how two gained pounds turns to ten, like overnight!
But I’m busy and I have 5 people to take care of, a job, volunteer commitments and multiple plates to spin, not to mention four kids cycling through one cold, flu or illness after another.
But there is something very important I am getting a handle on and it is this: each moment I am given is a gift and in this present moment (no pun intended!) I have the chance to sew a seed, to make a choice, and the choice I make will become one of many choices I make and the SUM of those choices will be the result that I live with later, whether it be next week, next month or even the next day…..in fact, all I have control over is this moment, the seed I sew or the choice I make right now.
You see, for weight loss to work, it’s not enough to have a great plan or just to be “good for a week”. It requires consistent good behavior, each moment of the day, each time you’re presented with an opportunity to make a healthy or an unhealthy choice. Using the excuse “I’m too busy” or, “I’ll start once this crazy week is over” too often will only sabotage your goals. But it is so easy to get overwhelmed, too. That is why I highly recommend changing the way you think about your weight loss goal(s). Change your mental game and approach your challenge just ONE MOMENT at a time because guess what, you add up enough moments of healthy choices and before you know it, one pound of fat is gone from your body, then 5 pounds are gone and then 10, or whatever, you get it?
I am the sum of my choices
A healthy lifestyle comes from consistently making good choices, and we only get one chance to make those choices, in each moment. We may not be able to control the chaos around us but we can decide in each moment how to treat our bodies and this can be extremely empowering, if embraced.
Instead of waiting for life to calm down or for the snow to melt or for your kids to start school, take charge of your health just one moment at a time, allowing the sum of those moments to become healthy habits that carry you to your goals. 
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