the struggle is somewhat real...

Right now, I'm struggling. I see my goals, but my body is fighting me. This week was a little eratic and unpredictable and I have struggled everyday to accomplish my goals. I have not done any 5k training this week. I've only run a couple miles and I only put in about an hour with HIIT videos and/or weights.

We are currently visiting family and I am NOT in my element. I miss (but still hate) my trainer. I miss real gym equipement. I miss my kitchen & cookbooks. I miss my routine of working on my planners on Fridays and making a plan for the upcoming weekend & following week. 

And thats it. I don't have a plan. BUT, today is the perfect time to come to this realization. Its Planner Friday and I can make a plan to keep me motivated, fueled, energized, and rested.

After sitting down and thinking of what is affecting my energy levels and recovery times, I need to focus on two things: food & work out plan. Today I sifted through

Meal Plan Monday is about it be a thing again. I have kept on track with snacks lately with snacks (in LOVE with Simple Squares) and juicing, so those aren't really my problem areas with food atm other than I'm not working out enough to really take advantage of the benefits. Side note, I'm going to steal ALL the juice recipes...  Taking over the cooking at my mom/grandma's house will be HUGE this week.


I have also been saving pretty much every work out from FitnessBlender on youTube. Their videos seem approachable and modify-able. This week I think I am going to work on their fat burning/muscle building challenge as a sort of boot camp to get me back in gear. I really miss my trainer. Who knew THAT would happen...

With a challenge in mind for the week, I think I will keep running goals slow. Continue using the Zombies, RUN! 5K training app 3 days this week (meaning Friday-Thursday) and aim for a sunrise walk with my grandma. She walks a 24ish minute mile every morning. Very mellow. 

Here goes nothing... Do you have any tips for getting back on track? I'de LOVE to hear them!! 

Happy Friday! 

How I got my priorities back...

simply put... I got fed the fuck up. 

I enjoy volunteering my "talents" to the communities that surround me. This past spring I stuck my neck out just a little too far and was left feeling abused and taken advantage of. With out getting into the ugly details and finger pointing, I can confidently state that I finally learned my lesson of where to draw the line in terms of "giving" my time. 

After the dust settled from the last event I volunteered to chair, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I did wrong; what I could have done differently; what I could change. And the answer to all of the above was nothing. NOTHING. There was nothing I could have done that would have made this fundraiser a more successful event.

Following that train of thought, if I could do nothing. then what was I doing there at all? 

I looked around at our um... lived in house... at our two kids who need nothing more than my time and here I am GIVING it to other causes and I thought "where are my priorities?" 

Once there, I started looking at each thing in my life and I made a list of what I wanted to do with my time and where it ranked. My list looked something like this:

1. Our Family (live an active life with my children, encouraging and nurturing them into the amazing human beings they have the potential to be)

2. My Marriage (spend time and effort cultivating the relationship I have and hope to have with my husband) 

3. Health and  Fitness Goals (regain control of my eating habits and activity levels) 

4. Future Planning (spending time and effort adding to our financial goals/gains and security) 

5. Friendships (grow true and meaningful relationships with friends from the past, present and future)

Volunteering and helping others (on a MUCH smaller scale, with smaller roles) was and still on the list, but, RIGHT NOW, its not a top five priority. 

Once I could articulate my priorities, I could really see that I have been missing the mark on the things that were and are the most important... at least in my head. I found it heartbreaking that I gave away so much of myself when it was in no way beneficial to my goals. BUT, it marked a change in me and a change for the better. Since sitting down with my broken heart and my list, I have made changes and I'm seeing results. While my example of a "breaking point" is completely a first world problem, it was enough to have me evaluate and strive towards goals that truly impact MY life and I am a better person for it.

Have you taken time to think about your priorities? Are you living your life how you want to?

Its always nice to be where your stuff is...

Home again! It is always so sad to leave our family behind, but always so great to get back home where the routines exists (sometimes) and the laundry smells like us. After a long trip away from home, I always dream up all kinds of crazy projects to work on when I get home. This trip I was focused on our backyard (ugh), what i could make for dinner (the eternal question), christmas crafts (yay homemade!), and pintrest execution (seems to be going around the internet these days.)

The bad news: looks like, as always, I'm putting a little too much on my plate. or am I? the good news: I've already made some headway!

I was working on meal planning 1st, which happen to go along with pinterest thanks to the gobs of amazing looking recipes posted by the second. Here is a jpeg of the meal planner i half made/half borrowed from a word template.

Here is a jpeg of this week's menus. Feel free to borrow. Oh, and recipes and critiques to follow!

 The backyard has also been weighing on my mind lately. We have a very tiny, very pathetic yard. Its about 20x20ft and a train wreck. More about that in a later post, BUT I was working back there to create a family friendly space before I left. So i got to obsess create a plan of action while i was away. Here is to hoping to get the ground tilled over the weekend and plant grass the following week. then we wait. speaking of waiting, i made things grow already! never thought i was one for a green thumb, but there it is...

While in Houston I did manage to work on a trip mini album a bit. Over on The Sampler's blog i posted the beginning of the album. Swing by and check it out what's up so far! Its also the 1st of the month so that means its REVEAL DAY! August is "All Gussied Up" and amazing!

Ok, enough blogging and time to get life back to normal. Have a great wednesday!
sunshine&bunnies,
holly*