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Brook on Time Management.

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Welcome to ADBB! I'm so glad you found us!! Life is sure busy, isn't it? It's amazing how fast the days go by and how they seem to just slip away without us being able to do everything we want to do. Blah. We're all there! Honestly. Personally? I have 3 children, run a company with 70 employees from home and work outside the home full time as well. I volunteer at my kids' schools, do the after-school activity thing and there are even days when I'm fairly certain I'm going to run into myself coming and going. H.E.C.T.I.C. I started out at 229lbs the day I took on this way of eating. I took a long look at the things I was doing on a daily basis that landed me there; miserable, unhealthy, frustrated, and self conscious as all heck. About that time I also started collecting quotes that really grabbed my attention and I took a "before" picture and hung it up on my fridge, my bathroom mirror, and one on my nightstand so I'd have to look at it. Some of the things that landed me at 229lbs and a size 22? -No time for meal prep. It was easier to grab something and go. -No time for exercise. Who has time for exercise?! -No energy for things like meal prep and exercise. lol Viscious cycle, isn't it? Okay, so what landed me at goal? -I take time during the week to plan out the following week's menu (I actually have about 16 days worth of menus that I use to whip together a week's menu). -I get up Sunday mornings and I hit the grocery store and Sam's Club. -I come home and spend about an hour and a half in the kitchen. During that time: * I throw a beef roast and a turkey breast in the oven to be sliced up and used for whatever! *I wash all the vegetables. I cut them, dice them, grate them, slice them and store them in individual hefty containers stacked neatly in the fridge. This way the tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, jicama, chives, endive, escarole, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, etc etc etc are within reach for easy cooking of dinner, breakfast, making salads or whatever. They're also readily available for snacking. *I make a savory cream cheese dip for dipping. *I boil 12-18 eggs. I'll chop some and store them in a container for salads, I'll make some into deviled eggs and the rest I'll leave as is for grab and go snacks. *I'll cut up 2-3lbs of chicken and cook it. Some stays in the fridge, some goes in the freezer. It's super easy to add a few spices to and toss on a salad or what-have-you. -I purchased little plastic microwavable pans so that poached eggs or scrambled eggs take no more than 3 minutes in the microwave in the morning. Throw some of those chopped veggies and a slice of cheese in there along with some of that sliced turkey breast and VIOLA, instant omelette -I don't exercise around my day's plan. I plan my day around my exercise time. If I don't, it doesn't get done. I do this 5-6 days a week, and it takes me about an hour. Some days a little less, some days a bit more. -My children have learned to exercise with me or make themselves REAL scarce while I work out. The rule is: "There are no spectators, only participants." If your kids are little, then you make sure they're in clean diapers, have a fresh bottle or sippy cup, have a snack they're unlikely to choke on (cheerios? cut up veggies from those hefty containers from Sunday's prep session?) My children now see that exercise is a normal part of every day and they don't question it. I have a special needs 5 year old that can knock out more yoga than most adults -I make sure I have something legal with me at all times. I have an insulated little lunch bag with an ice pack I'll toss in the car if we're gonna be on the road. I've traveled clear across country with my kids and eaten out of that cooler. There's no reason in the world why I can't go to a meeting across town or run the day's errands and not be able to go cheat free. Failing to plan is planning to fail. -Goal set regularly. That doesn't mean "wish" or "think". Write it down. Write down real goals that are workable and achievable - things you have direct control over and then read them every morning before ya get up and every night before your head hits your pillow. Here comes the reality check Tell me this......... You found time to sit at the computer to post tonight, right? You found time to brush your teeth today? You found time to snuggle kids and accomplish the day's share of business tasks? You talked to your family/husband/friends and touched base with at least one of them, right? These things are important to you and non-negotiable to you, so you MADE time for them. Guess what. You have time for exercise and food prep Remember those quotes I talked about earlier? Here's one of my absolute favorites: "Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo DaVinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." Jarring, isn't it? LOL I hated it when I first saw it, and then I fell in love with it I wish you tons of success!! ~Brook