To track or not to track...

Let me take you on a little journey to a land far, far away. Dreamland actually. 

Last night I had a lovely dream. I was at a ballpark. It is baseball season, so it's not out of the ordinary that I would be there anyway. My husband told me that it was going to be a hot day, so I would want to be sure to find some shade. I didn't have any water with me, which is really no surprise because I SUCK at drinking water! But the good news is, I found some shade! The better news is, that in the shady spot I found, there happened to be 2 baskets. One basket held fresh from the tree, apples. The other basket held popcorn, mini milkyway candy bars and tubes of pink, yellow and teal colored sixlets. What do you think I went for?
I told Dixon of my dream this morning and asked him the same question. He said, "That's easy. You went for the popcorn and the apples." He's super smart, but only 50% correct. I went for the popcorn and the candy. And guess what?  It was so real to me, that when I woke up from my dream, I wanted to track it. You know what I've said before, "I bite it, I write it." I actually DID look up the smart points for 3 mini milkyway bars and 3 tubes of sixlets. 12 smart points. TWELVE! You guys...3 mini milkyway candy bars is like, 1 bite! I can easily fit all 3 of those suckers in my mouth at one time. You don't believe me? GAME ON!

Am I obsessed with tracking? Maybe. Am I obsessed with food? I definitely used to be. I mean, one does not wake up weighing 238 pounds because they aren't. But here's the thing, and maybe I'm trying to justify something here. I LOVE to track. If I forget to track something, do I lose sleep over it? No. But I do love to find the best bang for my buck. If I can have 2 oz. of chicken for 1 point, but realize 4 oz. of chicken is STILL one point, what do you think I'll go for? It's really a no brainer. The fact that I still dream about food shows me that I still may be a little obsessed with it, but the fact that I wake up from my dreams and want to track it, shows me I've learned the value of food and want to stay accountable. 

It has been said that on any given day, 45% of women are on a diet, and we think about our bodies 8 times a day. 80% of women are not happy with their appearance. 

Let's set the record straight. I am not on a diet. The first syllable of the word diet, (die) is exactly how I felt when I WAS on one. I follow Weight Watchers, and weight watchers is not a diet. Nothing. NOT ONE THING is off limits on Weight Watchers. You want bread, eat bread. Carbs are not banned from my pantry! You want mini milkyway candy bars, eat mini milkyway candy bars. These ARE banned from my pantry, but not from the treat basket that gets passed around in relief society, if you know what I mean. Whatever it is you choose to eat, TRACK IT (first), and  then decide if it's worth it. Sometimes, it is. Other time, eh. 

What's worth it to me may not be worth it to you, and vise versa. I need structure to eat healthfully and that's ok. You may be more of a "fly by the seat of your pants" sort of person and that's ok too. 

Many characteristics make people appealing—and most of them have nothing to do with fitting into a size 4. 

Early to bed, early to rise

What does early mean to you? Does it mean, 7, 8, or 9 a.m?  Or does it mean, 4, 5, or 6 a.m? 

I have never been a good sleeper. In fact, more times than not I find myself feeling all sorts of jealousy towards my husband that can fall asleep in 6.7 seconds, and could probably sleep through a freight train crashing through the house. 

I have never been able to sleep past 7 a.m. Not sure why. Well, actually I have a good idea as why this is, but it's not scientific or anything. When I was a small child, I had a horrible time potty training. My mom would wake me at midnight every night, to sit on the potty. Then, when she would have to get up for work, (around 3:30 a.m.) she would have me sit on the potty again. Needless to say, I was potty trained long before kindergarten, but this is probably where my early riser status had its start. When I was in 7th grade, so...13 years young, a neighbor hired me to be his farm hand. This meant waking at 3:45 a.m to get to the barn around 4 a.m. for early morning milkings. I would milk between 80-100 head of cows, and get home just in time to shower, eat a quick breakfast, then catch the school bus for a full day of school. The school bus then had me home by 3:45 p.m. which was just enough time to throw my backpack and school clothes on the floor (no joke. I was such a messy child!), have a slice of toast, and put on my "farm costume" to get to the barn by 4 p.m. for the nightly milking. I'd get home around 6:30, and if I were honest, I'd do homework and if I were dishonest, I'd say I didn't have any, and head off to other extracurricular activities or youth groups activities. If I did have extra activities, I'd like to be home by 8 or 9 and head right to bed, as 3:45 came awfully early. If I didn't have extra activities, I was in bed between 8 and 8:30. I'm 41 years old. I like to be in bed between 9 and 9:30 and I still wake up at least twice a night between midnight and 4 a.m. to potty. TMI? Everyone pee's. It's all gonna be ok. You can keep reading. Or don't. I'll never know.  

After I started #myforeverjourney, I decided since I get up early anyway, why not start my day off doing something other than watching recorded episodes of Jimmy Fallon. I have been... on purpose...alarm set and all... waking up at 4:45 a.m. for the last 2 years. And if I have a "sleep in day," my alarm gets shut off, but I'm up at 6:00 anyway. Sometimes earlier.

So, waking up early is a habit. Being a parent myself, one of my goals is to raise my son to be a good person. I hope to instill in him, good habits. Things that will make him be a stand out human, and member of society. Like, for instance, being honest, a hard worker, not a murderer, those types of things. I know my Mom sorta feels bad that I can't sleep throughout the night without waking. We've talked about it several times. But to her, I want to say "THANK YOU!" Thank  you for instilling in me from an early age, a good habit. And, I'm not a murderer either. But just know, I enjoy waking up early. It's quiet, and I get to start the day off doing something good for myself! 

I've had people ask, "How do you get up so early?" The answer is obvious, and comes of quite sarcastic. "I hear my alarm. I open my eyes. I shut if off and I GET OUT OF BED!"  I NEVER hit snooze. I will NOT, or as I call it, "won't power" allow myself to rationalize going back to sleep. My habit is to shut off the alarm, no surprise here but, go potty, wash my hands, wash my face, brush my teeth...BOOM! AWAKE! It honestly takes 2 minutes and I am awake enough to face the day! 

Waking up early for me is a reward. My reward used to be to sit and watch Jimmy Fallon without interruption. Now my reward is to avoid as much of a crowd as possible (cause deep down I hate people, haha.) Ok, not people per say, but CROWDS of people. I enjoy going to the gym in the morning and seeing the 20 or so faces I've come to recognize at 5 a.m. vs the 120 I might have to deal with at 5 p.m. And honestly, I LOVE getting home from work and knowing that my workout is DONE! And if I wanna, I'll do some other sort of exercisey thing, and if not...Eh. In the afternoon and evening, now I get to take advantage of some extra time.  I enjoy creating healthy recipes. Experimenting in the kitchen, I get to work at weight watchers in the evenings. I enjoy a church calling that takes time away from home. I have time to help my child with homework without feeling rushed to be finished so I can get to the gym before the 5 p.m rush. AND...while dinner is baking, or broiling, or steaming or whatevs....I get to watch Jimmy!

So, find your meaning of early. 

Enthusiastically

Appreciate,

Reward, and

Love

You