a list.

On my road to a new me, I am making a list of a few things I want to work on.  Of course this list could be very long, so I'm going to limit it today to only include my physical health.

1.  Get a good multi-vitamin.

2.  Get outside to exercise whenever possible, kids in tow.  It's good for them too.

3.  Swim more regularly at the YMCA.  Swimming is my favorite exercise but I don't do it nearly as often in the winter as I should.  So to start, I'll say once a week, since currently I am going only once a month, with the kids, which is not really swimming.

4.  Be more selective about sweets when I do indulge.  Like I love a bit of chocolate with a few almonds, that's better than having a Reecie cup.  I love fruit smoothies, that's better than ice cream. You get where I'm going with this.  Better choices but not depravity.

5.  Eat more often at the table instead of snuggled up with my blankie on the couch, tv on.

6.  Include more veggies in our whole family's diet.  Colorful, farmers market kind of veggies.

7.  Eat smaller portions.

8.  Don't use food as a reward, bribery or feel-better kind of thing.  Growing up, it was a very comforting feeling to go out to eat with my family.  My dad usually was in a good mood during these outings, and that was just how my family often treated ourselves.  Pizza Hut was a fave.  And guess what, Pizza Hut is Taylor's fave today.  I want her to enjoy it now and then, but not as a reward or way to feel good - just simply as a treat once in awhile.

I want to remark that as I go through this journey, my childhood/adolescent years will be brought up, as just like ANYONE, it has contributed to my gifts and downfalls of today.  But I want to say, that I believe I have free will, and I am not blaming anyone in my family for the choices I make.  In my earlier post, I remarked that growing up we weren't allowed snacks.  I should have elaborated, as that was when I was younger, not an adolescent and home with my brother after school by ourselves.  Because then I certainly did help myself to snacks!!  Also, if my mom was home (my mom worked for my dad, so sometimes she was home, sometimes he was), the blessed lady of course gave us something to eat if we were hungry.  But my dad, may he rest in peace, had many demons, and he didn't know how to deal with them.  He parented us the way he was parented.  What I am trying to do now, is learn from those mistakes, and not repeat them with my children.  I believe some bad habits that I have were formed from the time I was very young.  But in that same breath, my parents modeled other behaviors that I WANT to emulate, that I want my own children to receive from me.  Isn't this all our story - we want to repeat somethings about our childhoods, but other things we swear we'll never do?!

Thanks for reading.  Tomorrow I weigh in at Weight Watchers, I'll let you know how that goes.