Healthy Body Image Challenge Day 3: "Healthy Balance: Moderation in All Things"

Sometimes I forget about how wonderful something is until it's gone. Monster Ballad comes in (enjoy the 80's rock band hair) Cinderella song "Don't know what you got, 'til it's gone. . ." or Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" (remake by Counting Crows) "don't know what you got 'til it's gone, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot"

Having pneumonia has been a real trying time for me. I haven't been able to go running; walking just makes me tired; and I need to relax more when I come home. On the other side, it's taught me some things that I should keep doing. I need to relax more. My husband and I were talking about this with a couple of friends the other day (our home teachers).  We were talking about how it is important to take a good long break. This makes it so we are more productive. I know I try to cram in a lot during the day. Being a school teacher, there is a lot to do! You also want to get as much done because you never know when you will have to spend your time doing something unexpected. (Such as dealing with students that were disrespectful to another teacher or a class that is not doing what they are supposed to when the student teacher asks.)

But really, I know that I try to cram a lot of stuff in, sometimes too much. Then I get way overwhelmed and just don't know where to start. I become this crazed person who is trying to get everything done at once, but really getting nothing done at all.

I need to have a healthy attitude about what needs to be done. At school, we have been working on the Steven Covey: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. One of them talks about first things first. (He dedicated a whole book to this). I know that I have a problem with this. I have a task that should be done first, but for some reason I will do something else that is important, but less important than what I should be doing right then.

For example, it would be good for me to prepare my lesson for tomorrow. Instead, I decided to get the quizzes ready for the end of the week. Still very important, but it's not going to help me for tomorrow's lessons. It has been helpful with my sickness to step back and realize what really needs to be done. I don't have oodles of time just to get everything done. I should really just get the most important thing done and then move on to the next important thing. This is going to be a long time working on this.

How does this work with my body image? I am very good at coming up with plans for exercise and how I'm going to eat, but I will usually overload what I need to do to accomplish it. Since I cannot exercise right now, I am stepping back and focusing on one thing at a time. I am working on finding meals that are simple, weight watcher crock pot meals that I can do. If my sister-in-law Leia is reading this, I decided to re-start my goals by being vegetarian for the week. :) We've had vegetarian 3 bean chili tonight and I just finished making a yummy spinach and broccoli soup. This has been good for me to help get better as well.  Next is baked macaroni and cheese and sweet potato cauliflower soup.

3 Bean Chili

Broccoli and Spinach Soup

I have also been taking more breaks at school. It has been helpful having a student teacher right now, because I can step back and see how I can make things more efficient and prepare in advance while she is doing the day to day things. I have learned to come home earlier (being home by 5:30 is early for me when I was staying until 8 or 9) and not going in until 8 or 8:30 in the morning (contract time is at 8:30). I used to be "burning the candle at both ends" and I think that's why I was run down and got sick.

It has been so nice coming home and preparing meals. It doesn't seem so daunting because we do crock pot meals and they are set up before I get home. By preparing the meals ahead of time, I'm not so starving that I eat whatever is easiest to grab. I really do feel better about myself, I feel like I have more time, and it's been refreshing to take more time to myself. I still feel like I have plenty of time to get things done. The difference is I am more focused and efficient with my time.

Right after our home teachers left on Sunday, Ryan and I decided to apply what we had learned right then. We decided that we would take more breaks and play games in between those breaks. It was actually a lot of fun. We would play two rounds of Scattegories and then go back to what we needed to do that day. I felt like I got a lot more accomplished.

I am so grateful for little setbacks in life that help me to reflect on what I am doing. I realized that another one of the Covey Habits: "Sharpen the Saw" is something I need to work on. I need to not focus on just one thing, but step back and focus on a lot of things that will help me to stay more focused when it's most important. With that being said, I need to get to bed. Good night!