Holliday stress, foods, motivation and so much more.

    

            

  With the holidays just around the corner so many are worried about stree, eating, unhealthy foods, traveling, money, hosting, what to make, ontop of so much more. I'm here to tell ya a bit about what may help you relieve some of the stress, try to keep you motivated and let you know DO NOT over think it!

         HOSTING AND FINANCIAL STRESS

      First off let's talk about the stress of hosting and the financial pressure it can hold. If your anything like me, you LOVE to host and you go all out! Hosting and having people over for special occasions is something that can get out of hand tho, financially and mentally. There are a few ways you can try to avoid or lower the stresses of this. Delegate, don't try and do everything yourself. Again if your like me that is hard to do, I like to plan and do everything. You can plan your menu, figure out what you make best, ask your guests what they would be willing to bring and let them know what is in your menu. This will take less time for you in food prep and lower some costs on supplies and food. Once your meal plan is set and you
know who is bringing what you can focus on your portion of the meal and how you want to set it up.
I'm a big homemade fan for most everything, that way I know what I'm ingesting and I can adjust amounts to what I need. If you prep and plan your menu ahead of time it will save you time in the long run. You can divide up when you buy your items. If you have your plan months out each week/paycheck, etc you can buy a little here and there if they are items that will keep, leaving the last minute stuff to get when you need it. Try to use things that you keep around your home to avoid extra costs, look for sales at the store and don't go overboard. Remember delegate and let other people bring things too. Decorating and set up for the holidays can be stressful as well, you want everything perfect (I know I do too). Start ahead of time, plan how you want everything to be and plan where you want it all to go. Do you see a theme here.....PLAN, PLAN, PLAN. Set up whatever you can ahead of time, ask people to bring extra chairs, etc, no need to buy extras when people can provide them. Putting the whole burden on you will set you up for a stressful day, your guests should be willing and glad to help in anyway they can. After all this isn't a time to outdo anyone, or feel like your alone in all the planning, it's time to enjoy one another, help each other and celebrate love, life, family and friends.


                      FOODS AND GUILT

      It's easy to want to pig out when your around family and friends, especially during the holiday's, but if you have a health goal or your trying to work towards one then you need to take a step back and think about what's best for you and your body. "Grazing" all day, having thirds, and every different kind of desert you can find is not the best way to stay on track. Instead if you know your
menu ahead of time think about the foods you love and the ones you can do without, don't eat until
your stuffed and keep your portion size small. Use a smaller plate and eat 5-6 SMALL meals during
that day like normal so your just having a tiny bit of everything you LOVE. More then likely people will encourage you to eat more or say "hey, try this" or "come on, it's the holidays it's ok to enjoy yourself".....well that's THEM not YOU. Do they have your goals, do they look how you want to 

look.....no? We'll then why would you listen to them?!!!!! You are your own person with your own
plan, do not let someone make you feel guily about trying to be better. No one should make you feel
that way, if they try to just tell them, "your more then welcome to have what ever you want but I have my own plan so no thank you". They may or may not understand or get it and that's ok. You know what u need to do, why satisfy someone else's ego or feelings and set yours aside? Learn to say no and stick to it.

            KEEPING A CLEAR MINDSET AND HAVING       

           MOTIVATION THRU THE HOLIDAY'S 

      You may all think yeah sure, easy for you to do and say. NO! It's not easy, yes I do enjoy 
treats, yes I do want to pig out till I'm stuffed, yes I want to try every single thing brought, but do I? NO! Why, because it's not part of my plan. I know it's not what I need to do to achieve my goals. Do what it takes and do what is right for your individual plan. Have a clear plan of 
what you want to achieve going into the holidays, if it's not going to help you, say no! Every time you say no it gets easier and easier, infact start practicing now. Remember you are your own person and letting people dictate what you do is losing control of yourself. Have healthy alternatives at your holiday event in case you feel tempted. Talk about how great you feel 
getting healthy and eating clean, people will listen. Bottom line is DO NOT LET PEOPLE DICTATE YOU GOALS, you are your own person and can make your own choices. 

13 Things mentally strong people do not do!

             STAYING ON TRACK WHILE TRAVELING

      Traveling so something many of us do during the holidays and staying on track is hard to do. Here is a little secret, PLAN.....what's that..... Yes PLAN! If you know when your leaving and what
your doing then you can plan, prep and take the tools necessary with you to make it happen. Simple as that. 

        WHAT ARE THE ANDERSONS DOING

      We love the holidays! This holiday season will be a bit different for us because we have our little addition to our family this year, Mr. Booty! He travels amazing so we r lucky there and he eats the same foods we do so no need to worry about baby food (except formula). We are going to be traveling to Indiana to see Christopher's brother, his family and mom. From what I know this family knows how to eat tasty foods, foods we don't normally eat anymore and while Chris might endulge a bit I however will stay the course. We will be having traditional foods there made from the heart and you all know where that goes....straight to your ASS, LOL! We will be bringing the pies and other treats, homemade of course! We are human too and while we r a little nutty when it comes to eating
healthy we also enjoy here and there. We eat according to our goals and if it's not worth it we don't have it. As tempting as all that food will be, feeling good is an even better feeling! When your mind is clear and focused you will do what it takes, regardless of what the buzz is around you.

     

Are Children an Excuse...Touchy Touch I Know

Our little Booty!

      Everyone has their own priorities and I understand that, but my opinion on this is, don't use your kids as an excuse on why you cant get something done, why you cant be healthy and why you cant achieve your own goals. Instead teach your kids, learn and grow with them, show them how to be strong independent kids and to grow up to reach their own goals.

      As I have come to realize there are many things that change when you have kids and although I'm no pro, as I only have one child, I would like to think that my life experiences give me some in site on this topic that some of you may not realize but thats something not needed to get into at the moment. A few things that I see and notice, people complaining no time for friends, effort in other aspects of life, health, fitness and so much more. I wanted to address a few of those today and why your kids should not be an excuses to not do things or to say no to the things you want to do.

      Our priorities as parents are different for everyone and it may seem like you are  saying no to your goals, time with friend's, special time with your spouse,  or many other things. Yes this will happen from time to time because family and children should come 1st but why not involve them in the things you always decline? Everyday things and weekend fun will slow down but dosent need to come to a halt. After Tesla was born we were home for a week or so alone to adjust and get on a schedule, after that life was back to our new normal. I took Tesla with me everywhere I needed to go, grocery shop, friends, the gym, house cleaning, had friends over for weekend games, hiked and so on. He has learned to fall asleep without complete silence, he goes with the flow in every situation, when I clean the house we play music and I sing and dance to him while doing it so we are still interacting, if I can't make it to they gym for my cardio... Well then we gear up and do sprints with the stroller. While I cook for Chris and I....I cook for him to and we play with his dishes like they r drums and jam to music. We just went to a NFL game to see the Titans play and took him with us...I truly believe the more you do with the children the more they enjoy the same things, are more easy going to change and are not as fussy in different situations. Even tho Tesla does all this stuff with us, we still have normal play time, he still gets his naps everyday, goes to bed at night and wakes up normal time in the morning, doesn't take a passifier to nap or to sooth, he is always happy, friendly and an all around good baby. Yes he has his moments like every baby but they are few and far between and I really believe his attitude and behavior have a lot to do with how we are on a daily basis. If we were to shelter him, keep it silent in the house, never do things with friends and live different then the way we do then I feel he would have a hard time with change, would need certain things to sooth for bed, would be shy around people he don't know and would not handle other situations well. Remember again this is just my opinion. 

Daddy and Mr. Booty!

      I have noticed (I'm guilty of it as well) that we tend to lose focus on things that were once important to us. Things that we enjoyed and maybe we chose to give up or just forget to do once children come. Example: Effort in our home, in our appearance, in our love life, and our friends.

      Effort in our home, When we have children we tend to let a lot of things go, and while this is bound to happen it does not need to become habit. The first few weeks Tesla was home our home was a disaster, nothing got done, we were to tired and I was recovering from a C-Section. After we got back into the daily grind we started to go back to normal. I knew when T would sleep and while I wanted to, laundry couldn't wait any more, dishes were needed, the floors looked bad, so I found my groove and made an effort each day to tidy things up, do more laundry and make healthy food choices and before I knew it BAM everything was getting done, I was sleeping more and Tesla was being cared for all at the same time. I made a choice to remember the way we lived before, wanted a clean home for T, Chris and I and made it happen! Living is clutter is different then living in filth and if you make it a point to take 2 seconds to put an item away when your done then doing your cleaning will take much less time.

      Effort in you appearance, trying to take the time to get ready is nearly impossible when you have kids but can be done! If you don't care when then….you don't care, but taking a second to put yourself together even if its just a quick fresh pony and some lip stick can make a hugh difference on how you feel about yourself and will help with the next topic I talk about (love life). Taking 10 min to quick brush your teeth, wash your face and spruce up your appearance will make you feel better, will show you spouse you still want to be attractive to them and that you care about yourself. Its not selfish to want to take 10 to 15 min to make you feel attractive, I think its a healthy way to keep your self esteem up.

      Effort in your love life, this goes hand in hand with the above topic (effort in your love life). When you feel attractive, you feel sexy, when you feel sexy, your spouse desires you and although it may never seem like a good time you need to keep that fire going! You need to remember why you fell in love, you need to keep dating your spouse and take that time for each other. sometimes all it takes in just 15 mins to have a good heart to heart to let them know your still thinking of them. Make a date night each month, even if its just at home. Put your cell phones down, rent a movie, play a game, have a glass of wine, spend the night in the bedroom, what ever you feel you need to do to keep your passion for one another there. We lose focus on that when kids are in the mix and when its lost its hard to get that back.

      Effort with our friends, again something we lose track of when children come into our lives. It will happen, many people understand that and know when you have time you will see them. however making it a habit to always say no is a good way to lose a friend, to lose your social life and to make you less happy. There is no reason you can't go to the park, a sports venue, camping, card night, BBQ, ETC with your child if your invited. Pack it all up and go! It will teach the children to be social beings, teach them different activities in life, teach them to be comfortable in different situations and i think be better with other people and not so clingy:). 

      Remember it is ok to say "no not right now", or "maybe another day", but making that a habit I feel is very unhealthy to you, your family and your happiness. We all tend to lose site of the whole picture and focus so much on the child that everything gets swept under the rug, and to be honest while that is most important,

Isn't the whole picture of life, happiness, teaching your child and love just as important?