It's so quiet here ...

There is rarely a quiet moment at my house.  Four boys will do that to you.

This blog has been quiet a lot this summer.  I like to think that is because we are all out doing and being and enjoying.  I know I have done and been and enjoyed a lot this summer.  Our school system starts tomorrow and it feels like a good time to get back into the blog world.

Summertime means lots of relaxing and, sadly, I relaxed my meal planning.  I thought I was saving myself stress or work by not planning.  I don't know why.  I know better.  Dinner time has been so much more stressful because I didn't plan.  We've eaten way more fast food and take-out than normal.  We've had fewer well balanced meals and I've been more grudging about meal prep. 

Summertime also means late nights with lots of movies and late night chats.  Staying up late makes it really hard to get up early to exercise.  As a result, I wasn't nearly as faithful at working on my fitness goals as I should have been.  I didn't do a single 5k this season.  My family did do a charity walk, but, that's the thing, we did the walk part, not the 5k run. 

My summer wasn't a complete waste fitness-wise.  I ran a PE camp for kids ages 3-12 and absolutely LOVED it.  I had from 5 to 9 kids in each camp and we ran and played and laughed and learned about being healthy and strong.  I did an 18 mile hike over the course of 3 days pulling a handcart in the rain/wind/heat of Wyoming ... and at the end of each day, I felt like I could keep going.  And, I'm down a few pounds today from what I weighed at the beginning of summer.

Somehow, I stumbled on a group on Facebook a couple of weeks ago called "Project GET HEALTHY."  A challenge started last week with the goal to spend 28 days focusing on 3 health and/or fitness goals.  I signed right up.  I needed some more motivation to get me back on track from my enjoyable, yet routine-less summer.  I set my three goals ... very basic goals, but things I'd let slide a lot:

1.  Drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water each days.
2.  Exercise at least 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes.
3.  Track my food and keep my caloric intake within the guidelines on LoseIt.com (for me to reach my weight goal, it suggests 1400 calories daily, plus calories for exercise)

It's been pretty easy to focus on just these three things.  I have loftier goals ... longer work-outs, cutting out processed foods, eating more vegetables, making my meal plans again, etc ... but I'm just focusing on these three for now.  I don't feel overwhelmed.  I don't feel discouraged.  I know these things will get make me healthier.  Will they help me lose weight?  Possibly.  Will they make me more conscience of my health?  Definitely.

What are you working on?  What small goals do you have to become more healthy?  What changes are you making as you send your kids back to school and embrace the routine that comes with that? 

Oh, and I will have my menu posted here again next Monday.  I'm ready for it!