Day 16 - Don't Judge

Tough to do!! It is so easy to judge others in all areas of life - her children misbehave, she doesn't walk her dogs enough, can you imagine wearing that???? So easy to do, but it really only adds to our stress levels. First of all, judging others doesn't help anyone better themselves and it tends to mean. Second of all, if we are harsh in judgment of ourselves, we will just stress ourselves out and make ourselves feel bad. Try to go a day without judging anyone including yourself. It will be harder than you think!

Day 14-Reassess

It is Wednesday already!!! Are you doing everything you hoped to do? This seems kind of silly this week, since I totally slacked last weekend, but are you eating a fruit and veggie every day? Why not eat 2? Are you moving your body for 15 minutes every day? Try twenty! Are you keeping up with prioritizing, writing stuff down, and organization? Spend 10 minutes and see how you are doing!

And how is sleep???? Still the number one factor to work on if you want an improved mood (in my opinion!!) Aim for 10 more minutes of shut eye a night.

Now go chill out!

Day 13- Minimize

There are many things one could often stand to minimize - the size of your coffee, the size of your behind, the amount of "stuff" you can't throw away, and many more fun things that have reached maximum capacity. Your goal for today is to pick one section of the house, your car, your schedule, your closet, your butt, anything and make a plan to minimize it. If it is clutter go through it, put things in their place, and throw out or freecycle anything you don't need. If it is a body part, make a plan on exercises to attack it. If it is your schedule - look back at how to prioritize and pare down your commitments. Minimizing one thing each week can be very helpful and keep you from overburdening or overstressing!

Day 9,10,11 and 12 - A Memory

Ooops. I wish I could say that I had some wild and crazy vacation where I was unplugged from everything technological, but alas, I just forgot my password and then couldn't remember which email was linked to this account so I found myself trying all sorts of crazy combos. Obviously I finally figured it out!! So this brings me to an interesting topic - memory. When you are stressed your memory takes a hit - actually your ability to acquire anything new really takes a hit. That is one of the reasons it is so important to destress if you are in school, learning a new skill, or need to think fast. When you are stressed your brain really does get all fuzzy. If you find that you are stressed out, write things down so you don't forget them! (Like passwords....)

Until tomorrow, practice some destressing techniques.

Day 3 - Eat Healthier

Do you need to change your whole lifestyle? No! Just eat one more healthier option each day. Add one piece of fruit or a veggie to your diet. Sprinkle blueberries on your oatmeal. Blend your coffee with ice and a banana on a hot day. Chop up an apple and eat that instead of your evening crackers. Not a big huge change, just add a healthy treat into your day. It can replace something or be a new treat on its own. How is eating a piece of fruit or munching on a parsnip going to help you stress less? Well, eating healthier is just plain good for you, and if you can do a few things each day that are good for you, you are going to feel better which in turn makes for less stress!!

Now, fruit juice, lettuce on your sub roll, and ketchup (sorry President Reagan) on your burger don't count! and sweet potato chips don't count. Go for a nice fresh piece of fruit or a nice fresh veggie. If you are going to parties this long weekend and are not sure if there will be anything but hot dogs, hamburgers, and pasta salad, bring along a fruit salad or a veggie platter.

Eat up!

And just so you know, I am prioritizing by not baking cookies, hanging with the little man, and alternating my son's goldfish crackers with apple slices....And yes, I eat my son's snacks all the time - I am kind of obsessed with those Lil' crunchies...

Day One - Perfectionism - not allowed!

Well, today I was going to start out with my favorite bit of advice that I dole out - SLEEP - sleep is seriously the most important thing to work on in terms of mood, stress, health (at least in my book- literally I do say that in a book). But anyway, I decided to save sleep for a few days from now since I slept ALOT today and feel a wee bit guilty since I slept so late, and was only able to sleep like that since I had the day off.

We will conquer sleep soon, but today is all about not being perfect. First of all, if you think you are perfect then you have an inflated self ego and probably don't need to work on your self-esteem or stress management so good for you!! Second of all, if you are a perfectionist, I want you to recognize that you cannot do this challenge perfectly so stop trying. This challenge is for fun, not to make yourself crazy. Third of all, if you accept your faults and embrace them, YAY, you are already helping your stress level!!

Perfectionism is not a fun one and is very difficult to stop. There is a bit of a secondary gain we get as perfectionists - people are always impressed. To let go of perfectionism, you have to work on letting go of what others think of you or worrying about who thinks you are not perfect. Most likely, the main culprit is you. For today (of which there are but 75 minutes left - see I am not perfect at all), be forgiving of anything you did that did not meet your expectations. Accept that you are not perfect and that perfect is overrated anyway.

Can you do it?

I know today, I did, I will continue to try and do so for the next thirty days...

Where the Heck Have I Been??

Well, I have been frazzled. That is putting it lightly. And to deal with my frazzledness I have been eating ice cream, not sleeping, grabbing coffees, not exercising, and doing everything I would tell my clients NOT to do.

So, after my trip to the Book Expo - I am starting a thirty day challenge to take my own advice. I am going to lecture myself, look in the mirror and raise my eyebrow when I claim I have no time to exercise or eat a vegetable, and TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!! I don't mean getting massages, eating bon bons, and ordering people around. I mean eating healthy, incorporating stress relieving practices, and not taking too much on.

So read on or join in!!! I would love to have some peeps relaxing with me!!!

I will be ready to chillax on Thursday (the next few days will actually be filled with relaxing since I am not working, but I felt like that was cheating.....)

Quick Bit, Lots O Sugar!!

So quickly, as the frazzled dazzler, I have been quite frazzled and not at all dazzling. Working full time while writing a book and taking care of the little man and two dogs is not actually easy. And funny, it makes my eating habits totally crazy. Of course stress is a great thing to blame for my most recent Robin Egg habit. You see, Robin Eggs are also on sale now because Easter is over, so not only is stress at fault for my indulgence, but also, CVS should take some responsibility. I mean what do they expect me to do? Not buy them, save my money, and eat the yogurt that I put in the fridge at work on a weekly basis???? It would certainly be healthier if I did that!!

So, since I was (and am) so frazzled, some things had to go-- blogging, physical therapy, my hair appointment (I could be saddest about that), cleaning the house, and diet have all taken the back burner. I do feel as though most were good choices. I should keep up with PT and a healthier diet, but I knew I could do my PT exercises on the floor of the playroom with my little guy who thinks they are quite funny, and I know the poor diet is only temporary since I feel so nasty from all the sugar already. I had to let go of certain stressors like cleaning the house. It isn't dirty, but it isn't spotless, and that is okay. My peeps and dogs are happy and almost healthy (Izzy has a UTI--poor puppy!!) I am making progress and hoping to be done by next weekend. I am celebrating with a nice glass of water and a bunch of veggies!!

Despite not being able to keep up with the blog, I have been doing some research for it and have all sorts of fun stuff to share--like delicious meals with plantains, free yoga and tai chi if you are in the South Shore area this summer, my favorite favorite favorite coffee shop (okay it is the Coffee Break Cafe if you must know!!), and how to meditate in five minutes!!

So stay tuned. I will be back and embarking on the journey to drop sugar yet again.

Veggies and Peace to all of you.

Riding High on the Sugar Train!!!

Yeah, so, yesterday was not so good. Actually, yesterday eating-wise was quite healthy until I got home and was RAVENOUS. That seems to be the problem. If I am tired (always), haven't had time to sit and eat a full meal (who does), frustrated (more often than not), stressed (YUP), I tend to grab the sugar. So, at 11pm last night, I was so hungry, I had a bowl of vanilla ice-cream with peanut butter and chocolate syrup all over it. It was great.

Then I woke up this morning, sick as can be. I know there are some nasty bugs going around, but I can't help but think this is related to my slip up last night. I guess the good thing about that is I am now terrified to eat ice cream again! I am sure that won't last once the summer comes, however, it might be soy ice cream, and it will be an occasional treat instead of a daily necessity.

Well, back to trying to eat healthier! And soon soon soon there will be a local review - possibly tomorrow night!

A question for any readers out there - I am looking for healthy crunchy snacks without much sugar. Something granola barish without boatloads of sugar!!

Thanks!

Something had to give....

As my hubby and I frantically tried to get everything together for my stepson's 21st birthday while also getting the little man to swimming, me to the doctor, the dogs out for a walk, the valentine's day cards written out, one more chapter done in the book, and the house cleaned, we realized it wasn't going to happen and in order to make life easier - something had to give. So, we prioritized. Birthday stuff was number one. Thanks to my SIL we had a great place to have the party and we could pretty much buy everything we still needed at BJ's while also getting diapers. Swimming could wait until tomorrow - he is only 6 months, he has no idea if he is swimming on Saturday or Sunday. I HAD to go to the doctor since I have had a lingering sinus infection since December and the Neti pot - although super helpful, just couldn't cut it this time. While I was in the waiting room I could write out the Valentines. The dogs could run around out back while the hubby tidied up the house and the little man napped.

I must say - it worked out! The party was a success, which was really the most important thing to be done. The dogs will get an extra walk tomorrow since they tolerated life without today. The little man will swim tomorrow. I will be one day into the antibiotics I dread so much but hopefully one day closer to feeling healthy and kicking this thing once and for all. The house didn't get cleaned since the little man didn't nap, but we can do that tomorrow too. As for my chapter - I am procrastinating now, but it will be done by midnight tonight and that is the goal!!!

There was also a huge bonus today. The doctor was running late. I finished my Valentines (I love Valentine's Day so I wasn't giving up on that!) and instead of fuming, staring at the time on my cell-phone, and grumbling about having to wait, I read a GREAT story in a VERY old TIME magazine. For those Food Inc. fans out there I think you will enjoy it. Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food There will only be grass fed animals in my family's food. No animals in my food, but others are harder to convince...

So in times of stress - prioritize, delegate, and make the best of the worst situations. No one knows you need help unless you ask and you might be surprised at who is willing to help when you need it most! When you are forced to wait and you might run late - chill out, take a deep breath, and find some relaxing way to pass your time.

New Blog, New Attitude

Okay, so this is my new blog - the old one The Stress Less Home seemed to have a funny effect on my life. Once I started it, my newborn got croup, conjunctivitis, adenovirus, some weird liver results, and needed to change daycare. I ended up with conjunctivitis, a URI (upper respiratory infection - cool slang!!), sinus infection, and more and more stress. My husband chugged along just fine which was super annoying to me. My stepson went to London by himself (kind of, it was a school sponsored trip but no parental figure was there) and he is turning 21 tomorrow. My job became helatiously stressful since I am in mental health and January and February in the Northeast honk in terms of well-being in the winter.

So I am off to a new start! The currently healthy (knock on wood) babe just started a new daycare with super nice teachers, my stepson is still turning 21 - I can't stop him from growing up so I have to learn to enjoy it, I do love my job despite the stress and without it I would have more stress, I have learned to accept my husband's laid back attitude (I am really just jealous that he can chill out and I can't), and it is mid-February which means us Bostonians are about halfway through winter which is not too bad.

So, what is this blog about? Instead of the artificial zen stuff I was trying to incorporate into my life and everyone else's in my old blog - this one is going to be the real thing. How do you deal when life keeps tossing stuff at you while you are down? There will be humor, there will be helpful tips, there will be honesty.

I do actually have a degree in mental health and I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor so I do know a thing or two about a thing or two, but I am also human, and sometimes all the schooling and theory in the world just doesn't do the trick so you have to be creative.

One more thing I will post in this blog are some local reviews. Random right? Totally, but I have decided since watching Food Inc. - very interesting film, that I am going to do my best to support my local peeps and small businesses. So if you are a Bostonian, or even better - a Braintreeite, you will see reviews on places you can get to and support as well!!

Well, toodles for now, I have to go pump (more on the pleasantries of that later).

Hope your day is filled with dazzles and you aren't too frazzled!