Life Happened, Fell Hard, Help!

OMGoodness!  Life just got real!  We have fallen off the bandwagon folks and trying to hoist ourselves back on.  There are several reasons why we are in this predicament; but mainly because we lost focus, tasted some success, and got complacent.  I think that in this journey there are bumps in the road and this is one of them but it feels like a mountain.  Did it completely undo all of the progress we made, thank goodness, no. However, it was a hit and I feel defeat and embarrassed to publicize my failures; but decided facing it was the only way to overcome the hopefully TEMPORARY setback.  So, what threw us off our game?

1.  My husband being gone-This is my support partner. When I am weak, he is strong and vice versa.  When we are both weak, well, we just eat cake.  :)  His absence also limited me because I had to do the job of two people leaving me tired, less resilient, and downright vulnerable. 
2.  Sickness-Whenever a serious, stay-at-home, I need my mama, sickness rocks our house, stand by for nothing to get done.  This really got me, I had to make up for lost time and house work so meal prep, monitoring the kids' activities and food choices fell low on my list of priorities.
3.  Stress-Our routine was so out of whack that I started to feel off kilter.  I knew my choices were leaning more toward our old lifestyle and I started to panic making me want to eat bad foods, NOT work out, zone out on TV, basically de-stress in all the wrong ways.  Once I fall into this rut it takes me a little while to get out of it. 
4. Busy-Since I was unprepared for the weekend food-wise, we did not eat well.  We ate out at Mission Bar-B-Q.  I did not behave and I did not really enforce any of our good eating habits either.  We pretty much ate out all weekend, old habits were back in play.  I felt miserable and defeated.  I had several opportunities to work out and I did not take advantage of any of them. 
Fitness-Bella and Ava had plenty of activity.  They did not sit around the house watching TV except for Saturday morning because of the weather.  One thing that has taken root is playing more and having more energy.   David had several lacrosse games and he played hard. Miguel and I did not do well with fitness except for housework and running kids everywhere they needed to go.  The hubs did not work out while he was away.  He looks back on his time and determined the slices of time where he could have fit in his workouts.  I also need to rededicate myself to fitness, this seems to be my biggest struggle as of late.

We have an upcoming anniversary vacation so the trial is not over. There is something I AM excited to tell you.  For the first time, Miguel and I are including fitness in our vacation schedule.  We are taking our bikes to ride on the nature preserve.  This is exciting and I think this is something we never would have done before. 

Nana is onboard with the healthy eating and has lots of yummy, good for you foods, stocked in her fridge for the kiddos.  She is ALL about it, the kids will be super sad.  I have to say the grandparents are really supportive, I could not do this with out them, it takes a village, people.  What I am really saying here is that I have no control and am relying on other wonderful people to continue what we are doing until the end of the week.  Once we are back on our normal schedule I want to focus on cleaning up my eating and getting back on my workout track.  The one  thing I notice is when mama is motivated so is everyone else.  Realizing that I am responsible for these little human beings' welfare escapes me sometimes. When I regain my perspective, pull myself out of my rut, and grab a hold of that passion again I feel like I can do anything, oh wait, I can! 

The one thing I KNOW I am doing wrong is taking this on by myself.  I talk a big game about praying and the power of prayer but I am not doing that in this area. I think I am setting myself up for failure not inviting God to give me a hand on this journey.  I know you all are shaking your head like, you know that's right! 

I know the pics are lacking as of late, but I will have PLENTY of sharing to do when we get back from our little Vacay. 

Until then I need LOTS of prayers and support to get us back on track, WE are having lots of success and I do NOT want to go back.  I can NOT let this negative experience become a U-turn. 

Summing it up:

1. LOTS of prayer
2. Regular workouts
3. Clean-up eating
4. Family workouts/outings
5. Allow some grace when error occurs
6. Reestablish moderation/portion control
7. Regain passion about those healthy recipes/new foods
8. Incite passion in the kids
9. Don't give in so easily
10. U-TURNS are not an option..EVER!

If you think of anything you have experienced throw it out there, we sure could use the advice/support right about now. 

Prayer: Please Lord help me remember Matthew 7:7 in my journey.  I need your help and guidance to be successful and will fail with out you.  I am so thankful for my wonderful family and friends that support me and I would ask that you please help me to follow your path to health and happiness in my home.  In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

I will check in with you in a few days, until then...

Mama Out!