Improving Me

Recently I've discovered that if I want to make big changes, the place I need to start is with me.  My struggle with postpartum depression and PTSD has made this past year really tough and I am tired of feeling this way.  I don't like feeling badly about myself, so I decided to make a few changes:

• Eat meals at home
• I know how to cook in theory, but I almost never do.  Matt is an awesome cook so I usually left it up to him, but because he would have to work a full day and then cook, it was very easy to end up eating out.  In embracing my new role, however, I felt it important for me to do the cooking so that when he comes upstairs at the end of the day (he works from home) he can enjoy time with Lily and I can get dinner ready.  I'm also able to do much of the prep work while he's working.
  
  As another part of this, I started making a month-long meal plan.  I plan meals out for two weeks and then repeat.  It makes bulk shopping easier (I have a fangirl crush on Costco) and I can just look at the menu and know what we're doing for breakfast, lunch, or dinner any day of the week.  This has worked out exceptionally well for us.  We've been following the menu for a little longer than 2 weeks and we have only eaten out once, and that was a fluke.


• Stick to a consistent workout routine
• Matt and I decided that losing weight was going to be a priority for us in 2015 and beyond, so we each got a 2-year membership to 24 Hour Fitness.  It was important to me that whatever gym we went to have a pool because swimming is my favorite form of exercise.  We were pleased to find that the membership Costco offered was an amazing deal cost wise, so we bit the bullet in December.
  
  
  The holidays and being out of town made it tricky to stick to a gym routine, but for the last couple weeks, I've gone to the gym every other day.  I've been swimming laps and am up to 500 meters at a time. I have so much more respect for competitive swimmers because it is a lot harder than it looks!
  
  
• Track caloric intake and exercise
• This one has been huge for me.  When we went out to dinner the other night, I was mortified to find out how much I'd eaten.  I've been running a decent surplus the last week or two and it's been making me feel really good.  The meal I ate put me over so many calories I was sick thinking about it.  It didn't help that I hadn't even made it to 75% of my daily step goal either.  Yikes!
  
  
  Having a Fitbit and tracking my movement has been encouraging.  I've been going out of my way to be more active to achieve more daily goals and being able to add my swimming and other exercises to My Fitness Pal has been so encouraging.  I love seeing the boost in calories I get.  I often reward myself with a muffin or other semi-healthy treat just to keep my motivation up.

• Take time for self-care
• I asked for self-care type things for Christmas, and it's been the best thing ever.  Matt takes Lily on Sunday afternoons and periodically throughout the week so that I can have time to do things like take a bubble bath and read a book or just nap baby free.  I've made this a priority because when I don't, it makes life worse for me and for Matt.  I get so much energy from just being able to spend an hour or two by myself.
  
  
  This also includes getting out of bed before Lily wakes up.  Turns out that taking a shower without any strict time limits is invigorating, and eating breakfast without a baby demanding to have half of whatever I'm eating is even better!

• Wear makeup
• Anyone who knows me knows that I am super lazy in the appearance category.  I cling to my all-girls Catholic high school days when I could barely be bothered to change out of my uniform to go to bed, let alone care for my appearance.  I think there's so much to say for taking time to put on a little makeup and really make yourself look good.  I've always felt that I don't need makeup because I have a nice complexion, but man - it's amazing how much of a difference a little eye shadow and lip gloss can make! Not to mention what the moisturizer can do for my very, very dry skin.
  
  
  I ordered a few things online and I'm just waiting for them to come in the mail to start my makeup routine.  I can't wait to start building my beauty routine!

Everything has been going really well so far, so hopefully it continues to do so and I'm able to continue feeling better about myself in the year(s) to come.