Morning/happy early afternoon, friends! Catching up from the weekend?

• Sitting Pretty – importance of prettying up sometimes
• A Bit Late to the Game – movie nights to catch up with popular movies
• Get Me Out Of Here – getting out of the house and sharing some uncertainty
• New Weekly Series – FFF Features
• Self-Love Reflection of the Week – Gifts of the Body

As you may recall from last night’s post, Peter returned to work today. That means I am spending time figuring out and settling into doing things completely on my own during the day. With that in mind, I wanted to get back into regular habits with my new regular routine. I find it much easier to pick up those regular habits in one go because otherwise the more time I let pass, the harder it becomes for me. Kind of like after a vacation, getting back into a regular schedule as soon as possible?

I am not saying I have been on a vacation by any means. I went into labor and then delivered a baby two weeks ago! Duh to that not being a vacation. However, with Peter at home for the past couple weeks and me in that post-baby recovery stage, it was easy to get lazy about certain things. I have felt kind of antsy to start up “normal life” and “normal me” again. Part of that includes getting started with some of my own personal goals.

Over the weekend, we finally did a full grocery shopping trip and I stocked up on many of my favorite healthy eating staples.

I plan on picking up light workouts again starting today. I have felt ready for workouts for over a week and my body feels adequately rested and prepared. I want to go ahead and get cracking on that routine along with everything else as well. I feel ready. And excited!

Today is not the start of some diet or fitness plan. It’s the continuation of what I love to do – eat healthily and be active because it makes me feel good. In the past I would have approached today with a “last supper” type of attitude. It would mean the beginning of restriction and having to be “100% ON” and “perfect”. I wouldn’t have eaten balanced meals yesterday and over the course of the weekend.

I had some treats this weekend…but it wasn’t with the mentality that I had to cram in as many as possible. They aren’t going anywhere.

I simply look at today as a need to continue focusing my priorities on caring for myself in addition to my family. It would be too easy to put myself and my health on the backburner, so I want to pick up the positive momentum from day one of my new normal. I will be working on getting back in shape and losing the baby weight…but in a healthy, balanced, non-restrictive way. There’s no pressure. I’m simply doing what makes me happy and my best self. Time to get started…or I guess I should say…time to keep on keeping on.

Question of the Day – What tips do you have for keeping and getting into healthier habits?

Over the past couple of weeks we have been quite the homebodies. I guess we should expect as much with a newborn kiddo. We spend our days indoors away from the cold and then at night hang out on the couch with a movie. Not to say that’s bad; I really liked Social Network and our relaxing evening last night.

This morning when we woke up, however, I wanted to get out.

We hadn’t planned on it for another week or two, but we ended up heading to church today. It was just the place I wanted to go. Not only do we get the inspirational message, but we also get social time since many of our good friends are from church. I loved making it out of the house to visit a place I truly love and people I love as well.

I did quickly learn something new though. Getting two kids ready and out the door takes forever. We had two hours, which I figured was more than enough. Ha! We had two adults to get showered and ready. Two kids to dress. Four mouths to feed. Bags to pack up. Two hours felt more like twenty minutes.

I began feeling slightly overwhelmed by the time we got out the door. For some reason the larger worries of life don’t really phase me, but comparatively minor details can send me into freak-out mode.I don’t 100% know why. My best guess would be seeking control.

I must admit that it all makes me a bit anxious. Peter goes back to work tomorrow. We may have a nice little routine going, and I certainly don’t have any pressing time commitments to get out the door for, but I sure will miss having an extra pair of hands when I really need them. I must remind myself that things will get taken care of and I will figure it out. Also, as time goes on things will get smoother and easier. Things haven’t been too bad yet!

Question of the Evening – What types of things overwhelm you?