Wow! A lot of you feel my frustration with Walmart yesterday. So after yesterday’s debacle, it felt good to come home from tutoring, eat dinner, and lay down in bed by 8 o’clock. These days, I feel as though I could stay in bed all day. It’s the only place I can ever really get comfortable. In reality though I would likely go stir-crazy. But the thought sure is nice.

In fact, I know I would go more than a little stir-crazy. I couldn’t wait to go to spin today. I somehow always feel better for awhile after workouts. It’s like my physical therapy. Also, my  mental therapy. I knew I wanted to do another Q + A post today and when picking out which to answer, I came across one that needed a bit more thought. Spin became my reflection time.

How do you feel about Makenzie having a close relationship with your father? Do you ever feel guilty for keeping her at a distance from her grandfather? (I ask this because I'm in a similar situation with my dad and daughter.)

While I don’t have as close a relationship with my father as I do with my mother, or even as I could have with him, I never keep M at a distance. She sees him very regularly – just as often as any other grandparent, so at least a couple times per month. I feel comfortable with this because my father is in a better place himself than when he treated me so poorly. He now handles some of the underlying issues that caused problems when I was growing up. Also, I was the main one who ever took the brunt of such hurtful words and hatred. I was the only one he ever hit and that was years ago. I do not negate the wrongfulness of his actions, but I do forgive them. I can’t let that part of my past control me anymore, so I must let it go. And I do not want my grudges to inhibit my daughter’s chance to be loved by those who care for her immensely.

My dad is great with her. He plays, cuddles, laughs, and everything else a grandparent does with her. I won’t lie. It hurts on one level because I missed out on that type of outward affection for much of my childhood. But my pride does not matter here. Makenzie adores him and, as long as he treats her in a way I feel comfortable with, I am happy for her to have that relationship. He makes her happy. It isn’t hurting her in any way. That makes me happy. That’s all that matters.

I will say though, if he ever hurt her in any way (emotionally or physically) or reacted to me that way openly in front of her, then he would lose all contact with her. I honestly don’t ever foresee that happening as he has changed so much from that time, but I did want to put that out there for whoever else may be in this situation. If there were any recognizable chance of harm to my child, I would not allow such an open relationship with him. In sum, it’s always about my daughter’s needs and not my wants or pride.

Wow, that was weighty, but a good discussion as well. I will now send you off to your Tuesday with this. Keep cheery!

source

• Where/when do you do some of your best thinking or reflecting?
• For fun - What’s something that made you laugh recently?
• If you have a question you would like me to answer in the Nov series, CLICK TO ASK ME ANYTHING.

Braxton Hicks are so much fun!!! I have been experiencing them almost non-stop the past few days. Oh, the joy. Ironically enough, the only time I don’t feel them is when I work out. Or perhaps I simply experience a workout high and don’t notice them? Either way, it just reaffirms my desire to continue fitness, even at 7 months pregnant. And even when the man next to me in spin class tells me to please not go into labor right there. If it wouldn’t have disrupted class, I would have been highly tempted to fake contractions and freak him out. Now, that would have been fun!

Not as fun as this though….

It’s official!! I am registered! So, anyone going interested in rooming together? I will warn you that, with a 4 month old at home, breast pumping will be involved. As discreetly as possible of course. 😉 I’m extremely excited and know I will have so much fun. We’ll wait and see if BlogHer is in the cards as well. I hope so!

We had to be at church for a little while this afternoon to meet with some others attending a church retreat with us. I wasn’t sure how long we would be, so I planned for a dinner on the go. Normally I go for a sandwich from Subway, but a different sandwich appealed to me tonight.

I would also normally opt for the half sandwich and half salad option. Not tonight! Something about a full, hearty chicken salad sandwich from Atlanta Bread Co. sounded perfect. Perhaps because the last thing I had eaten was a bean, cheese, and rice whole wheat wrap/burrito with a honeycrisp apple about 6 hours earlier. Who cares on the reason?! It tasted delicious. Now, today’s Q + A!

Why do you not post everything you eat on your blog? Do you ever not post something because you feel embarrassed or guilty?

First off, I don’t post everything I eat because it simply is not my style. As my blog states, I believe life is more than diet and workouts. To coincide with that belief and fit my blogging style, I don’t post all my food. I would feel too tied down if I attempted to post all of my food. I LOVE reading blogs that share their daily eats and the ideas from them, but I don’t believe it suits Faith, Fitness, Fun.

Also, with my past, I don’t feel comfortable focusing that much on food. It works for some, but I fear I would lose my sense of eating intuitively. I could see myself feeling pressured to have interesting food or wondering if my food was “acceptable” in the blogging world. I eat a lot of repetitive meals and don’t have a passion for cooking like many other food bloggers. In other words, I would bore you all to tears if I blogged with more of a focus on food. I’m happy with how I eat and don’t want to take the chance of effecting that negatively.

With all of that said, I do not hide my food. I would do a play by play of my eats post without hesitation. And heck, right now I feel I post more of the meals I eat that aren’t the healthiest. I have no shame. I have a chicken salad sandwich on the blog tonight, some leftover Halloween candy on the blog yesterday, and a plethora of dinners out mentioned here. I even had an entire post dedicated to my “confession” of visiting a McDonald’s earlier in the pregnancy because I craved it and refused to feel embarrassed.

I do enjoy sharing meal ideas I feel worth mentioning or great new recipes I try. I also love sharing fun meals out as part of our weekend activities. In the future, I will likely have more to say about my food and will openly discuss my dietary choices when working to lose weight after pregnancy. Basically, I share food when it fits into topics I blog about. I will never share everything I eat, every post. I’m cool with that because that means I am being true to myself and my blog. 🙂 That is always a good thing, no embarrassment needed.

• How do you handle posting food on your blog?
• If you have something you wish to ask, CLICK HERE to do so anonymously. Or post a question in the comments.
• Check out my girl Jenn’s blog. She is a wellness coach and is giving away TEN FREE four week coaching sessions right now. All you need to do is comment so please CLICK!