As you all know, I had my sweet baby boy 5 month ago. He is absolutely precious, but has not been the easiest baby. He is still not taking a bottle despite our constant efforts and that does not give me a whole lot of time to myself these days. I noticed my stress levels were high and my anxiety started creeping up again a few weeks ago and I knew I had to do something before it got out of hand. I want to give me babies and husband the best version of me and in order to do that, I have to take care of myself a little bit, too. Here are 5 things I do daily that have helped me be a better version of myself:
Drink a ton of water and then drink some more. – I have always drank a bunch of water, but I have been really focusing on it and drink around 100 oz. a day now. That is way more than half my body weight, but I am nursing and exercising again, so I go through the water. It helps my energy and also helps me feel better all around.
Exercise – this may be a strong word for what I do. I try to move every single day. Some days it is everything I can do just to hit 10,000 steps on my fitbit, but other days I feel good enough to run a couple of miles. I have been really listening to my body and am trying not to overdo it right now. Tucker is waking up 2 to 3 times a night, so I have to be careful and savor my energy some days. I love to do the Tone it Up workouts and have enjoyed doing a few of these each week so build muscle tone again. I have found that any movement feels a lot better than none, so even a walk around the block can make a world of a difference.
Quiet time – This has been essential to my mornings and starting my days off on the right foot. I spend about 10 minutes every morning reading a short devotional and having prayer time. It has done wonders for my mood and for my entire day. Giving the day over to God before it even starts has given me a great amount of peace. It also helps having those few minutes before the chaos of our day begins. I have loved going through this daily devotional book this year! They are short and sweet, but so good!
Eat Well – I am a firm believer in balance when it comes to EVERYTHING in life. Have fun, but also work hard. Eat healthy, but do have treats. You get what I’m saying. I have not done great since the first round of Faster Way to Fat Loss a few months ago and I am trying to get back in the habit of eating (mostly) clean. Now don’t get me wrong, we still have pizza on Fridays and we still have dessert every once in a while, but eating good foods that nourish my body makes a huge difference in the way I feel.
Plan and Execute – I read all the time how planning is everything, and it is unless you are super A.D.D. and get distracted all day long from that to-do list. I love to plan and am an avid list-maker, but when it comes to execution, I struggle. So, in order to do a better job of getting stuff done, I schedule everything that I do now. I give myself a certain amount of time to clean and do laundry, a certain amount of time to get ready, a specific time to do everything and if it doesn’t get done then it doesn’t get done. There is nothing I hate more than an unfinished task, so that is motivation enough for me to hustle during my windows. With that being said, I do cave out time to rest. Normally the kids go to bed around 7:30 and I give myself one hour to fold a load of laundry and get everything laid out for the next school day. Then I have my rest time from 8:30 – 9:45 which is when Ryan and I watch a show or read or just sit and talk. It is probably my favorite hour of the day because it is peaceful and relaxing. I then feed Tucker one more time and we go to bed around 10:30 so that we get plenty of sleep (well, depending on baby T ;)).
What do you do every day that makes your life better?
