Tuesday, January 20, 2009

big day: Barack Obama and my own inauguration ...

What a day to celebrate! Listening to Barack with tearful colleagues at lunch, and hearing my children's excitement: "Mommy, we saw Barack Obama become president!"
And, what a day of learning, of challenges. Yesterday, I was off from work and the kids were off from school. Plus, I didn't feel well, so it wasn't too hard to kick off the Project. But today, the real work began ....
... My first thoughts, as I made lunch for my kids: I can't even like the peanut butter off this knife, or I will have to account for it! Yeesh, gives PB&J a kinda sadistic quality...
... Then I mindfully measured out my lunch, prepared a small breakfast and mindlessly ate the blueberries I so carefully measured while I was driving into work. I see more the process of mindfulness - how it needs to be carried through, how easy it is to lapse ...
... Next, the reality of portions! My 130-calorie snack of fruit and nuts barely covered the bottom of a small sandwhich baggie -- I think I usually eat three times this amount and call it a snack. Now I know ...
... Back home, I panicked and realized that for all my planning, I did not plan very well. I have mostly the right food in the house, some of it cut up and measured. But I had not planned out exactly what I was going to eat, and that made dinner even more challenging: I cooked food for me and the kids between homework assignments -- again careful not to take a scoop of the buttery corn on their plates. I did not realize how much I ate when I cook: it literally took all my mental might to stop myself from tasting this and that and eating kiddo leftovers.
... The strength workout left my muscles twitching, and it felt good, and tough. The jump rope provided the most challenge and amusement: How do I do this again? It's only been HOW long?
When I came home, I turned off some lights and settled down to meditate. The sitting still was OK, because my body was tired. But my mind was distracted by every bit of chatter and clatter in the house. And my head started firing off some negative messages that were hard to silence. Again, I am grateful for the comraderie. I hit the blogs and felt that positive pulse again!
I think it is time for bed. Best wishes and thoughts for Day 3 to all!

1 comment:

  1. Good job. It's challenging to do all of this work around an active family

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