I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of years now and am so impressed by all that you do. I’ve often wondered how you are able to stay organized and on top of so many projects, including managing your health and weight. I am a mother of one boy who is [...]]]>

Hi Roni,

I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of years now and am so impressed by all that you do. I’ve often wondered how you are able to stay organized and on top of so many projects, including managing your health and weight. I am a mother of one boy who is the same age as “the toddler” and also have a demanding career. My husband is often traveling for business and we spend much of the year on our own. I find that I struggle to keep all the balls in the air. I often notice that if I put the time in to manage my health (e.g., sleeping well, exercising regularly, doing all of the planning necessary to lose weight or just to eat nutritionally), I become behind in other areas of my life. I just can’t seem to stay focused or organized enough to manage. Eventually deadlines loom and I go weeks without attending to my health. I’d love to hear how you organize your time and your life, including any resources you might use.

-Kathleen

Hi Kathleen!

The beginning of your email made me laugh out loud and I mean that in a funny nice way because if you REALLY knew me you’d know, I am NOT organized. Not even in the least bit. You should see my office or my house for that matter. It routinely looks as if a tornado swept through. I’ve been in my new home for over a year and still have boxes in corners and my computer is so muddled I can hardly find files when I need them.

Don’t believe me?

Here’s Proof! I snapped these this afternoon…

My "cozy" living room…

My "lovely" kitchen…

My de facto "office", i.e. the Ottoman and dinosaur jungle.

I’m not telling, rather showing you this to make you feel better. It’s true. I can’t keep up. And I’d wager there are women all over the world that will benefit by the next 5 words I’m about to type…

You can’t do it all.

I’m also going to throw in…

You can’t be everything to everyone.

You can’t be in two places at the same time.

And the famous…

You can’t make everyone happy.

For me it comes down to prioritizing. It’s simple. I make time for the things that are important to me, including spending time with little guy, cooking healthy meals for my family, running/working out, and posting on the blogs. Those are my non-negotiables.

I define a non-negotaiable as something I will do regardless of my other responsibilities (within reason of course, I mean you can’t get fired.) That means I routinely go to bed with dirty dishes in my sink. Sometimes there is laundry in desperate need of folding for weeks, and you know what… my floor could use a good sweeping but it’ll have to wait, I’m responding to you at the moment. :)

I think the most important thing for you to do is prioritize and forgive yourself for not being Super Woman. I know society wants us to be. They think women can be effortlessly beautiful while managing a full-time career, raising the kids, keeping a spotless house and finding time to devote to their health and relationships. I hate to tell you, it’s just not possible.

You pointed out in your email that you become behind in other areas of your life when you focus on you and your health. I’m curious what these other areas are? Is there something you can drop to the bottom of the list that just isn’t as important as… well… you?

This is what I learned…. when I spend more time on me, as in eating healthier and staying active, I’m more equipped to handle the other things in my life. I handle stress better. I’m less moody. I’m more confident. I sleep better. I’m happier. The list goes on and on. However, the time it takes for me to focus on my health does need to balance out in the end. I mean there are only so many hours in the day. In my case, I skimmed that time from keeping a clean house. I don’t know about you but I’d rather take care of me first, the house second.

Of course others would prioritize differently. We all have our reasons but I would guess there are many of us that spend time doing things that really… at the end of the day… don’t matter.

As for me and how I organize my time? I have one simple rule I live by…

Do what you can, when you can, with what you have.

I wrote a post about this a while ago with regads to running but now I apply it to everything in my life. From eating healthy to working out to my job and the sites. I don’t beat myself up if I’m having a busy week and have to eat out more. I simply do the best I can and follow some simple rules to make healthier choices. I don’t throw in the towel if I can’t find the time to workout. I simply pick it back up again when I can. Maybe getting up early to squish in a run before work knowing it will make me feel good to do so. Sometimes I have so many things I want to fix on the sites that I could honestly work on them continuously for days but that’s just not possible. So when I get a free hour I accomplish something small off the list. Knowing I’m that much closer to my goals helps me feel like I accomplished something.

I do what I can when I can.

And guess what…. ALL those little things, those healthy choices at restaurants, those quick runs in the mornings when I have time, those small to-dos checked off on my list… they add up to big things. I mean really… somehow over the last 5 years I lost 65 pounds, built 5 sites, and ran a conference. All those things took a lot of work but it was a lot of work done a little at a time, over YEARS.

So it may look like, from the outside, that I have it all together. That I’m some super human crazy organized robot. But in reality I’m just a 30-something, mom struggling to find balance, trying to figure out what works for me and my family and making the best choices I can along the way.

I’m sorry if this wasn’t the answer you were looking for but I hope I shared something can help you find the balance you seek.

Does anyone have any time management tips for Kathleen? I’m sure some of you are better at it then I am! Maybe I’m missing some “big secret”.

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Ugh. I ate and ate and ate and ATE! Saturday was my Mom’s surprise 60th birthday party. I’ve been planning it for a few weeks now but unable to tell you about it. Mom does read now and then (right Mom?) and I didn’t want to ruin the surprise. [...]]]>
Picture from crossfitramstein.com

Ugh. I ate and ate and ate and ATE! Saturday was my Mom’s surprise 60th birthday party. I’ve been planning it for a few weeks now but unable to tell you about it. Mom does read now and then (right Mom?) and I didn’t want to ruin the surprise. And.. She WAS surprised!

The party was at a buffet and OMG could there possible be MORE food there that I wanted to try? I took a little of everything and ate waaaay past the point of fullness. Did that stop me from munching on popcorn just an hour later and scoffing down 3 pieces of pizza after that? Nope. Then, after a few drinks with a friend, I ate yet again! A large grilled chicken Panini and some chips. I went to bed a little tipsy and A LOT full.

Today was no better. I started off with great intentions and a fabulous run. Then the husband brought home McDonald’s or lunch. We had ice cream with Grandma and Grandpa, more chips then I’d like to admit and stopped at McDonald’s AGAIN for dinner. The double cheeseburger is still sitting in my gut like a rock. Bleh. Bleh. Bleh. Bleh. BLEH!

Ok… confession, vent, whatever you want to call it, is over. I ate what I ate. I could sit here and go into why I think I did and over analyze the whole weekend but I’m not going to bore you. Instead I look ahead. I have a fridge full of veggies from the farm and a beach to trip to plan. We leave on Saturday for our yearly shore trip.

Overall, it was a great weekend and I plan on making it a great week! You?

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The pig sty is my welcome home gift from the husband [...]]]> It’s 6 o’clock in the morning and I’m sitting in my pig sty of a house, still stuffed from the overdose of pizza the night before, just pondering the weekend and how I’m going to make it through the rest of this week.

The pig sty is my welcome home gift from the husband and little guy. I bring them t-shirts from Boston and they present a sink full of dishes, plates of food on the kitchen table, more items on the floor of the living room then I can count and a basement loaded with laundry.

Upon my return from any weekend trip, I not only have to rally the troops to get the house in order–which I failed at miserably last night– I must hit the grocery store so that we actually have food in the house all week. I’ve learned from the ghost of weekend’s past that by far grocery shopping is the most important thing to do on a weekend. It’s the only way to ward of–or shall I say REDUCE–the number of times we eat out during the week.

My plane landed around 4PM and I was home by 5. After a quick reunion Little Guy and I headed off to the grocery store together where we stocked up on tons of fresh foods, veggies and a few convenience snack item for our lunches. After spending about an hour at the store I realized there was no way I was going to go home and cook. Not after the day I had.

I woke up at 6AM after a horrible night of sleep. My allergies are in full effect. It’s hard to catch some Z’s when you can only breath out of one nostril. Especially when breathing out of that one nostril causes your throat to feel like it’s been rubbed raw with sand paper. What a crappy way to start the day especially when you are headed out to run a 9k race.

But I sucked it up and ran the race anyway. Which put me in a much better mood. Nothing makes me happier then to wake up and experience the sense of camaraderie and motivation at a running event. Any running event.

So after the 5.77 mile run, I walked the mile back to the hotel, packed up, checked out, navigated the local mass transit and headed to the airport to return home.

I don’t know about you but traveling takes a lot of out me and the last thing I want to do after a day of traveling is cook. Especially in a kitchen that looks as if a bomb exploded.

So succumbing to the husbands request for pizza was a much easier decisions last night then it has ever been.

It’s really not that big of a deal to order a pizza. It really isn’t or at least it shouldn’t be.

But It’s like a gateway drug for me. My nemesis. My Achilles’ heel.

I ate 2 pieces for dinner plus little guy’s leftovers and 3 of the husband’s hot wings. Not a big deal right?

Like I said, it’s really not that big of a deal. Until…. after the little guy goes to bed and the husband and I snuggle up on the couch to watch TV. Mr. Leftover Pizza in the fridge starts to call my name.

"Roni…. Roni…. you know I’m in here. What are you going to do, save me until tomorrow. You don’t want to eat me tomorrow. I’ll ruin your day. Just get over hear and finish me off now. You know you want to. You know how good I taste reheated in the oven. Come on. You had a great weekend. you deserve to enjoy me again. I’m totally worth it. I’ll taste great. "

I have learned to ignore Mr. Pizza on the few nights we actually do order but last night he was just too powerful. I heated up the last two slices in the oven and while I waited I devoured a huge peanut butter egg I had leftover in the fridge from Easter. She just simple whispered, "You might as well, you’re already about to ruin your day anyway."

So I do not lie when I say I’m still stuffed from the night before. I woke up with that yucky feeling in my gut that happens when I eat too much too late. I know this feeling all too well. It’s how I woke up every morning in college.

I’d being lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed in myself. I really did have a great weekend. I even kept my food journal on vacation perfectly. I made great choices. I felt fantastic, motivated, energized.

I want that feeling back and the only way to get it is to forgive myself. I know some will think I’m crazy. That I ate what I ate and I shouldn’t feel guilty or ashamed. That those feelings are the bane of the dieters existence. But truth be told, you just can’t shut off your response to certain situations. Instead you can recognize your triggers, avoid them when possible, and forgive yourself when you don’t.

It’s the only way for me and it’s been working quite well these 5 years.

So I’m off to shower for work. I’ll grab my packed lunch and healthy snacks and remind myself that life is and will always be a day by day battle.

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…but that hasn’t stopped me from eating too much of it… AGAIN! I think I better go to bed early before I knock the whole thing off.

Now. . . STOP EATING! My word, you’ve been binging for 4 days now. And no, you aren’t exaggerating. Call it like it is, deal, and move on. You have a whole week off to get [...]]]> Good job disconnecting for a few days. You needed this time with your family. . .

Now. . . STOP EATING! My word, you’ve been binging for 4 days now. And no, you aren’t exaggerating. Call it like it is, deal, and move on. You have a whole week off to get your life in order. Take advantage of it. Clean, organize and get planning on this week’s menu.

Now go! :)

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I had an AWESOME Sunday. The husband and I made great strides on the house. It’s really getting homey now. Even the basement is organized! Only the garage and a few boxes [...]]]> Got to make this SUPER quick. I’m leaving for Fresno in less then 10 hours and I’m barely packed. Long story short…

I had an AWESOME Sunday. The husband and I made great strides on the house. It’s really getting homey now. Even the basement is organized! Only the garage and a few boxes left!

We also hosted a poker party today. It’s a monthly thing for us. I posted all about the party prep and how I cooked stuffed shells over on GreenLiteBites. Click here to check it out.

I did eat one too many cookies at the party and I’m feeling a bit overstuffed. For those of you from Maryland you know what kind of cookies they are. You know… the ones that start with a B end with an R and have WAY too much fudge in between. Yes.. those cookies. :)

Anyway. It’s no big deal. I don’t buy them regularly so one cookie crazy day isn’t going to kill. me.

So I’m off to learn everything there is to know about Pomegranates. If you have no idea what I’m talking about click here for info about this trip. I’ll be keep my food journal during my travels. Probably with photos as I’ll be texting from my phone.

Ok, off to read the little guy a few stories before bed. Hope you’ll had a great Sunday!

Oh! and the winners of the giveaway have been contacted. Check your email! :)

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Get a grip!

Now… you are up early… go pack a lunch and grab some workout clothes. You are going to go to yoga tonight and lift some weights. THAT will make you feel better. I [...]]]> Did grabbing a spoon and the gallon of ice cream last night really make you feel any better?

Get a grip!

Now… you are up early… go pack a lunch and grab some workout clothes. You are going to go to yoga tonight and lift some weights. THAT will make you feel better. I promise.

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You’re back is feeling better. Forget about the days you took off and do what you can when you can. The only way you fail is to give up. REMEMBER THAT.

And yea… so you’ve eaten out a few times this week. It’s ok. Get some healthy supplies [...]]]> Take it easy on yourself.

You’re back is feeling better. Forget about the days you took off and do what you can when you can. The only way you fail is to give up. REMEMBER THAT.

And yea… so you’ve eaten out a few times this week. It’s ok. Get some healthy supplies this weekend and go back to the basics.

Oh! and for Pete’s sake… STOP with nighttime snacking!! M&Ms and Dorritos are NOT relieving any stress. Geesh!

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

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