Summer Well Spent

47 days of eating healthy

47 days of consecutive exercise

27 pounds gone

Learning to listen to my body

Learning to not listen to my will

Learning to love myself, my kids, my health, more than food

Learning to feel, not eat

Learning to eat to live, not live to eat

Learning to get out and do something even though I hate doing it

Learning that even though I hated doing it, it was good for me

Learning not to hate it so much

Learning to actually like it

Believe it or not, the food has been the easy part this summer. Despite my griping and complaining about Daryl's long hours of working, it did give us the flexibility at the grocery store. I stocked up on good healthy food, lots of fruits and veggies and whole grains, and organic fare. This made it easier to make good choices, and those good choices satisfied me. The exercise, however, was a different story. I started this summer hating to exercise. And not just a little. A lot. I don't like to sweat, and in the warmest summer on record, I sweated a lot. I don't like to breathe hard and hurt. I don't like to take time out of things that I want and need to do to go out and sweat and breathe hard and turn red and hurt. But I did it. Every single day. In the beginning, I aimed for 20 minutes a day. And after that 20 minutes, I would come in, drink two glasses of ice water, turn on the ceiling fans and lay on the floor, thinking I was going to die. Twenty minutes turned into 45 minutes to an hour. This week, it turned into Couch to 5K, and today, 15 minutes of walking and 10 minutes of jogging. I still hate to sweat--HATE IT. I still hurt, but a little less every day. But I LOVE what it has done for me. More energy, better sleep, and lower blood pressure. Weight gone and a feeling of accomplishment.

It's been good quality time with my girls. My big girls and my little girls. My little girls growing and maturing, my big girls becoming friends. And not enough time with my men--too much work, too much time away. It's been tutoring 10 kids twice a week, every week. Seeing great improvements in some; in others not so much. Still waiting to see the $$$.

It's all over starting tomorrow. It's back to work, back to getting up early and coming home late. Rushing to get out the door, rushing to get back home. I'm ready. Excited for Hannah. Excited for Josh. But just a little bit sad about both. I'm ready for a new group of kids, a new year, new possibilities. A class that's mine all year with no maternity leave and no distractions of being pregnant.

It doesn't seem possible that it's already time to go back to school. I'm thankful for the summer. Thankful for the gains and the losses, the victories, the time with my family. The time to recoup and refresh. Time to cook. Time to read. Time to cuddle with my girls, watch TV, and play on the computer.

Summer is over, but it's definitely been time well spent.