Managing the Stress

Just sometime in life you need to take a huge step back and look at yourself.  No one else but yourself.  When you do that the windows will open and you will see everything for what it is warts and all.

For me that moment happened 18 months ago when I took a breath and decided it was time to look after myself.  A great first step ....acknowledge where you are at and what the first step is.

So internal happiness  .....  you know happy with yourself and that started with working out (yet again) how to manage the stress in my life.  So I yet again started walking the roads.  When I finally made a habit of walking ...no excuses ....I understood that walking was not only about being fit but clearing my brain and giving me the much needed me space.   Sometimes that means walking the rural roads where I live, up and down the hills while pushing my disabled son in his buggy.  All 40 something kgs worth.

So no excuses  The benefits were far greater than I ever remembered and all this time latter I am still working at managing my stress.

Next time I will write about how I manage when I am working and cant fit my walk in.

My Mojo

I am on a mission to look after my mojo.  Yes you know, that special little something that really keeps you well motivated and on top if everything in a fabulous way.  When everything working just as if magic was involved.

So here is magic mojo finder recipe.  It took a while to work but still did at the end of the day.

 A recipe to find your mojo

Take a portion of each component and generously apply it to 

• smile and make the others in my house smile as they walk by me.
• take a little time for myself (go for an hour long walk) just to get a little head space for myself.
• laugh....a lot.  It is amazing what a difference it makes

and if all that does very little to help then

• take a 20 minute nap.   You will be surprise how much better one feels after a nap.

 and finally never forget

I wonder........

I wonder why it is that some people...(yes I am talking about myself) are emotional eaters.   I know that stress rules my life in may ways.  Being the primary carer for a highly dependent, significantly impaired both behaviorally and cognitively child is not easy.  In fact it is fair to say that this is the primary source of my stress.  The stress not only impacts on me, but the relationships in my family and the happiness that many families experience due to the freer lives they have.

I know that my weight represents how I am looking after myself and how I feel about myself.  It possibly could be called carers fatigue.

So when my weight (I guessed what it was because I could not fit the largest clothes in my cupboard) hit an all time high, and after some months of denial, I did something very proactive about it.  I went back to Weight watches and stood on the scales.  Oh my gosh.

Anyway that does bring me back to me wonder why it is some people are stress eaters.  Maybe it is all tied back to the whole comfort eating thing.  Or perhaps it is just plain not eating a balanced diet.  Then of course there is the whole thing about exercise.....or lack of it as in my case.  For me it is sure all of the above.

I hope know  I have learned to deal with my stress eating.....cope with my sweet tooth and have promised myself to exercise and am walking for an hour 5 times a week and doing pilates at home through a programme I found on line.....it is free too.  There are now simply no excises not to exercise even if I have to push my disabled son in his buggy which makes it much harder.

I am at the stage of trying to keep my self exactly where I am.  I am happy with how fit I am, how I feel about myself and that I can participate in life without being constantly tired.  In the next month I plan on keeping life at this point of equilibrium even as the school year kicks in and the out of school activities all start up.

(credits for this page can be found here)

When you think it is all book marked.......

Just when I thought that I had all my stirfry sauce recipes all bookmarked on the internet I  discover that one of my links has been taken down disappeared.   Thank fully I took a printed copy quite some time ago and today I stumbled upon it. So in the hope of preserving this go to recipe that is great with veges here it is .....




Sweet and Sour Stir Fry Sauce.

Serves two

Mix together 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp tomato sauce.  1 x 227g tin pineapple pieces in natural juice.  1 tbsp white wine vinegar, 2 tsp sweetener and tsp corn flour.

Pour into stir fry and finish cooking.

My family love this recipe.  Tonight we had leek, broccoli and yellow capsicum along with a little meat that was left over from the night before.  I needed added some round egg noodles that are cooked.

Fit and Healthy

Being a fit and healthy weight is really important for me.  It shows me I value myself...my mind, my body and my soul (well I hope that is helped too).  Without these things then the rest of my life struggles.

This year I managed to start the year at an idea weight for me.  I was working really hard on my fitness through the couch to 5 km programme and even managed 3 christmas days, yes I know 2 too many, and 12 days camping to this day working on a maintenance plan.

I hope that I am setting a great example for my children about eating well not binging or the other extreme of not eating.  Eating a balance of food including treats ocassionally.  Showing my children that exercise is important.  It makes me happier, it makes me more positive about life and ...oh....yes I feel less stressed.

So fingers crossed for the year that I can maintain where I am at.  I can climb back up if I fall off the path I am on.  That I acquire no injuries to prevent me exercising and I continue to love everything I have achieved.