Eye On The Prize

TODAY'S MOTIVATION

It almost happened. Yesterday the cookies almost won the standoff.  They have been sitting in my cupboard since last week and I thought I had won. I had no desire to even try them after they were put away. Then last night for some reason I was hungry, and nothing in my fridge appealed to me. I was getting sick of snacking on fruit and vegetables all the time. Then I heard the cookies calling my name, saying things like "Just one won't hurt", and "You can eat us and then you can start fresh tomorrow".  I actually struggled with this for a good hour. Wanting to give in but not wanting to give in. Since when did food start having such control over my thoughts? It was almost like a smoker trying not to have one more cigarette. In my head I knew it was silly, but there I was trying to convince myself not to have the cookies. In the end, my self coping talk won, I didn't eat the cookies.  True story. 

I was confident in my decision when I started to visualize the end result of my efforts - being able to achieve all of the things in which I have talked about on here: getting rid of problem areas on my body, fitting into clothes again, having pride in my appearance, being healthy, etc.  So in short, I found that keeping my eye on the prize goes a long way in breaking the years of bad habits I have developed since childhood. I no longer am going to listen to those distorted thoughts that talk me into eating things I do not need. So today, my motivation is to keep my eye on the prize and keep going. 

RANT OR RAVE

You know what I just LOVE? Homemade and personalized gifts. When we were working on the nursery for my itty bitty, we painted the walls and put up furniture, but it didn't really become Maya's room until it was filled with sentimental objects that she received as gifts. 

Almost everything in her room was given to her by someone. From the library that was started on her book shelf, to the hand-me-down clothes. Here are a few of my favourite gifts that people either personalized or made themselves!

A water colour made from the heart. 

A glass blown soother with a tag to write weight and height at birth.

A wish tree. 

Quilts made with love. 

A puzzle picture put together by a loved one. 

My two favourite dolls when I was a little girl. Mon Chi-Chi and Ragedy Ann.

Aren't these just cute! Hand made. 

Books from one of my favourite authors as a child. 

Personalized bracelet. 

Birth stones in the shape of a butterfly. 

I like to dabble in the odd project myself when trying to think of gift ideas for others. 

    

A quilt that went towards a group gift. 

With secret pockets.

Stuffed animals and pillows for Maya.

Something to stick pictures in.

I find a lot of ideas from online tutorials. A few I have tried include soft baby blocks and fabric balls. Both turned out nicely. 

I think my next project is going to be this.

Memory Game

And maybe this. 

Fabric Houses

You may be wondering what this has to do with trying to be healthy. Well, the thing is, lately I have been getting a bit bored with the monotony of keeping house and child rearing. Sometimes I just want to do something to keep busy that doesn't include folding yet another load of laundry. If I don't keep busy I tend to start snacking and so I am going to start getting back into doing little projects when Maya is in bed. I also feel that in order to live a balanced life and take care of myself, I must do some things that I enjoy.

NOTE TO SELF