6 Ways to Improve Your Mood

Most of you know, I'm a fitness and nutrition coach. I help motivate and encourage people to achieve their goals for a healthy and fulfilling life.

I wouldn't be real with you if I didn't let you in on a little secret.  I have down days. Days when I doubt myself.  Days when I don't want to eat healthy.  Days when I want to feel sorry for myself. Days when I feel like my life is so unbalanced that I don't know how I manage to get it all done. Days when I feel like I give more of me to others than I give to my own husband and kids. Days when I let the negative voices creep in and feel envious, selfish and a victim of my surroundings.

You know what?  Down days happen. And when they happen to me, I ask myself the following questions:

1.  Did I spend time with God today? Did I read His word and ask to be open to His will for my life? Did I pray for others? Did I truly listen to Him?

2. Did I work out today? Did I spend at least 20 minutes getting my heart rate up?  Did I break a sweat?

3. Did I have an eating plan today?  If not, why?  How does that make me feel?  Am I making unhealthy eating choices and if so, what emotion is attached?

4. Did I spend some time working on my own personal development?  If not, what could I be reading,listening to, or doing that could be giving me a different perspective and improve my outlook?

5.  Who have I been in contact with today?  Am I surrounding myself with people who love me, believe in me and support me?

6. What am I thankful for in my life?

Chances are, if I'm feeling down, something above is off. I skipped a workout, I didn't spend time with God,  I encountered a non-supportive person. You get the idea.

If you are struggling right now.  I encourage you to ask yourself these same questions.  What one thing could you start doing today to start improving your outlook?

Sometimes getting out of a down cycle can seem downright impossible, but I assure you, you are able to do anything with intention and a desire to change. It's within you. God bless!

It's Coming Unstuffed

Let the unstuffing continue!!! 

 

Many of you have been following my progress with a powerful book called “Unstuff Your Life”.  I focused on reading it for the month of May and it transformed the way I dealt with my stuff in my home…and helped restore some peace and time I’ve been craving for so long!

I implemented some simple ideas like having a home for everything, creating a place for things that I always need to find like my phone and my car keys and transformed my kitchen into a useable, workable space that I now I enjoy!

God wanted me to read that book!  He needed to show me a few things.  I listened and learned.    

My work is not finished though.  As a result of this book, I have some major plans for the rest of the house like going through my room, the closets, basement and garage, and to also save for a much-needed desk.  These are the projects I’m focused on for the summer in between visits to the pool and backyard cookouts with my family.  The important thing for me to do now is to schedule the time to work on these areas.    

If you are struggling to get your house under control and always feel like you are cleaning your house instead of spending your time with the people you care about, I encourage you to check out this book.  The fundamentals have changed my life, given me a structure to be more efficient and given me a peace that I can enjoy life without the nagging guilt of having to clean the house!

Stepping Off the Hamster Wheel

I’m stepping off the hamster wheel…for good!

We are all seeking something…in my case, it’s time!  That’s why I created MomTime Café.  Because I wanted a place to share ideas and strategies on how busy moms can make the most of their time and find balance in their lives.  By all means, MomTime Cafe isn’t arriving at a particular destination.  I think life is a constant state of evolution.  People change, circumstances change, priorities change and we must adapt…always.

For years, I have really struggled with time.  ALWAYS late.  Taking on too much.  Overbooking myself.  Not allowing myself to rest.  Does this sound like I’m being a little tough on myself?  

Maybe, but all of it is 100% true.  It stinks to type those words…but in an odd way, it’s therapeutic.  My kids and husband constantly crave me…and NOT the me that says, “Sweetie, I’ll be out to play in a second, I gotta load the dishwasher” or the wife that in the same breath says, “Honey, I love you…when are you ever going to mow the grass?” 

My to-do lists are always endless.  Sometimes, I think that I add more stuff to my to-do list out of insanity, but other times, I like to feel accomplished by crossing each task off. With all that I have going on, I beat myself up because as much as I crave to be a spontaneous, fun mom and the wife that can completely engaged and in the moment, it’s been a struggle to get there.  I’m always distracted (see previous post on my phone addiction), overwhelmed and a bit envious at the moms who always seem to have it together.  How can I ever get there if my house is always a mess and I’m constantly feeling disorganized? Hate is a strong word, but I hate that my life has been so unbalanced.

For most of my mom life, I’ve been a walking ball of stress in a “happy, I’ve got it all together” exterior.  I can’t tell you how many self development books I have read over the past several years.  In some shape or form, I have collected a nugget or two of helpful information that I have applied to my life.  Despite my consummate focus on my personal health and fitness and my positive, upbeat personality, I still felt as if nothing seemed to “fix” the unbalance. 

Until I started “Unstuff Your Life!”  This book has been my wake-up call to action.  I don’t like using the overused word “epic”, so I won’t, but it’s been a game changer in my life.  Maybe it might be for you!  You can check the book out for yourself and all the reviews on it!  I’m halfway through the book and I have uncovered several techniques that I haven’t been using that are directly tied to my constant disorganization. 

1. Identifying designated homes for every item in my house.
2. Putting things away promptly after use.

Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?  I touched on this a little in one of my recent blog posts, but it’s been so revolutionary in these past few weeks that it deserves more coverage on the blog.  For years, I have been guilty of getting things out and not putting them back.  I had read in the past that if you neglect dealing with it promptly, you significantly increase your time later to putting it back.  It’s true!  Tell me you don’t have a mountain of paperwork overflowing in your house that you’re dreading to go through?!  Over the past few weeks, I have dealt with things immediately and the effects have been quite powerful.  It’s like I’ve been added extra time in my time bank by applying these basic principles into my daily life.  Be mindful, this only works if you have a home for everything.  Everything MUST have a home and “like” things should be kept together.

I can’t remember a weekend where I had so much going on with my family – FUN STUFF…where we actually connected and enjoyed each other and I didn’t come home feeling incredibly overwhelmed with what I had to get done before Monday morning arrived or worse harboring resentment toward my husband for not helping me with my bottomless pit of work that still must get done.  This weekend, I had:

• More spontaneous time with my kids playing with no guilt or worries that I had piles of laundry to catch up on.
•  A fun date night with my husband and I wasn’t spending my whole afternoon cleaning for a sitter to come.  I was fully dressed with shoes on before the sitter arrived and I had dinner done for the kids.  Normally, this is sooo not the case!
• More peace knowing that there are no dishes in my sink.
•  Extra time to meal plan.
•  More time to do things that I wouldn’t normally have time to do – like take an hour and organize my daughter’s bedroom and make a trip to Goodwill.

I am seriously amazed at what this book has done for me.  I’m not saying this book is for you!  I’m simply saying that if you need to get a handle on your crazy life and how you function in your home, this might be for you!  Definitely check out the audiobook.  I heard the book, if you’re just reading it, is a little tough to get into.  Good luck…and keep me posted on how it’s helping you!

They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  Well, I'm stepping off the hamster wheel because I refuse the insanity and doing something different. Won't you join me?

 What are you doing today that’s preventing you from getting to where you want to be?