Holidays Don't Last Forever

The halls will only be decked for a couple more weeks. It's hard to believe, but the holidays, as they always do, are soon to vanish away for another year. And then my three worst months start.

I don't know what it is about winter after New Year's, but for some reason it leaves me feeling closed in, with nothing special to look forward to and nowhere to go. It's not that I don't have anything to do, because laundry, dishes and homeschooling keep me most definitely occupied, it's just that life isn't as much fun during the winter.

I'm learning as I get older that life isn't really about being fun. If it happens to be fun sometimes, I'm thankful for it. But I'm starting to realize it's not the point. The point is to do the best with the days God has blessed me with. And I've been wondering what I could do with these three months that would show God and anyone else who might be paying attention that I am ready to be stretched and matured in this area. 

God has formed my thoughts into three areas. I am going to focus my practice of discipline in these areas. I am going to do a fitness/food challenge, a money challenge, and a spiritual challenge.

Spiritual. I'll talk about the spiritual challenge first. I didn't think this one up on my own, my friend and fellow blogger Amy is hosting it. It's the 90 day Bible challenge. Basically - reading the Bible like a novel. The kind of novel you read in 3 months. At first I couldn't imagine doing this - I mean, I've read through the Bible a few times but it generally takes me 3-4 years. And up till now, I've been fine with that. I enjoy mulling over small passages. But if I can stay up until 3 am reading the last Harry Potter book or devour the Hunger Games trilogy in a week, and read countless other fictional books in a day or two, I can surely stand to read my favorite book for 45 minutes a day. And so I have already committed to do so, starting January 2. Here is the official info and entry form.

Financial. I am a spender by nature. After living with MacGyver for 11 years now, I've learned the benefits of being a saver as well. I think I've come to a pretty good balance of the two, but I'm suspicious that MacGyver thinks I could still improve in my philosophy. So I am committing (of my own accord) to spend the first three months of 2012 only spending what is absolutely necessary. No extras, no new clothes, no decorating projects. Just what we need to survive. I'm thinking of it this way - if we needed to be extra careful - if MacGyver lost his job and we had to survive for three months as he looked for a new one, how would we live? What could I shave away that we don't have to have? 

Fitness/Food. At the beginning of this past year, I decided enough was enough. I'd had 4 children in 7 years, my metabolism stinks, blah blah blah... the time for excuses was over. So I became very disciplined and ended up losing 35 pounds. It took me about 8 months of serious discipline and effort to accomplish it. You can't keep going on low carb/high protein forever, so I've somewhat backed off since then. I've been watching the calories, getting on the elliptical every day, but my efforts at the moment are really only keeping me where I am. So I'm going to commit to three months of intensive attention to what I am eating and how I am moving. If you want to join me, I'll be reporting on my blog and I will stay in contact with anyone who wants to take on the challenge with me. Some of my basic rules that helped me lose the first 35 pounds are:

1. Eat more fruit and vegetables, especially vegetables. 

2. Eat as all-naturally as possible. Avoid processed foods. (If you can't pronounce most of the ingredients, it's processed.)

3. Eat only whole grains, no white anything. (As for sugar, stevia is an excellent replacement if you have to have something sweet.)

4. Eat more protein.

5. Eat a good breakfast, a healthy lunch, and a small dinner, with a couple snacks. Eating ends at 9 pm.

6. Record everything eaten and all exercise on MyFitnessPal.com DAILY and stay under goals.

7. Get 7-8 hours of sleep every night.

8. Drink lots of water. 

9. Exercise at least 5-6 hours a week.

So if you think you are interested in joining in one or all of these challenges, give it some thought. I'll say more about it at the end of this month, so go ahead and click the follow button now and check back to officially make your commitment. 

Things always work better when they are done as a group, so I hope you will join me. Until then - have a beautiful Christmas with those you love most, and remember the greatest gift of all.