My absolutely changing my life, body, bank & brain diary!!! arrgh help!

missymoo81

Hellooooo,

I used to write a diary years ago, but completely lost my way, but now I'm back, and now its me, with two toddlers (affectionally known as Roo and May) and a husband who works away a month at a time. I work 2 days a week, and have a big not quite finished, very messy house and garden. I'm struggling with my weight, through boredom eating, have put on a stone since last september! Debts, I have a £3000 CC bill I need to clear asap as I'm not very sure how secure my job is, and my brain is going crazy all of the time, I'm so stressed through the littlies driving me mad, and being tired from them waking me up stupid early, and working being so busy, I feel like I'm not coping. And my house well, the mess and stuff is ludicrous, there is not one tidy room!!

Trouble is I want things to happen now, so I'm going to have to come up with a plan, and set a date for things to be done/put into action by.


Things I need to change:
Diet
Reason; oh goodness where do I start, My teeth are falling to bits and I'm only in my early 30's due to my horrendous sweet tooth! My skin and hair are awful through not eating the right foods and consequently not getting the right vitamins. None of my clothes fit, as I'm only short and the extra stone makes a huge difference. I've in the past tried every diet and only kept to it for 3 days, I have even paid a nutritionalist/personal trainer a lot of money but was unable to follow it through lack of time and motivation and not wanting to eat huge dinners. And I want to make nutritious meals for Roo and May, which I do mostly, but I know I could do better.

exercise
Reason: (I currently do none) at all which is crazy as I feel like a new person once I've done some, even 45 minutes is enough. But after running around after the kiddies and then cooking dinner and trying to clean up and then putting the kiddies to bed, I've had enough by the evening and am half asleep as they wake me up at 5.30 every day. And I'm just so lazy and unmotivated!!!!!

My pit of a house
Reason: It's awful, well the house itself is lovely, but its unfinished, no skirtings or door surrounds and the driveway looks like a dumping ground! Honestly I'm embarrassed by it. And the fact we just have so much stuff, I can't keep it tidy. I started reading the KonMarie thread on here and have tried to make a start on making my house a place where I want to be that makes me happy, so far I have done the bedroom, which is currently covered in biscuit crumbs and toys as the toddlers trashed it this morning. And I've done the kitchen more or less, well sorting, its a daily mess though, with just stuff from breakfast and cooking etc everywhere. I want to get it into a state where I can only spend a short time cleaning and tidying as everything will have its space and I can do a little every day.

stress levels at home
Reason: Being on my own with two very active and opinionated toddlers, I'm finding quite hard work, to say the least, they're generally well behaved but they really wind each other and me up, wanting what the other has all the time, screaming and shouting, I know it is just general toddler behaviour, but on my own with two is driving me crazy!!! But I desperately want to be a better mum and enjoy spending time with them.
Edited to add: I'm also trying to toilet train May, although she's only young, she started doing it herself, but she lost interest but I'm trying to perceiver, this really is a task and a half, putting her on the loo every twenty minutes, but needs must!

stress levels at work
Reason: I don't really know why, I have a good job, that's quite well paid and I can come and go as I please, but I'm learning as I go and its quite brain heavy, but mistakes mean big fines, need to sort out what I'm doing with my career.
Edited to add: I'm also doing a degree with the OU in English Lit, I started it forever ago but it now has to be finished by 2017, so don't have a choice but to keep plodding on with it.

Credit Card
Reason: This has just got completely out of hand, I've raked up a huge bill of around £3000 with pretty much nothing to show for it. fI only work 2 part time days a week, after paying nursery fees etc, I'm not left with huge amounts, but I really need to pay it off, I can't afford not to, I feel its a big weight around my shoulders weighing me down all the time.

Bringing the house bills down (this is a different account from CC)
Reason:
I would love OH to be home more and work less, my thought is that if I can make the bills come down, he wouldn't need to work as much.


Ok Now that is off my chest, I now need to make a plan of action!!!

Right going to put Roo and May down for a sleep as we were out at families until late ast night and they are exhausted. Then I'm going to make a cuppa and make a plan of action!!

See you shortly

Much love

Missy

mummytogirls

Morning Missy,

I used to follow your thread a few years ago, I don't think I knew you were having another baby, whats the age difference between the 2?

You sound so stressed and to be honest I'm not surprised kids alone are hard work but it does get easier the more independent they become.

I think you need the 2 days at work to keep you sane ha xx

System

Hi Missy!! I'll be subscribing I have 2 young kids too (almost 2, and 4 weeks) and I know it's a struggle keeping the house clean and tidy when you're on your own with them. We have some similar goals as I'm trying to get my house in order, plus want to lose weight, eat better and move more, so I'll be cheering you on! :T:T

missymoo81

Hello, am back with a huge mug of coffee and a very healthy, actually, hm banana, wheat free, muffin.

Ok so plan of action and first thing to tackle is
diet:
Well it's easy said, to eat less, but I need to find a logical way of making it happen. Sooo, I've joined the OS lose weight thread, I've also been looking into more whole foods. It's the chocolate and the rounds and rounds of cheese sandwiches that get me! Oh and the wine!!! OK, the wine just needs to stop, I have a glass and then do nothing more all evening, and have another one. Then as I'm such a light weight I'll fall asleep super early then wake up really groggy and mildly hungover at 5.30 when the toddlers are awake! So that's one easy change. Food well, I could eat for england, I am just always hungry!!! I love food and cooking and anything Italian. sooooo. OK, it's probably best if I break it down (I'm sorry this is probably terribly boring for any poor soul reading! (Just skip it, I would)

Breakfast: I really like healthy porridge, with oats and chia seeds, and I also love smoothies, done right, these can be really nutritious and full of good stuff to keep me going.

Snacks: I have to have these, as I said I am always hungry... I'm thinking maybe carrot sticks and hummus? And a little pot of dried fruit, or some apple and almond butter.... any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Lunch: I love salad, but struggle with cost and time to make it. I think I can maybe get the cost down by shopping in Aldi, and changing out some of the ingredients, like spinach for lettuce and ff yog as a dressing rather than sour cream, half an avocado rather than a whole, that sort of thing. I'm wondering whether I can make it in the evening, when Littlies are eating dinner, or maybe make 2 batches every other day? That could certainly work.

Dinner: Now this is where I struggle, I don't tend to want to eat what the littlies are having or eat that early, so I end up picking, and eating just whatever, it's not at all good. So this is something I really need to get a hold of. I could start making everyone dinner, and make a couple of batches for us all, and they could eat slightly later and me slightly earlier then eat all together....I think I need to start thinking about dinner at lunchtime so I can start prepping and getting things out the freezer etc. I'm also going to try and eat more whole foods, we don't eat much processed food as a rule anyway, but I know there is definitely more to do.

Ok so in short:

Breakfast, porridge or smoothie, providing I can find my blade thing, which I 'tidied away' somewhere!!!

Lunch, feta or tuna salad, made night or day before.

Dinner, prepped and made earlier and all eat together, trying to use less carbs but more veg.

snacks, healthy things, no chocolate!!

Gosh so sorry, that was monstrously longwinded, but i have to be detailed as that is how my mind works!

Best start a new post for next one!

Scottishmummy

I too am trying to get my house in order and lose weight while also breaking down the debts. I work full time but am lucky in that my DH is self-employed and can work whatever hours he feels like so he is home during the day with our youngest while I am at work but has the use of a childminder for two of those days so he can either work or try to keep the rest of us in clean clothes.I'll subscribe too.

missymoo81

Oh my goodness I didn't expect anyone to actually be reading my ramblings!!

Hey mummytogirls, theres 18 months difference between them, Roo is now 3 and May will be 2 next month! It's so nice to have people that understand, I thought I'd just get a lot of posts from people telling me to just get on with it and pull my socks up!!

And LoopBecs yaaay to subscribing! Bless you with such a tiny baby, I miss all that, mind you not the lack of sleep, you've got your work cut out too!

Thanks so much for posting, ooh I best drink my coffee and think of whats next on my list to bore you with

missymoo81

Hey Scottishmummy! Oh that sounds like a nice happy medium with your hubby. another house sorter, with kids there just doesn't seem to be the time in the day does there, as soon as one part of the house is tidy, the next room is getting trashed with toys and cushions and just stuff!!! It's the 'stuff' that gets me!! The things without a home!! My quest is to find homes for everything, if not it's out with it!!!!

missymoo81

Right next is exercise:

This is such an easy fix, and I don't know why I don't do it. I need to find the motivation. We have good home gym equipment upstairs waiting to be used, and last year I did 10 days of 45mins a day, and the change was amazing!! And even this short amount of exercise has me smiling and feeling like 'the old me' again. So I need to blooming well do it, I make myself so cross sometimes. I can always find an excuse though!! Too tired, too much cleaning to do, I'll just hang up the washing first and then not do it!!!

So, starting as I mean to go on, I will go upstairs at some point today and clear a space in the spare room (this desperately needs sorting!) and I will use it tonight!!!! Feel free to kick me up the bum if I don't, but I will do it because I've said it now!!!

So exercise in short is do 45mins once littlies are asleep, then i can get on and do whatever I like without feeling bad about it!!!! Easy!!!!!

Scottishmummy

Wow, I am there with the too much stuff. I have three kids and I don't think any of there clothes were ever thrown out - just in case - unless it was totally ruined. I have some gorgeous girl clothes that I hoped would get a second use of but our third was a boy like our first. At least the boy clothes are getting a second use but that doesn't stop me buying more.

As for exercise equipment - yup, Snap! A rowing machine - it's brilliant - a bike an airglider and various smaller bits and pieces but no room or time to use them. How about we set each other a challenge to use at least one piece of equipment a day?

missymoo81

Next is what's bothering me a lot at the moment:

My pit of a house:
The house itself is lovely, but it just needs 100% of the stuff taking out of it and only 20% of it being put in!! There is just so much stuff, and it's so dark! And the mess, well it's everywhere!!!
I saw the light a couple of weeks ago, and as OH is away 5 weeks this time, I thought I would try and do the whole house whilst he was away (Yes I know, not toooo optimistic!!!!!!) because when he is home, we just sit and watch tv and nothing at all gets done!!!! So I have done the bedroom and kitchen as I said, and apart from being messy, do look very nice and light and clean, although both could do with a good hoover and dust already! So I still have, the main bathroom, spare room (Which incidentally is full of OH's rubbish!) both littllies rooms, the dining room, hallway, landing, downstairs loo and living room to do!!! I'm not just sorting either, I really need to paint some rooms, I painted the kitchen with stupidly expensive, but apparently amazing, wipe clean kitchen paint. I need to paint the downstairs loo, as it's just so marked, again using the kitchen paint in the hope it won't mark as badly.

But as I spend 2 days at work, and yes you're right mummytogirls, it is my only sanity!! and the rest of the time I am looking after Roo and May, the only time I get to do stuff is whilst they sleep! Which is also the time for showers and cleaning up the dinner stuff and sorting the washing and ironing and doing the online shop and all the other little daily things that need to be done. Outside is horrenouds, I have an amazing veg patch, which needs masses of love and attention as its all overgrown, the driveway actually looks like, a dumping ground for lost wood and sand and tyres????!!!

But I need to come up with a plan, sooooo instead of writing endless lengthy lists of everything I need to do, I think it would be better to break it down into what can i do each day, so maybe 10 things, Like:

1. do wash load
2. unload DW
3. buy paint
4. dust dining room
5. clean sink
6. pick up toys in lounge
7. sort out composting bin
8. cleaning windows in door
9. hoover kitchen
10. clean up dinner things...

or something like that, hmmm maybe not 10 as am feeling slightly overwhelmed already!

But small lists I can follow each day, and not feel despondent about.

Also if I run around for half an hour when the littles have a nap, then I can spend the rest of the time, chilling out and having a much deserved, mildly warm cup of tea!

I also need to sort through the ebay pile, which has been living in the main bathroom for about a year, and see if there is anything actually worth selling or whether to add it to the charity shop pile! (which I must take to charity shop next week!)

Also going to join flylady thread for some motivation!

missymoo81

Scottishmummy wrote: »

Wow, I am there with the too much stuff. I have three kids and I don't think any of there clothes were ever thrown out - just in case - unless it was totally ruined. I have some gorgeous girl clothes that I hoped would get a second use of but our third was a boy like our first. At least the boy clothes are getting a second use but that doesn't stop me buying more.

As for exercise equipment - yup, Snap! A rowing machine - it's brilliant - a bike an airglider and various smaller bits and pieces but no room or time to use them. How about we set each other a challenge to use at least one piece of equipment a day?

Ooooh yes that sounds brilliant!!!! Motivation is exactly what I need!!! Definitely, you're on!

And I think I'm going to start having my own weighing in day and writing exactly how much I have or haven't lost each week, if anyone fancies joining me too, that way I know I have to own up to any naughtiness!!