Surviving another semester

I can hardly believe it myself. I made it through an 18-credit-hour semester and did not lose my sanity in the process! I cannot begin to express how happy I am that the semester has ended and I have over three months off. Well...off school, anyway. I still have the kids to entertain all summer, but we'll all have fun together. All they want me to do is play "Wario Land Shake It" on the Wii...the gaming console I have neglected over the past nine months. Instead of that, I think I will fire up "Wii Fit."

I hope to post more here this summer. In the fall, I will be taking some tough classes--but only 13 credit hours this time. That will make things better for me, at least I hope so anyway. I added an elective course this time--yoga! I hope to get back into a regular practice long before then, but either way I will have no excuse not to practice yoga at least twice a week for an hour and a half.

Mom needs to take better care of herself!

I am referring to myself here, because I have been neglecting myself in pursuit of other things (kids' stuff, my studies, husband's business traveling, my mom, the dogs, the house...the list goes on and on). It seems I am busy all the time!

I have been on spring break this past week, so I made my routine appointments. Dentist, doctor, eye exam, and so forth. I weigh in at the doctor and BLAM! Hit me like a ton of bricks. Since I started back to school about three years ago, I have put on 25 pounds! What did I give up when I went back to school, you may ask? Yoga.

Yoga kept me in better shape and kept my weight down. After I had my son six years ago, I not only lost the baby weight but I lost more. I was thinner then than I was when I got married! And it was thanks to two things: chasing after a little boy (once he started crawling) and YOGA!

For those who have never tried yoga and think it's not worth anything, you have no idea what you're talking about. Yoga is an amazing physical and mental exercise...honestly the only exercise I ever looked forward to doing. I used to go to yoga class regularly and also practiced at home (I have several DVDs, mostly Gaiam-produced). The DVDs are currently collecting dust in the media cabinet where I keep them.

I know the solution to my problem. I need to get away from this computer and start moving! My eating habits are basically the same (no fast food [too gross to even think about]; home-cooked, low fat meals; fruits and vegetables [I love veggies]; no red meat--just chicken breast or fish; no fried foods). However, I tend to snack late at night when I am up doing homework. I wait till the kids are off to bed to study, and then I snack on crackers or pretzels while I work. Not a good idea. I have to keep grapes or bananas in the house at all times if I am going to lose this weight! Carbs are my weakness...oh, and chocolate.

So...wish me luck. I have to figure out a way to treat myself to 30 minutes of yoga every day without taking away what little sleep I get or slacking on my studies. Let's see, now...where did I put that Rodney Yee DVD?