Something always happens that gets me off track
TL;DR life has basically been a trainwreck of everything going wrong since I finished my first round of whole30 and money, baby, and being left alone to take care of a house, chores, child and myself has me exhausted and I don't know how to pick back up.
I did whole30 back in October/November, I lost 16 pounds, learned how shitty food affected me, and what food items I needed to ditch in order to feel great and it was awesome. And then we travelled.
We drove 8 and a half hours to bounce back and forth between my family and boyfriend's family for Thanksgiving. I did okay, in the sense that I didn't overeat or stuff myself, but the food was greasy, fatty, and overall terrible for sustaining a healthy lifestyle. We hauled 8 and a half hours back home for a few weeks, where I did okay, but not Paleo perfect, until Christmas, when we did it all over again. Same story, unhealthy foods, fast food, and lots of Starbucks.
When we got back home, my wagon had completely fallen apart. The baby stopped sleeping through the night, so I was turned and dragging and he got needier, so I didn't have time to make and prep healthy food all the time. Then my boyfriend left for out of town work for a month, I started babysitting and picking kids up from school.
Since he left town, I may be eating one meal and a handful of snacks (animal or graham crackers) a day. Baby had surgery, began teething, and had shots all within 5 fucking days. I babysit most days from 8 or 9 to 3 and pick kids up at 330 and watch them til 5. I get home between 530 and 6, which gives me enough time to grab some food for the baby and feed him before its time to start the bedtime routine. By 8, I'm usually ready to take care of myself, and at that point, cooking (if, by the grace of God, I remembered to defrost some meat that morning before we left), sounds like the worst and most tedious task of all. With all of the dishes, picking up after myself and the baby, I can hardly find time to take a shower, let alone make and eat a healthy and nutritious meal.
I've been dying to get back to healthy eating and to start working out, as I have roughly 150 pounds to lose, but there isn't enough time in the day to make it happen, especially while I'm single-mommin' it. Gyms are expensive and the ones that have childcare are filthy. It's cold here, and a hassle to wrestle a small child into a snowsuit just to go for a walk around the neighborhood. We have no family here, and the friends we do have, have kids of their own, and aren't exactly begging to help us out. It took me over an hour to cook myself a 15 minute on a normal day healthy dinner tonight because baby was being a baby and needing love and attention the second I fired up the stove. I'm defeated. I'd love to quit either of the babysitting jobs, but we need the extra money.
Does anyone struggle with juggling kids, time, and money to make it work? How do you do it? How do you keep getting back up every time life gets in the way? We are attending a wedding in late October, and my goal dress for it stares me down every day. I want it, but geez, I don't know how to get back now.
Posted Feb 17, 2017, 3:37 AM UTC