Anyone else done with winter? I get it “we live in New England” but this is just crazy….7.5 FEET of snow on the ground. NOT normal. I wish this was a better picture of the amount of snow we have…but I’m sure most of you can just look out your window…It’s unbelievable!
Hopefully we won’t need anything in the shed till spring!
Is it just me or is there something about an impending snow storm that makes you want to bake cookies and drink wine?
I tend to romanticize the whole scenario. We’ll spend the afternoon baking cookies and spend the evening sitting by the fire while the boys eat their cookies and my husband and I drink our wine while we watch the snow falling.
When in all actuality I end up eating the equivalent of about 6 cookies in batter while making them and I’m half way through my second glass of wine before my husband gets down from clearing the snow and ice off the roof (and chopping our internet wire off the house along with the icicles – yup, that happened)….Sound familiar? Anyone?
The cookies and wine inevitably lead to a couple handfuls of cheez-its, a bad night’s sleep and waking up feeling like a stuffed sausage. I wake up, chug water, get right back to my normal routine, and then I hear the next weather report that there is going to be another 2 feet of snow and I immediately pick up the phone and call my husband and say, “make sure you pick up some wine and chocolate chips on your way home”. Ha!
This is pretty much sums up what has been happening over the last couple of weeks. But you know what ELSE has been happening?
I’ve been getting in 2-4 strength workouts each week (even if it’s only a quick 12 minute workout) and I’ve been hitting my 10K step a day goal. I’ve tried a few new recipes (one being the amazing cookies I’ve enjoyed!), getting a solid 8 hours of sleep most nights and have consistently made some really great choices that are getting me closer to my goals.
Have there been some choices sprinkled in there that haven’t gotten me closer to my goals? Absolutely. But there have been many more that HAVE, and I choose to focus on those.
Feeling guilty and stressing over a few glasses of wine, cookies and cheez-its doesn’t change anything. Best thing I can do is learn from the fact that drinking wine leads to eating cookies which leads to eating cheez-its which leads to a bad nights sleep and feeling like a stuffed sausage the next day. It doesn’t make me a bad person. It doesn’t mean I’m lazy or fat or can’t control myself in a snowstorm. I can certainly TELL myself that it means those things, but what good will that do?
So my first tip is to just Let it GO….(damn you Frozen – I’ll never NOT be able to say it without wanting to bust out in song)… But seriously, feeling guilty about what you ate or drank doesn’t change a thing. If anything, use your experience as a learning tool. I’m not wishing more snow on us, but if we are faced with another blizzard anytime soon, don’t do what you did that made you feel like shit. Simple as that.
My second tip is to try to get out and enjoy it, or at least continue to MOVE your body often.
Bundle up and get out of the house (I’m not talking about the day OF the storm, I’m talking about the days after..after you’ve shoveled out and it’s safe to drive around). If you have kids, go sledding with them. If you don’t have kids, go sledding anyway 🙂 Walking up the hill is a workout and a half. No wonder they’re so exhausted after playing in the snow, it’s freaking hard!
If you can’t make it to the gym, or you just don’t want to deal with finding a parking spot and changing your boots etc., get in a quick at home workout. And I don’t want to hear “I can’t workout at home”. If I can do it, you can do it! I posted a quick 12 minute circuit that I did last Friday in about 12 minutes. Check it out on the FB page.
I absolutely love my Jawbone (step tracker) for everyday, but especially for the days when I don’t have a workout planned. I still try to stay active and being able to check-in and see where I’m at with my steps definitely keeps me more accountable. I highly recommend it…it’s one of the reasons my floors get swept, mopped and vacuumed often, those steps add up!
My last tip is to practice gratitude. Yes, we’ve been dumped on and it’s a huge inconvenience. Maybe you’re not feeling your best physically due to the “extras” you’ve eaten during the storms or not being as active as you are when there isn’t close to 8 feet of snow on the ground. Maybe you got some water damage (like us) or you’re having some roof issues…. Whatever the case is, although it does totally suck, it could be a LOT worse and a little dose of perspective is sometimes what we need to stop bitching!
One thing I am VERY grateful for is that these little guys have been LOVING the snow. Getting them dressed is a workout in itself, so it’s awesome when they don’t want to come in 5 minutes after going out.
How are you guys handling the snow? Please let me know I’m not alone by sharing some of your snowstorm stories with me in the comments section or on the Facebook page under this post!!! And by the way, it’s snowing again.