My husband made an interesting remark to me recently. It caught me off guard and then put me on guard. I don’t remember his exact words anymore, but I most definitely misconstrued what he said.
In a nutshell, he told me that I needed to take care of myself. He didn’t say it to be mean, which is how I initially took it. After stewing about it for awhile (without even discussing his meaning or motive with him), I came to realize that his words had good intentions.
I’ve sort of let myself go. I’m not really sure why, but I have. This summer, I had grand notions to lose the last 10 pounds of baby weight from Caroline. I even planned to take it a step further and lose 5 more pounds to get me to the weight I was before I got pregnant with Lucas.
Ha! All those good intentions were swept away by a gross amount of overindulgence. I flirted with gluttony all summer long. And while it was sweet (oh! how it was sweet!), I’ve paid the price. Pants that I wore immediately after giving birth to Caroline are snug. Seriously!?! How does that even happen?
I also did a number on my hair. You know how I dyed my hair gray? Well, to get it back to a somewhat bearable color, I had to recolor over it. When I re-colored it, my hair was jet black. Think Morticia Addams, but blacker. This color not only scared the living daylights out of me, it terrified my kids. To get the jet black out of my hair, I had to strip the color and then dye it again. I did all of this in a 24 hour period. Not so bright.
To tell you that my hair feels like hay is being generous. In reality, it is even dryer than that. My hair is a hot mess. I can’t do anything with it, so I keep pulling it in a ponytail, which isn’t helping matters. This has worked wonders for my self esteem, let me tell you.
I keep focussing on all the ways I’m unhappy with myself. Rather than making changes, I keep spiraling downhill. Eat another cookie? Why not? My thighs are already huge! Go to bed without brushing my teeth? Who cares? I’m too tired to spend two more minutes standing upright. Get dressed today? Why bother? We’re stuck inside because it’s too hot and if we leave the house I’ll just spend money we don’t have.
I have chipped nail polish on my toes. I have random dry patches on my hands, face, and arms. I have hangnails. And I don’t even care!
Clearly, I need to take better care of myself.
Have you ever done this to yourself? Maybe you’ve gotten really busy with a job or with tending to little ones all day. Maybe you have older ones and you only have time to taxi them around. Maybe you’re discouraged about yourself and you don’t know where to start. Maybe laziness keeps getting in the way.
Whatever our reasons, we must take care of ourselves! We must find the time to nurture and care for our bodies. We deserve to be healthy. We deserve to look and feel our best.
Whether it means getting up early to workout or going to bed early to get more sleep, we need to force ourselves to do it. Put that cookie down. Go for a walk outside. Find a conditioner that works (any suggestions?). Moisturize. Floss. Get dressed. For goodness sake, go get a pedicure!
Above all, it is important that we do something. If we don’t make even a small step in the right direction, things will only pile up and get worse. We don’t have to get wrapped up in society’s version of beautiful, but we do need to put our best foot (and face and hair) forward.
What’s one thing you’ll do to better yourself today?
Life happens when we take care of ourselves.
© 2012, lifehappenswhen. All rights reserved.
I struggle off and on with this too. It’s either a downward spiral or an upward one, a pity party that turns into every area of my life needing serious work, or the magic that happens when I put a little extra time into my appearance and find the rest of my life looks that much prettier too! It really affects how I feel and approach my day – and I am NOT one who cares about fashion or makeup techniques, I’m just talking the basic non-wrinkled clothes and a little mascara.
And for the record, you have made me very glad I don’t dye my hair!
Lol! I’m glad something positive came out of my hair dyeing fiasco!
I am pretty challenged when it comes to fashion, beauty, make up, etc. I’m right there with you! These days I have a hard enough time getting up early enough to wash my face, put my contacts in, and change my clothes! Once the kids are awake, I have a hard time getting anything accomplished! What I really need to do is be up and dressed (preferably showered) before the kiddos wake up!!
I swear by suave professionals shampoo and conditioner for colored hair. It makes my hair feel softer than it ever has before. And it’s cheap!!!!
I’ve been down in all areas of life lately and something that’s helped me is making myself put on real clothes for the day, not just the yoga pants and vneck tees I’d rather wear. Even if I don’t have plans or leave the house it at least makes me feel a little better that I took pride in my appearance.
I’ve also been trying to figure out exactly what I think I physically and emotionally need. Then I take baby steps to make it happen. It can be as small for me as finding the time to call to make that appointment that needed to be made. At least I can mark something off the list.
That’s funny, Jill! That’s the shampoo and conditioner I’m using. Actually, when I switched to it, I did notice a difference, but my hair is beyond repair right now!
I need to work on the getting dressed thing, too! It definitely makes a difference in my day! Hang in there, Jill!
So true. I’m trying to do this myself now. Actually, I’ve been pretty good since getting back from Kentucky this summer. I find that it’s all about making habits. It’s bad habits that stop us from flossing, eating well, exercising. If we start those good habits back up, and make a point not to break them, they become a part of our every day routine.
You have an iPhone right? I HIGHLY suggest the free app “MyFitnessPal” to track what you eat. They have everything you can possibly think of in terms of food products and you can scan barcodes of things they may not have and it automatically enters the nutritional information. It is great – you really don’t realize how much you are eating until you do this. I still eat what I want, but it influences the other decisions I make throughout the rest of the day. You can do it!
Awesome, Roe!! Yes, I need to develop better habits, for sure!
I do have an iPhone, but I am ridiculous! I don’t really use it to its fullest!
I use MyFitnessPal online, though! It does rock! I just have to remember to log my food! I always do great for like a week or two and then I start slacking off!
You should really get it in your iphone! The scanning the barcode feature is completely awesome!
Oh, that is an awesome app to know about! I also have grand ambitions… but I am focusing on my small ones right now, like cleaning my room. I cleaned out my car last night and it was awwwwesome! This is a great post, Leanne!
I’ll take “Areas of Life At Which Jen Is Epically Failing” for 1000, Alex!
Oh goody! It’s the Daily Double. Whee!
In all seriousness, it would probably help my life to not attempt to deal with the school district, Daniel’s new teacher, or life in general if my blood sugar level is through the floor. It renders me a snarling mess and I manage to completely screw up conversations at which I’d normally sparkle with the diplomatic skills of a U.N. peacekeeper. In other words, Mama got to watch her diet and eat at regular intervals.
Oh, Jen!! You made me laugh!!
I am so sorry that you are in such a difficult situation with Daniel’s school! I can’t imagine!! I am definitely sending prayers your way!!
Hang in there! I’ll encourage you if you encourage me!
I just have to say I’m so glad your back blogging again! I just love reading your daily entries, they are so candid and hit home. You write about things that we have all, regardless if we want to admit it or not, go through, are going through, or have recently gone through. Enough of these sugar coated, I’m-always-happy-super-perfect-mom-blogs! Lets get to the real deal and talk to each other about us actually being HUMAN, feeling like there is no reason to get dressed today, who’s going to see me anyways (less I forget about my darling husband). I need to learn to take pride in myself and my days. Not that I’m saying a lazy day here and there isn’t on the menu but daily is getting a bit ridiculous. And no wonder I can’t fit in my jeans, I only ever wear sweatpants! I’m off to the salon today, and when I get home I think I’ll paint my nails! Thanks for the grand idea!!!!