Re: help and suggestions needed

February 10, 2006

Hey, I'm with you there! I have three kids of my own plus I run a

day care out of my home. As a result, I am housebound all day and

my husband works a lot of overtime, so I can't even get away in the

evenings for as break many nights. The afternoons are my difficult

times, too, and it's a daily struggle not to give in.

I would continue to remember your goals and post the reminders.

Make sure you have a " before " picture and look at it often.

My " before " was a huge wake-up call for me. I hadn't had a bikini

picture in years and I don't own a full-length mirror, so seeing me

in all my glory was a shock. That picture has kept me out of the

goodies many afternoons!

I have a handful of favorite websites and articles on motivation

that I haunt often. has some good ones at this link:

http://members.tripod.com/skwigg/id24.html.

I often plan my meals for the day so my mid-afternoon meal is

something I really enjoy. Something substantial and fruity to

satisfy my sugar cravings, or those fool-yourself cookies on

Raylene's site: http://www.taskoski.com/faq.htm#Where%20can%20I%

20get%20the%20recipe%20for%20those%20Fool%20Yourself. Make sure you

are drinking enough water and taking your flax oil. By all means,

go to the computer for a break if you can't stop to read or get out

of the house. Since you cannot find time to pee I assume your kids

are very young, in which case you probably have lots of " kid foods " ,

(aka junk) to nibble on. Get rid of anything you can. I find that

if I stop buying something I cannot resist digging into, chances

are, the kids won't notice it's gone anyway. If tempting food isn't

in the house, you won't eat it :-)

Jen

>

> I really need help and suggestions from you great ladies. I'm

doing great with my exercising, I have goals, reminders all over,

and a food plan, but come 1-5 pm I seem to loose it. Oh, I

generally eat my planned food, but then I eat more of not great

choices. I'm tired of sabotaging myself during these hours. I am

an emotional eater and have been able to keep it in check until the

afternoon then I loose my fight. I get frustrated, angry, stressed,

and sometimes depressed. I don't have the luxury of doing what I'd

love to do and that's go for a walk or read a book. I have 5

kids!!!! I can't even pee in peace and quite. I love my kids and I

gladly chose to have them, but I just can't seem to find appropriate

ways to honor and release these emotions. Yelling and eating are

not acceptable to me anymore. I want better!! I DESERVE IT AND SO

DO MY KIDS!!!!!! Any suggestions are greatly welcomed. Thanks,

>

February 10, 2006

Any chance you can take them outdoors for a quick run around or get

them engaged in an activity so you can have some Mommy time.

Sometimes all you need is a quick 5-10 minutes. I used to tell my 2

that I had to have some Good Mommy time or the Monster Mommy would

come out and start yelling. It seemed to work. Especially when they

would look at me and say, " You need some Good Mommy time, please " LOL

Deb

>

> I really need help and suggestions from you great ladies. I'm doing

great with my exercising, I have goals, reminders all over, and a food

plan, but come 1-5 pm I seem to loose it. Oh, I generally eat my

planned food, but then I eat more of not great choices. I'm tired of

sabotaging myself during these hours. I am an emotional eater and

have been able to keep it in check until the afternoon then I loose my

fight. I get frustrated, angry, stressed, and sometimes depressed. I

don't have the luxury of doing what I'd love to do and that's go for a

walk or read a book. I have 5 kids!!!! I can't even pee in peace and

quite. I love my kids and I gladly chose to have them, but I just

can't seem to find appropriate ways to honor and release these

emotions. Yelling and eating are not acceptable to me anymore. I

want better!! I DESERVE IT AND SO DO MY KIDS!!!!!! Any suggestions

are greatly welcomed. Thanks,

>

February 10, 2006

Two things I thought of -

Make sure you're getting enough to eat in your morning meals, and do

everything humanly possible to get a good night's sleep or catch a

nap. Emotional eating doesn't have anything to do with food, but if

you're hungry or tired you'll make bad decisions. If you're well-fed

and well-rested, you're more likely to remember your goals and find

other ways to cope.

On 2/9/06, Music Mom <musicmom7@...> wrote:

> I really need help and suggestions from you great ladies. I'm doing great

with my exercising, I have goals, reminders all over, and a food plan, but come

1-5 pm I seem to loose it. Oh, I generally eat my planned food, but then I eat

more of not great choices. I'm tired of sabotaging myself during these hours.

I am an emotional eater and have been able to keep it in check until the

afternoon then I loose my fight. I get frustrated, angry, stressed, and

sometimes depressed. I don't have the luxury of doing what I'd love to do and

that's go for a walk or read a book. I have 5 kids!!!! I can't even pee in

peace and quite. I love my kids and I gladly chose to have them, but I just

can't seem to find appropriate ways to honor and release these emotions.

Yelling and eating are not acceptable to me anymore. I want better!! I DESERVE

IT AND SO DO MY KIDS!!!!!! Any suggestions are greatly welcomed. Thanks,

>

February 10, 2006

Music Mom -

How old are the kids? What is your current routine from 1pm to 5pm?

Couple of thoughts -

- remember that this will not last forever; the kids will become more

independent, less needy, etc

- in BFFM, Tom Venuto says, " One definition of insanity is continuing to do

the same thing while expecting a different result. "

- I suggest that you break the cycle/routine of whatever it is you're

currently doing during that time-span; depending on the ages of the kids,

and I'm sure there's a range, I'm sure this is more difficult than it

sounds. But, right now, whatever it is that you're doing isn't

working. The only way to fix that is to change what you're doing. And it

may even be something small. And it may not even revolve around doing

something special for you - it may mean doing something special for the

kids, which will relieve their energy. Perhaps an indoor park. Perhaps

setting up a schedule for a craft. Going to an inexpensive movie. In

other words, if the kids are driving you nuts from 1-5, then perhaps what

they need is an organized activity, a routine, to help focus them. And,

because of the age-range, it may mean setting up different things for the

different kids. Yes, this is all more work for you, but if you set up a

schedule each Sunday for the coming week, you'll reap the benefits.

- if it's economically feasible, hire a mother's helper for a couple of

hours in the late afternoon, or even from 4-5pm. Even if it's just once or

twice a week. So you can either have down time, or prepare dinner in

semi-peace. Or invite a relative over during that time.

- from your email name, I assume you have an interest in Music. That would

be great afternoon activities with the kids.

- what is your morning routine? What about the morning routine works

better than the afternoon routine?

..... that's as far as I can get at the moment. If you tell me more

specifics, I might have more constructive suggestions.

n

At 08:36 AM 2/10/2006, you wrote:

><SNIP> I get frustrated, angry, stressed, and sometimes depressed. I

>don't have the luxury of doing what I'd love to do and that's go for a

>walk or read a book. I have 5 kids!!!! I can't even pee in peace and

>quite. <SNIP>

February 10, 2006

Boy, I can so relate. You need to wear them out! Don't know where you live

as far as weather but the sandbox (pile) was a lifesaver for me. We are

talking a couple bobcat buckets full of sand- plenty for all to play without

a fight. Lots of old garage sale toys so it didn't matter if they got broke,

plastic shovels, and plastic bowls/pails (we used old food containers for

pails- cheaper).

In, the winter- I loved Ms. Frizzle and her magic school bus- books are at

the library and she always had neat things to do in them. Also, I do have

the advantage of living on a farm with some hills so sledding or rolling

down the hills was an option. This is also a great way to get exercise

yourself- do you remember how tired you got hauling sleds up the hill?

the tank and the brio train track kept the boys busy for a couple of

hours and legos when they got older. Legos worked great for my friend's

girls at a young age but my boys just threw them until they got about 7-8

yrs old.

Our library had children's reading specials also that I took the boys to

when they were young. I had to be there but they were entertained and I

grabbed my own book and usually had at least an hour to myself in a corner.

Goodluck,

Angie

help and suggestions needed

I really need help and suggestions from you great ladies. I'm doing great

with my exercising, I have goals, reminders all over, and a food plan, but

come 1-5 pm I seem to loose it. Oh, I generally eat my planned food, but

then I eat more of not great choices. I'm tired of sabotaging myself during

these hours. I am an emotional eater and have been able to keep it in check

until the afternoon then I loose my fight. I get frustrated, angry,

stressed, and sometimes depressed. I don't have the luxury of doing what

I'd love to do and that's go for a walk or read a book. I have 5 kids!!!! I

can't even pee in peace and quite. I love my kids and I gladly chose to

have them, but I just can't seem to find appropriate ways to honor and

release these emotions. Yelling and eating are not acceptable to me

anymore. I want better!! I DESERVE IT AND SO DO MY KIDS!!!!!! Any

suggestions are greatly welcomed. Thanks,

February 11, 2006

My mother recently sent scrapbooks for my two oldest girls. As I

saw my body go through changes, I get an appreciation for those

times I exercised. I always looked and felt so much better.

This past week I've had sick children and it spread to me--I've had

a sore throat for the past few days which is no fun.

Well, to answer your question, I solved the problem by waiting till

my kids were in school. During the summer we swim a lot, and it is

also good exercise. They love going to the neighborhood pool and we

went nearly every day this past summer. I noticed the spider vein I

have in my leg looked much better by the end of the summer--my

circulation improved.

On boxes of Uncle Sam Cereal (flax seeds & wheat flakes), there used

to be the picture of Cruz (not sure of the spelling). Later I

got emails in a series where he gave fitness advice, and he

suggested getting a little earlier each morning to only spend seven

minutes, that it would make a world of difference.

And also, when your children see you making the choice do exercise,

they may see how important it is to you and they could help support

you with it, if not even join along.

Marie in TX

mommom31tx@...