Cutting out the Crap

Some of you may have noticed a couple weeks ago I posted on Facebook and Instagram that in order to meet some personal goals I would be spending much less time on social media.  Last summer I was called to serve as the Primary President in our ward.  I find this calling very rewarding but can be a bit stressful at times.  I was finding that I was having a hard time keeping up with my responsibilities and projects at home while fulfilling my calling.  I got to thinking about how I was spending my time.  I came to the conclusion that a lot of it was wasted on my IPad.  Checking Facebook which most of the time was just a bunch of political, social, religious, or just stupid stuff that I really don't need or want in my life!  Checking Instagram was most of the time just a "keeping up with the Jones' " mentality with people who I could not even carry a regular conversation with if we were to run into each other on the street.  Playing time wasting games and so on.  It seemed like every time I sat down it gave me the excuse to spend the hour on my IPad doing nothing of importance!  Frankly I was ashamed with how much time I was wasting.  I promised myself that no longer was I going to give my precious time away so easily.  I deleted Facebook and Instagram from my IPad along with a few other time sucking apps.  I usually will check Facebook once or twice a day on our PC and leave it at that.  I remind myself that I'm not really missing anything of importance and everyday when I do check Facebook I'm reminded of that fact.  I keep myself busy by actually doing all the things I never felt like I had time to do before.  A perfect example is I'm finishing up painting the ceilings white.  Tony and I started this project a year ago.  I have also been much more particular about the type of shows I watch.  I'm easily sucked into movies and shows and end up thinking about the characters and plot lines days after watching it.  This being said I can not just look past that one bad seen or that one bad word very easily.  So I stopped watching some of my "favorite" series.  When I watch a movie I'm very careful about the content.  Of course there are still times where I finish a show or movie wishing I hadn't watched it.  My time is precious and I don't want to waste it on anything that doesn't add to my life.  Something else I've been working on is the way I take care of my body.  I've been struggling with my weight for the past few years.  My weight has always sort of yo-yoed back and forth, but I really started packing on the pounds the last couple years Tony was in school.  I wasn't happy about my situation but I wasn't willing to make the changes I needed to get healthy again. I knew I had a problem with self control when it came to food, particularly baked goods like bread, cookies, brownies, cake, etc.  But again I wasn't willing to give those things up.  I liked them too much.  But I came to realize that often times when I was eating I really wasn't even enjoying my food.  I was just eating to eat.  Or I was eating because I was upset.  I can own up to the fact that I am a stress eater.  So I decided to make some small changes in this area of my life as well.  I knew that I couldn't do some fad diet that I'd end up giving up on when it got too hard.  So I decided to just start making better choices when it came to my food.  Firstly I was going to cut down on how much food I ate.  I am going to eat pancakes and waffles for breakfast with my kids.  But that doesn't mean I needed to eat...ahem...four of them.  I also decided that I would start tracking the food I eat so I can make better choices.  When we go out to each I'll still order a burger and fries.  But I'll get the smaller size with a water to drink instead of soda.  Another thing I decided I would do was to be more active.  I knew that I would not be able to start working out hard core for a hour everyday.  But I could do a simple cardio or yoga workout for 20-30 minutes everyday.  I've been doing these things for a little over a week now and have already lost 4 pounds!  I feel better and most of the time I'm not hungry.  Which is a huge win for me!  I don't want to say that it was my New Year's Resolution to cut the crap out of my life because I want these changes I'm making in my life to stick.  I don't want it to be a fad that only lasts a few weeks and then I decide it's just too hard to keep up with it all.  I want to be better inside and out.  When I say my prayers each night I thank my Heavenly Father for his help with maintaining these goals I've made and I ask for his continued help for the next day.  I feel so much better already and I've only just begun!