Tag: Walmart

Fat Fridays: New Esther versus Old Esther

Yesterday was a really rough day. Like, envision a bloody battle with swords and shields and everyone is wounded and bleeding. That was my day with food. 

Yesterday I hit that place where I just didn’t care anymore. I didn’t care about my diet. I didn’t care about eating healthy. I didn’t care. I’m too tired. Too stressed. I found myself hunting the house for sugar. I just needed something sweet. Anything. There was some cereal and I grabbed several handfuls of frosted flakes and stuffed them in my mouth. I just didn’t care. One of the kids had a leftover ham and cheese sandwich they didn’t want. I ate it. Cause the thought of fixing myself a salad or cooking up vegetables just sounded horrible. And there’s nothing wrong with a sandwich right? Except, it wasn’t even really that great of a sandwich. Something I would usually deem not worth wasting my calories on. But I just didn’t care. 

I had to drop my teenagers off at youth group and then I needed to go Walmart to get some things for my kids. And I started thinking about what I could buy as a special treat at Walmart since I would be out by myself. That is, after all, my old pattern. Go out by myself, get something yummy to eat as a treat. I thought about all the things I haven’t eaten in a long time. Chocolate cake. Debbie cakes. Donuts. Ice cream. A big bag of Chips. Which one should I get? And at the same time there was this sinking feeling going on. I’m doing it again. I’m falling off the wagon. I’m blowing my diet. I’m returning to all my bad habits. And I felt kind of hopeless. Like, I’m never going to win this battle. I will always be overweight. 

I was in the car, still driving, and I had the thought, What are you hoping that food is going to do for you? (Which seems to be a theme this week. I mentioned in a previous blog about asking the question, What am I looking for? when I turn to mindless distractions.) And this is a good question. Why am I wanting to eat all this food and what am I hoping to accomplish? And I had to remind myself that eating food was NOT going to make me feel better about my life. In fact, I was going to feel a LOT worse if I turned to food. But, if I made good choices, I would feel better about myself. This is the place where you imagine two warriors hammering away at each other with their swords. Old Esther verses New Esther. Flesh verses Spirit. 

I sat in the parking lot. Staring at the store. Ok. Make a plan. I will buy some blueberries and some carrots and hummus. And then I will stay away from the food section. 

Walmart is a dangerous place when you are trying to resist temptation. I felt like a nun at a nudist colony. AVERT THE EYES! Dont look there! No! Don’t look over there either! Keep walking! Get away from the food!! 

I needed to get some things for an upcoming car trip and I contemplated getting my kids some yummy snacks, but quickly decided against it. Nope. Can’t do it. If I buy that stuff, I will eat it too. So I bought them some gummy snacks (which they love, and I think are disgusting) and determined that on THIS trip, they will be eating fruits and vegetables right alongside me. 

I finally got out of the store, got in my car, slammed the door, and did some deep breathing for a minute. I made it. I did it. I didn’t binge, splurge, over-do or anything. I bought some healthy food and walked out. Whoosh. 

And I do feel better about myself today. A lot better than if I had just given in. But man, that was hard. And just a quick note. I think what has put me in a bad place was my two weeks when I went low-carb. My personal dysfunction with food cannot handle diets where entire food groups are eliminated. It stirs up a lot of unhealthy emotions like feeling deprived which then makes me want to binge. So, moving forward, I’m going to continue my LowER carb diet where I just try to eat grains in small portions and with moderation. 

New Esther won the battle this time. But I anticipate a lot more skirmishes in the future. 

Yay for New Shoes!

Well, today I did a thing. I took eight children out to buy brand new shoes, not at Walmart. (The ninth child was sleeping in and wouldn’t budge.) In the past we have always bought little kids shoes either at a thrift store or Walmart. Teenagers get more expensive shoes because their shoes have a longer chance of fitting them for extended periods of time, and Walmart shoes just don’t last past two months. 

I was looking for something sturdy and all-purpose. Active sandal-type shoes for spring and summer. I am out of practice shopping. We went to four stores before I found what I was looking for. (Yay GB shoes!) We also stopped after the third store and I ran into a Walmart and bought food for lunch that we could eat in the car. And then we had to drop two of the boys off for an outing with friends, and then finally to the fourth store where I had to corral a bunch of hyper kids who all wanted to pick their shoes immediately. 

Now I still have to go pick up the two boys from their outing and take them to the shoe store as well, hopefully dragging the previously-sleeping teen with me. 

I’m happy though. Usually, spring comes and I start skimming the household budget, taking one or two kids at a time to get them shoes/new clothes, and then the next week take another two etc, etc. It’s a long drawn out process. 

But, tis the season for stimulus checks. 

As we’ve discussed what we are going to do with our stimulus money, it came home to me that we have a very long wish list of things we could spend money on. Very long. Longer than our stimulus money in fact. We finally decided to be responsible and set the wish list aside and finish paying off the last of our debt. But, there was enough left over to do a handful of things, including buying brand new shoes for kids. Woohoo. 

And just an aside. Taking a bunch of kids shoe shopping, all at the same time, is not for the faint-hearted. By the time we hit the fourth store, I was girding my loins, preparing for battle, adjusting my armor, etc… My main strategy is move fast. No dilly-dallying. Everyone sit here, on this bench. Ok, you want this shoe or that one? (Never give many choices.) Ok, which color do you want? Alright, stand on this mat, let’s see what size you are. Here, try this on, walk around…Fit? Ok. Perfect. Next child. We might have set a record for fastest in and out shoppers ever. 

Kids are happy. 

I’m happy. 

Yay for new shoes!

Silly Things that Bother Me

Ok. I promise this is not a whine fest. Just silliness. Stay with me here. 

Several times a week, as in more than five times, I drive down i75 heading towards Knoxville. When you are coming down i75, and you pass the Merchant’s exit and you look ahead, there is a little pass through the hills and in between these hills you see a big mountain looming.

 Then you keep driving and when you get through the little pass, “POOF!” the mountain is gone!

Now, I have figured out that this mountain is actually way beyond Knoxville. I just want to know why on earth it looks so close when I am right at that spot on the highway. Why??? This bothers me. 

The other day I was also driving down a road in Knoxville that I had been on countless times. Suddenly, I noticed a really cool building. Wow! Look at that! Is that new? As I craned my neck to see it, I could tell that this building had been there a long time. Not new. Why have I never noticed this building before? Why am I so unobservant??? This also bothers me. 

At Walmart they have all the face masks in big bins on the walkway that leads you out of the store. You don’t pass these bins until you have gone through a checkout line and are heading towards the door. Every time I pass these bins I think, Oh shoot, we could do with some more masks. And then I think, I’ve already gone through the line, there is no way I’m going to do that again right now. And I leave, without masks. Why on earth has Walmart put the masks in such an inconvenient place??? Also a bothering thing. 

I have a linen shelf in our upstairs hallway. Every day I find a pile of blankets, sheets, and pillowcases on the floor. Every day. Why? Which child/children has decided that this needs to be part of their daily routine? Do they have a mental checklist, Eat, Play, Sleep, Pull things off the linen shelf?? Very Bothersome. 

If a ceiling fan is on all the time, how does it get dusty? How come starting a fire in the woodstove is so hard? I thought wood and paper and cardboard were flammable? How come cereal bags are so hard to open? 

Every two weeks the city comes and picks up our recycling that we put out by the road. Why is it so hard to remember which week they are coming? Every week I’m standing on the sidewalk looking down the road to see if my neighbors have put their recycling bins out. And sometimes, they put their bins out, so I copy them, and then, THEY WERE WRONG!  And we all look foolish. 

Bother, Bother, Bother. 

These, of course, fall under “First World Problems” that are really not problems at all. But they are bothersome. I’m sure you’ve got your own list of bothers too. 🙂

The Power of a $6 Pedometer

A couple days ago I was sitting with my husband and he asked, “What’s got you down? ….I mean, besides everything else that’s going on?” And I had to laugh. “Uh, Everything that’s going on is what’s got me down.” Let’s recap…Worldwide Epidemic, quarantine, economic shutdown, school closures, church closures, park closures, library closures, Kids Museum closures, play spaces closures, our community park closure. And then there are all the consequences from that…homeschooling a houseful of children, limited meetings with friends, nowhere to take the kids to just get out of the house. Plus some pretty high-stress situations we’ve had with our foster kids…Yeah, it’s all getting me down. And then, just to make things a little happier, my brain has decided to remind me that I’m overweight and out-of-shape, just so I can have one more thing to be down about. 

 

So, this was my state of mind. Looking ahead to the summer, trying to figure out what on earth I’m going to do with the kids all summer if all the playgrounds and splash pads and libraries and kid’s museums and public play spaces are all closed? And no camps this year. 

 

It kind of feels like I’m complaining, except that I think it’s a legitimate problem. If you are someone who has always fully utilized all the public parks and libraries and play spaces and then they are gone, what do you do? 

 

Well, in all of that turmoil, I got an idea. I’m going to go ahead and give God thanks, because I wouldn’t have thought of it on my own. A friend of mine has been running and she’s been making monthly goals of how many miles she wants to run a month. Very cool. I, however, am not a runner, but I do love to walk. Which got me thinking about setting goals for walking, which got me thinking about pedometers, which got me online researching how many steps are good to take in a day, and the end result was, I have decided to set myself the goal of taking 10,000 steps a day. 

 

Yesterday I went out to Walmart in the morning and got myself a cheap $6 pedometer. Then I bought a no-pull harness for my dog, who has never done well on a leash, and got some new insoles for my tennis shoes. All set. 

 

Yesterday I managed to walk 11,526 steps. Yay me! 

 

I went on my elliptical twice, reading my book on my kindle app while I walked. Then we got the dog all harnessed up, the kids all got on their bikes, and we took a long walk around the neighborhood. It was fun. The dog loved it and the harness worked really well for him. (We have a large yard that he runs around in, but he recently got fixed and has already started packing on extra weight, he needs more exercise, plus our neighborhood is the type that I feel better going on a solo walk if I have a big dog with me, win-win for both of us.)

 

This morning I got up early and one of my daughters and the dog and I took a long, hour-long walk, which knocked out half of my needed steps for the day. 

 

Here’s the thing. Setting that one goal really didn’t solve all my other problems. But it gave me an injection of hope. Something to work towards. And it’s also got me thinking of how to incorporate walks into each of our days. Start taking the kids around to different places where they can ride their bikes or their scooters. It got me thinking about how Andy and I could walk on our date nights, there are a lot of places within walking distance of our house we could go to. And while all the other problems about homeschooling and summer schedules, and worries about the world, they’re still here, I’m finding myself a little more energized to tackle these things. 

 

Two days ago I was feeling hopeless, today I’m feeling energized. I will never cease to be amazed how Every Single Time I think I have reached rock bottom, God comes and blows a fresh breeze in my face, revives me, and sets me back on the path with a pat on the back. And he uses the craziest things to do it. A $6 pedometer. Who knew that’s what I needed? 

Esther’s Walmart Exercise Tips

How to Get Lots of Exercise on Your Next Trip to Walmart

Because, hey, we’re all about getting in shape, exercising, burning calories…right? So, here are some helpful pointers to ensure you get plenty of exercise on your next trip to Wally World!

  1. Be really consistent with where you park. Quite a while ago I decided that I would just park in the same row every single time I went to the store. Even if it meant having to park at the farthest reaches of the parking lot. Since the row I picked is right in front of the main entrance, I usually do end up parking at the farthest spot possible from the store. But hey, at least I don’t have the agony of trying to remember where I parked.
  2. Don’t bring a list. This is very important. Lists guarantee a certain orderliness to your trip which translates to minimal walking around the store. Not good. Don’t bring a list. Or, if you are like me, make a list, and then just forget to look at it.
  3. Observe the contents of other people’s carts. This proved very useful for me. While perusing the peanut butter aisle I happened to see a woman’s cart with a large bag of cat litter. CAT LITTER!! I need cat litter! This meant I could then walk all the way to the very opposite corner of the store to get the forgotten cat litter.
  4. Don’t take time to think things through. For example. I started at the back of the grocery section. Got eggs. Went all the way down the aisles till I was on the opposite end of the the store, was choosing out some hotdog buns when I remembered that I needed milk. Milk! (Right next to the eggs). Quick, rush back to the other side of the store. Then, when I was at the milk section, I suddenly remembered  that I needed peanut butter, which happens to be in the same aisle as the hotdog buns. Back to the hotdog bun aisle! Once I reached the hotdog bun aisle, I saw the previously mentioned cat litter, but also remembered I needed to get badminton birdies. Which means I now needed to walk to two more corners of the store. Yay! More exercise!
  5. Don’t ask for help. This is good advice, but on the other hand, there really aren’t any salespeople around to ask anyway. On my search for badminton birdies I discovered the tennis aisle. Tennis rackets, tennis balls, pickle ball rackets, other various rackets of many sizes…no badminton rackets, or nets, or birdies. Around the corner was all kinds of baseballs, softballs, golf, table tennis, basketballs, volleyballs, etc. No badminton sets. Walked through a bunch of aisles filled with various sporting goods. No badminton sets. Oh wait, right over there! Lawn games. Of course. Badminton is going to be with the lawn games. There was a complete badminton set which comes with net, rackets, and birdies…nope, not what I want…There was a set of two rackets with two birdies…nope, not what I want, I already have rackets…Where’s the birdies? I distinctly remembered last year buying a little tube that was full of birdies. It does not seem to exist anymore. More walking around the aisles. Maybe they’ve stuck it somewhere else? After circling the sports section four or five times, I finally gave up. Guess I’ll order it on Amazon.
  6. Look for the shortest line. The entire front of the store is filled with checkout lanes. Of course, usually only two or three lanes are open, and generally those lanes are not going to be next to each other. So, you walk all the way down to number two, but, hey, there’s at least five people ahead of you. What about number fourteen? Back down to the other side of the store. Ah, yes, only four people here! That was such a good decision to move lanes!

Couple caveats. Getting your exercise at Walmart means you will be prone to impulse buys. Like today when I happened to walk past this bin of beautiful, large, red, rubber balls. So beautiful! I remembered playing with those when I was a kid. My mind daydreamed a moment and I imagined my two and four year standing in the green grass, gently lobbing the ball back and forth. How nice! I bought the ball. I then brought it home where I faced six children who all wanted the ball. A Hunger-Games-type scenario then ensued, last man standing gets the ball. It wasn’t pretty. Impulse buys are dangerous.

So, there you go. I’ve got all kinds of advice to help you live a healthier lifestyle! Tune in next time for “Wanting to Increase Your Time in the Car? How to Become a Personal Chauffeur for Your Children”.

Love Tinted Glasses

This evening I felt myself succumbing to a really grumpy mood. I rehashed my day and thought about how bad it had been. Woke up way before the alarm went off, couldn’t go back to sleep. First day of kids going back to school meant an early morning and a bit of craziness getting everyone out the door. Had to take the two year old to a well-child checkup appointment at 9 am. Had to take the two little ones to Walmart for a big shopping. Got home at lunch and had a million things to do, but the baby fell asleep on my lap and clung to me any time I tried to move him so I ended up sitting in a chair with him for two hours. When he finally woke up I only had 45 minutes before I had to get back in the car to pick everyone up from school. Had to take my seven year old to physical therapy after I got the kids home from school. Didn’t get home till it was time to make supper. House was a mess. Kids were making a lot of noise. Aside from feeding people, I hadn’t got any housework done. I was stepping over toys on the floor, kicking dirty clothes out of the way, grabbing the baby as he tried to reach up on the counters and pull everything down. The younger kids all had their skates on and were crashing around the house, running into walls and furniture as they wobbled around. Chaos. I don’t like chaos.

As I sat at the supper table, I suddenly had a perspective shift. All the kids were sitting around the table talking to each other, talking with me and my husband. Everyone was laughing and joking with each other. My kids were fighting over who got to talk to me first about their day. The older kids were teasing the little ones. After the meal everyone gathered in the living room. It was still chaotic, kids running around in circles chasing each other. Every once in a while a child would hand me a book to read out loud. My oldest boy was playing the piano. My husband was working at the fireplace, trying to get our new wood burning stove installed. Still Chaos.

But good chaos. Family hanging out together. People enjoying each other’s company. Kids basking in being at home, being a part of a family, being loved. Warmth, security.

Two ways to look at the day. A failure: house didn’t get cleaned; dishes didn’t get washed; laundry didn’t get done. Or, a complete success. Children were hugged and cuddled; kids were listened to; laughter was shared. It was actually a good day.

Perhaps my perspective shift was simply getting a heavenly glimpse of my life. Seeing things through love-tinted glasses. And that is my New Year’s Resolution, that I would start slapping those glasses on my face every day and start judging my success on how well I loved that day, not how many chores I checked off my list. Love God, love people. It’s going to be a good year.