ZonePerfect Blog Forward Challenge Part 3 with a Giveaway!

Lately on Facebook, I've been seeing some posts counting down to Christmas already.  I know a lot of people wish it was Christmas all year 'round and are really looking forward to the holiday season.  Me?  I'm just getting past the start of the school year and am counting down to Halloween, as this might just be the year that Grace decides to go out for Trick or Treat for the first time!  She loves the decorations and the pumpkin patch is her favorite place in the world, she's just not into the scary parts and every year opts out of costumes (even her princess costumes) and trick or treat.

Seeing these crazy, Christmas Countdown posts has made me realize that this year will soon be coming to a close, which I find really hard to believe!  Where has the time gone?  It also has me thinking about the goals that I set for myself earlier this year when I signed up for the ZonePerfect Blog Forward Challenge.

Currently, we're in part 3 of the challenge and while I've really done well on some of my goals, there are still a couple of points that I need to make an effort to address.

Eating Healthy was at the top of my list.  For the most part this year, I did really well in making healthy food choices.  Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables were served with meals throughout the past several months, though, I will admit that I didn't do such a great job kicking the junk food habit completely.  On a good note, though, I have been grabbing an apple to eat in the car while waiting in the pick up line after school!

This year, I wanted to Become More Active.  I wish I could say that I stuck to this one from the very start but sadly, it took a while for me to get my butt in gear for this one.  But for the past several weeks, I've been getting myself (and the dog) to the walking park for a daily walk.  Occasionally, I manage to fit in two walks a day!  It's not much, but it's definitely a start!

Saving Money is hard for us.  We've been on a single income since we moved into our home 7 years ago and finding extra money to stash away isn't easy.  This year, with Grace starting school, we've had some additional expenses making it even that more difficult to save but at the same time, we're trying to make smart choices with our purchases and really making it a point to avoid late fees by paying our bills on time.

Getting Organized is still a big problem for me.  I thought with Grace being gone from the house for 2 hours, that I'd be able to get a ton of stuff done and organized around this place.  Nope!  Not at all.  If anything, I feel like I'm more unorganized than ever.  Something seems to come up every day, not to mention the ton of paperwork in Grace's back pack every day!  This kid needs her own filing cabinet!  I joke...but hey, that's a great idea!  I'll be focusing on this goal in the upcoming weeks so that I can be organized by the holidays.

It was difficult to admit that I need to Be a Better Wife and Mother.  I'm having a tough time with this goal, too.  I think time management is a big issue.  I get up, get Grace ready for school (this takes several hours and usually there's an argument during this time), drop her off, come home, eat lunch, try to clean up a little, then pick her up, then it's time to make dinner, etc.  I've been trying to fit in some mommy/Grace time with visits to the playground and play dates, etc.  But all of that cuts into the time I need to be doing stuff around the house.  Often, I'm tired and grumpy.  Not my idea of a better wife and mom.  This needs more work.

I vowed to Take Care of Me this year.  This seems to be the goal I focused on the most, as I felt it was important for me to be well (mentally and physically) in order to follow through with any of the other goals on my list.  While I still haven't gotten in touch with a therapist for my depression and OCD, I have taken care of other things that have been neglected.  I learned how to drive this year, I saw an eye doctor and got glasses (I haven't worn my glasses in over 12 years) and I'm currently recovering from some some dental work I had gotten done.  I joined Weight Watchers online and even went to a meeting recently.

Part 3 of the ZonePerfect Blog Forward Challenge has reminded me that I do need to work more on my goals.  Reading the letter I wrote to myself at the beginning of the challenge also reminds me that I need to order myself some Dark Chocolate Almond ZonePerfect bars!  They are my favorite, but I have a difficult time finding that particular flavor in the stores we shop.

With just about 2 1/2 months left in the year, I plan to reall dig in and get involved in working on reaching my goals.  Here's what I plan to work on:

Eat Healthy.  It's soup season, so this should be a no brainer!  Lots of fresh vegetables and lean meats in my soups, along with whole grains in my hearty, keep-warm soups!  Keeping a handful of ZonePerfect bars in the glove box of the car will help me keep on track when I'm on the go!

Stay Active.  I'm keeping up with my daily walks.  The dog won't let me skip them anyhow!  With it getting dark earlier, I'll have to take my walks before picking Grace up from school.  Also, I'm considering checking out a local gym.  I need to see if this is something we can afford.

Save Money.  I started my Christmas shopping earlier this year and have been taking advantage of sale prices and some daily deal sites.  In addition to avoiding late fees, I also plan to focus on saving money on groceries.  With Joe doing the majority of the food shopping in the past, we didn't pay a lot of attention on the cost of groceries, just getting what we needed when we needed it.  Now that I'm driving, I think I should be able to comparison shop and save more money on the food we purchase.  Also, I am continuing to transfer money to our savings account every week.

Get Organized.  I'll be putting an empty box in the back of my truck each week.  Every day after dropping Grace off at school, I will add items to the box that we no longer use.  At the end of the week, when the box is full (hopefully), I will drop it off at a local thrift shop that takes donations. Working on time management will also be something I will be focusing on in the next several weeks.

Being a Better Wife and Mother and Taking Care of Me.  These are tough ones.  I believe I will always be a work in progress when it comes to both of these goals.

How about you?  Did you set goals or make resolutions for yourself at the start of the year?  How are you doing with reaching those goals?  Did you forget about them, like I sometimes do?  What are your plans for finishing out the year with those goals in mind?

To help give you incentive to reach your goals, ZonePerfect will give one lucky Under the Big Oak Tree reader a ZonePerfect Wellbeing Essentials Kit which includes hair ties, a pedometer, lip balm, a tumbler, and some ZonePerfect bars!

It's super easy to enter using the rafflecopter form below:


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*As required by the Federal Trade Commission: The information and gift packs have been provided by Abbott Laboratories to Under the Big Oak TRee at no cost. All that was asked of Under the Big Oak Tree was to review the product, and give our honest opinion. 

ZonePerfect 2014 Blog Forward Challenge Part 2 and Giveaway!

Looking back at the goals I've set for myself on the first part of this challenge, I see that I am still definitely a work in progress.  I need to remind myself that the habits that I wish to change took years to establish and won't be as simple to correct as I would like.

To start, I'd like to share some of the ways I've been moving in the right direction towards the goals I've set for myself:

• Eating Healthy.  Recently, I started a weight loss plan to help keep me on track.  Additionally, I've increased the vegetables in my daily diet, switched to leaner cuts of meat, and even swapped out my usual pasta for a whole grain variety.  I've increased my water intake and cut out a lot of diet sodas each day.  The diet soda isn't something that I've eliminated completely, but I've definitely cut way back!  I've also switched from drinking sweet tea (with lots of sugar!) to unsweetened decaf iced tea. Keeping ZonePerfect Nutrition Bars in my purse help keep me on track when hunger strikes away from home.  Just a few changes here and there have me feeling great!  Keep reading to find out some great swaps you can make to help you eat healthier.  

• Saving Money.  Again, this year, saving money has proven to be more difficult than I had hoped.  Increasing the amount we save per week to $15 has helped, but I have not been able to keep up with the 52 Week Savings Plan as we've had a few weeks here and there where we had some unexpected expenses as well as a few splurges that are out of character for us.  While the unexpected expenses weren't pleasant, it was good to have some extra cash stashed away from the start of the year to fall back on.  The few splurges we treated ourselves to were very much needed to boost our spirits a bit. Having a couple meals out or a few new outfits made us realize how very little we've treated ourselves in the pat few years.  So, that is something we need to be sure to do a little more often in the months to come.  

• Taking Care of Me.  This is another goal that I find difficult to accomplish.  Constantly caring for the rest of the family, I often forget to set time to care for myself each day.  A haircut, trip to the eye doctor, weight loss membership are a few of the ways I've cared for ME so far this year.  Now, If only I would actually follow through and order my new glasses.  I'm also trying to find a therapist in my area (that we can afford) to help me deal with a few issues.  

Now to share points that have could use the most improvement or just have plain been ignored:  

• Becoming Active.  Sports and exercise have never been an interest of mine.  I remember when I was a child, maybe first or second grade, telling the gym teacher that I shouldn't have to participate in gym class that day since it was my birthday.  I'm still full of excuses on why I'd prefer to sit on my butt all day than exercise.  I am supposed to start walking with a neighbor a couple times a week on the nights that Joe is home in time to care for Grace.  I enjoy walking, I just don't like doing it alone.  

• Being a better wife and mother.  I still often find myself feeling like I'm not doing enough for my family or at least having a good attitude around here.  I know that a lot of this stems from both my physical and mental health issues.  I need to continue to work harder in my efforts to care for myself in order to have a better attitude about my life and family.  This is something that is very difficult to admit to so honestly in such a public way.  

ZonePerfect has provided me with some info-graphics to help me make better food choices as I continue with this Blog Forward Challenge.  I'd like you to stay on track with the improvements you are working on when it comes to your family's nutrition.  

Fabulous tips, right?  Some of these swaps have been easier for me, while some of my favorite things I'm less willing to give up or change.  But I know that making even just a few simple swaps is helping me move forward.  Helping me get closer to my nutritional goals.

In addition to providing the information above, ZonePerfect extends the following invitation:

Become A ZonePerfect® VIP & Save up to $10*

Your first coupon will be emailed to you. 

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  *$10 in savings relates to savings spread across a one year period and may vary.

Finally, thanks to ZonePerfect, one lucky reader will be selected to win a portable charger to help keep you and your devices charged as we continue our way to reaching our goals for the year!  Just enter using the rafflecopter form below! 

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ZonePerfect 2014 Blog Forward Challenge #1

Every year, I make resolutions. 
I resolve to eat healthier, become more active, save money and get the house and my life organized.

Every year, I fall off the wagon after just a few weeks.
In an act of rebellion, or maybe just lack of will-power, I fall back on bad habits.  I stuff my face full of junk food, plant my butt deeper into the sofa, resort to tapping into our meager savings to catch up on bills, and just ignore the clutter to the point that the piles of bills and junk mail are near spilling from the drawers and shelves.

I'm not proud of my past behavior and realize that for me, jumping into all of the lifestyle changes, that I honestly do want for myself,  immediately after the stress of the holidays is just too much for me to handle.

This year, I decided that I would put off those resolutions and give myself two months to recover from Christmas before beginning the challenge of changing ME.

This year, I joined the ZonePerfect 2014 Blog Forward Challenge to help me along the way and as my two month "break" is coming to a close, I am very excited to get started!  Over the course of the year, ZonePerfect will send me challenges and I'll post them here for all to see! Way to keep accountable, huh?

Today I am sharing Part 1 of the ZonePerfect 2014 Blog Forward Challenge.  This is where I share my resolutions and also a letter to my future self.

Here are some areas of change (resolutions) I will be working on around here:

• Eat Healthy.  

Eating healthier would please me right now.  Cutting back on the junk food, if not cutting it out completely, would be a huge step.  I will be incorporating more meatless meals into our weekly menu plans while loading up on veggies.  Drinking more water will also be something I will be working on in the next several months.  Hummus with veggies, salads,  and ZonePerfect Bars (the Dark Chocolate Almond are my favorite!) will be (and have been in recent weeks) a part of my daily routine.  

• Stay (Become?) Active.  

In November, when we brought the Christmas decorations down from the attic, my treadmill was moved from the living room to make room for the Christmas tree.  The new location of the treadmill was just for storage purposes and cannot be used as the space is too tight.  Out of sight-Out of mind, the large piece of equipment never made it back to a more convenient location.  During the next couple of days, I will be working on finding a new location for the treadmill so then I will have no excuse to not put it to use!  

• Save Money.  

Living on one income, saving money is a huge challenge in itself.  We don't live extravagantly and there really isn't much we could cut back on in order to save.  Like last year, I have automatic transfers set to our accounts to transfer money into our savings account each week.  While the $10 per week we save each week isn't much, the money has come in handy when unexpected expenses pop up.  Starting in March, I've increased our weekly savings to $15.  I'm also doing the 52 Weeks of Savings Challenge that I was unable to complete last year.  

• Get Organized. 

Oh goodness!  I don't even know where to begin to start on this one!  I'm lazy.  I'm a slob.  Plain and simple, I'm a lazy slob.  That's it!  I've confessed!  Laundry, paperwork, toys, everything!  I need to implement everything has a place and everything in it's place....but sometimes it's the finding a place for everything that's the big problem.  This is something I plan on working on a little each day.  I'll be having a 100 item de-clutter challenge again in the near future!  Let me know if you want to join in!  

• Be a Better Wife and Mother. 

There are days I feel as if I am just going through the motions when it comes to caring for my family.  Not putting in any extra, just the bare minimum of what needs to be done.  Nothing more, sometimes less.  This is my JOB and if I were working outside of the home with this work ethic, I'd have been fired a long time ago. This needs to change.  I need to start putting in more time and effort around here, I owe it to my family.  I owe it to myself.    

• Take Care of Me.  

I am beginning to realize that if I don't work on this final resolution, I don't have a chance at succeeding in any of the other changes I want to make this year.  I need to take care of myself both physically and mentally in order to take care of anything or anyone else.  I'm not sure how much I want to share about this particular resolution just yet....

Here is my letter to future me.  

Now, when I am feeling discouraged or maybe a little defeated, I can look at this letter to myself and feel encouraged to keep reaching for my goals!  

Disclosure:  As part of the ZonePerfect 2014 Blog Forward Challenge, I will receive complimentary products and information to assist in reaching my goals.  I will also be entered into a contest when I complete the entire challenge.  Product opinions, resolutions and my plans for reaching those goals are all honest and my own.