We put in our backyard pool last year in August. It doesn’t have a heater, so we took the winter off. The boys (my oldest son and my husband) have been swimming nearly every day since March when the temperatures were in the 60s and 70s. Now that the temperature is in the low 80s, I, too, am swimming every day. 

I’ve been trying to run once on the weekends and once on the treadmill at the YMCA during the week, but I’d also like to make more of a concerted effort to exercise in the pool while I’m having out with the boys. 

Here are some resources I found:

Oy! It’s uncomfortable to feel like you’re squeezing into your clothes every day.

My mom’s weight has fluctuated her entire life from thin to obese. I have a similar body type and a similar relationship to food (I over-eat if I’m bored or stressed or trying to fill a void in my life), so it’s something I pay attention to. 

What’s going on in my own life? 

I picked up a copy of The Happiness Project from our Little Free Library at school. I read the first chapter and found it to be mostly annoying. I think it’s a classic case of not liking the narrator because she reminds me of what I don’t like about myself. 

I want to be the kind of person who finds the right balance between identifying the things I want to improve while simultaneously celebrating who I am and where I am in the moment. I do believe that striving and growing are worthwhile endeavors, but I don’t want to be so consumed with striving and growing (which is inherently deficit-based)