September - anyone want to sort out their life?

[HighQueenOfTheFarRealm]

Mines a bit of a rut and I want to improve things.
I've got into bad food habits and need to be healthier and shape up.
I've got some supplements to take.
I need to be generally more organised and will be doing 'night before' tasks.
My biggest goal is to have less stressed Sundays! That means getting organised for meals, packed lunches, uniforms and cleaning so I'm not running around like a headless chicken! Instead I want to go for wholesome walks, read and cook nice food.
Anyone else?

High time for me to become more organised!! I've even taken a day off work this week as I never get chance to do life admin otherwise

I always wonder what the special trick is of people who are very organised @HighQueenOfTheFarRealm... my aim in life is to have most things covered/ arranged to give me time to just potter around. Perhaps this will happen when my DC leave home?! (They are 8 now so it may be a while...!)

@KimKardashiansLostEarring do you have a fasting app? I think I may need to give it a try, menu planning utterly defeats me 4 people in the house and they all have different likes/ dietary requirements, it makes my head explode...

@Plantymcplantface my DP spends his time ranting about everyone else having lots of STUFF and him being a minimalist. HA!!! We've been doing some work in the house and had to move everything round in our bedroom - I have a wardrobe rail, a small chest of drawers and a cupboard. He has a wardrobe rail, a cupboard, 6 large shelves, a large chest of drawers and also now three large bags - the laundry type ones - full of random clothes which he swears blind he is going to tidy away somewhere. No clue where they will go!

Good morning all! Early wake up with the baby this morning so I’ve made a start on clearing old clothes out - I have a sack of outgrown clothes from the children and some maternity clothes to pop on vinted. Going to try and condense the amount of clothes I own down to whatever fits in the wardrobes/drawers. Wish me luck!

Can I join too please?
Really need to get back into my super organised self!
I've been unwell over the past couple of weeks but with the kids going back to school I need a bit of a kick up the bum.

My goals are

• start eating healthier (we've had a LOT of freezer tapas due to my poor health meaning too tired to prep and cook proper dinners with veggies!) I did the weekly shop yesterday and it's much more nutritious and varied now so actually looking forward to meals for this week.
• start working out gently again, would like to build back up to hula hooping daily and 3 x small work outs weekly, need to shift two stone that's sneaked on since my wedding last year!
• de clutter more. Recently moved house so that helped with getting rid of a fair bit but there's still stuff in the garage and attic that we don't need.
• make sure I'm on it with making sure older kids are keeping up with homework and little one reads at home at least 3 x weekly too. I got a bit slack with all that by end of term last year.
• do my paperwork for my career progression. I've been told to apply to move up a pay grade, the funding is there for me to be able to but I just need to submit the giant application form and actually do my evidence to support it.

Need to get back to the gym today, I had a lazy Sunday yesterday and it didn't make me feel good at all

I'm in. I have already half started, I cleared out a bag for the charity shop on Saturday and also had someone collect old school lunchboxes. We have also just had a lovely few days of weather so managed to get all washing baskets empty and finished all the ironing/labeling for school, and mowed the lawn.

I do need to kick my butt into gear with exercise. I was doing yoga 3x a week but dp changed his shift patten due to a promotion and then we went on holiday and I haven't got back into it. This is my first big thing to tackle. Dd2 starts high school so this should open up plenty of time as she will leave the house an hour earlier.

We also have a couple of DIY projects to finish.

Work wise I started a course earlier in the year which I have put on the backburner over the holidays. I need to make it my priority. I want to aim to finish it before christmas.

I was reading something the other day that called September 'mum's new year'. I do find it more motivating than actual new year in terms of getting back to routines and starting new things.

I'm in.

I literally have a massive stack of wood & random things to take to the tip down the side of the house when the dc are back at school from starting to declutter and then lost motivation over the summer hols!
I've also occurred a allotment patch so I really need to get my house sorted so I can focus on that come early spring.

I did do the youngest dc room but all the toys he no longer wants got bagged up and are sitting in my porch untouched.

@DaisyWells no I just do it myself, figure out when I last ate the evening before and don’t eat until 16 hours after. But a few days I won’t be having time for dinner so will do it from lunchtime, skip dinner, then have breakfast the next day.

Recently retired and going to take me a while to figure out what my new life will look like I think 😳

Meanwhile I've joined in the Christmas Cleanalong and the decluttering thread as getting my house and garden in order seems a good place to start.

I have always considered September as my 'new year' (not a fan of New Year's Eve malarkey and January is pants).

I have just opened my new Moleskine diary and started filling it with lists but it is very strange seeing the complete absence of work entries!! A good friend advised me not to sign up to anything new, such as classes, or even voluntary work that requires regular commitment, for a few months until I figure out what I do want to use my time for.

Plenty of jobs in the house to keep me busy just yet; all those niggling things that didn't get done due to lack of time or sheer knackeredness.

Yes me, I’ve already been thinking that I need this. Miserable first half of the year supporting my parents through my mums terminal illness. She’s gone now and I feel like getting back into good habits will help with the sadness and loss.

Would like to;

workout consistently again - swam a lot over the summer but need to find autumn friendly ways of staying active
-do some yoga each day even if it’s just for 10 mins
-read books rather than scroll mn
-try different recipes - we eat pretty healthily but I end up making what the teens like and I’m bored!

Yes please! I’ve just come back from holiday. I had an operation before that as well. We were looking at buying a house but ended up using some of our savings and I owe money on my credit card. Also made a couple of careless mistakes at work. Need to lose the last stone to get to target at slimming world and get back to the gym so I feel I need a reset. Great thread!

I'm so keen to get myself going.

@OnlyYellowRoses I'm in a similar position re submitting paperwork. Need to get on it.

My aim for this week is to eat lunch and dinner only. It'll be healthy but I'm not going to be overly strict about lunch. Dinner will be protein and veg or soup.

I want to do one kitchen cupboard a day and have a good clear out but I'll have to start that tomorrow as today is v busy.

I meant to do a meal plan for the week but didn't get round to it. I might try to do that at some point today. I told the kids to give me a dinner or two that they want this week. It would make it easier!

Have a good day everyone!

Please may I join. This month, I want to:

> Get a big project at work finally finished off. This will mean being very disciplined with my time.
> Lose four pounds through eating well and exercise. I've started another thread on this.
> Actually go through with it and book some driving lessons rather than just endlessly Googling.
> Commit to finishing work at 5:15pm every day and giving the dog a good 45-minute walk.
> Get a new Saturday routine going. My usual Saturday morning exercise class will be ending in a couple of weeks so its a brilliant chance to give something new a try, not necessarily another exercise class, but something in that couple of hours.

Today feels like a brilliant day to start. Thanks for starting the thread, OP.

Not stopped all day, got a friend’s kid round too so the kids are making a mess as I’m tidying. But have sorted lots out. My meal binder from Amazon has arirved so I’ve filled that out - just got a A6 binder and inserts, a page per recipe, then each week I’ll bring the ones I’ve planned to the front of the binder and me and DH can easily see what to do on what day.

Going to sit down now while DD still asleep as I definitely need to rest more! But also need to exercise and haven’t done - at least I’m wearing my workout gear! Have eaten too much today already.

@HighQueenOfTheFarRealm

God yes! I need to do something. I only have myself to care for! Must eat healthier - more fruit and veg and be tidier!

I think you need to break these aims down a bit.

"Eat more fruit and veg" and "be tidier" are really huge and nebulous, and therefore more likely to fail. Set yourself smaller goals.

To "eat more fruit and veg", you could aim to eat one portion of fruit a day and two portions of veg. Then you can break that down even more. A pear for mid-morning snack every day, a bowl of salad with lunch every day, a dollop of veg with tea every night.

To "be tidier", you could aim to put two things away in a proper home every time you are in a room. Or you could aim to clear out and tidy and draw every day for a week. Or you could tell yourself you're not allowed to put things "down", they have to be put "away".

Oh dear I’m drinking tea and on mn when I should be doing yoga! This is the sort of thing that needs to change. To be fair it is the last day of summer hols here.

Okay going to get up now and put on some active wear

First day back to school! The peace!!! Ahhhh!

✔️ sold 3 things on Vinted - £5, yay 😂
✔️ mopped the kitchen floor for the first time in weeks, and wiped down all the kitchen cupboard doors and kickboards
✔️ 2 loads laundry
✔️ actually did some exercise!!! 50 min walk.
✔️ call with my boss to help me (brand new job) rather than just quietly panicking alone
✔️ started symprove
✔️ didn’t eat until 1pm, except for a kefir yoghurt around 10am

❌had a dairy milk
❌didn’t do enough work prep

Not bad!!

Well done @KimKardashiansLostEarring
Back to school and hopefully start a routine but I've got a lot going on out of the usual this week so things are a bit tough at the moment.

Food is ok. Healthy in the main along with intermittent fasting but not calorie deficit standards.

Keep on going is my current motto.

Can I join? September always feels like a better starting place for change than January.

My goals are relatively healthy lunches. I'm starting a new job on Monday, it's the first full time job I've had since having kids so that's going to be a big change. I work part time at the moment and only have to worry about lunch at work twice a week.

I'm also working on getting up earlier as my new start time is earlier than currently. On the plus side I will be walkng to work which covers the need for more exercise!

Well done all. I’ve been more focused at work this week. Still keep delving into the heroes tub more than I should though 🙈

Can I join?

Had similar chat with friend at weekend and we're going to support each other on a 3Fs programme to Christmas:

Fitness
Fatness
Finances

So far I've batch cooked healthy food and taken lunches into work and got a sodding parking ticket to cancel out the money saved.

I love this! September is a much more natural time for a re-set than January! I think it’s important to set small measurable goals- so this week I’m taking my vitamins everyday and making sure I eat 2 of my 5 next week 3 and the week after 4 etc. it’s not much but it’s a start!

My aim this weekend is to have a good clean.
I've filled 2 large bags of kids books that I can give away to dds old school.
I've washed school uniforms and am about to do the shirts.
Menu plan and shopping to get organised for the week.
I'm trying to do as much as I can today so I can have a relaxing day tomorrow.

I'm trying to clean as much as possible and declutter my books . If I've had a book for years on the shelf and never read it then it's in the charity pile !

Been to slimming world this morning and gained half a pound. Had a chat with the consultant and I’m now doing a food diary for the week so I’m going to have to be ‘good’ now ha ha