facing the music

Okay, so it's been slightly more than one week since I've set my goals. And here's the result......
Let's break it down, shall we?

*Prepare at least two meals a day AT HOME
This has been going so well. SO well! So well, in fact, that I've been planning all three meals because it's been such a breeze with a little planning ahead of time. I don't know why I never did actual meal planning before. I use this system primarily for dinner, but even then... seriously, it makes a huge difference in my life. I look forward to cooking again. I know what I'm making a week in advance, and I know I have all the ingredients. Bryan knows what's on the menu and chimes in with ideas for the week. (like the link suggests, we have a google calendar attached to our normal family/work calendar, so he knows every day what's for dinner) This is huge for us; before, it would always be a last-minute conversation of "what should I make? I don't know..." Food frustration abated!
I save money at the grocery store because I don't buy unnecessary/double items. Less food is wasted. More fresh ingredients are purchased and actually used. I would always buy a bunch of fruits and veggies because that's what healthy people did. But they had no purpose, no dish to be made into. NOW, my fruits and veggies have a home! :)
We sit down for dinner together, e v e r y n i g h t, and my kids actually eat what I make. Our meals are rounded and healthy. And we all clean up at the end of the meal! It's just like a scene from 'Leave is to Beaver'... I'm feeling like the best mother in the world during the dinner hour! Oh how the choirs of heaven are singing!
I do it a bit differently than the link suggests, though the principle is the same. I've started out doing just one week at a time. I actually prefer it this way for now, and I'm sure the better I get at it, the further out I will be able to plan. And for reals, I recommend this little change to everyone. EVERYONE! It is much simpler than it seems, and it saves a whole lotta time, energy, money, stress, and calories!

*Increase veggie intake in my meals
Just like I thought it would, this goal would be born of my previous goal. And how the marriage of these two goals are working seamlessly! Case in point: zuccini. Bryan can't stand the stuff unless it's made into bread. Which is fine every now and again, but it's much better without the extra sugar and carbs. Let me tell you, last week I snuck zuccini into two main dishes and he didn't bat an eyelash. He even noticed it in one of them (shephard's pie, which happens to be his fave), commented on it, and told me HE LIKED THE DISH BETTER! Points all around for moi!
We've also been having fresh green salads with each meal (not the nasty bagged junk), and I am loving the veggie increase. And yes, my 2 and 3 year old boys do eat their salad, sometimes without dressing. How awesome is that?

*Take a walk with the boys 4 times a week
I haven't done this AT ALL. Nada. Oh, wait! I have done some walking with them, but nothing too crazy. We've been to the Wild Animal Park twice in the last 5 days, so that's got to count for something. They have a collective weight of 75+ lbs, so with both of them in the stroller, I'm pushing close to 100lbs. That's not too shabby, right? But I'm not kidding myself too much. It's not consistent by any means. So this will be something to work on this week.

*Get as much sleep at night as possible
Also, not too good on this one. Well, I started out really good, but then fell back into my old habits again. The last two nights I stayed up, on purpose, several hours past midnight. I don't know why I do that; it's not necessarily insomnia. I think I have my internal clock kinda messed up. So time to reset it!


So now I know what I need to work on this week. But all in all, I'm VERY happy with my current results. Nothing is showing on the scale yet, but once I'm consistent with my workouts I'm sure that will come. What about you? How are you doing with your goals???

on the road again

I'M BACK!!!

I'm going to slowly but surely start tracking my workouts and eating habits again. Those of you who read my personal blog know what's been going on with me and why I've been AWOL for so long. To recap, Reader's Digest style:

*Got pregnant with our 3rd baby in May 2009.

*Miscarried 2 weeks after finding out.

*Got pregnant again 4 weeks after miscarriage.

*extremely complicated pregnancy (a totally new thing for me), leading to VCI, polyhydramnios, and bed rest for those last few months of pregnancy. My baby had some problems in utero as well which made for a crazy, scary 9 months!

*Baby girl (first girl! yay!) born 02-09-10, via emergency c-section. She was diagnosed with esophageal atresia, reflux kidney, and anal displacement. She is still (STILL) in the NICU, awaiting esophageal connection surgery. The reflux doesn't require surgery and hopefully won't later down the road, and the anus can be moved to proper placement around her 1st birthday.

*All of this sounds life-threatening and extremely scary. I must admit that the first few weeks seemed majorly touch-and-go, but due to AMAZING modern technology and our bodies' incredible 'bounce back' factor, all of her conditions are correctable through surgery to re-connect or re-shape. We will have our little girl home eventually. Se is strong, chubby, smiley, and oh so adorable.

*We are still in a low hum of chaos every day as we go to Children's hospital each night (a 60 mile round trip), care for our two boys during the day, and try to live life as normally as possible for the rest of this year. Hopefully, we will get back to normal before Christmas.

*During this insane stretch of my life, I've completely lost my own 'self', in a manner of speaking. After the c-section I lost about 40 lbs right away (it was a TON of amniotic fluid, I kid you not!) then just kept gaining weight. I never knew how hard a c-section was on a woman's body! I have the yuckiest spare tire that isn't reducing like it did after my previous pregnancies. I am so self conscious about it and it's not something I can hide! Of course, most of my weight gain is due to eating sick crap food on the road, not sleeping enough, and generally having NO time at all for relaxation/exercise. And that's the truth. If I have a spare moment, I would much rather catch up on the stuff that can't wait. Like bills or general responsibilities. Or sleep.

*I have to say something along the lines of "our bodies are so incredible!", because they truly are. I am amazed at how quickly I was back on my feet after my c-section. Granted, I'm not where I want to be as far as weight loss and health, but I am sure that my body will do what I ask it to do when the time comes. AND THE TIME HAS COME...

*SO! I want to be healthy again. I've started making changes to get back to where I was before as far as healthy eating habits. We took a trip to the local Farmer's Market, which was actually so much fun! I felt like a total granola, but it also felt really nice to be there and buy some organic fruits and veggies. Not that I'm pushing organic foods or anything, it's just that it was so nice to have some in-season goodies at my fingertips!

*I want to get back to making all my meals at home. My kids' diets are suffering just as much (if not more) than my own, and that truly scares the pants off of me! Especially since my almost 3 year old is turning out to be an extremely picky eater. UGH. All he asks for now is "chickens", which is his way of saying "I want Burger King chicken and fries, and a diet coke too!" {{{SHUDDER}}} I can't believe it has come to this! The TRASH I'm putting into all of us needs to s t o p n o w ! ! !

My NEW GOALS...

*Prepare at least two meals a day AT HOME
*Increase veggie intake in my meals {zuccini bread, anyone?;) }
*Take a walk with the boys 4 times a week
*get as much sleep at night as possible

Plan of attack? I've already started:

1. MEALS - I've started meal planning. Awesome. And why, oh WHY didn't I ever do this before? Each Sunday I write a list of meals I would like to make for the week. {Usually I end up just planning dinner, as lunch and breakfast end up being mostly the same meals anyway.} The Monday afterwards I go shopping for the items that I don't currently have in my pantry. And believe me, it's been ingrained into my head to always ALWAYS have a well-stocked pantry. I come from a family of 10, you know. Food needs to be around!
I digress... if I have all the ingredients (fresh, if available), and if I have the menu planned, easy peasy. At least in a perfect world. But at least, much MUCH more convenient!

2. VEGGIE INTAKE - This goal naturally follows my meal planning. If I'm not worried so much about WHAT to make, I can be more creative with the meal I'm making. If that makes sense!

3. WALKS - Another logical step. no pun intended :) Walks to the Farmer's Market, the nearest local park, riding bikes with my oldest {whom LOVES to spend all day outside and would seriously do it if I allowed it, and I would [mostly] if we owned or rented a house with a backyard}. One thing I really LOVE about the city I live in is all the local parks. I think there are 12 or 13 if I'm not mistaken. And they are all pretty darn close. Not all of them are walking distance close, but some are, and that's a very good thing for my toosh!

4. SLEEP - I am giving myself wiggle room with this one. I mean, with my recent-born flesh and blood 30 miles away, the commute is killer. And it's usually when I'd be in bed. So I'm going to try to go to bed earlier than I have been (the laundry can wait for a little while longer), and perhaps mix my day up a bit so I can do things during the day that I would normally do at night after the kids are in bed. I'm still trying to figure this one out, but I'm sure gonna try!

Wish me luck. Now I'm going to work on goal #4...