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...

shredded

After a long greuling {FUN!} day with the fam, I finished my first workout of 30 day shred. I am now going to pass out, throw up, and die. In that order, if I'm lucky! Hopefully it won't be so bad tomorrow. My goal is at least five times this week. Wish me luck! :)

eat your way to skinny

Sooo......

I'm pretty sure all of us are conscious of our portions, or we would at least like to be. How do we know what 1/2 cup of ice cream looks like (the standard serving size)? What really is ONE portion of meat? Everyone knows that portions are much MUCH bigger nowadays. So how do you know how much to eat?

Enter:

Thinnerware

My cousin tipped me off to this delectable creation. He found out through his old mission companion's wife, who created it... didn't follow the connection? Doesn't matter. Aren't they gorgeous? And the colors are customizable.

So... how does it work? Each colored ring/floral design on the dish is a measurement of 1/4 cup to 1 cup. It's built in to the dinnerware. And if you forget what is what, the underside of each dish will remind you. Awesome. Soooo cool. And so much easier than lugging out your measuring cups, stuffing your food into that, then putting it onto your plate. That gives you nothing but wasted time, extra dishes, extra whiny kids/husband who are waiting for you to measure everything out, and ZERO motivation to eat proper portion sizes.

But Thinnerware? Wow, it does all the work for you. Awesome. Grand opening is May 27. I hope they still have dishes left on their shelves after day 1!

SO EXCITED...

This:

came today! (insert heavenly choir of angels)

After I catch up on sleep and heal, I am all over this bad boy!

Today I was kid-less for three hours.

Three hours! So instead of going back home and relaxing (which is what I reeeeeeaaaaally wanted to do!), I drove straight to the gym and worked out. It was awesome!

I did the stationary bike for 20 minutes, level 3 most of the time, and a little level 4. I was stoked.
Then I pounded out 10 minutes on the treadmill, 6 point incline, level 8. It rocked my world. I felt like I would never walk again! I'll see how I feel tomorrow.

My daily diet fluctuates. Some days I eat SUPER healthy, then others I totally blow it. I have little consistency. Well, I must say that I have the building blocks of a healthy diet with my everyday foods. I don't normally eat beef; it's either ground turkey or chicken breast. I don't keep a whole lot of processed foods at home. We eat a lot of raw stuff (fruits/veggies, not our meat. Don't want any confusion here!), and I make mostly everything from scratch.
I think it's the sauces that gets me. Hubby really likes Chicken Alfredo, which is such a deceiving meal. You think you're taking the healthy route by eating skinless chicken breast, but the yummy, creamy, delectable white sauce gets you with it's fat and high calories.
Not to mention, I have been STARVING these past few weeks. Like, voracious. Every hour I have.to.eat! Hopefully it's because I'm burning more calories these days and my body thinks I can afford those extra calories. But- NO, body! I am working hard to cut those calories out for good! Sheesh!
Another good tidbit:
Today I ordered Jillian Michael's 30-Day shred workout video. I am so excited!

Time to redeem myself....................

I haven't done anything in a long time. After my small injuries (so small that I shouldn't even consider them injuries, more like hiccups) and kiddo sickies, I seriously forgot about mama. That would be me. I put myself up on the back of the topmost shelf again, to gather dust and get forgotten about. It wasn't a conscious decision, and that was the problem. Working out and taking care of your body NEEDS to be a conscious decision, one that you make every day!

ANYWAY... I have made the effort to eat more veggies. Not that I don't like them (my kids even eat them plain!), but that they aren't as convenient as, say, Burger King chicken nuggets when you're on the road, your kids are screaming in the back for nourishment, and you are already frazzled. But I have made much more of an effort to cook better, healthier options at home (it's much nicer on the pocketbook, too), which includes vegetables and fruits of all kinds. Oh and guess what??? Fruits and veggies are naturally portable! I came across this article/blog post, and I thought it was pretty darn cool, so here you go: http://www.bartonpublishing.com/blog/2008/05/27/gods-pharmacy-foods-that-resemble-the-body-parts-they-help/
I've noticed that though I've been doing a stellar job of maintaining my weight (who else is good at maintaining their 50lbs overweight-ness???), I've been feeling extra flabby lately. Super un-toned. I know that under all those protective fat layers, I have one rockin' hot body! So I don't want the fat monster to win. And despite my constant battle with mystery migraines (three times in one week? What the what???), I've been battling the bulge with my pilates video and good old fashioned crunches. Lots of 'em. I hate those things! And that's probably why I should be doing them more often. I'm not going to be losing my tummy by thinking about sweat! :)
So..... GO! Get off your butts and do some jumping jacks! I'll do them too! :)