Getting Healthy

I have felt helplessly out of shape for way. too. long. I blame the beginning of this downward spiral on having a stupid cast last summer. Being out of my gym routine for 6-8 weeks and unable to chop and dice my daily salad proved disastrous. Truth be told, I'm still not back in the habit of eating salads for lunch every day and my cast was removed in August. It's been six months…enough with the excuses!

Once we returned from Hawaii (and after my quick-turnaround trip to Dallas for a convention) I decided to tackle my health head-on. My body responds really well to exercise, so committing to cross off #79 on my list of 101 Goals in 1001 Days seemed like a good place to start.

#79 - Go to the gym five days a week every week for a month

And while I was at it, I decided to tackle #28 too. 

#28 - Take either weights and/or kickboxing class every week for 3 months.

Unfortunately, my favorite kick boxing instructor no longer teaches at my gym, so I'm counting on the weights classes to pull me through that goal. And considering my Cycle/Spin teacher is brutal, I'm counting her class in that category. My goals, my rules!

Both of these goals have the ultimate goal of losing a few pounds, which would cross off another hefty item off the list. 

#95 - Lose 15 pounds

I'm down 4-5 pounds from when I originally posted my 101 in 1001 list, so it's a start! I still need to get serious about reducing my portion sizes and am considering giving up butter for Lent. (I've been adding butter to everything lately!) All of these things combined has to help me shed a little weight, right?

I'm two weeks into my month-long goal of hitting the gym 5 days a week and WOW! I can already tell a huge difference in my body. I put my hands on my hips today and realized there's significantly less to grab!!! Let's hear it for small victories!

My weekly routine is: 
Monday - Spin Class
Tuesday - Weights Class
Wednesday - Zumba
Thursday - Weights Class
Friday - Spin again

These classes are not for sissies…I hate every minute until it's over. This past week, I had a freezer meal workshop on Wednesday morning, so I missed Zumba. By the time I got to the gym, all of the classes were done, so I hopped on the treadmill. I surprised myself by jogging for about 10 minutes, then walking a bit, then jogging another 7 before I had to finish with walking again. Crossing the other goals off my list might get me closer to #29, which I haven't done in more than 3 years!

#29 - Jog for 30 minutes straight

I think the key there is going to be to get my legs in shape again and increase my lung capacity. I'm hoping to cross that one off sometime in March. We'll see!

The best decision I've made is to force myself to get to the gym daily. I was doing the Bikini Body Mommy Workouts for a while last fall and again after the New Year, but found myself wandering around the house in workout clothes all day, only to take them off (without a bead of sweat on them!) before bedtime. I need to work out first thing in the morning and get OUT of the house to do it. Or it won't happen. Period.

Another reason I should stop working out at home - one kid or another snaps pictures of me in the weirdest positions!

So here's to getting healthy. The scale isn't moving as quickly as I'd like, but I can feel myself getting stronger and my body is already feeling firmer. Progress…it's what keeps us from giving up, right???

A Perspective on Parenthood

I've seen this floating around online, but just in case you haven't taken time to watch it, please do. It might help you get through the exhausting week of motherhood that lies ahead. Go hug your kids and appreciate whatever phase they're in, because it will be over too soon!

Detoxing my Sugar-Addicted Family

It is no secret that my family loves dessert. I love to bake, Mike is an ice-cream-o-holic, and our children…well, they've been doomed from the beginning.

But recently, I've been less than amused by the constant longing…craving…of sweets whenever possible. The boys, in particular, hone in on the 1% of our pantry which is sugar-laden treats. Rice Krispie Treats are gobbled up in less than a day, cookies and brownies don't stand a chance in our house, it's ridiculous. And I'm no better than the little addicts I've created.

Since our Christmastime bake-fest, I've significantly cut back on making desserts and have stopped buying any and all snacks containing sugar. For our morning snack, we generally have fruit or Greek yogurt, afternoon snacks are mostly vegetables and hummus or chips and salsa. No more granola bars, no more trail mix (Jason didn't think I noticed that he only ate the M&Ms), no more.

We haven't been perfect (most of January has consisted of traveling and getting back into our routine) but things were improving. Kind of.

Then we went to a Super Bowl party yesterday. There was pizza, 7-layer bean dip, potato chips, veggies and dip, mixed nuts, guacamole and salsa…plenty of savory (even gluten free) options. But it wasn't good enough. Where did the attention of my children fall? On the cupcakes and bowl of Valentine M&Ms. Most kids are drawn to the sweet stuff...I get it! I'm right there with 'em. But seriously, it was like a moth to a flame, if moths were allowed to beg, plead, negotiate, and whine for fire. I was appalled at the depth of their sugar addiction.

So this morning, I took a different approach. Instead of banning, restricting, lecturing teaching them about the harmful effects on their bodies, and preaching to them about making "healthy choices", I searched on You Tube for "the effects of sugar on the body" and showed my kids a couple of videos. 

And IT WORKED!!!

They pulled out our cereal boxes and compared the Nutrition Facts on the Go Lean vs. the Joe's O's. They created charts of what they'd eaten so far today and we looked up the calories and sugar, continuing to track them for the rest of the day. By the end of dinner, the kids had only eaten 5 grams of their maximum daily recommended 16 grams of processed sugar. (We didn't track the sugars in unboxed foods like fruits, veggies, and meat) So what did they do? Grabbed a {1 gram of sugar} chocolate covered almond, ate a {5 grams of sugar} Dove dark chocolate, and finished their dinner by slicing up an apple. 

I was so proud!

Now let's see if we can continue this trend tomorrow. And the next day. And the next.