Progress

...Not perfection right??? I've been slower on my "plan to eat better and be healthier" than I was planning but I am making progress so I'm proud of myself. I do tend to be a discouraged perfectionist sometimes and when I can't do it perfectly I get overwhelmed and give up altogether. If you don't believe me look at my laundry room which I have given up on at the moment.

I haven't stuck with my fast perfectly. I blame my husband who said he is NOT going completely without meat this year. So for the first few days I was eating good during the day but when he'd get home I'd eat a big dinner. I also wasn't completely staying away from sugar and I was considering french fries "veggies". I know they are but deep fried veggies aren't on the plan;)

But for the last few days I've been being good and sticking with my fast. Remember no meat, no sugar, no hydrogenated oils....well instead of telling you what I can't eat again I'll tell you what my typical day looks like. I wish I could post pictures because all these fruits and veggies is making very pretty meals.

Breakfast ~ oatmeal with some blueberries and honey or cheerios with rice milk.

Lunch ~ a sandwich with hummus, cucumber slices and red pepper slices on Ezekiel bread or a spinach salad with cranberries, cucumbers and walnuts with low fat raspberry dressing.

Dinner ~ Brown rice, beans with homemade salsa basically every night.

I considered coffee "fruit of the earth" and am continuing to drink it although I cut back to a cup a day and drink it black. I've been drinking green tea instead of my afternoon cup.

As for my working out I've been going to zumba 2x a week and getting my cardio in. I've also been doing "core training" (put in quotes because I don't know if I'm using that term correctly). Basically I'm using my early 90's abs and buns videos....gotta love the spandex though. ~Did you know kids are wearing those again???~

My stomach muscles separated after having each one of my kids, but after having Ruby they never had a chance to go back together. Since my stomach is basically doing nothing to help carry my weight all that pressure has been on my back. This explains so much since my back has literally gone out several times since Brayden was born. I'll be bending over to pick something up and wont be able to stand up. It's bad.

So, this whole thing is long overdo.

And now I'm going to go clean my laundry room...:)

Sometimes it's better not knowing...

Because when you have the information you have to do something with it, you can no longer go along in ignorant bliss. So, I've heard all this stuff about where our meat comes from and so far I've really looked at things from a mom point of view. I was concerned about the amount of hormones in milk and meat because I have girls (I imagine it's not good for boys either) and I didn't want them developing breasts at the age of 5 and having to deal with their period when they turn 8, know what I mean???

So, I usually chose natural meat and organic milk...usually. I limited fast food because common sense told me that would be the worst when it came to things like that, but we haven't avoided it altogether. After all, it is convenient when we're out to run through the McDonald's drive through and pick up something from their dollar menu.

But then I watched the documentary Food Inc. You can also find out about more about it at www.foodincmovie.com

Now I'm stuck with what I'm going to make for our family Christmas party tomorrow. I was planning on making a ham, but after watching how they treat the pigs and the workers who work in the slaughter houses I just can't. I'm not a big animal rights person, but it was just ridiculously cruel.

I won't give you a bunch more details. I already talked Bill's ear off and we agreed to do some things differently so I'll just tell you those and the reasons behind it.

• Buying meat from self sustaining local farms. These farms are small and seem to focus on producing a healthy product for their customer, rather than growing to be the biggest and richest businesses in the country. Because of that these people have an uphill battle against the big meat companies and their lobbies ts in Washington.
• Buying grass fed local beef. Feeding cows corn actually makes them more acidic which makes it more likely the cow will have ecoli or some other bacteria and also makes our bodies more prone to infection.
• Planning ahead to avoid fast food. I admit, the times that we do stop and get fast food is because I did not plan ahead and simply bring something from home, or better yet, plan on being at home around meal time.
• Making stuff from scratch. We all know the benefits of less processed and preserved food.
• Making salmon for Christmas dinner. They didn't say anything about the fishing industry and I would think that with a wild salmon I should be safe. If that movie comes out I'm NOT watching it!

Week One lesson - Learn how to deal with failure

That's right after posting to all of everyone who comes accross this blog about a week ago, I have to admit that I have pretty much completely failed in my journey to being healthier...

In fact, after having a healthy breakfast of cheerios this morning I realized we still had ice cream leftover from Brayden's birthday and served myself a bowl. I really have no excuse for that and now I'm feeling not too hot!

My friends and I had a toy exchange last night and I begged one of them to bring brie in a pilsberry crust. It was so bad but so good all at once. In fact I couldn't decide how bad and good it was until I had a second piece;)

I'm not going to step on the scale, I'm not going to measure myself and I'm not going to beat myself up any longer about all of this because...well I was going to say it's a new day but this is the day I've been snacking on cookies and cream, so there's nothing really to say!

I'm going forward. I'm taking my failure with grace and I'm gonna shake what my mama (actually not my mama, probably one of my aunts) gave me tonight at zumba.

Tomorrow is a new day:)

Come with me on this journey

It will be much less painful than it is for me...lover of sweets and baked goods (I'm sooo a dessert before dinner kinda gal)


Isn't it funny how as moms we usually don't know how we look until we see a picture? I mean, how could I know? I glance toward the scale every once in a while and actually stick out my tongue at it. I put my make-up on in front of the overhead mirror in the car (better lighting) and I AM the picture taker.


So this summer when I set down the camera while at the beach and my husband got ahold of it and took this shot I was a little surprised to see myself from behind!

And yep, that's a nice picture of my butt, which is so much cushier than it was before baby number 4...well no 3! Aren't you glad that I trust you people? And yes, I will admit to you and only you that that is back fat you see! Aghhhh!

Anyway, for some reason in the middle of cooking constantly, food galore and my bestest friends, jackets and scarves, I'm all of a sudden motivated to lose some weight, gain some muscle and just be healthier! You know, treat my body better...

Part of the reason is because I finally gave in and stepped on Bad Mr. Scale! That gave me a goal...lose 20 pounds!

Another reason is because I FINALLY found a workout that I love....ready for it? Zumba!

Yes it is so much fun! I took dance when I was younger and believe me...you lose those skills. The first time I went I was so lost and could NOT keep up with the steps, but by the end of the session I was such a sweaty mess and I didn't want to stop because I was having so much fun. I went again a couple weeks later and followed a little better but it still kicked my cushy butt!

Yesterday I daringly went all alone to the town's fitness center which is known for it's gossipy people; so out of my comfort zone. This was the first time that we actually were in a dance study surrounded by mirrors...yikes! This was the reason I went to the health club's Zumba, because I knew the mirrors would help me actually get some of the more difficult steps.

Which leads me to the final reason I'm wanting to do this. I got a look at myself in fitted workout gear in that full length mirror and suddenly saw the difference from when I was really in shape! I thought no wonder I feel the way I do! I know that was before children, but still, I want to feel good again. I want to be able to play tag with my kids and not get completely winded after only five minutes. I want to be able to go out dancing with my husband. I want to NOT have to rely on jackets and scarves to hide that middle area.

So here's my plan. I would totally go to Zumba 3x a week if I could, but that's not very practical with my already busy schedule, so I'll at least go once and then start working out at home too again.

The bulk of my diet (there has to be some room this time of year) is going to be whole grains, lean meats, veggies and fruits. I've also been drinking Acai berry juice this week and feel it doing something in my digestive system.

And lastly I'm going to tell you all about it:) Lucky you!