Thursday, February 12, 2009

February 12 Update

Doing okay here. The two weeks or so without internet connection were do-able enough - but living through the flu without a TV to entertain the kids was a bit of a new challenge for me. We pulled out all the old VHS tapes from the attic and that sufficed.

My "fitness" goals are simply to be ACTIVE in some way, shape or form every day. Twice this week I've taken a brisk walk (in the not so brisk weather!) - once just around the ball fields across from my house and once for about a mile round trip to my sisters and back. Before I got sick, I popped in a CD of kids' songs twice that week and just silly-danced until I was panting. Sage and Yeva loved it, Bobby was amused and Hannah was horribly embarrassed that I should act in such a dreadful manner. :-)

Money (darn money!) has proven itself elusive yet again this month, and so our diets are pretty much what we can afford. Surprisingly, a side benefit of this is that it's forced me to face all the "extras" that even *I* was denying were extras. So, all the "poor people" food, that is in actuality so nutritious, has become more commonplace around here. Oats, beans, greens... amazing how versatile they are!

Friday, January 30, 2009

Thinking about issues

Okay, this is scary to even put on here and admit, but I need to! This came up in an online conversation today and I'm basically just going to cut and paste it here.

I never thought about it before - I TOTALLY do this... catch myself serving small servings to everyone else so that *I* don't go without. And then I feel like this horrible, awful mother/wife. Of course, I always make WAY more than enough, and there is almost always at least one serving left over - but, still, I feel awful. OR, alternately, I've caught myself eating, say, 2 pancakes as I make breakfast, and then get everyone fed and then eat 4 pancakes (I make small ones, LOL) and then trick myself into thinking I only at 4, instead of 6, and then think my DH is "hogging food" when he eats 5!!!

In fact, thinking about it, I do that to Josh a LOT - accuse him of eating too much. He always takes a huge portion - bigger than anyone else. But, he never goes back for seconds (or rarely) and I always do. Sometimes thirds.

Well, thanks for the therapy session, girls.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Mindful Eating

We're dealing with our share of dietary issues in our house right now.

First and foremost - money is TIGHT. I'm not even sure what we'll be able to spend in any given week. It makes it VERY hard to plan meals week-to-week.

Sage, as most of my followers know, is having some digestive issues. We totally took gluten out of the house and are hoping for improvement. But, then, what if it's dairy? That will be *so* hard on him to give up.

Ziva, nearly 7 months, is just becoming interested in food. It's an effort to navigate through what I am and am not willing to give to her. *Everyone* starts with cereal (I know, not everyone) but with the grain issues Sage seems to be having, I've been avoiding all grains for her.

One kid doesn't like pasta.

One kid doesn't like rice... or meat.

My husband doesn't like anything green and leafy, or onions, garlic, tomatoes, avacadoes, green peppers... the list goes on and on.

So - in my "self inventory" this week, I've come to realize that trying to bend to everyone else's needs and desires has led ME to eat horribly.

I do not take full advantage of meal times to put healthy things into myself and my family (because I get so frustrated trying to be accomodating) and end up just eating "whatever". This really hit home when we took out the gluten. WOW, it really cut out a lot of my convenience "whatever" foods.

I also have become the Human Garbage Disposal. Hannah picks out the chunks of chicken - I eat them. Sage ignores the "macky cheese" on his plate - I eat it. Bobby is a very social eater, so if he has a snack, I snack with him - hungry or not! And it's been much worse since money has been so tight because I feel so BAD about throwing anything away.

It's really horrible. And I'm really shocked at my discovery!

So, my short-term goal, as simple as it is, is to not eat according to my family's whims. Just because my husband doesn't like salad doesn't mean the rest of us (who DO enjoy it) can't have a big old bowl of it for dinner. Just because Hannah's meal of choice is "anything with cheese" doesn't mean that I have to eat that! Just because children X, Y, and Z leave food on their plate, doesn't mean *I* have to eat it!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

The Beginning

So, I've tried paper and pencil, but it's not working.

I'll make this my food/health/exercise/ranting journal.

The picture is me at my ideal weight - about 14 years ago! Wow.

Here goes!