A Little Inspiration

Here is a great video!  Thinking of you Dad.



Eating a Colorful Rainbow Roundup

I'd like to stop feeling like a

complete failure

at dinnertime when a certain plate remains untouched

by a certain someone who will remain nameless,

so I am gathering ideas to teach and reinforce the idea of

healthy eating

and the importance of a variety of food. 

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Today I Ate a Rainbow - This looks like a cute site with great products which include the "Today I Ate a Rainbow" kit using colored magnets to help visualize what children have eaten, and a book titled, "The Rainbow Bunch."   These products are available through their website or through Amazon: Rainbow Innovations Today I Ate A Rainbow Kit

Their site also has free resources: coloring pages and games, a "Today I Tried" chart to aim for the 10 exposures to new foods that it takes before we get used to it, and several videos including Today I Ate A Rainbow song.

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Here is a link to a printable game called : Eat a Rainbow

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Wegmans has an awesome printable "Eat a Rainbow Everyday" chart that I think I'll laminate for the kids to put stickers on as they "eat their colors" throughout the week.

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These Healthy Kids Plates are an excellent idea.  Here is printable place mat with the plate on it.  The creator also has a book that looks great: 201 Healthy Smoothies and Juices for Kids: Fresh, Wholesome, No-Sugar-Added Drinks Your Child Will Love.
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What about you?  Any other suggestions out there?



What's Working: THINKING POSITIVELY

{Week 5}

Today I weighed in at almost 2 pounds down. 

I had to do it twice because I couldn't believe it. 

It's been a busy, stressful weekend for me and I don't feel like I've been focused enough.  But I like what I see

- it's not a number I've seen since before Braden was born! 

So I guess I'll keep with the plan this week

and keep thinking about what's helping me to lose weight.

 

 

 

 

Thinking Positively

 

Getting and keeping my head in the game can be tricky between the day in-day out of

meals,

diapers,

tantrums,

sick kids,

lack of sleep,

me being sick,

husband traveling,

time management,

household chores,

behavior management,

pain management,

 kids extra-curricular activities*gasp*

 

I think you get the picture.

 

Yes, I think I obviously need to find some "me" time - BUT, until then, half of eating healthfully- maybe more - is all about the thoughts.  Our self-talk is powerful!

 

I wrote a quote down a while ago that goes along with this:

"If you hate being fat, start hating the thinking and behavior that made it so." 

Change comes from the inside-out.

 

I have found this to be

one of the most difficult things to change

and it takes vigilance to stay on top of any negative thoughts that creep in whether it's from

old habits,

an incorrect self-image,

or triggers from the environment.

 

If you've been "trying" to lose weight, stop and listen to your self-talk throughout the day. I say it's difficult, but the funny thing is, it's completely within our control.  Self-talk can work in a positive way, too!

Up Next: IGNORING THE EXTREME

My Umteenth First Day

What do you do when your child is sick and, having believed her to be attention-seeking, you send her to school only to discover that she is indeed ill and so you go to the store to buy her ice cream and popsicles and stop at McDonnalds on the way home in order to get her to eat something - anything, and when you get home she discovers they messed up her hamburger (again!) so she won't touch it...   


 and you are standing there...

with a hamburger in hand...

after 7 p.m....

and you are hungry...

very hungry from eating carefully and sensibly all day...

very sensibly.

What do you do? 

 

Image source: Mcdonalds.com



You eat that hamburger.  Oh, yes.  You do.  (And by that, I mean eat that one and whatever your other child doesn't eat...)

As you inhale it you push back thoughts of maybe only eating one of the buns and what this might do to your calorie budget and in doing so almost don't even taste it.  But because you're committed, motivated, or just plain scared about how you will write about this, as soon as your head is cleared from devouring the last few uneaten fries, you gather your wits about you and dare to log what you've just eaten. 

Normally I would not have done that last part.  Normally I would then feel terrible and decide that I had failed for the day and I would have then turned to a rich treat like ice cream because it's there and, well, because I blew it, didn't I?


 Well, no.  Turns out I did not.  Turned out I even had calories left over if I made the right choice! 



Image ource: Yoplait.com



( ( ( I am now sounding an audible sigh of relief because my umteenth first day wasn't a failure...) ) )

What do you do when you're super hungry

and there isn't the best choice in front of you? 

How do you you minimize the "damage"?

Too Camera Shy

Have you noticed that when and if I put a picture of myself on this blog it is from the shoulders up, or hidden behind a child?  Actually, pictures of me are few and far between because I'm usually the one behind the camera, which has suited me just fine the past few years.

Here I am yesterday, all too willing to smile for Hailey because I knew the camera wasn't going to capture it all...

 

But I'm so tired of that self-conscious point of view!  So I'm starting something new here because I've started and stalled on my own weight loss attempts countless times in the past 8 months.  I could continue to accept underlying reasons of why I can't lose weight (PCOS, lack of sleep, stress, injured feet, etc.) or I can focus on what will work.  Putting it all out there (ok, not all but you know what I mean) just might be helpful.

Weekly posts starting this Monday exploring why it seems so ridiculously complicated to lose weight when it is supposed to be simple as calories in vs. calories out, and a hopeful shift in my thinking as I seek motivational insights.  And shorter daily updates of successes (or maybe sometimes the struggles). 

This feels like my last thread of hope.  Someday I hope to look back at these posts and see how far I've come and find the inspiration to never ignore a few pounds of weight gain again.  A few pounds adds up over time - well, it can work in the opposite direction, too, right?!