I am not big on writing down what I eat...why? Because I am lazy. That is the short answer.
The long answer? I do really good writing down everything and watching what I eat because I want my paper to look "good"....and then I get busy, bored or hungry (or start craving a food) and the food log slowly becomes a thing of the past.
I'm still not writing down everything I eat, but what I am doing is writing down one meal I had that day that I think can be improved.
For example, the other day I had one of my favorite meals (which my family calls the Bruno Plate - named after my favorite piano teacher, Bruno.) The Bruno Plate consists of bread (either dipped in olive oil or a thin layer of olive oil spread on the bread. I like my bread toasted and a thin layer of olive oil spread on it. My oldest daughter likes untested bread dipped into olive oil.), some cheese (any kind of cheese works), and some fruit (yep, any kind of fruit works).
Simple right? Bread, cheese and fruit. Not much room for improvement....except that bread. I am still buying wonder bread. I don't care that it is white. I know, deep down, that whole wheat bread is better for me, but...I am the only one who will eat it! I hate spending money on something that only I will eat.
Yes, I am being whiny! Why thank you for noticing! Eating healthy, when you are the only one in the family trying to eat healthy is hard. A lot of compromises are made.
Yet, when I look at that meal...Bread, cheese and fruit. I know, deep down I know, that if I made my bread 100% whole wheat I am changing an okay meal (nutrition wise) to a knock out meal (health wise). Sigh.
On the plus side, I have decided to take this opportunity to start making my own bread. I can make a loaf of white bread for the family and a loaf of wheat bread for me. Who knows, maybe over time my family will let me slowly darken their bread....in the mean time, I am making a great big leap towards a healthier me. I guess, that is a win-win.
Happy Journey!
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Year 3: Day 58: Helpful Food Advice
Have you ever noticed that when you choose to start making healthy changes everyone and everything has an opinion on how to do it?
I swear, every time I strive to eat better there are more articles in my news feed - be it Yahoo! News or FB or articles in a magazine - and a ton of friends/family with great ideas! So many ideas, in fact, that I always feel completely overwhelmed.
I saw an article once that listed every bit of advice for new mothers with newborns...the list was long and very contradictory. It was this list (and darn it, I wish I remembered where I read it so I could link to it), that made me start looking at healthy eating rules....
High Fructose sugar is bad. All sugar is bad. Here is a long list of names for sugar. All sugar operates the same. Eat sugar in moderation. Avoid all processed foods. Make sure there are only 5 ingredients on the label. Make sure there are only 4 ingredients on the label. Make sure you can read/pronounce/understand all the ingredients on the label. Sugar can not be one of the top 5 ingredients. Sugar can be on the label, just at the very bottom. Yogurt is great for you. Greek yogurt is best. Added sugar to yogurt is bad for you. Add honey, fruit and other things to sweeten the plain (Greek) yogurt you are eating. Eat your calories. Have a smoothie. Cereal is bad for you. Cheerios is pretty good. Whole grains are best. Quinn is best. Brown rice is good. Raisin Bran is healthy. So is Special K. Drink skim milk. Drink whole milk. Drink only organic raw milk. Do not use any condiments, full of sugar. Mustard is okay. Condiments that are organic are okay. Make your own condiments to control the amount of sugar. Salads are great. Salad dressings are bad. Salads at restaurants are to high in calories. Eggs are an excellent source of protein. Eggs are too high in cholesterol. Eat meat. Don't eat meat. Eat complex carbs. Don't eat carbs. Eat apples. Make sure that the fruits and vegetables you eat are high on the glycemic chart. Make your food from scratch. Replace all your oils with applesauce. Olive oil is good. Canola oil is good. Canola oil is good. Coconut oil is good. Different oils are needed for different types of cooking and baking and at different temperatures. You need protein, fat and carbs at each meal. Fats are bad for you. Good fats are okay.
My head hurts, I am sure there are more...in fact, shout out the ones you've heard below!
Me? Starting today, I am making my own decisions on what is healthy...and you know what? It might change over time. Starting today I am eating Stonyfield's Low Fat French Vanilla yogurt. Why? Because I can't find the whole milk version. Because I don't like the last of yogurt, but I like the taste of French Vanilla. Because I like the Stonyfield company and what they are attempting to do (be a successful organic yogurt company). Because French Vanilla yogurt tastes better with Post Raisin Bran then the YoKids tubes I buy for my children. Why YoKids for my children? Because it has less sugar than other brands. Why Post Raisin Bran? Because a doctor once told my sister to eat Raisin Bran every day and Post Raisin Bran has one of the highest amounts of fiber with one of the easiest to read labels. Why Post Raisin Bran with Stonyfield's Low Fat French Vanilla yogurt? Because I really like the combination and it stays with me longer than milk. But here is the thing - I eat like a snack. Yep, 1/4 cup of yogurt with 1/2 cup of raisin bran. Yummy and filling with lots of digestive benefits. Are there other solutions to make this meal healthier? Maybe...but I am not ready to go down that road yet.
And this what eating healthy should be all about. Finding a starting place, find what works for you and move forward. Ignore the advice and good intentions of others. Listen to your own body...you are the expert of you.
Happy Journey!
I swear, every time I strive to eat better there are more articles in my news feed - be it Yahoo! News or FB or articles in a magazine - and a ton of friends/family with great ideas! So many ideas, in fact, that I always feel completely overwhelmed.
I saw an article once that listed every bit of advice for new mothers with newborns...the list was long and very contradictory. It was this list (and darn it, I wish I remembered where I read it so I could link to it), that made me start looking at healthy eating rules....
High Fructose sugar is bad. All sugar is bad. Here is a long list of names for sugar. All sugar operates the same. Eat sugar in moderation. Avoid all processed foods. Make sure there are only 5 ingredients on the label. Make sure there are only 4 ingredients on the label. Make sure you can read/pronounce/understand all the ingredients on the label. Sugar can not be one of the top 5 ingredients. Sugar can be on the label, just at the very bottom. Yogurt is great for you. Greek yogurt is best. Added sugar to yogurt is bad for you. Add honey, fruit and other things to sweeten the plain (Greek) yogurt you are eating. Eat your calories. Have a smoothie. Cereal is bad for you. Cheerios is pretty good. Whole grains are best. Quinn is best. Brown rice is good. Raisin Bran is healthy. So is Special K. Drink skim milk. Drink whole milk. Drink only organic raw milk. Do not use any condiments, full of sugar. Mustard is okay. Condiments that are organic are okay. Make your own condiments to control the amount of sugar. Salads are great. Salad dressings are bad. Salads at restaurants are to high in calories. Eggs are an excellent source of protein. Eggs are too high in cholesterol. Eat meat. Don't eat meat. Eat complex carbs. Don't eat carbs. Eat apples. Make sure that the fruits and vegetables you eat are high on the glycemic chart. Make your food from scratch. Replace all your oils with applesauce. Olive oil is good. Canola oil is good. Canola oil is good. Coconut oil is good. Different oils are needed for different types of cooking and baking and at different temperatures. You need protein, fat and carbs at each meal. Fats are bad for you. Good fats are okay.
My head hurts, I am sure there are more...in fact, shout out the ones you've heard below!
Me? Starting today, I am making my own decisions on what is healthy...and you know what? It might change over time. Starting today I am eating Stonyfield's Low Fat French Vanilla yogurt. Why? Because I can't find the whole milk version. Because I don't like the last of yogurt, but I like the taste of French Vanilla. Because I like the Stonyfield company and what they are attempting to do (be a successful organic yogurt company). Because French Vanilla yogurt tastes better with Post Raisin Bran then the YoKids tubes I buy for my children. Why YoKids for my children? Because it has less sugar than other brands. Why Post Raisin Bran? Because a doctor once told my sister to eat Raisin Bran every day and Post Raisin Bran has one of the highest amounts of fiber with one of the easiest to read labels. Why Post Raisin Bran with Stonyfield's Low Fat French Vanilla yogurt? Because I really like the combination and it stays with me longer than milk. But here is the thing - I eat like a snack. Yep, 1/4 cup of yogurt with 1/2 cup of raisin bran. Yummy and filling with lots of digestive benefits. Are there other solutions to make this meal healthier? Maybe...but I am not ready to go down that road yet.
And this what eating healthy should be all about. Finding a starting place, find what works for you and move forward. Ignore the advice and good intentions of others. Listen to your own body...you are the expert of you.
Happy Journey!
Friday, January 16, 2015
Year 3: Day 49: 5 Gratitudes for Friday, 56
1. For the opportunity to home school my children. I love being with them each day. Sure, sometimes we need a break from each other (that is why park days were invented!), but I truly love home schooling. It has given me an opportunity to see my children blossom into their own personalities, to see their strengths and weaknesses...and how they choose to over come those weaknesses. I find it an amazing journey.
2. I love that answers to prayers are good no matter when they are received. When my children were very little and had their struggles, I prayed and got very distinct answers for each child. Those answers still apply to their struggles. They still apply as to what I, as their mother, can do to help them over come their struggles. I mean, how cool is that?
3. I love sharing my passions with my children. Whether it be studying conference talks or reading books or making our home a place of peace, I love that my children are a part of the process. I share, they share, we learn and grow together.
4. I am thankful Steve, the children and I are taking a year to read excerpts from C.S. Lewis' books. I have a book that provides a new excerpt for each day of the year. We have had some fantastic discussions (only one heated debate between Steve and I....still feel bad for that one) and, I, for one, have seen the positive changes in my life already as I apply the lessons that I am learning.
5. I am really glad for the experiences of my life. No journey is complete without lessons learned, failures, successes....which all adds up to experiences. And in my case, the experiences that I cherish the most in my life are the ones that bring my closer to God. The good, the bad, and the ugly have all helped me know God and to slowly become more like Him (trust me, I still have a long way to go).
Happy Journey!
2. I love that answers to prayers are good no matter when they are received. When my children were very little and had their struggles, I prayed and got very distinct answers for each child. Those answers still apply to their struggles. They still apply as to what I, as their mother, can do to help them over come their struggles. I mean, how cool is that?
3. I love sharing my passions with my children. Whether it be studying conference talks or reading books or making our home a place of peace, I love that my children are a part of the process. I share, they share, we learn and grow together.
4. I am thankful Steve, the children and I are taking a year to read excerpts from C.S. Lewis' books. I have a book that provides a new excerpt for each day of the year. We have had some fantastic discussions (only one heated debate between Steve and I....still feel bad for that one) and, I, for one, have seen the positive changes in my life already as I apply the lessons that I am learning.
5. I am really glad for the experiences of my life. No journey is complete without lessons learned, failures, successes....which all adds up to experiences. And in my case, the experiences that I cherish the most in my life are the ones that bring my closer to God. The good, the bad, and the ugly have all helped me know God and to slowly become more like Him (trust me, I still have a long way to go).
Happy Journey!
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Year 3: Day 46: My Anchor
I have fallen in love with The Rock's (Dwayne Johnson) new reality show, Wake-up Call.
I watched the first episode as a joke because when I saw promos for the show, I told my husband to sign me up! The Rock could wake me up anytime!
I guess the joke was on me, the first episode blew me away and I have been faithfully watching ever since.
Each week, I gain a new nugget of knowledge or inspiration. Simple things like "Success starts early." Not early as in age, but early as in time. If I want to be successful than I have to get up early and put the time in. It's that simple.
In last week's episode, The Rock talked about how weight lifting became his anchor during a time in his life when there was nothing else he could do to help or control a suggestion. He said everyone needs an anchor.
I've thought about that a lot.
I'm a christian so it would be easy to say Christ is my anchor (which he is), but I think finding your anchor means something more.
I have friends who find a way to run every day. Every. Single. Day. It doesn't matter how many kids, the ages of the kids, the husbands schedule...nothing gets in the way of that run. That is an anchor.
Writing use to be my anchor. No matter how busy or how tired or how chaotic, I wrote. I wrote in my journals. I have close to 20 old journals (I just buy spiral bound notebooks). I love putting down my thoughts, my ideas, my frustrations, my triumphs, my questions, my discoveries, my hopes and dreams. I love writing.
I want writing to be my anchor again.
I know it works. I wrote. I walked. I walked. I wrote. That first year was blissful. If I wanted to write a post, I had to walk because I can't lie in my writings. I just can't.
I stopped writing and I stopped doing a lot of other things.
I forgot my anchor.
And I want it back.
Happy Journey!
I watched the first episode as a joke because when I saw promos for the show, I told my husband to sign me up! The Rock could wake me up anytime!
I guess the joke was on me, the first episode blew me away and I have been faithfully watching ever since.
Each week, I gain a new nugget of knowledge or inspiration. Simple things like "Success starts early." Not early as in age, but early as in time. If I want to be successful than I have to get up early and put the time in. It's that simple.
In last week's episode, The Rock talked about how weight lifting became his anchor during a time in his life when there was nothing else he could do to help or control a suggestion. He said everyone needs an anchor.
I've thought about that a lot.
I'm a christian so it would be easy to say Christ is my anchor (which he is), but I think finding your anchor means something more.
I have friends who find a way to run every day. Every. Single. Day. It doesn't matter how many kids, the ages of the kids, the husbands schedule...nothing gets in the way of that run. That is an anchor.
Writing use to be my anchor. No matter how busy or how tired or how chaotic, I wrote. I wrote in my journals. I have close to 20 old journals (I just buy spiral bound notebooks). I love putting down my thoughts, my ideas, my frustrations, my triumphs, my questions, my discoveries, my hopes and dreams. I love writing.
I want writing to be my anchor again.
I know it works. I wrote. I walked. I walked. I wrote. That first year was blissful. If I wanted to write a post, I had to walk because I can't lie in my writings. I just can't.
I stopped writing and I stopped doing a lot of other things.
I forgot my anchor.
And I want it back.
Happy Journey!
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