Year 2, Day 192: Cereal

I don't really post much about nutrition because, honestly, I don't know much.

I've decided that I should post my musings, if for no other reason, writing things out helps me!

So, please bear with me on this post.

I think I eat to much cereal. I really like milk with Cheerios or with Special K or with Raisin Bran (although I prefer yogurt with Raisin Bran). Cereal just has a nice texture/flavor combo that I really like.

In the summer time, I tend to eat a lot of cereal. Too hot to cook? Eat cereal! Too tired to cook because I have been swimming all afternoon? Eat cereal! Woke up late and do not have time to make eggs and oatmeal? Eat cereal! Want a late night snack? Eat Cereal! Yeah, cereal just about covers all the meals and moods.

Now, in the winter, especially a very cold winter, my go to food tend to be oatmeal or soup.

But back to summer (since that is the season we are in).

When I am doing a great job at eating healthy, I will eat a salad every day. I will have fruit at every  meal and for every snack. Heck, some of my favorite meals are fruit! The children and I like to do salad bars in the summer. We also tend to eat a lot of what I call, "Bruno" plates - hunk of cheese, hunk of bread, bunch of fruit and maybe some olive oil. We also do the cheese, apples and crackers meals that I first enjoyed with my Aunt Celeste.

Thankfully, my husband doesn't mind when I go into my "it is too dang hot to have the oven on or to stand by a hot stove so I am not cooking" mode. He just eats cereal. Hmmm....maybe I learned this trait from him? (Well, to be honest, no, it wasn't him. It was being a poor starving student in college - I could store a lot of cheap cereal in my dorm room, it required no special tools and I could eat it all day long....)

What is weird about this summer, is that I haven't gotten into my "more fruits and veggies" phase. It usually starts in spring and is in full swing by now. Sadly, I am still in my "all I want is cereal" phase.

Sure Cheerios is good for your heart and low in sugar. Sure Raisin Bran is high in fiber. Not sure what Special K is good for, but the cereal touts itself as a way to lose weight, so it must be healthy, right?

I have been mulling the idea around that what I need to do, is make sure to eat a big helping of fruit or veggies before I pull out that box of cereal...maybe, just maybe, that will get me eating a tad healthier (or at the very least, vary my meals!).

Happy Walking!

Year 2, Day 191: Remember the days?

Do you remember the days as a child when you played all day outside? Riding bikes, climbing trees, swimming, walking to a friends house, playing at the park, roller skating, playing ball, water fights, snowball fights, building snow forts....I mean, there was not enough time in the day to get in all the fun.

Do you remember those days when you played like crazy and didn't care what the scale said or what size your clothes were or how much you ate?

Do you remember not worrying about growing old or pulling muscles or aching feet?

Man, being a child is totally wasted on the youth!

I watched my children swim today with happy abandon. Their form was terrible (they are taking swim lessons next week), but their fun was off the chart.

Me? I actually didn't swim because I was playing life guard, but when I do swim, I don't feel like the play I do with my children is "working" me enough and I always begin or end with some laps.

Sure, laps are good, but why do I feel this need to get in some "real" exercise? When we were children, playing was exercise. Why does it have to change when we get older?

The question is actually quite serious.

Does play no longer work our bodies like it once did? Do we, physically, need the additional stimulation that work outs bring to our muscles, joints, organs and so forth? Why can't we play and stay fit? Seems kind of unfair...

Also what is unfair is not being able to eat everything in sight and not gain a pound, but I am sure that is a post for another day!

In the meantime, I will keep working out and I will also keep playing....maybe between the two I can stay healthy and young.

Happy Walking!

Year 2, Day 190: Another good reason to workout

Recently I posted a question on the Body by Bells Facebook page asking how everyone stayed motivated to workout. When I asked the question, I was struggling to workout - I wasn't feeling the excitement when I first started.

I got a lot of great responses, but Mandy Goodwill's response has stuck in my head the most. She said:  Consistency and feeling happy is what keeps me motivated. When I get inconsistent is when I fall out of the groove. And then I get grumpy. So even though I may not feel particularly motivated at the moment, I try to think about how more unmotivated I will feel if I get off track. And my family, including myself, likes me better when I'm not grumpy.

I honestly wondered if that could be true - not exercising would cause someone to get grumpy? I get grumpy for all sorts of reasons. Not enough sleep. Not enough time to myself in the morning. (Oh, I am sure there are more....) But I never thought of exercise in that way.

I decided to put Mandy to the test (of course, she didn't know that). I have been super consistent for about a week (I know, not very long, but hey, I gotta start somewhere!). 

I did not get any form of exercise in today and guess what? yeah, you guessed it. Mom was grumpy (you can read the whole ugly truth about that on my other blog.)

It might not be scientific proof, but it is enough for me to figure out how to get some exercise in on my super busy days (Thursday is the busiest). It is enough for me to add "not get grumpy" to my reasons for exercising. 

Happy Walking!

Year 2, Day 189: Small Changes

There is something about working out that I love - seeing the small, but important, changes.

On Monday, I could hardly finish my 5 push ups (against the wall). Today, I did all 5 (against the wall). It might not sound like much, but that is a huge improvement for me.

I can see the small changes during the work out - a little lower in a stretch; holding a little longer while doing a plank, going a little deeper in a squat. Which in turn gets me excited.

Excitement is what drives me to come back for more the next day.

I would rather have my excitement come from losing large amount of weight or have chiseled arms...but I gotta start somewhere, right?

When I got done working out today, I was already thinking of what days next week I could get my workouts in....I think this is a good sign.

I am still going slow. Trying not to push myself, but I did see small improvements. Good enough reason to celebrate!

Happy Walking!

Year 2, Day 188: The Universe helps me workout

I whined yesterday about starting over and moving so slow.

Here is the thing, it doesn't matter how slow you move in the beginning.

What matters is that you are moving. Your body wants and needs you to move.

You will see benefits the moment you start.

And that slow moving? Yeah, you will still feel it later that day or even the next day. You feel that good kind of tired from working hard. You will feel that good kind of sore from moving muscles you forgot you even had.

You might not look like a swimsuit model after one day of moving slow, but you will feel it.

And here is another funny thing that happens when you start moving - a sort of silent announcement to the universe that you are serious - things will come into your life that cause you to move more. Seriously, it happens.

Today was that kind of day for me. The universe (or how I prefer to see it, God) looking out for me. I want to get into shape. I want to start moving more....and what does God do for me? He gives me an opportunity to move today.

You see, Tuesdays and Thursdays are tough days for me. They are scheduled "active recovery" days, which means I don't do the Body by Bells workout. I am suppose to do something active - like walking. However, I sometimes forget and end up doing nothing on my "active" recovery day.

So, today, to ensure that I had an "active" recovery day, God gave me the opportunity to find bugs in my food pantry. A discovery that demands immediate action. A discovery that demands lots and lots and lots of affected foods are tossed out. Which then demands of me, to squat and lift and toss, large heavy bags of food.

Gosh, I love active recovery days! And from now on, I am going to ensure that I always have a plan to get in a gentler, less gross active recovery day....like cleaning behind the television or under the couch or....just kidding! I will set up a plan to do yoga or dancing or walking or swimming or anything besides bugs in the pantry!

Happy Walking!

Year 2, Day 187: Starting over is hard to do...

Do you know the old song, "Breaking Up is Hard to Do?" - Every time I exercise I hear that tune with the words...."Starting Over is Hard to Do!"

Yeah, it doesn't quite fit, but the premise is true.

Starting over is hard to do. And I have started over more times than I can count. If I could go back in time (hmmm....sounds like another song lyric) I would tell my younger self to never quit exercising.

That's it. That is the message I would give myself - Don't Quit.

Maybe if I hadn't quit after high school or college or after being married for a year or after becoming pregnant with each and every child or the countless times I have started and stopped since having my last child, maybe just maybe, I would be better off than I am today.

I hate doing "barely moving" work outs. My squats maybe, maybe go a 1/4 of the way down. My push-ups are against the wall...still. My squat thrusts are a joke - I can't seem to figure out how to thrust backwards so I just move one leg at a time. Seriously. My brain and my legs are mis-communicating over this particular exercise. I squat down and then....nothing. I just sit there trying to remember how to thrust back.

There are lots of things my brain and body have forgotten to do. I was laying on the floor with my legs bent (feet close to my bum) when I attempted to do a floor bridge (you know, the exercise where you push your pelvis up in to the air). Yeah, I couldn't do it. What was interesting was if my feet were far enough away from my bottom than I could do it. Makes me think different muscles were working and not working, but I digress....

My head remembers how to do all of these exercises, but my muscles have either forgotten or have gotten too weak or are just simply not working correctly (misalignment). With my luck, it is probably all three.

I am pretty sure everything was communicating before I injured my piriformis muscle/sciatic nerve...but that doesn't really matter. It isn't working now.

So here I am, working out again with Mandy. Starting over from the beginning (she has a 12 week program) and feeling frustrated beyond belief.

Maybe, just maybe, if I had never stopped that first time, it wouldn't be quite so hard this time. Maybe.

Happy Walking!

Year 2, Day 186: I hope they call me on a mission...

A quick update: A few months ago, I started a workout program with Mandy Goodwill through her business Eclipse Fitness. She has an area just for women called "Body by Bells." Mandy has two programs to choose from, one that is strength training through body weight resistance (hopefully, I got that right!). For this option, think push ups, planks, stair climbers, etc. The other option is doing workouts with kettle bells. Don't know how to explain kettle bells, so check out this wiki page.

I chose the first option. Mandy is an amazing instructor. I normally do not like these type of work outs, but Mandy does a great job of encouraging, expelling, keeping it fun, but also working you hard so you see results. I was absolutely loving how I was feeling.

Then I got hurt. Twice.

Not sure what I did the first time. I felt pain in my hip and lower back, but never went to see a doctor. I just babied it for a few days, then slowly eased back into the work outs.

The second time, however; wow! Talk about pain. My piriformis muscle (which is a muscle that lays under your glutes) pinched my sciatic nerve (a nerve that runs from your lower back all the way down your legs). My pain was on my left side. It was so bad that I could not walk. Laid for several days on the floor, on my back, with my left leg propped up at a 45 degree angle with pillows (the pillows supported every part of my leg from my hip all the way to my heel).

I do not recommend this injury to anyone.

I am thankful that my family doctor specializes in orthopedics. He and his interns were able to gently work on my muscles and get me back to not feeling any pain and being able to walk. I am not a 100% healed. The doctor told me it would take several months for me to be "100%" better and more than likely I will aggravate the piriformis muscle again. It is just one of those muscles that once pulled or pinched easily re-injure.

Yet, the doctor said being active is important.

I am really struggling to be active again. I really am.

I wake up feeling like a crooked old woman (sadly I don't have a crooked old dog or crooked line so I guess am not living a nursery rhyme).

I stretch. I use a foam roller to deep massage the muscles that feel cramped and achy.

I try to walk. I try to do Mandy's exercises - she even suggest kettle bells would be great to help me get back into shape.

I think, deep down, I under if I am "suppose" to get into shape.

Okay, that sounds weird, I know.

Sometimes, my thinking thinks me out of good things.

So here is my very bizarre logic:

In the scriptures it says there is a season for everything. I have accepted that my season in life is raising children and homeschooling. I get that. I can postpone working outside of the home. I can postpone going back for my masters. I can postpone writing the next great novel. And somewhere in my head, since getting injured, I have convinced myself that getting shape just isn't for this "season" - maybe when the children are a little older.

I have a confession to make: every time I have attempted to get into shape in the past, something has caused me to quit (myself, moving, injury, etc). Each and every time I have had a similar thought - maybe now is just not the right time.

I know, I know, I know. Now is the perfect time to get healthy. My young children are home, they will learn from my example. They will see the benefits of eating a balanced meal and of getting enough rest and drinking enough water and exercising. This is the best way to show instead of tell. In my head, I know this.

But somehow, the other part of my brain (the part that is not always logical) convinces myself that "now is not the time."

So, I have been struggling to exercise. I have been struggling to be motivated. I have been struggling with this internal conflict.

Then today at church, we had a wonderful talk by a woman who is getting ready to serve a mission with her husband. She started the talk by telling the children they could help their parents prepare to serve a mission by encouraging them to...exercise, eat healthy, get adequate sleep, etc...

It was a wonderful talk. And the whole time she talked, I realized I had a new argument for myself. Maybe getting in shape is not the "right" time for me, but I have a daughter that wants to serve a mission. This is the "right" time for her to get in shape. And for my daughter to get into shape, I am going to need to help her - I need to be a good example, I need to encourage her, I need to mentor her, I need to gather information for her to read (which means I have to read it) about health, nutrition, etc.

Now the above paragraph may sound like it means "I am suppose to get in shape", then you have failed to see the subtle difference. When I am striving to get into shape than the focus is on me. When I am striving to help my daughter prepare to be physically fit for her mission than the focus is on her. And I have learned since day 1 of being pregnant with my first child that I am much better at taking care of myself when I see that it directly helps my child be the healthiest they can be.

The requirements to be a missionary are tough - walk 6 miles and ride a bike for 12 miles. It is suggested to establish a regular pattern of aerobic exercise - walking, running, or cycling for one hour every day.

We will jump in with both feet, but we will also build slowly - we have time.

And how does kettle bells and body weight resistance fit in? Well, at my age, to be physically fit takes a lot more than just walking....besides, if I can be an example to all of my children that the best way to prepare for their adult life - be it missions, college, military or parenthood - is through being physically fit, than I gotta do it all.

Sometimes it is hard being a mom. And sometimes, being a mom is just the answer you need.

Happy Walking!