You Butter Watch Out! You Butter Not Cry!

{Tangent: My 10 yr old son wanted to put the "Net Disaster" cup on my blog...click the cup to have it spill...press the icon on the right to remove it if you want. I'll indulge him for a while.}

Last Holiday: Chef Didier is speaking with Georgia Byrd, who believes she is dying:

Chef Didier: You and I, we know the secret to life

[whispers]

Chef Didier: it's butter.

{I loved that line and related it to my experiences of fad dieting. Bring back the flavor!}

we all know that too much butter has its consequences; I'm not going to go there. However, upon pondering the changes in eating habits I know I'm going to have to make for myself and my family, I had an "AH HA" moment the other day...actually, it was more like "WHAT THE SFDH DING DANG DARN" moment. Conversations my husband and I had with our kids about butter replayed over and over in my head. I couldn't believe what I was "hearing:" my husband and I tried to talk our kids into eating butter with their food!

My kids don't like butter. They like their toast with just jam. They like their cornbread plain. They like their popcorn plain. They like their banana bread plain. Their pancakes, baked potatoes, etc. Danny and I have both said to them on several occasions, "It's better with butter! You don't know what you're missing!" And, even more sickening, we'd still put it on their food...because we know what's best for them. what the(favorite explitive here)!?

And it's beyond butter. We did the same thing with ranch dressing on salads and pizza...and dips for their veggies. what is wrong with us? why am I training my kids to eat things that has no nutritional value when they don't even like it in the first place?!

I stopped pushing butter, etc.

Now, for fun... this is a tongue twister my kids like hearing me do:

Betty Botter bought some butter. "But," she said, "this butter's bitter! If I put it in my batter it will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better butter that will make my batter better." So she bought a bit of butter better that her bitter butter and she put it in her batter and her batter was not bitter. So 'twas better that Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.

My Thanksgiving Post (and Story-in-the-Round)

(My sons, Thomas and Skye, on the slide horsing around and sharing the only chair in our basement, watching tv. My daughter and me this morning).

This isn't exactly fitness related, although being thankful and remembering good times enhances spiritual health.

Yesterday, I gleaned some great ideas from others' blogs and wanted to share those, especially with family members that read my blog. From KatieO. at BoppaDingDing: Gratitude Garland where you cut out paper leaves and write something you're thankful for on each. My family, including my visiting parents, did that. we then had all the leaves spread on our table, words down (they were the centerpieces). Then we'd take turns flipping them over and reading them while we ate. Thank you, Katie, for passing that on!

Diane from Fit to the Finish shared the idea of "story in-the-round" where each person takes turns writing parts of a story. This is our story:

(Grandma) Once upon a time, there lived a great big turkey on a great big farm. His name was Henry but everyone called him Hank. (Marie, 8) But all of a sudden there was the farmer holding a shotgun (Thomas, 10) and he lowered his gun and said to wash the dishes. "If you don't, then you need to scrub the toilet," said the farmer.

(Me) "well," said Henry, I didn't earn the name 'Hank-the-Tank' for nothing!"

And with that, Henry ran as fast as he could towards the farmer and plowed into him like a line-backer on a football team. In a cloud of feathers, the farmer fell to the ground and his gun flew in the air.

(Grandpa) Hank's friend, Ernie, The Eagle, flew down and grabbed the shotgun in mid-air and flew off with it. Meanwhile, Hank ran into the barn and hid behind some bales of hay. The farmer got up, dusted the dirt and feathers off of him, and looked around for his shotgun. when he couldn't find it, he went and got his ax!

Hank could see the long shadow of the farmer on the ground as the farmer stepped into the doorway of the barn.

(Danny) It's over, Hank thought. There is no way I can escape!

"Henry, Henry," said the farmer. "Come to Papa! I promise I will make it quick. You will not suffer long."

Henry the turkey stepped from behind the hay and walked towards the farmer, towards its fate. The farmer smiled.

{Commercial break....}

Hank the Tank hung his head low and laid down th front of the farmer.

"Go ahead. Let's get it over with," thought the turkey. The farmer raised his arms, the ax hanging high over Hank's throat. Hank closed his eyes.

"wait!" said a voice from the doorway. A tall man was standing there. Hank opened his eyes! It was Barack Obama. "I'm here to pardon this turkey. I command you to spare its life."

Henry the turkey couldn't believe it. Obama's words were like music to his ears. The farmer obeyed and stepped away from Henry.

Henry got back on his feet and went to thank the president.

"But, how did you know I was here?" asked Henry.

Barack Obama smiled and looked up behind him...Ernie-the-Eagle was soaring high in the sky.

(The End)

we're having a great time...and no one missed the rolls, stuffing, or cider.

Happy Thanksgiving!

First Monthly Report

All numbers went down: lost 5 pounds, 0.7 BMI units, and 1 inch in belly fat. I'm a little more fit (in spite of my best efforts to sabotage).

wow. Not bad for just the small changes I've made (and for having the flu). It's been great. I see improvements in energy. I'm less hungry. I have LESS headaches. I sleep better. Oh, yeah, I haven't been craving soda. Eliminating soda wasn't on my mini-goal list...it just kinda happened.

Drinking water and Stop Eating after 7:30 P.M. (blog of those goals here ): Doing well. Great goals and very doable. I set the timer to drink water on average every 1.5 hours most days. I really have a hard time remembering to drink.

Thankful journal here: Doing that each night. Sometimes I'm in a bad mood and would rather leave it blank...but I do it anyway.

"Dancing" and walking 10 min. here and here: I'm able to "dance" almost each day and sometimes go longer than 10 min. I love it when the kids join in. The walking isn't going as well. I've only done it about 1/2 the time. I need to step up the effort.

Push-ups here: Keeping it up. I think I'm going to move it to the floor, though.

Jumping Rope here: Still doing it for one min each day. I can jump 30 sec without getting tangled. Not ready to show the video.

Adding 1 veg/1 fruit to breakfast here:Enjoying the smoothies each day! I have a handful of raw nuts with it. It's nice and quick while I get the kids ready for school.

So, yes, not BAAADuh. HOwEVER, I still eat junk, sugar, and convenience foods almost everyday. I so want to adopt better food choices for my family.

It's just ALL...THAT...COOKING! @@ Don't get me wrong, I like cooking, I just don't like doing it everyday three times a day ...especially cleaning up afterwards. It's very time-consuming (washing and chopping, prepping for this and that, etc). But , I have started hunting for menu ideas from blogs and am trying those out. The meals have to be something we (my family) all like...because I'm not cooking two separate meals: "mine" and "theirs"...except for my green smoothies...(they like them, but I feed my kids more food before school).

I heard/read someone say your life needs adjusting if you're too busy to eat and feed your family healthy meals. (sigh)

Here come the holidays: Thanksgiving, my son's birthday, Christmas, New Year's, and...my 41st birthday. Hopefully I'm "fitter by 41...and then fit by 42."

Sabotage

My first "numbers" report is tomorrow, and I was a complete junk-food junkie today...more so than usual. AND I didn't exercise, except for lugging several rounds of groceries upstairs, including a frozen turkey. what's wrong with me? I won't even say what I ate because I don't want to drool over it if I reread this someday.

(Deep breath in...let out...in...out...in...out). Don't give up.

The Green Smoothie aka Shrek Shake

I said in my last blog I would add a vegetable serving and a fruit serving to my breakfasts. I read this article about green smoothies:

http://www.crankyfitness.com/2009/04/mission-vegetables-before-six-pm.html

Basically, it's 1/2 cup frozen fruit, 1/2 cup frozen banana slices, 1 cup of milk (I sometimes use soy milk), vanilla, and optional sweetener (I use a tsp sugar), and 1 cup of raw SPINACH. It's surprisingly good. My kids like it: I call it the Shrek shake (not my idea...but it sure sells it to the kids). If I use blue or black berries, it isn't green at all. It's the yucky color you have when you mix all the colors in play-doh.

It's hard to get in the mood for it during these cold mornings, though! I'll just have to warm up by "dancing" around my kitchen to my playlist. :-P

Might As well Jump

I have a jump rope...had it for over 20 years. Never used it. Don't know where I got it. I've held on to it move-after-move and keep it in one of those on-the-door "shoe" holders with all the pockets. I've always over-looked it. Lately, though, I keep noticing it.

That would be good exercise, wouldn't it? Jumping gets the heart-rate up. It tones the muscles, strengthens bones. I've decided to add that to my daily exercise: 1 minute per day.

I did a "before" video of my very first time jumping rope. I've decided not to post it right now because I look like a complete idiot and have no "after" video to vindicate me don't want to waste your time without a motivating "after" video. Basically, the video shows me jumping for about 10-15 seconds before I begin getting tangled.

The goal is to build stamina, coordination, strength. I'll do an after video in a few months.

Nutritionally, my next step is to add a vegetable and fruit serving to my breakfasts each day. I'll talk more about that soon.

Daisy

(Above: Daisy and Hansi) Didn't exercise today. I think it would have helped my mood. Impatient. Sad. Anxious about my to-do list. I'll be putting my cat, Daisy, to sleep tomorrow. we have a vet in our church and as a neighbor, and she said she'll come over to our home to do it. Tender mercies.

Daisy is over 16 years old (we've had her for over 14). She was the first member of our growing family. She's endured 8 moves, two dogs, another cat, and 3 kids. She's been a neighborhood favorite. One neighbor in Virginia offered to keep her when we moved (I think they missed Daisy more than us). We had a neighbor in Illinois who hated cats but made an exception for her. Sometimes she acted like a dog. She'd come when we whistled and would go on walks with us. She adored our first dog, Heidi.

Oh, I'm going to miss her.

Rake, Baby, Rake

This is our first full year in this home...and today, I realized how arbor-ly endowed we are. This is our first home with more than two trees. When we first saw the home, we thought, "Oh, look at all the trees! How beautiful!" "Oh, look at the flowers on the trees...how beautiful." "Oh, look at the changing colors...how beautiful!" "Look at them fall...how beautiful."

Well, I thought I'd better rake before the leaves blow into the neighbors' yards. I'll tell you...it gets old really fast. I stand there in the never-ending sea of leaves and begin counting...11 in the front and 4 huge ones in the back. Fifteen trees!

Fif...teen...trees... I became discouraged. I can't imagine doing this the rest of my life. I secretly wished the next Spring's snow would split them, and we'd have to remove them. But then I thought this was a good workout for my arms. Doing this each day and soon shoveling snow will help tone the arms.

I want to gain arm strength. New goal: wall push-ups every other day (in addition to raking/shoveling).

Then, maybe someday I'll hear someone say, "Oh, look at her arms...how beautiful!"

Oink, Oink

It's been a week since my flu symptoms began. I'm learning it's probably the swine flu. Several neighbors have had confirmed cases with their doctors saying that's pretty much the only strain they've seen lately.

Most symptoms are gone now. Cough lingers. My energy should increase as I move around more. As nice as it has been to investigate the blogging world for hours from my sick bed, it's time to get back on track, even if it's a slow track.

New goal: move more. I commit to a 10 minute walk each day and 10 minutes of moving my body rhythmically to music (I'd call it "dancing," except I don't think what I do could be defined as dancing).

Soon I will deal with my "other" swine flu...the kind were I eat like a pig...it has been a real sickness. I want to be cautious about this...nothing radical. I want the changes to stick.

What I've Learned while Being Sick

*My husband can take care of the house and the kids and the pets without me. Time to give up some control issues I have.

*My kids listen more to me when I whisper and respond in a whisper. (I had lost my voice and talking triggered coughing spells, so I had to speak softly and slowly. They looked at me very intently as I gave them direction and then would whisper back, "Okay.")

*My kids can be more self-reliant than I gave them credit. Time to stretch them a bit and let them grow up.

*Ice cream isn't fattening when you're sick. (Okay...so, maybe that's just wishful thinking).

*I have much to be thankful.

Which brings me to something that I had forgotten about: my thankful journal/to-do list. Everynight I would write down things about each person in my family that I'm thankful for and then write 3 things I want to accomplish the next day. It really helped my attitude.

Why did I stop? I probably became tired and didn't feel like writing...just wanted to sleep. Then maybe I was mad...not sure. Enough times like that then it's easy to slip out of the habit.

Time to start it up, again. As part of my fitness journey, I will begin my thankful journal.

Ugh, Still

Danny's home...thank goodness. No energy. Hopefully today was the worst of it. Danny bought me a container of vanilla Haagen-Dazs ice-cream. Ohh, it felt so soothing on my fire-hot throat.

My daughter brought me a plate full of fruit (grapes, apple slices, banana) and a glass of o.j. She even came and got the plate when I was done. Angel.

The cats are on me keeping me warm (and finding refuge from Hansi, our "puppy").

It's been great reading others' fitness blogs. Reading about it isn't going to get me fit, though, but it is motivating.

Ugh. Officially under the weather. {cue the violin} So tired. Hacking. Throwing up. Added bonus of my back going into spasms every time I cough. Motrin helps. Husband is on 3-day trip.

Don't have to worry about the extra Halloween candy...it's gone. Yeah, I ate it for breakfast. And it was soooo gooooood. Darnit. Maybe I'll care when I feel better. (Didn't eat the kids' stash...just the left-overs).

On the upside of being sick: I get to stop and be thankful for the kind gestures others offer me. My 8 yr old daughter surprised me with a hot water bottle in my bed last night. My friend brought over a herbal tea that really helps her. My neighbor picked up my kids from school and brought us chicken soup and rolls for dinner tonight. I'm thankful for their service and examples.

Bonus...blog time. I've been able to check out a couple of other weight-loss blogs and see their journey as I'm beginning mine. It's encouraging to see I'm not alone. I'll read an entry and think, "That's how I'm feeling!" etc

So Much For My word

I blew it. Ate several pieces of Halloween candy (KitKats, Crunch, whoppers). I was doing well...then...ugh. It's a blur...like I was a possessed crazy woman.

I'm trying to be aware of what I was feeling, etc. Tired because I couldn't sleep last night. Sick...have a tight chest and a cough that started during the night. Cramps (yeah, THAT started, too). And hungry. It's lunchtime, and I hadn't eaten anything since the egg this morning. I was also feeling unproductive.

At least I didn't buy any junk at the grocery store...cuz I didn't go.

Perspective...energy and resolve will return. Keep drinking water and eat real food.

Grocery Shopping Jitters

3:30 a.m. Can't sleep.

I managed to not eat any more candy yesterday. Had the melted marshmallows, though. I've been on the melted marshmallow kick lately.

I have to go grocery shopping...nervous about that. I habitually select something from the pastry section. My 4 year-old son asks for his free cookie and I am soooo tempted by the single serve items. Sometimes not just the single serve...I've been known to buy whole packages of eclairs or a cake or pie and eat the entire thing by the end of the day. It's aweful writing this down, but there it is.

Drug addicts in recovery are told to avoid areas where they use...areas that could trigger a relapse...areas like bars, certain streets, friends' homes, etc. How do I avoid the grocery store?

Okay...just for today...I will not buy anything from the bakery or cookie section. {It's weird, though, I've been sitting here for several minutes debating if I'm going to commit to no candy today. I'm now thinking about my new blogging friends and their struggles with the Halloween candy, too}...Okay...just for today...no candy, either. And lots and lots of water.

Day-After Halloween Report

I managed to not eat any candy. Yay! I still had hot cocoa with some marshmallows, though. Actually, it's more like I had marshmallows with some hot cocoa.

Today is another story. I had candy. But at least I didn't finish off the bag of candy before trick-or-treaters came to the door (I did that one year).

Here's today's goal...no more candy today. I wonder if I should put it in the freezer or a neighbor's freezer.