Day 15-Treat Yourself

Treat yourself? Indulge? I just told you to minimize! But seriously, indulge yourself for 5 minutes each day - just do so healthfully. How about a foot massage? 5 minutes of quite time? Think about things that you don't usually do for yourself but would encourage others to do- sit down while you eat, paint your toenails, spend an extra 5 minutes prepping for the day, read the paper--take time for you!

We are half way through, remember the focus is you!

Day 3 - Eat Healthier

Do you need to change your whole lifestyle? No! Just eat one more healthier option each day. Add one piece of fruit or a veggie to your diet. Sprinkle blueberries on your oatmeal. Blend your coffee with ice and a banana on a hot day. Chop up an apple and eat that instead of your evening crackers. Not a big huge change, just add a healthy treat into your day. It can replace something or be a new treat on its own. How is eating a piece of fruit or munching on a parsnip going to help you stress less? Well, eating healthier is just plain good for you, and if you can do a few things each day that are good for you, you are going to feel better which in turn makes for less stress!!

Now, fruit juice, lettuce on your sub roll, and ketchup (sorry President Reagan) on your burger don't count! and sweet potato chips don't count. Go for a nice fresh piece of fruit or a nice fresh veggie. If you are going to parties this long weekend and are not sure if there will be anything but hot dogs, hamburgers, and pasta salad, bring along a fruit salad or a veggie platter.

Eat up!

And just so you know, I am prioritizing by not baking cookies, hanging with the little man, and alternating my son's goldfish crackers with apple slices....And yes, I eat my son's snacks all the time - I am kind of obsessed with those Lil' crunchies...

First day With(out) Sugar!

Well, today I started with oatmeal, organic blueberries and walnuts for breakfast. Delicious!!! Then, I dropped the little guy to daycare and realized in the car I was craving something sweet. So I popped open the console, and wouldn't you know, the Divine white chocolate bar was still there!! Sugar Plums! I had a piece. BUT I stopped at one - which is rare.

Once I walked into work one of our MA's was standing at the door with a homemade mini gingerbread cookie - I ate it. It was good. I stalked the rest of the homemade goodies but actually didn't eat any. I kept saying to myself - there are better choices, and you aren't hungry anyway you are just avoiding work - which is true.

I then was fine until lunch, when I had a new healthy favorite!! evol burritos - They are DELICIOUS. The website is http://www.evolburritos.com/ I love the pinto bean, rice, and cheese - normally I would try to avoid the cheese but the company does its best to use humanely raised animals and animal products in all of their burritos - which is pretty neat.

After lunch a bumped into an issue - I felt like I needed dessert. I grabbed a banana taffy!! I ate half and tossed the rest - I stopped myself - I needed a distraction. Store 24 is right next door so I took a trip and grabbed a 100% apple juice and cashews - much better choice than taffy!! Okay, to be honest the cashews were honey glazed, but it was still better than taffy!

And since I was feeling pretty bad about the taffy I shut my office door and did 20 squats and 2o bicep curls with a bunch of books. Not bad! I actually exercised, proving it can be fit in to your day even if it is just a little bit!

Today was rough!!! Very rough!! But tomorrow is another day and as long as I improve every day, I think I am on the right track.

Some healthy options I am now in love with:

evol burritos: http://www.evolburritos.com/ (see above)

Gardein: http://www.gardein.com/

- totally weird, but pretty tasty - we had the pulled BBQ shreds last night - which freaked my husband out because they don't even try to pretend they are pulled pork, they just say pulled shreds. I thought the sauce could have been tangier, but it did the trick! Paired with homemade sweet potato fries, very yummy!

Izze: http://www.izze.com/

- sparkling juice - perfect to kill a sweet craving or a soda craving.

A note about sugar substitutes. I gave all of them up when I got pregnant and all of my headaches went away. It could have been hormones, it could have been coincidence, but I haven't gone back to the fake stuff and I actually think that helps me make some better choices overall.

Tomorrow is a new day - Thanks to support from old friends, new friends, and super fun cousins, I think it will have a lot less sugar!

Straight Up About the Sug...and Living Honestly

Ok, So just to make things clear, I am giving up the hardcore stuff. I am not by any means giving up sugar in order to lose weight or be super skinny or anything like that. I am actually trying to find my health again. With a new baby, a wonderful college-age stepson, a full and part time job, a husband with a full and part time job, and 2 dogs, I picked up some pretty unhealthy habits. I stopped exercising, stopped grocery shopping and started living on sugar and protein bars. Giving up the white stuff will help me make better choices (I hope!!). The goal is to eat more whole foods that can nourish my bod instead of making it wrinkly, tired, inflamed, and riddled with cavities.

All the while, I have been telling my clients to do everything that I don't do and then I lecture them when they don't do it. Oh, I am far from "holier than thou" and I certainly hope I never made anyone feel otherwise. So this blog is hopefully going to help me call myself out on everything I call my clients out on!!

What do I always tell people that I am infamous for not doing myself??

SLEEP - the bambino eats every 90 minutes all night long.

Eat Healthy - I just pounded a hot cocoa with chocolate covered almonds for dinner.

Take Time for Yourself - I don't know if I have shut the door to pee since I had my babe. Peeing at work is actually exciting.

Make "Couple" Time a Priority - We haven't had a "date night" in over 7 months.

Exercise - I used to run every day, do yoga every day, and lift weights AND I loved it. I haven't done anything in 7 months.

Be Responsible for Your Health - Okay, this I am doing. I just went to the Dr. after a raging headache for the past 3 months and realized I had a terrible sinus infection - I am on the mend thanks to antibiotics, had an MRI for a suspected stress fracture, went to the dentist to replace the crown that fell out thanks to a starburst (5 months ago) - I got a cleaning too! I am going to the eye doctor in 2 weeks and I have a physical in a month.

So hooray, I am doing one thing that I tell everyone else to do. Let's see if I can get back on track. If I can, I hope you can if you are off track. Being on track is better for everyone. Really it is.

So, no more of the white stuff for me - I have eaten almost all that we have in the house and feel pretty yucky!! I won't however be a nut job about it. No white sugar. No overly processed foods. If I have honey in my tea (bee-friendly of course!) that is okay. If the 10th ingredient in my salad dressing is sugar that is okay too. I am just trying to get away from my sugar habit and replace it with cleaner eating habits. So here is looking at tomorrow, a step closer to better health!!

Take Care of Yourselves. Really!

And, if you are a South Shore person, check out http://www.sustainablebraintree.org/food

This is Braintree's fabulous farmer's market - they rock and they are going to have a CSA this year!!! I haven't decided if I will do the farm share - I did one last year and sadly wasted a great deal of kale because I had no idea what to do with it. We'll see - it is a great thing to do!!