wildbeanerz

For the most part, we don't buy a lot of "junk food" but I do buy the boys pop tarts and yes, that is the new flavor I found this week. My boys are used to healthier snacks like yogurt or fruit but I try to every other night allow them to have something that isn't so healthy like ice cream or poptarts or snack crackers. They are both very fit kids. The older is 13 (almost 14 ) and is 5'11" and weighs 135lbs. His size 30 waist jeans sag real low with his boxers out all the time! The younger is 12 and is about 5'8" and he'd be lucky if he weighs 120lbs. They eat very healthy dinners at all times. Even extra helpings of veggies! We have done a very good job of showing them the ways to eat healthy if only we had learned how to follow those rules ourselves sooner in life. We eat the same as them at dinner but then later would practically eat another dinner for snack time and that was our downfall. We are correcting that now and I am pushing myself really hard to not backslide into that.

I love all the advice & encouragement here. It is nice to talk to others about it who know what you have been through. Not that it is bad, but I don't think someone who needs to lose 5 lbs so they can fit in a size 2 jeans doesn't know what I am going through needing to lose 150lbs.

quinnesec

I don't know who you're referring to, but if it's me, my comments were directed at the mother of the 6 and 3 year old who ran the show, not you.

wildbeanerz

No not at all...actually I hadn't even seen your post. We must have posted at the same time. I had to go above my post to see yours.

I actually hate to see people with their kids running the show too. Not to get too personal but we have a certain family member who has children that will be two in April and one that was just born in November so about 18 months apart. They stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning because they won't lay down to sleep??? WTF? Take some control now or look out when they get to be teens!!!

Sorry if any of my original post sounded defensive. I work hard at taking care of my family and I believe that everyone that I have met on this site does the same!

taubele

jj - I hope you find some order and peace this week - life sneaks up on you sometimes, and it never rains but it pours! Just remember to find some fun in your work!

rhoda -- Congrats on soon-to-being an aunt!! (I think soon-to-being should totally be a verb...) I hope that whatever gender, it comes out happy and healthy, and makes your family all the stronger

almeeker -- Wow!! Maybe I'll have to try grain-free one of these days. I'm still wrestling with simply balancing out cals on a daily basis, and I often don't do well with a "you can't have this" attitude for a long time (Tell me I can't have something, and I immediately want it!), but a DAY or two I could do, especially with results like that! Thanks for the insight!

wildbeanerz -- Fostering is such a wonderful thing to do; opening your heart to a child in need like that, how wonderful! I wish you luck and good success on your path. It's especially difficult to love and let go, you must be very strong indeed! And since you ARE so strong, get that food out of the house and put your foot down about it, if it tempts you!

Mern -- Your Dad sounds like a one-of-a-kind person! It's great that you have so many fond, unique memories of him. I hope my Dad will be around with us for a long time too. Unfortunately, he's always been the "eat, drink, be merry!" sort, which is great for an attitude but has proven terrible for his health. He's Type 2 diabetes, and while he takes his medicine religiously, he trusts it to "do the job" as it were and has made no change to his diet except for eliminating "enriched' pasta and replacing it with whole wheat. It's a great step, but there are still cookies, candies, and starchy chips all over the house. He says he'd rather "die happy and unrestricted." He's stubborn, so it's tough. And thank you - aw, your dog sounds like he had a great home! Shyla came to us from a shelter too - she was 3 days from being put down, and we had to take her home! As for my protein -- I was having leftover pizza slices for a couple of days there (there's this great thin-crust pizza from a place nearby that's about 100 cals a slice) and that was keeping my carbs too high. Done with that now, I just hated wasting the food, lol.

behaze -- Perhaps so! You know, even though I'm a scientist, I sort of stink at math. I really have to work through problems every day on my job and often have people double-check my numbers, so take that for what it's worth! lol. Most of my family plays classical - my aunt was the first oboeist for the Coast Guard Band before she was in a car crash (she now tutors), and my uncle is the current conductor for the Coast Guard band. All of their children play several instruments - piano, flute, guitar, trumpet, cello off the top of my head. One is on a music scholarship to college, and the other works in the music editing industry. The third is still in high school and a little more sporty, but loves his trumpet. My other uncle is a music instructor and played jazz/polka clarinet for a traveling band (they were up for a Grammy!) My sister is an excellent singer, as are my Nan and Pop from that side. It's a lot of music!

Rose: Ugh! I hope you do get help with that vet bill! What terrible timing. I am totally rooting for you to win the lottery, it's due!

I don't have kids so it's difficult for me to have an opinion about how to raise them (when I really DON'T EVEN KNOW, lol, as my friends with kids like to tell me. I don't even have a niece or nephew or anything like that yet), but I think we all do the best we can. Hugs!

Tuesday Report Card

Fitness, Exercise and Lifestyle Goals:
1) Under 1400 cals every day and log EVERYTHING. M: yes, 1200 on the nose T: yes, 1120
2) Average 30% daily protein for the week. M: 23% T: 30% (weekly average 26.5%)
3) 96 oz. of water EVERY day. M: 104 T: 72
4) No weighing until Friday! M: N/A T: No weighing!
5) Work out 5-6 hours, split between weights and hard cardio. M: Day off T: No exercise
6) In bed by 11:30 every night M: Yes, I promise I will! T: Close, but no cigar
7) Buy a heart rate monitor this weekend. M-F: N/A

Non-Fitness Goals:
1) Finish edits to my scientific manuscript (this manuscript is the culmination to my dissertation, I want it out in the world!) M: No T: Good chunk of it done!
2) Make efforts on my appearence every day - hair, makeup, clothing. M: Yes T: Not really...
3) Get every scrap of laundry hiding in the closet cleaned. M: No T: BF took care of it!
4) One hour of needlework every day. M: Yes T: No
5) Have an "outside date" this weekend (the weather is SO beautiful). M-F: N/A
6) Buy new makeup. M: No T: No

Yesterday ended up being an unexpectedly hard-working day, but I feel accomplished in a professional sense. I wasn't very hungry, and my water intake was down, but there is a trend for me to eat and drink less when I'm very engaged in work - I just don't listen to my stomach, and only ate when was forced to pause in work. Even then, it was a mental thing like "Oh, I should probably eat..." rather than a physical sensation of hunger. I'm going to try and keep my protein up today (I did at least manage that yesterday!) and definitely get a workout in, or I know the stress will creep up and hit me where I least expect it, as will the lack of cals (I don't do well under 1200) and I'll go on a binge. So today I am going to try to up my intake a little, maybe around 1300.

Also, minor victory: I got home at 9:00 last night, and BF and I were too pooped to cook, so we ordered chinese. Happy to say that I only ate steamed dumplings and didn't sneak ANY noodles or rice off of his plate, and didn't touch the crab rangoon

~Terri

lnbrock

Hi Everyone!

I know I'm a little late for kicking off the week, but I just found this thread! Hopefully this can help keep me accountable for the rest of the week because I have a BIIIIIG goal 4 short sleeps from now: tryouts for a professional cheer team! :S Background: 3 years ago (which now feels like a lifetime ago!) I was a professional cheerleader...but had to discontinue in order to have a surgery in 2009. Since then, I moved cities, and the opportunity to cheer has popped up again...but I had put on about 15 lbs since my last tryout! Now, 10 lbs down, I'm feeling nervous about looking like the biggest person there...but I'm still going to give it all I've got!

This Week's Goals:

1- Exercise every day - Monday & Tuesday: gym session, Wednesday: gym and hot yoga, Thursday: gym and ballet class, Friday: gym. Saturday: day off to prep and rest up for Sunday auditions!
2- Use green smoothies to fill up before dinner and/or in exchange for evening snacks.
3- Use kitchen scale religiously.
4- Keep under 30 g fat per day.

Non-Fitness Goals:

1- Use my self-tanner daily to mitigate my apple-white winter skin! - yuck!
2- Teeth whitening 4 consecutive days pre-tryouts (W, T, F, S).
3- Mystic Tan on Saturday for an extra boost of bronze!
4- Clean bedroom, master bath, closet.
5- Keep kitchen clean!

erinmrystrom

CJ...I'm in North Eastern Wisconsin...the Green Bay Area. Got a late season storm yesterday and today. We're supposed to end up with almost a foot total of snow. Fun fun...it DOES look pretty on the trees though!

erinmrystrom

I just have to say that I LOVE all the responses to "kids running the show". My husband and I are probably somewhat old fashioned when it comes to raising our kids. We have no interest in being their "friends". We are their parents! My kids are 4(almost 5) and 2. The 4 year old is just starting to lip off a bit and he is quickly learning why we don't tolerate that in our house. We get compliments constantly on how well behaved our kids are and how good their manners are. They LOVE snacks like cheese & sausage, veggies (olives, cucumber, raw broccoli, etc) and think the 100% fruit snacks are a "special" treat.

My son asked me the other day why I started exercising all of a sudden. I initially told him because I wanted to be pretty. But then amended it to say because I want to be healthy. Now he tries to do my Tae Bo cardio workout with me!

If you're a parent, be a PARENT. Not their friend. They get enough of those at school.

almeeker

I have that same problem, as soon as I "can't" have it, I "want" it. What I'm doing differently this time is telling myself that I "choose" not to have it. Mentally that approach is much better for me, because now it's not about being deprived its about me choosing to be in complete control. It's working very well so far, I was down another 2 lbs this morning.

I'm cracking up over the fact that you're a scientist that's lousy at math. I'm an architect with dyslexia, but I have one of those freaky math minds, not quite like a savant, but in that neighborhood. I can calculate the tip at a restaurant at a glance and adjust it so the dollars come out evenly in the total, while DH sits there struggles with it. Meanwhile he aced every math class he ever took. Not me, I had much trouble getting really good grades in math, mostly because I couldn't copy the problems down accurately. You should see me in action at the grocery store, generally I know to the penny what the bill is going to come to, which isn't that unusual, but I use coupons and all kinds of other wheeling dealing voodoo at the store. I've tried to teach others how to do it, but they get that glazed over Bambi in the headlights look in their eyes and I've lost them about 3-4 deals in to the shop.

I used to think I knew a lot about raising kids, then I got pregnant, and have since decided I do not know diddly-poo about child rearing. The only thing I know for certain, is that children seem to do well when they are shown consistent unconditional love. Mine also seem to do better in general when I take a deep breath and count to ten when I'm find them especially frustrating. Kids are mirrors, when I yell and scream, they yell and scream, when I'm mean, they're mean, when I'm happy they are too.

almeeker

wildbeanerz, when I first started doing this I decided that I wasn't going to cook separate meals for me vs the rest of the family, what's good for me is good for everyone. That being said, my family wasn't too enthusiastic at first. Heck they still aren't all that gun-ho about it even still, although the outright mutinous expressions and pouting episodes have diminished. Actually DH is on board pretty much, the kids a bit less so. At one point after reading the nutritional panel on Pop-tarts, I vowed to never buy them again, my little girls do not need to start the morning off with 400 calories of carbohydrates (most of which BTW come from white flour and corn syrup). For a while thereafter I do believe the 9 and 7 year old DD's were planning to overthrow my regime and get themselves a junk food lovin' stepmother, but I digress. Tall skinny teenage boys are a bit different in terms of what they need to start the day.

I haven't gone completely "mother earth" on them, there is still some junk in the house, but it tends to be less so all the time. Sometimes they argue with me over a particular item at the store. My rule is that if you can pronounce all the words in the ingredient label without having to sound them out, then maybe you can eat it. Some other rules I stick by are that if it's made of "grain" then it has to be whole grain. I won't buy cereal that has more than 10 grams of sugar per serving. I generally won't buy any product that has high fructose corn syrup, or corn syrup, unless it's something that can't be made without corn syrup like pecan pie or hard candy. I also insist that if they want to eat junk, that they eat something healthy first, like a piece of fruit, yogurt, granola bar, etc. 9 times out of 10 that gets them too full to eat the junk.

On the Pop-tarts I recently bought 4 boxes of them, they were on sale and after the coupon they were like $.16/box, too good to pass up. Normally they would have been gone in like 2-3 days, but guess what? After the first package all three of the girls said that they didn't really taste as good as they remembered. So I am gaining ground on the healthy front lines.

almeeker

I read a book a while back called "Just say No, and why your children need to hear it". I spent most of the book wondering how my own mother had managed to write a whole book and never bothered to tell me, and why she would use such a masculine pen name LOL. As it turns out she didn't write it, but she certainly could have. It was a good read BTW, mostly reinforcing my own philosophies. The author's main premise was that we need to tell our children "no" because they need to learn to hear it and accept it as the answer.