Better Than Before - Day Seven and Eight

I think I let the wagon roll too far ahead. I'm having trouble jumping back on!

A busy day of mom-ing, including dance class attendance, laundry, cleaning, playing, getting one kid's hair cut, buying the same kid new boots and shoes, buying the other kid birthday party supplies, wrangling both kids solo on busy city streets after they'd each consumed a lollipop and got the sugar crazies, watching "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas," making dinner, cleaning up after dinner, and listening to my two year old have exactly 1000 ear-piercing tantrums. My resolve to get back on track started strong and then went downhill quickly. Many yummy things were eaten. Too many. And so, in my all-or-nothing sort of brain, I went ahead and ate some more.

Listen, I cannot have baked goods in my house. This is not news to me, but it's one of those lessons I have to learn over and over (and over) again. It's one of the lessons that I can't seem to learn and that makes me crazy.

But today was a new day, right!? A new day that started with a three hour meeting that involved snacks... Oh, but I was good. For the first 2.5 hours, I was good. I had a single piece of cheese (because everyone was raving about the cheese) and a bunch of fruit. Then I had my veggies I had brought with me. And then, when noon was looming and it looked doubtful we were going to wrap up on time, I had a small, factory-made croissant. It was the lesser empty calorie bomb of the baked goods present - I checked the label - but it was my gateway drug.

Noon arrived, meeting adjourned, my planned gym visit got pushed, because I had actual work to do before my NEXT meeting. And I didn't even get out to run errands (AKA get my steps in) or pick up some healthy snacks. So I got hit with the afternoon hunger and consumed even more bad-for-me stuff that was close by. A big ol' X for me today.

As previously mentioned, I need to more clearly define the habits I want to make, in order to succeed in this endeavour. Therefore:

ACTIVITY

1. I will walk at least 10,000 steps a day. (Last week I averaged 12,658 per day, so this should be an easy win most days.)

2. I  will work out at the gym four times a week.

FOOD

1. I  will track ALL my food, every day, even on the days that I know I'm eating more calories than I'm burning.

2. I will avoid sugar and white flour 90% of the time, only indulging for truly amazing things that are part of a shared event. No eating these items alone in my cubicle.

HEALTH

1. I will get at least seven hours of sleep each night.

2. I will do my knee exercises every day.

3. I will drink 64 oz of water every day.

Okay, that list feels daunting. But doable. I want to create these healthy habits and stick with them! Bring on tomorrow!

Better Than Before - Day Five and Six

I missed blogging last night, but for a good reason! I overcame a mental hurdle and did an evening gym outing for a Zumba class. Since so few locations have 7:30 classes on Friday nights, I ended up at Dufferin and Finch (!!!) at this weird, mega, 24-hour Goodlife that was SO busy. Seriously. I have never seen a gym so enormous and it was hopping on a Friday evening. Even crazier was that the Zumba class had, like, 40 people in it and this total party atmosphere. Clearly plenty of regulars and a truly diverse group of people, including several men.

Shortly after the class started, I noticed the guy behind me was wearing a mock turtleneck, dress pants and jazz shoes! Mysterious! So I started to give him a backstory, which was some serious multitasking as I tried to keep up with all the shaking and shimmying. I imagined he was in the corps of the National Ballet, but they said he was too stiff, so he was taking the class to loosen up. And that he travelled all the way up north so he wouldn't run into any of his fellow dancers. Later in the class, after I'd had to trek way across the club and down a level (Hey, look! A pool!) for a bathroom break, he ended up in front of me and it was clear he knew what was what with the latin stuff. So then I decided he was a professional ballroom dancer who had been banned from competition after a forbidden affair with a "straight" dancer from his arch rival team. And he was hitting up a Zumba class as a way to get his sad groove on. Either way, he had really amazing posture and could do that swoopy latin arm thing like nobody's business.

Okay! But this is about habits! My habits! Focus!

Yesterday took a potentially bad turn, but ended up good. Steps were easy to get in, because I was home with June, who needed to go to the doctor and we were on transit. So lots of walking. Plus the Zumba class. Food overall ended up good - like my Fitbit told me I was at the right calories in/calories out level. BUT I did eat sugar. I baked. And I ate batter while I baked and then had a cookie at the end. But I accounted for all it, so a win in the end.

Today was a crazy day, starting with a party at 8AM. Read that part again. Ridiculous, right? But worth the very early start to the day, because it was my company's kids carnival party and hardly anyone else was dumb enough to get up that early, so it was like being at a carnival with no lines for anything. Awesome! Since that was all done by 10AM, we hit up the Swedish festival at Harbourfront, since Violet and I just finished reading Pippi Lockstocking last week. This was very busy, but fun, and we got to watch the original Pippi movie.

But, all this off-schedule insanity means that I tracked nothing, ate several treats and generally just hopped off the wagon and let it roll away. And then, because I grocery shopped very late in the day and did not want to make dinner and couldn't get a fresh pre-made pizza at the grocery store, we had frozen pizza for dinner. I can't remember the last time I made a frozen pizza, because I think they're kind of yucky. And this one definitely had a yuck factor. Also a yum factor, but the guilt pushed it further into yuck. I did, however, make us all side salads.

Back to things tomorrow. I feel really good about my progress this week and I do not want to let it all slip away. Also, I want to better define exactly what habits I'd like to make. Stay tuned!

Oh, and C - I keep trying to make comments on YOUR blog, but then Wordpress wants me to sign in and things get messy with passwords and then my comment disappears... This is a small glitch, but sort of insurmountable in my brain right now. I will try again tomorrow. But I AM reading!!

Better Than Before - Day Four

Egads. As suspected from our very late night out last night, my darling children were CHA-LLENG-ING today. So a rough morning led me to thinking about treats, instantly. Any other day, I would have been lining up at Starbucks for a big latte and a piece of lemon loaf. Or coffee cake. Or a chocolate croissant...

Side note: Although I have managed to eliminate many "fast foods" from my diet, like I haven't been to McDonalds in more than a decade (my kids had no idea who Ronald McDonald was in the Santa Claus Parade) and I have maybe three cans of pop a year, I will still eat factory-made baked goods. Why is that? I can't figure it out.

Anyway, I sidestepped the temptation and got to work. Had a very good day of eating until it was time for Tasty Thursday. This is a weekly tradition at work, where we all take turns bringing in yummy stuff. I told myself that I wasn't going to miss out entirely, but that I should assess the quality of the offerings before making a decision. Well, the store bought croissants were easy to ignore, which left me with baclava or homemade brownie with icing. That brownie was CALLING my name! So I cut off a very small piece. Like 1/4 of what I'd normally take. And then I made myself a cup of coffee, sat down at my desk and enjoyed it. It was good. Not fantastic, but I knew I had the calories within my budget for the day, so that was fine.

Got all my steps in, but no workout today. Used my lunch to go and buy another sports bra. Still have a bunch of calories to use up tonight, since we just had soup for dinner, so I am going to make myself a yummy fruit smoothie with almond milk. I feel like I have to amend my rule about not eating after dinner, because as long as I'm tracking calories and not going over, it should be okay. Years ago, doing ye old Weight Watchers, I ate frozen yogurt every single night (within my points range) and managed to lose a whole bunch of weight. So there.

Better Than Before - Day Three

Okay, quick post because we were out all evening with the kiddos and I am TIRED. So here's the fastest recap that my naturally chatty nature can handle.

Killed my 10,000 steps before I even had lunch! That's because I did this cheesy fun dance-based workout class called... wait for it... Sh'Bam! It was silly. They played Lady Marmalade. We were supposed to pretend to be sexy. Enough said.

Had a very good eating day, but not as perfect as my last two. That's because some sugar/white flour was consumed. At first it was totally unintentional. I did my very best to pick only the healthiest options at my salad bar lunch spot, bypassing the ridiculously delicious noodles that I love, but the little scoop of curried chickpea salad tasted on the sweet side... And so did the two little falafals I had. But, not so bad, right? Well, then we went to see Rudolph onstage tonight. (The reindeer, don't ya know.) My girls and husband split a cookie before the show. None for me! But then they split an ice cream bar at intermission and I had a teeny bite. Truly, very small. So I was still feeling good!

HOWEVER, when we got home, I saw from my Fitbit calorie counter that my calories were low for the day. So even though I wasn't HUNGRY and I'm trying not to eat after dinner, I had a slice of this yummy whole wheat bread with pumpkin seeds (flour and sugar, for sure) with peanut butter (natural stuff, so no sugar there). That JUST happened. I don't feel bad about the calories, but I do feel bad that I did it even though I didn't feel hungry...

Anyway, I also drank all my water and made it to 7 hours of sleep last night. So pretty damn good overall.

Better Than Before - Day Two

I am going to make some sort of contraption, so I can high five myself and my accountability partner because I had such a great day! And she is doing so well! And she emailed Gretchen!

I have not eaten any added sugar (fruit is a-okay) or any white flour in TWO DAYS! Friends, I am a major sugar junkie, so this is big news. Also, I'm maxing out all the features on my Fitbit. Hence I hit my 10,000 steps today, helped by the fact that I had to go back home TWICE while trying to get my girls to school/daycare, because I forgot money/tokens and then my work computer. I also did a yoga class at lunch and then got off my bus early and walked an extra three blocks to get home. Take THAT!

I've also been using the food tracking/calorie counter on my Fitbit and stayed within my happy range these past two days. (My teeth are brushed, so nothing more tonight!) Woohoo! We had taco night tonight, but instead of having tortillas, I put all my fixings on a big salad. Which is not a sacrifice, because it's crazy yummy. My body has that light, contented feeling rather than bloated, yucky, worn down blahness.

I also drank 64oz of water each day. Woohoo!

Sadly, I went to bed super late last night. And my pre-bedtime time was spent looking at bad-for-me screens playing super dumb games on my iPhone. Boo! So my sleep tracker tells me I did not even hit 6 hours, which is really not good.

Hitting the hay with a book early tonight. Have to think ahead about tomorrow night, because we have an unexpected windfall of free tix for the fam to see a show. On a school night. Could be a really awful idea...

One more thing - even thought I have episode 7 of "Master of None" paused in front of me, waiting to start. I had a rough start to the day - see above about having to turn back twice. And later in the day I forgot my ATM card in a machine and it got cancelled. Normally I would have let those annoyances lead me down the path of treats, treats and more treats. But it didn't even cross my mind. Because I'm on this train, strapped in, ready to drive!

Better Than Before - Day One

Okay, this blog has been dormant for ages. Like, literally years. However, I'm reviving it for a very specific reason (and likely not publicizing its resuscitation). I want to have a spot to touch base every day regarding my Better Than Before goals that I'm working on with this awesome pal.

Anyway, on to the meat of this post. Namely, how my day went.

I didn't eat any added sugar! (Woohoo!) Even though there were brownies in the house. With salted caramel. I put them in a cupboard and ignored them while I worked from home. Take that, brownies!

Also despite working from home, I'm currently at about 9,500 steps, thanks to a mid-afternoon walk I snuck in. And I wasn't wearing my Fitbit when I walked the girls to school this morning, so I'm going to say I made it to 10,000. (Woohoo!)

I did not, however, do any sort of formal workout. (Boo!) Will pack my gym bag for tomorrow.

Also, I have not done my knee exercises yet. (I am 40 and falling apart.) I'm going to go and do those as soon as I post this.

I also met my sleep goal last night, clocking in at more than 7 hours! (Woohoo!) This was made possible by the fact that we all inadvertently slept in this morning.

And that's that! Blog resurrected!

PS. I'm calling it day one, because I can. Last week was practise.

10 Months