WHY DID I THINK GOING TO AN EVENT CALLED COOKIES AND COCOA WOULD BE OKAY!?
Cookie exchange. Roughly 10 different, delicious treats to sample. Plus homemade ice cream. Plus I brought home a huge tupperware full of treats.
Let me state the obvious - I don't feel well!
BUT - I will say that I made sure to have my raw veggies for a morning snack, a big healthy salad for lunch AND then turned our taco dinner into a taco salad for me. So even though I know very well that I didn't entirely balance out my serious indulgences, at least I kept some of the healthy habits going.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Better than Before - Day Twelve and Thirteen
Okay, quick post because it's late, I'm tired, and my to-do list for the night is not yet done.
Friday - Did great food-wise all day at work, despite sudden overwhelming pile of work. Motivation was helped by the fact that the scale rewarded me with a good, positive number first thing in the morning.
Things deteriorated a bit once I got home. Basically I stopped tracking what I was eating, baked two holiday items with the girlies, and then sampled said holiday items. Sigh.
Saturday - I packed too much into this day. Swimming/gymnastics lessons first thing, followed by a super quick turnaround time to go to a moms and kids holiday party. (Side note: Why are there never dads and kids parties? My oldest asked me that today. I feel it is a brilliant idea.) Potluck-type parties are a weakness of mine, because my favourite thing is to eat small amounts of a large variety of things. So any virtuous thoughts I had going into the party quickly flew out of my brain.
Dropped the kids back at home early afternoon, so I could turn around and run a couple of errands on my own. (This is when I realized I needed some water. The sugar from the party was giving me a headache!) Came home for about 1.5 hours (various household chores) and then the girls and I went to hang with my bestie and her daughter while Jamie grocery shopped. Then home for dinner (and wine!) followed by bedtime routines, more baking (for tomorrow's event), kitchen clean-up and then two hours of work, to give me a head start on the insanity of next week. And while I did my work, I ate the last piece of chocolate mousse cake from the fridge. It was a pity treat.
No tracking, no exercise, lots of sugar (including some eaten furtively, without enjoyment or other people present). Weekends - particularly during the holiday season - are going to be tough.
Friday - Did great food-wise all day at work, despite sudden overwhelming pile of work. Motivation was helped by the fact that the scale rewarded me with a good, positive number first thing in the morning.
Things deteriorated a bit once I got home. Basically I stopped tracking what I was eating, baked two holiday items with the girlies, and then sampled said holiday items. Sigh.
Saturday - I packed too much into this day. Swimming/gymnastics lessons first thing, followed by a super quick turnaround time to go to a moms and kids holiday party. (Side note: Why are there never dads and kids parties? My oldest asked me that today. I feel it is a brilliant idea.) Potluck-type parties are a weakness of mine, because my favourite thing is to eat small amounts of a large variety of things. So any virtuous thoughts I had going into the party quickly flew out of my brain.
Dropped the kids back at home early afternoon, so I could turn around and run a couple of errands on my own. (This is when I realized I needed some water. The sugar from the party was giving me a headache!) Came home for about 1.5 hours (various household chores) and then the girls and I went to hang with my bestie and her daughter while Jamie grocery shopped. Then home for dinner (and wine!) followed by bedtime routines, more baking (for tomorrow's event), kitchen clean-up and then two hours of work, to give me a head start on the insanity of next week. And while I did my work, I ate the last piece of chocolate mousse cake from the fridge. It was a pity treat.
No tracking, no exercise, lots of sugar (including some eaten furtively, without enjoyment or other people present). Weekends - particularly during the holiday season - are going to be tough.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Better Than Before - Day Eleven
Good story from my morning: After a rough night (My children have night terrors. They are not as bad as some of the ones I've read about, but they are as awful as we've experienced, so they feel pretty craptastic.) and a rough morning routine (We woke up late - we were all tired from aforementioned night terrors - and I was stress-y, yell-y mommy, trying to get everyone to MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!), I started my day downtown at an appointment with a physiotherapist that I trust, to get a second opinion on my knee issues and put a plan in motion to fix me up before I fall apart. To get there, I had to get off the streetcar beside the French bakery that makes my favourite cookie in the entire city. I contemplated going off plan and enjoying the gooey greatness. The scales were tipping in favour of the cookie, but then I remembered my rule to not scarf down treats all alone, in secret. That treats should be enjoyed with people I enjoy.
AND I RESISTED! Cue the trumpets. Throw the confetti.
But, a small confession. While we were waiting for our pizza to be delivered (a veggie pizza that I totally accounted for in my food log), I grabbed the very last of my homemade oatmeal cookies and snuck away from my children to eat it. I didn't even remember the rule! Two steps forward, two steps back, and all that...
As usually happens this time of year, I am suddenly very BUSY! Lots of happy, good stuff busy and then an absolute avalanche of work stuff busy. I'm feeling sort of overwhelmed, which is normal for me when I'm at the bottom of the mountain of stuff to do. I'm going to set the alarm for tomorrow, go to work early, and start climbing the mountain, so I feel better.
Sad truth - the gym isn't happening at the moment. There simply aren't enough hours in the day. But I did make my 10,000 steps. And tonight I will do my new and improved knee exercises.
AND I RESISTED! Cue the trumpets. Throw the confetti.
But, a small confession. While we were waiting for our pizza to be delivered (a veggie pizza that I totally accounted for in my food log), I grabbed the very last of my homemade oatmeal cookies and snuck away from my children to eat it. I didn't even remember the rule! Two steps forward, two steps back, and all that...
As usually happens this time of year, I am suddenly very BUSY! Lots of happy, good stuff busy and then an absolute avalanche of work stuff busy. I'm feeling sort of overwhelmed, which is normal for me when I'm at the bottom of the mountain of stuff to do. I'm going to set the alarm for tomorrow, go to work early, and start climbing the mountain, so I feel better.
Sad truth - the gym isn't happening at the moment. There simply aren't enough hours in the day. But I did make my 10,000 steps. And tonight I will do my new and improved knee exercises.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Better Than Before - Day Ten
It is 9PM and the littlest child has been in her bedroom, but crazy chatty, for more than an hour! Mama is TI-RED!
After a slight lull at work, my to-do list has exploded. My planned lunchtime workout did not happen. But my eating was totally on-track, with plenty of healthy snacks consumed. I also got off the bus early, to fit in extra steps, but my FitBit has yet to vibrate, so I'm not quite at 10,000 yet.
My evening plan for post dinner/playtime/bedtime/kitchen cleaning was supposed to be some sort of workout here at home, followed by more work. Usually the children are asleep by 8, but since we've only just reached that point in the evening a whole hour later, I cannot bring myself to do the workout OR - to be honest - the work! Probably better to get to bed soon and wind down, so I can get a good sleep in and be fresh tomorrow.
Interesting note on the food front. I have been really good about eating really healthy, whole foods, so I haven't really been hungry. I've WANTED to eat, but not out of hunger, just out of habit. But tonight we had pasta with homemade spaghetti sauce for dinner and I only had white pasta in the house. Well, I'm totally hungry! The white pasta is so empty! Good thing to learn.
After a slight lull at work, my to-do list has exploded. My planned lunchtime workout did not happen. But my eating was totally on-track, with plenty of healthy snacks consumed. I also got off the bus early, to fit in extra steps, but my FitBit has yet to vibrate, so I'm not quite at 10,000 yet.
My evening plan for post dinner/playtime/bedtime/kitchen cleaning was supposed to be some sort of workout here at home, followed by more work. Usually the children are asleep by 8, but since we've only just reached that point in the evening a whole hour later, I cannot bring myself to do the workout OR - to be honest - the work! Probably better to get to bed soon and wind down, so I can get a good sleep in and be fresh tomorrow.
Interesting note on the food front. I have been really good about eating really healthy, whole foods, so I haven't really been hungry. I've WANTED to eat, but not out of hunger, just out of habit. But tonight we had pasta with homemade spaghetti sauce for dinner and I only had white pasta in the house. Well, I'm totally hungry! The white pasta is so empty! Good thing to learn.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Better Than Before - Day Nine
Major fail with my sleeping goals last night. I stayed up way too late. Do you know that weird feeling when you just can't stop looking at the Internet? Like, nothing is interesting and you're tired, but you feel compelled to just keep looking? That was me. And then, because they have radar for this sort of thing, June decided to crawl into bed with us at 3AM. I don't fight it when our kids want to be in our bed, but with Violet we can just play musical beds and one of us can take over her single bed. Because our queen is not big enough for both of us and a kid. But June is still in a converted crib, so there's no switch to be had. Last night reminded me that this little girl needs a big bed pronto!
Felt super back on track this morning and packed up my healthy snacks to face the day. Slung my gym bag over my shoulder with all sorts of lunchtime workout resolutions. BUT, I had totally forgotten that we'd planned a team lunch today to celebrate a birthday. So instead of the gym, we went for delicious Middle Eastern food.
I studied the menu carefully and chose a fatoush salad with falafel. I knew the deep fried balls were not going to look good on my food log, but I also knew that the majority of my lunch was veggies and I was legitimately enjoying a meal out with lovely people. And man, it was SO good. I also had half a pita and was super sparing with the tahini. Seriously, I'm still thinking about all the yumminess.
I entered everything into my food log on my Fitbit and - lo and behold - I was all out of calories FOR THE DAY! It was 1:30PM. So I made an alternate plan. I asked my husband to get the kiddos and I went to an evening gym class! A step class which was very high energy and I burned a bunch of calories. Yay me!! (My knee is a little unhappy, but I'm icing it as I type.)
Sometimes, when I'm away from it for too long, I forget that I actually really love high intensity exercise. The adrenaline rush and the feeling of accomplishment when it's all done really works for me.
So, home to a healthy dinner here. I have yet to enter those calories - and I may not have earned enough to counteract them, but I'm still calling it a win. My teeth are also brushed, so I can't have any of the treats in the house. (We have good treats right now...)
Felt super back on track this morning and packed up my healthy snacks to face the day. Slung my gym bag over my shoulder with all sorts of lunchtime workout resolutions. BUT, I had totally forgotten that we'd planned a team lunch today to celebrate a birthday. So instead of the gym, we went for delicious Middle Eastern food.
I studied the menu carefully and chose a fatoush salad with falafel. I knew the deep fried balls were not going to look good on my food log, but I also knew that the majority of my lunch was veggies and I was legitimately enjoying a meal out with lovely people. And man, it was SO good. I also had half a pita and was super sparing with the tahini. Seriously, I'm still thinking about all the yumminess.
I entered everything into my food log on my Fitbit and - lo and behold - I was all out of calories FOR THE DAY! It was 1:30PM. So I made an alternate plan. I asked my husband to get the kiddos and I went to an evening gym class! A step class which was very high energy and I burned a bunch of calories. Yay me!! (My knee is a little unhappy, but I'm icing it as I type.)
Sometimes, when I'm away from it for too long, I forget that I actually really love high intensity exercise. The adrenaline rush and the feeling of accomplishment when it's all done really works for me.
So, home to a healthy dinner here. I have yet to enter those calories - and I may not have earned enough to counteract them, but I'm still calling it a win. My teeth are also brushed, so I can't have any of the treats in the house. (We have good treats right now...)
Monday, November 23, 2015
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!
Saturday, November 21, 2015
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!!
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!!
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