Day 5

I am a creature of habit. It occurred to me today that I might need to state that here. I know that the same foods keep showing up over and over, like chicken breasts and the salsa I use, but that is because I like those foods. I don't tend to vary from things that I like until I am at risk of falling asleep in my plate from boredom. That being said, you will find that today's lunch is much like last night's dinner because it was so yummy that I couldn't wait to make (devour) it again. My point is, you will probably get bored with my food rotation way before I do.

Breakfast: egg scrambled with butter & black bean/white corn salsa, black beans, tea & honey

Lunch: green beans sauteed in butter, boneless/skinless chicken breast, dried cranberries

Dinner: grilled beef round steak, whole-wheat spaghetti, mushroom & green pepper spaghetti sauce

Daily Totals: 1280 calories, 42% carbs (134g), 28% fat (41g), 30% protein (97g). Again, the red meat really helps me reach my protein goal for the day. Tomorrow is the big grocery shop and I am hoping to find a few more sources of protein that aren't too high in fat. Suggestions welcome.

Day 4: Totals

Wow. The oatmeal this morning was f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s, but I had to watch my carbs like a hawk the rest of the day and I still ended up a little over. All in all, a good day and I am not craving too badly or exhausted like I am when I cut calories and eat nothing but crap.

Breakfast: oatmeal w/ honey & raisins

Lunch: boneless/skinless chicken breast w/ green pepper & mushroom spaghetti sauce

Dinner: (This was amazingly good!!!) green beans sauteed in butter, boneless/skinless chicken breast, an orange, walnuts

Husband said that my dinner got an "8" for presentation... no matter what it tasted like ( he cooked something else for him and the kids)! Anyway, on to the totals...

Daily Totals: 1245 calories, 45% carbs (141g), 29% fat (41g), 26% protein (82g). No red meat today = a little low on protein. I need to start cooking fish. The only thing I know I like is perch so I guess that's a good place to start. Thursday is grocery shopping day so I hope to add a little more variety next week. Baby steps...

Day 4: Labels

This starting the new *diet* on the first thing is really helping me keep track of which day I'm on; 4th of January = day 4. I like simple. I'm in trouble come February...

I came across the perfect example of why I am doing this dietary overhaul in my pantry this morning and so, I took pictures for you! You're welcome.

This is the oatmeal that we have always eaten in this house (flavors may vary):

This is the oatmeal that I also have in the house, but only use for cooking (holds my meatloaf together wonderfully):

This is the label for the one we eat as a meal:

This is the label for the one I cook with:

Guess which oatmeal I decided to use for breakfast this morning? Yep, the oatmeal with ONE ingredient. Maybe my new rule of thumb should be, "If you can't pronounce it, you shouldn't be eating it!" And it didn't take any longer to cook (microwave) the healthier option which I, for some reason, thought would be the case.

Day Three

I nailed my protein intake today! Just check out my totals at the end of this post...

Breakfast: all natural yogurt, banana chips, hard boiled egg, tea & honey

Lunch: black beans, boneless/skinless chicken breast, white corn/black bean salsa

Dinner: grilled round steak, natural seasoning, sweet potato w/ butter

Daily Totals: 1220 calories, 42% carbs (131g), 28% fat (40g), 30% protein (94g). Eating a little red meat (5.5 oz) really went a long way as far as reaching my protein goal was concerned. I didn't make it to the gym today, but Husband and I spent 6 hours (SIX HOURS!) taking down Christmas decorations. At least I got my fair amount of bending, squatting, lifting, and pulling getting all of that stuff down, sorted and put away. Hopefully tomorrow the treadmill and I will once again meet each others acquaintance.

Day Two

Still feeling good today. The decrease in sodium has me peeing every fifteen minutes, though! I couldn't finish the lunch I prepared for myself and I have had no desire to snack between meals. I might just be on to something here...

Breakfast: 2 hard-boiled eggs, all natural yogurt w/ dried cranberries


Lunch: half a sweet potato w/ butter, steamed broccoli, black beans


Dinner: boneless/skinless chicken breast, green pepper & mushroom spaghetti sauce, whole wheat pasta w/ butter

Daily totals: 1285 calories, 47% carbs (153g), 28% fat (40g), 25% protein (81g). I'm still working on my protein intake, but I'm getting better. Again, its all about discovering what foods are naturally a good source. Black beans were the answer today.

I'm supposed to hit the gym tomorrow (and maybe I'm just making excuses here), but I also need to get the Christmas stuff down. I don't know if I will have time (energy) for both. I'll let you know if I get over myself and go tomorrow... wish me luck!

Resolutions

Happy New Year! 2010 was a pretty good year for our little family. I even managed to follow through with one of my resolutions (a first for me)... I quit smoking! It has been six months since I made the decision to no longer be a slave to the nicotine and set an example for my kids whom I hope never, ever start that nasty habit!

As proud as I am of this accomplishment, I did manage to gain about 20 pounds in the process of quitting. Partially because of the not smoking anymore and partially because I used not smoking anymore as an excuse to snack. So this year's resolution ties into conquering last year's... I want to change my life through the food that I eat.

I have the worst relationship with food. I eat garbage and lots of it. When I "diet", I still eat junk... just less of it. I manage to lose weight, but I feel like crap because my body is not getting the fuel it needs. So I give up on the diet and go back to my usual, unhealthy patterns. My resolution for this year is to eat more natural, non-processed foods.

I don't know if there is a specific diet out there to give this venture of mine a label, but here are the basic ideas that I am hoping to adhere to and should naturally result in some weight-loss:

* Eat as close to the "source" as possible. What this means to me is eating things from nature... veggies, fruits, meat, eggs, nuts, milk. I am researching and expanding what this will include since I honestly don't know the difference between what is and isn't *natural*.

* I'm also trying to maintain the 40:30:30 ratio in my diet. This is something I discovered through an app I have on my ipod. It relates to the balance of foods in your diet, 40% carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat are the daily goals. I use Tap & Track on my ipod and it shows me a pie chart of my daily intake percentages. I find it keeps me from blowing my whole diet out of whack with too much fat or sugar or starch.

* Maintain a calorie intake between 1250 and 1500 daily. I am hoping this will be easier than with my past dieting experience since I don't see myself gorging on green beans and apples. I guess it could happen...

It seems simple to keep things, well, simple in terms of what I plan to eat, but I know it is going to be hard. The donuts my kids were eating this morning smelled so. flippin'. good. I just need to take it one day (meal) at a time and realize that my success with this resolution will also set a life long example for my donut-scarfing, cookie-crazy babies. 6yr-old-girl has been begging me to slice open the pineapple that came in with all of the other fresh fruits and veggies in preparation for my big switch.

I also plan to share a food log and photos here, maybe even a weekly weigh-in report; at least in the beginning while this is all new to me. Hopefully, by the end of this year, it will be second nature to eat naturally and I won't need to think (obsess) about it so much.

Breakfast: hard boiled egg, orange, tea & honey

Lunch: steamed broccoli/cauliflower/carrots, walnuts, dried cranberries

Dinner: green beans, boneless/skinless chicken breast, white corn/black bean salsa

Daily totals: 1220 calories, 48% carbs (150g), 32% fat (46g), 20% protein (62g). I know I need to do better getting enough protein, but this is probably more than I have eaten in months. I told you, my diet is garbage (sugar, sugar and more sugar). I'm feeling good about day one right now and hope to see some positive changes to my overall health in the weeks and months to come.

My *Poor* Children

I have been done Christmas shopping for the kids since October. My goal is always to have the bulk of the Santa gifts bought by Halloween. I've been doing this for the past three or four years and it has completely eliminated the holiday stress in my life. I do not get all time constraint crazy in the weeks leading up to the big day because, I can honestly say, I have been done for months.

The danger in this little tradition, however, is not continuing to purchase additional gifts throughout November and December which is so very hard with all of the advertisements, free shipping and other holiday gimmicks constantly in your face. I do pretty well avoiding the temptation, though. Mostly because I still have Husband, my family, my friends and their kids to shop for, which still leaves me just enough holiday shopping to do without making me want to spike the egg nog.

Not only do my kids get the benefit of not having to deal with Psycho Santa mom, but they also get awesome stocking stuffers Christmas morning. The stockings in my house are no longer an after thought... "Shoot! The stockings. What time is Walgreen's open 'til? I need a bag of candy."... because they are the only thing that I do allow myself to purchase for after Halloween. If it won't fit, I won't/can't/don't buy it. I will admit, I've had to upgrade to some industrial strength hooks for hanging those suckers the last couple of seasons. *snicker*

Now, the reason I've gone into all of this is not merely to say, "Look at me. Look at me, I was done Christmas shopping while you were still trying to figure out what costume your kid was going to wear for Trick-or-Treat." (though, there's probably some of that in here for good measure), but because I came across something so ridiculous on the internets that I felt I must share... and mock.

Top 20 Hottest Stocking Stuffer Toys and Gift Ideas for the 2010

Go ahead, click on the link. I'll wait while you take in the whole article and its insanity.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* :) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Done? Good. Now I may rant. First, this came up when I did an online search for stocking stuffers. How many of those gift ideas would actually fit in a stocking? Which makes me think maybe I overestimated the awesomeness of my kids' stockings. Perhaps they are actually quite miniature and I am just clueless. Anyway... It was not really the size of these items that got me, but the PRICE. The article defines stocking stuffers as "small gifts that are supplemental to the bigger, higher-priced main gifts that boys and girls receive during the December holiday season."

Umm, can I just ask... What the hell are parents spending on Christmas gifts?! Those *stocking stuffers* are priced about the same (if not more than) what I spend on the main gifts. And I think I spend a crazy amount, so I am really just baffled by all of this. I'm over here patting myself on the back, feeling like Super Santa for managing to upgraded the trinkets and treasures in our stockings from last minute whatever-the-Dollar-Store-has-left candy to chapter books and silly bands, just to find out this Santa is apparently c-h-e-a-p. Its a good thing my kids have grandparents (not to mention an uncle) who are the spoiling type or their Christmas might be ruined. *please note sarcasm*

Maybe I'll be less of a Scrooge with my grandkids and I'll splurge on the 3ft. stockings stuffed with $20 pillow pets and $50 Talking Buzz Lightyears (or whatever the fad is 25 years from now), but first let me worry about putting three kids through college. After all, the Santa around these parts does have his priorities and is frugal for a reason.