Moving It Monday - Tuesday Edition

Sorry I missed last week and then yesterday also.  Writing blog posts hasn't become habit yet, and therefore, gets set aside at times.  Exercising, however, has become habit and I did do that even if I didn't blog about it.

My weight went down 0.6# and body fat % went up 2.4% over the last two weeks.

Over that same amount of time I went from deciding to run SoCal's Ragnar and beginning training for that to realizing that that was not something doable with my family's schedule.  And my beloved treadmill went for it's last run also.  I've put a lot of miles on it.  Some part that makes the treadmill incline has broken; turning on the treadmill one can hear that motor running trying to move the 'mill up, but it goes nowhere.

So, I'm taking my running to the streets.  Which is great actually.  I get it done in a timely manner with no interruptions from the fam and with no interruptions from the littles, it truly is the Mommy Break I need.

We hear all the time about how weight loss is more about the food you eat than anything.  I try to remind myself that my goal is to run Utah Valley Marathon in under 4 hours.  To do so, I really need to work on fueling my body appropriately.  Black licorice and Skittles, while tasty and fat-free, does not give my body the fuel it needs.  And, just because I ran a few miles, it doesn't give me free reign of the food in the kitchen.  Mindful eating is what I need to remember.

'Til next week...

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Moving It Monday

As I was tucking the kids into bed tonight, I realized I had yet to write out today's post.

So, here's a quick post for you.

I'm up 0.2 pounds (139#), but I'm down 2% in my body fat.  After posting the scale pic on facebook last week, I was reminded of the fact that as I gain muscle, the scale won't go down, in fact, it may go up.  Even if I feel like I still have 20# I could easily lose.

In light of this, I've decided to track my body fat percentage.  I don't know how accurate my scale is, but I imagine the increase or decrease is accurate-ish.  I'm just barely into the "acceptable" range and would like to decrease about 10% into the fitness range and maybe even athletic range.

 

  (Holy cow, there is some annoying frog-thing croaking outside!  Please, for the love, stop!)

 

 

I did miss one day of strength training due to a migraine.  But, overall, I'd call last week a success.  I registered for the Utah Valley Marathon.  So I'm official there now.  Yay!  And I ran 10 miles in 90 minutes for my long run on Saturday.  I'm trying to keep a 9-min pace even as my mileage increases.  So far, so good.

Here's to a new week, a new month, and a new year!!

(Urgh!  I wonder if closing the windows will be enough to keep from hearing that animal/frog that sounds like it's dying a slow, croaking death...)

Moving It Monday

Jay Jacobs has inspired me to start (or at least TRY!) to be better about recording this healthy-living journey I'm on.  He's posting a weekly pic of his weight on facebook.  

I posted mine this morning on facebook and now here it is again:

I'm up one pound from last week.  I did good with my exercising, but I splurged on sweets and sodium-rich meat on Christmas so I'm not too surprised.  As I go back to a regular diet this week I hope to bring that down.

Here's my routine for the next 7 weeks: Jillian Michael's Ultimate Dumbbell Program 4x/week and 2 runs.  As a runner, that is hard for me to do.  I'm hoping the strength training will help me burn up some of this fat I'm looking to rid myself of and once the 8 week program is up, I'll be stronger, fitter, and less prone to running injuries.  About that time is when I'll need to start my marathon training so it should work perfectly, right?

I'll sign off with my latest ASTRTOTD (Awesome Song To Run To of the Day).  Enjoy!

 

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Must. Think. Positive!

I wish I could say that I absolutely love Christmas.

Ebeneezer pic from allmoviephoto.com  (For the record, I don't have hair growing from the top of my nose.  Just periodically from my chin...)

But, I don't.  It's just too stressful for me sometimes.  I need to concentrate more on it being CHRISTmas.  I know it's an attitude problem on my part.  That I need to concentrate on the positive and stop thinking of all the stressful things in my life.  My children and my husband deserve that.

I came across a blog the other day where at the end of every day the author found one good thing that happened that day.  (I wish I could remember the blog now...)  I love that idea.  I need that idea!  I need to find the happiness that is surrounding me in the midst of what feels like incredible stress and chaos.

Today Sissy had her first basketball practice.  She loved it!  She wanted to practice dribbling after dinner tonight.  We need to get her a smaller basketball though because a regular one is just a tad too big for her 5 year-old hands.

And she cleaned half of her room (Missy is supposed to clean up the other half)!  It took a lot of crying and persuading, but Brad finally told me to put on my big girl panties and do it.  Juuuuuust kidding.  Sissy did not think it was something she could do on her own.  I'm so proud of her that despite the whining and crying she actually did it.  I think she was truly proud of herself too!  Tonight when I thanked her for doing it she told me it was my Christmas present.  Love that!

Yes, there were frustrating points to my day.  Mainly they involved Buddy's never-ending messes of milk and pretzels and peanut butter sandwiches and poop.  Really I love that he is potty-trained, but if he continues going #2 without telling me and without wiping himself, I might insist on him wearing a pull-up!!  Okay, not really.  It's just that Brad and I are getting tired of constantly finding pee all over the bathroom floor.  Is it really that hard to aim?!?!

Whoops, going to end this post on a positive note.  I love me some Buddy cuddling.  He is a Master Snuggler.  And when I kiss him he says, "Ewww Mom, that's lucky (yucky)!"

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Tasty Tuesday

 Growing up, one of the highlights of going to the health food store with my Mom was when we'd get a treat: kefir, sesame seed honey bites , and Panda black licorice.  So very good!

You can understand then why I was excited when a friend recently posted on facebook that she had some kefir grains that she wanted to share.  I've never made homemade kefir, but I knew there are many health benefits to the homemade version versus the store bought.

I've been drinking about a cup a day for a week now.  I was fermenting it in 2% milk at first and I found that using it with my daily protein smoothie really helped to curb my appetite for some time after drinking it.  Also, I noticed a decrease in my desire for sugary sweets.

For a few months now, I had actually been substituting coconut water for milk in my protein smoothies.  I figured that the protein powder, greek yogurt, and peanut butter offered enough fat and protein and that the potassium in the coconut water would be really beneficial to me, especially running as much as I am.  

After drinking the kefir for a few days, I began to wonder if I could ferment my grains in coconut water instead of milk.  I did a little research online and found that the grains need sugar to ferment so as long as the liquid they were placed in had sugar, the resulting liquid would be kefir.

With a little more research I came across this page about Tula, a young girl whose parents saw improvement in her autistic symptoms when she drank young coconut kefir.  In fact, googling "coconut kefir autism" brings up a lot of results.

During Missy's NICU stay, she battled pneumonia and many different infections.  She was on antibiotics nearly her entire time there.  Then when she left the hospital she had ear infection after ear infection.  In fact, she had ear tubes placed twice.  I've often wondered if she has an gastrointestinal  candida overgrowth. 

Here's what my coconut water kefir looks like.
 

Then, I separate the grains from the liquid...

and am left with coconut water kefir!!

To my quart jar I return my grains and add 2 cups of fresh coconut water.  I place plastic wrap over the top and put it in my pantry for another 24 hours.  Easy peasy!!

The hard part is convincing the kidlets to drink this.  I'm fine having 8oz in a smoothie.  I prefer it with berries and bananas.  It has a tart, sour taste with the first drink, but then I become accustomed to it and can drink the rest fine.

I took the advice of Tula's parents and decided to try just a half teaspoon for the kids.  When they asked for something to drink I put their tiny serving in their cup with about 2oz of their preferred drink without them knowing.  For Missy it was Trader Joe's Dixie Peach juice, Sissy and Buddy had theirs in 2% milk.  No one noticed!  Or said anything anyway.  In fact, when Missy requested more juice, I put 1 teaspoon of the kefir in about 3 oz of juice.  She drank it!!

Missy normally has a bowel movement once a week.  I hate to think how bad that is for her.  I'm hoping this will really help her.  Tonight, ahead of her weekly schedule, she had a BM.  Woohoo!!

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Silly Saturday

Sissy:  What's ravioli?

Me:  Small pockets of pasta with meat or cheese inside.

Buddy:  Or MnM's inside.

Mmmm, my kind of ravioli!

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Baby Brezza

When Missy was a baby, my Mom gave me the old hand crank baby food grinder she used when my sisters and I were babies.  It was awesome to be able to grind up what the rest of us were having for dinner.  We saved buckets not buying baby food at the store.

Except when the Bedlamites were much smaller and couldn't eat what we were eating.  I still used the baby food grinder, but first I had to cook up carrots or peas or squash, etc.  Also, did I cook up a huge batch and freeze it to save time later or if I was short on time, maybe just do a small amount quick?  A pain, right?

What a breeze it would have been if I had a Baby Brezza back then.  With a push of a few buttons it not only cooks the food, but purees it also.  What sold me is that you can even add raw meat and it will cook it all together.  All while you do other things like browse Pinterest while eating a Simply Carmel Milky Way the laundry, dishes, and dusting.

So, after you get a Baby Brezza, what's the next thing you need?  Why food, of course!  Right now Baby Brezza is having a sweepstakes for a year of fresh produce (awarded in the form of gift cards).  All you need to do is add a Baby Brezza One Step Baby Food Maker to your registry and then let Baby Brezza know.  All the details can be found on their website.

P.S.  If you're not expecting in the traditional sense (a.k.a. You're Trying To Adopt), please create a registry and enter the sweepstakes.  Your family deserves to win just as much as the next one. :)

Disclosure: I was entered for a chance to win a Baby Brezza prize package in exchange for this post. No monetary exchange took place.

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My Weekly Menu

 This was supposed to be the latest Tasty Tuesday installment but I didn't get it finished yesterday.  So instead it is...  well, shoot I can't think of any alliteration cuz you know, you NEED alliteration...  Weekly menu Wednesday...  Riiiight.  Let's just skip that part...

Look at all the yummy produce we received in our small box this week from Abundant Harvest Organics.

We have persimmons, pomegranates, green beans, lettuce, bok choy, bell peppers, summer squash, mint, tokyo turnips, kohlrabi, and tuscan kale.  The persimmons are the hachiya variety.  I have them sitting in a paper bag with a banana in an attempt to ripen them.  After trying an unripe one, I'm afraid to use them in anything unless I'm totally certain they're ripe.

Here's our menu plan this week, using our amazing fresh, organic produce.

Wed: Curried Pumpkin Soup with green beans (uses garlic and onion from a previous week and the green beans)

Thurs: Wonton Soup (uses peas I've frozen from a previous week and the bok choy -I'll be subbing ground turkey seasoned with sage for the ground pork)

Fri: Baked Chicken Breasts with Tuscan Kale and Beans (uses previous week's garlic and onions and this week's kale

Sat: Turkey patties with Kohlrabi (okay this one is just obvious...  We're fans of turkey/beef patties lightly seasoned with steak seasoning - no buns needed)

Sun: Chicken and ravioli pesto (uses summer squash and green peppers)

Mon: Turkey patties with Roasted Veggies and Roasted Garlic Sauce (uses squash and turnips)

The salad will be eaten for lunches throughout the week.

You can also get add-ons through Abundant Harvest and this week we bought popping corn.  

Brad and I tried it out last night and it was SO COOL!!  We just put an ear of corn in a paper bag, rolled it up and put it in the microwave.  Then pop it similar to microwave popcorn.  We ate it plain while watching The Biggest Loser last night.

On a Halloween candy note, I made a rule this year that every piece of candy that the kids eat they have to eat a similar size piece of fruit or vegetable before they have more candy.  It worked well yesterday; a couple pears, apples and a stalk of celery was consumed along with their candy.  They're starting to get bored with the candy and that's just fine with me.

What's on your menu this week and do you have rules with your Halloween candy consumption?

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