Are You Eating My Food?

From the blog title, you might think that I've gone a little hungry-nuts on folks for eating my precious, hard-to-come-by food.  Ha!  Despite my healthy eating Challenge, I'm not hungry (unless I stay up too late at night...but that's my own fault!), and I haven't resorted to calling people out for eating my food.  I'm actually pretty surprised that with all my diet modifications and the fact that I'm eating WAY less than I used to, I'm not hungry or grumpy or watching the clock for my next meal.  That just goes to show that prior to the Challenge, I was overeating--I ate out of boredom, stress, and sometimes just for fun.  Now that I'm being more conscientious about my food intake, I eat healthier foods and I don't eat too much--gone are the days of feeling so stuffed, I can't move!

okay, sometimes I feel this way when I can't have ice cream

This post thankfully isn't about me lashing out in hunger--it's about Alex and his terrible eating habits.  We call him Mr. Contrarian, about everything in his life (not just food)--he will happily tell us one thing, and then seconds later change his mind and be totally against his previous stance.  It's hard to know what he wants--"Mommy, can I have more milk?"  followed by screaming, "NO!!!  I DON'T WANT MILK!" when I hand him his cup 30 seconds later.  Who knows what is up with that child, but he makes mealtime extremely frustrating.  The other night, Dan and I were having leftovers, so I was just making simple stuff for the kids for dinner--Abby wanted leftover macaroni and cheese, Jake wanted a sandwich, and Alex said he wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ("lots of them," in fact).  So I made the boys their sandwiches and reheated Abby's mac and cheese, and called everyone out to the table.  Alex took one look at his plate and screamed, "NO!  I DON'T WANT A SANDWICH!  I WANT NOODLES!"  Of course, I hadn't made any noodles, and he had specifically requested the sandwich.  I tried to calmly explain that I simply made what he asked me for, but with a 2-year-old, rationality doesn't usually win.  He was beside himself.  I was at my wits end.  I wished my dad was here sitting at the dinner table with us.

Granddaddy with Alex when he was born

My dad and Alex have a sweet, adorable bond with each other that goes all the way back to his newborn days.  Alex was The Worst Baby On the Planet--my poor mom and I would have to hear him screaming all day long while my dad was at work (Dan was deployed, so I was living with my parents).  Coupled with being just awful in terms of the constant screaming, Alex was also crazy adorable--such a weird dichotomy.  In the moments when he wasn't screaming (mostly those fleeting newborn sleeping times), he was super cute.  That dichotomy exists in his personality today--when he's not happy, you don't want to know him at all (screaming is still an issue, but now it's 2-year-old tantrum screaming...equally unpleasant), but when he's in a good mood, he could win over even the most kid-hating person in the world.  I am always told what a sweet, wonderful little guy he is--and I always respond with, "Yeah, he's cute--but you should see him when he's unhappy!"  (Perhaps I'm still harboring some bitterness over his terrible first 6 months of life?)  It's not always sunshine and rainbows with that kid.  Anyway, when Alex was a baby, my dad would come home from work after a long day to find him screaming in his portable swing in the kitchen while my mom and I were attempting to get the big kids ready for bed.  I swear my dad thought Alex was just neglected (I promise you, he was not!)--he would immediately scoop Alex up out of the swing and take him into the living room, where I would discover them quietly staring at each other, content and happy, after I finished getting Abby and Jake in bed.  It was so sweet to see my dad so taken with my son--he loves Abby and Jake to pieces, of course, but something special happened between him and Alex.

When we have big family dinners, I always put Alex next to my dad at the table--my dad has an uncanny ability to make that picky child eat whatever is on his plate.  I've always been envious of my dad's magical influence on Alex--I've never been able to replicate it at home.  His tricks aren't all that fancy--he's big on reverse psychology--but they work for Alex, and he always eats well at their house.  For the record, reverse psychology doesn't work at all on Abby and Jake!  Alex is very competitive (he loves to taunt the opposition), and his sense of humor is such that he seemingly enjoys when others are upset (that sounds horrible, doesn't it?  We're going to have to work on that!).  He laughs when I pretend to cry.  He withholds kisses just to see me pretend to cry.  He says, "Be sad, Mommy!" with a huge smile on his face like it's the best thing ever.  In the interest of full disclosure, I also have a darker sense of humor (my all-time favorite TV show was about a funeral home), and I tend to laugh inappropriately (Dan absolutely hates it because my first response when someone gets hurt is usually laughter...of course, I'm right there to mend any boo boos for the kids, but I do laugh at the physical comedy a bit...)--so Alex may get some of that from me.  My dad has used these personality traits to get Alex to eat his food, by declaring that all the food is "his food."  He'll say, "Alex, are you eating my bagel?  Don't eat my bagel!  No, that's my bagel!" and Alex will promptly gobble up the entire bagel while saying, "Look, Granddaddy--I'm eating your bagel!" in a taunting, sing-song voice.  He's a little punk!

my dad getting Alex to eat!

When I made that peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Alex the other night and he screamed about it, I thought about my dad.  I've tried the "are you eating my food?" trick before without success, but it had been a while...so I thought I would try again.  I said, "Alex, is that my sandwich?  I'm going to eat it!"  He immediately picked it up, said, "No, it's my sandwich, Mommy--I'm going to eat it!" and proceeded to eat the whole thing!  Abby looked at me with a little smile on her face and whispered, "Good one, Mommy!"  She was totally on to my game.  Yesterday, the "are you eating my food?" trick worked again at lunch time--Alex ate his whole bagel, a banana, and all his cantaloupe and honeydew.  The only thing he didn't eat was his strawberries, so I'm wondering if I can extend this trick to include foods he doesn't actually enjoy (like meat), or if it will only work for foods he's generally good about eating (if not in their entirety, like his bagel and melon).  The trick also worked at dinner last night--he gets a big kick out of saying, "Look, Mommy--I'm eating all your food all gone!"  Thanks for being such a trickster, Dad--it's helping me out with my obstinate child!

What's Going On?

My thoughts are everywhere the last few days--I feel like I'm being pulled in a million directions!  I'm not really sure why I feel so scattered--I'm getting more sleep than I usually do, I'm finally exercising regularly, and there's really nothing pressing happening right now.  I was just sitting down last night feeling thankful that the stress of the holidays is over and we don't really have anything big on the horizon...yet I still feel anxious?  I can't quite put my finger on the cause of my anxiety, but it may have to do with the fact that I'm trying to cram all my regular stuff into a shorter period of time every day.

how is it the end of January already?

 
My Challenge for a healthier lifestyle means that I'm going to bed by or before midnight most nights--cutting my days shorter by almost 2 hours when compared to my pre-Challenge hours.  That's a lot of time!  I tend to get a lot done in the wee hours of the morning, when the house is quiet and I have time with my own thoughts--I organize my calendar, catch up on emails, balance the checkbook...that kind of thing.  So without those hours to myself, I'm working those tasks into the daylight hours (or not accomplishing them at all?).  Our family calendar has been particularly stressful for me the last few weeks--I can't seem to get a handle on our days and feel very off-kilter about it.  Normally, I know the day's or week's activities off the top of my head, but when the kids were so sick for so long, they missed gymnastics and dance classes, and now we're adding make-up classes to our regular schedule of classes to make up for those sick days.  Abby's dance teacher got sick this week, and rescheduled her dance class twice, making my head spin a bit.  The 2nd make-up for that class conflicted with her make-up gymnastics class this week, so I had to reschedule that.  You know, that's just how it's been going--I can't keep up!

I'm also really grateful to be able to work out three evenings a week with these classes I've started, but the rush of those evenings is tough.  I leave home at 5pm (inevitably running out the door with barely time to say hello to Dan as he comes in to relieve me), and I get back home around 6:30pm.  Last night, I came in all sweaty and tired from a really fun Zumba class, and went straight into the kitchen to fix dinner, then cleaned up the kitchen, then Dan and I got the kids in bed...and I didn't sit down until after 8pm.  I wrenched my back on Monday (jumping to get an errant helium balloon off the ceiling...grrrr), and I've been in quite a bit of pain from that--thankfully, I was able to do the step class Monday night, and I did Zumba last night while hopped up on Motrin.  I've been sitting with a warm compress on my back since Monday--every time I sit down, I put the compress on.  It's not helping.  I think the pain is contributing to my anxiousness--I just want to be back to normal again!  I want to be feeling good, because I'm eating healthy and being active...so it's just a bummer to be hurting (and the soreness in my calves from that darn step class hasn't helped!).

Carrying this around counts as weight training, right?

I think I just need to work on my daily efficiency--it's really hard when I have two little boys at home who love to play and always want me to play with them!  Since I don't really have anything big upcoming, it's hard to motivate myself to do the mundane tasks of running this household--the cleaning, the laundry, etc.  I've had a bottle of Fantastik and paper towels sitting in the downstairs bathroom for the last week...just waiting to be used to clean something!  I think I feel anxious because I don't think I'm doing enough--but the kids are healthy and happy, Dan and I are supporting each other (even if that means hardly seeing each other...something else to work on), the house isn't 100% clean, but it's not a dump, and I'm doing what I need to do for myself...so I think I just need to cut myself some slack, and take each day as it comes.  The guilt of spending this extra time on myself is hard to keep at bay, but in the end, it's not just time spent on myself--it's an invaluable example of good health that I'm passing on to our kids.  I just need to keep repeating that and feel proud of my efforts.

Not-So-Miso Steak

Sunday was weigh-in day with my new scale, and I weighed in at 159.6.  From my previous weigh-in last week, that's almost 3 pounds down--but I'm using a new scale, so who knows what the actual loss is (but at least I can be pretty confident that it was a loss!).  159.6 is going to be my new baseline--the first time I weighed myself on my new scale.  Next week will be the true test.  The weekend again proved really hard for my calorie intake--we visited Dan's parents on Saturday, and his mom made us blueberry muffins, which I love, and brownies and ice cream for dessert!  I had no idea how bad blueberry muffins are calorie-wise until I went to put it into my log...no wonder I have a terrible time losing weight!  I also got my hair cut this week, and while Dan thinks that wouldn't count toward weight loss, if you've seen how much hair I have, you would understand--I think it contributed at least a few ounces lost!

I took the time before heading grocery shopping on Sunday to look up some new recipes--I've been saying I'm going to add new meals to the food rotation, but then I am always rushing around like crazy trying to get my grocery list together and run out to the store every weekend that I never remember to actually add to my usual list.  I googled "easy, healthy dinners," since dinner has become even more of a dilemma for me now that I'm working out three nights a week, right at dinnertime.  I need some fast, healthy stuff that I can make after or before class.  I found two recipes I thought sounded enticing, and Dan agreed to try them--so I wrote down all the ingredients for Miso Steak with Green Beans and Baby Potatoes, as well as the ingredients for Lemon-Thyme Chicken.

I still don't really know what edamame is

 
I headed off to the commissary with my list in hand--a list that included a lot of unfamiliar items, like frozen edamame, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, and of course, the miso.  I know the commissary like the back of my hand (after all, I live there one hour every week!), so I figured the new items wouldn't be too hard to find.  Little did I know (although I probably should have guessed), the commissary is not really a place to find adventurous foods--and I didn't even think the recipes I chose were very adventurous!  My first major fail was the baby potatoes I needed for the Miso Steak meal--the commissary doesn't carry them...???  I picked up red potatoes instead, because they are smaller than Russet potatoes, and I thought they were more in the spirit of the recipe.  See, I can adapt!  Next, I found the rice wine vinegar and the sesame oil fairly easily, but miso didn't jump out at me.  It didn't help that I had no idea what miso looks like--is it a sauce?  Is it a type of noodle?  I was totally clueless.  After attempting to read every label in the aisle, I still hadn't found it...so I took my smartphone out of the commissary (I get no service inside) and googled miso.  Ah, it's a seasoning--that gave me a better idea of what to look for.  Again, I read every label, and again, I had no luck...  After what felt like an hour standing in front of that section, I decided to move on without the miso--maybe I'd find it with the other seasonings?  (Nope, no miso there.)  I kept going, picking up my normal foods as well as some other new items from the recipes (like the skirt steak for the Miso Steak recipe), and the last thing to get was the frozen, shelled edamame.  I've never had edamame before, but I have read about it a lot and know that it's a good, healthy snack--I was eager to find it and give it a try.  Of course, the commissary doesn't carry it, either--at least, not that I could find after repeated attempts down multiple aisles.  Urgh.  I headed home with everything I could find, which unfortunately was missing one crucial item from each recipe (the edamame for the Lemon-Thyme Chicken, and the miso from the Miso Steak).

I got home right at dinnertime, because the commissary took me two hours instead of one with all my wandering and searching.  Dan had wanted to make the Miso Steak for dinner, but since I couldn't find the miso, I didn't think it was an option.  I googled miso again, and discovered that some people think it has no taste--others think it has a salty or nutty taste.  The recipe only called for one tablespoon of it, so in our hunger and time-crunch, Dan and I decided to make the recipe without it.  Dan prepped the steak while I peeled and heated the potatoes, threw the steamed green beans into the microwave, and made the no-miso sauce--it really was a pretty easy meal to do, and would have been great if we weren't both frantically racing around the kitchen totally winging it since we had never made it before!  We both enjoyed the meal, as did Abby...but Jake only ate the steak and Alex ate nothing--he took one bite of green beans, declared that he loved them, and then proceeded to play with them for the rest of the evening.  Great.  We didn't feed him anything else, so hopefully with persistence, we will win this dinnertime battle and he'll learn to widen his palate a little.

Not-So-Miso Steak with Green Beans and Red Potatoes

At least I did well with my calories on Sunday!  We're looking forward to trying out the Lemon-Thyme chicken one of these days, too.

Update on the workout classes:  Friday night was my 2nd Zumba class, and it was with a different instructor than the Wednesday class--and by a stroke of luck, I discovered that a woman from my street has also signed up for these classes, so we carpooled over there together.  It was really great to not only get a workout in, but also to be social--I'm way too stuck in the house these days.  The class was fun, but this instructor's technique and moves are a lot different from the Wednesday class.  Friday's was more Latin and lots of hips, so I had a harder time keeping up with the steps, but I still enjoyed it.  Then last night was my first step class--I was very nervous about it (and more so after I told my best friend that I was doing a step class, and her response was "Uh oh..."), and let me just say, it kicked my rear end.  I wore my glasses, which I don't usually do while I work out, and my glasses were all foggy from all the heat and sweat on my face.  Gross!  It was definitely a good workout, and a lot more intense than I expected.  I'm convinced I'm going to end up missing the darn step and sprawl out on the floor, or accidentally push the step out from under myself--it could happen, because I'm just that uncoordinated.  Thankfully, that class is only once a week--I don't think I could handle it otherwise!  Bring on the Wednesday Zumba fun!

Out of My Comfort Zone

Zumba is on the docket again for tonight--I went to the first class on Wednesday evening, and felt pretty good about it.  It was definitely a more basic class than my friend's class I attended last week, but in a way, that was good because I got the hang of everything really quickly and didn't feel like such an awkward dork!  :)  The instructor of the class on Wednesday was enthusiastic and the class was pretty fun--the best part about it for me was the lanky guy who came in late, stood near me, and shook everything he had to shake like he didn't have a care in the world!  It was pretty funny, and he really made it fun--I sure hope he comes back every week.  The other students (and there weren't many--maybe 15 of us?) ran the gamut from skinny girls just looking to stay active and who clearly had taken Zumba classes before, to folks like me who are there to try to get healthier and lose some weight...and have very little clue what we are doing!  There was a lot of laughing from some of the ladies when they just couldn't figure out what the heck the instructor was doing.  I don't really know how the classes here will work--will I have the same instructor tonight?  Will it be the same songs and moves over and over again?  If it is the same every class, will I get bored or will I relish the routine?  I guess time will tell, but I'm pretty happy that I've taken this step toward a more regular exercise schedule.  Special mention goes to my husband, who is cutting his work day shorter to get home and hang out with the kids (so close to dinner, no less) so that I can make these classes work--thank you, honey!

In order to help me keep track of this Challenge, I finally bought a new scale for our house--after years of resisting buying a good scale.  Our old one is not digital--it's one of the ones with the dial on the bottom that you move a little to the right or left to get the arrow pointing at the zero before you step on.  I never have owned my own scale--our old one is a leftover from Dan's bachelor days, and I honestly don't really know why he had a scale...but it's mostly been collecting dust in our bathroom for the last 8 years.  I hate it--I don't think it's very accurate, and I think that dial gives me too much power.  Instead of zeroing it out, I once turned that little dial until the arrow pointed 40 pounds lighter than 0 and stepped on, just to see what weighing in at 120 pounds feels like...yeah, it didn't give me the excitement I was hoping for, since obviously I knew I was making the scale lie to me!  After faking out that old scale, I always had trouble believing what it told me, because I knew I could manipulate it so easily.  When I started this Challenge, I decided I needed to bite the bullet and ordered a new digital scale--weighing myself at my parents' house isn't exactly feasible in the long-term.  Part of my reticence with having a good scale in the house is that I don't want to become obsessed with every ounce and weigh myself constantly--I don't think that's healthy (or accurate--weight fluctuates throughout the day for various reasons, so weighing at a consistent time and not getting sucked into the ups and downs of each day is important), and that's not who I want to be.  I'm going to try to keep to once-a-week weight checks and not get crazy about it...we'll see how it goes.  I got the new scale set up in our bathroom last night, and will resist the temptation to step on it again until Sunday!

this is pretty much how I feel about scales!

 
I wanted to talk a little bit about the TV workout I did this past Sunday--I have Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred DVD and obviously my treadmill and elliptical in the garage, but I was looking for something different to change things up a bit.  I discovered that our cable offers a few OnDemand workout shows, so I looked through them for a few days before I decided on Sunday to just try one out.  The one I chose was called "Sweat Sexy Workout" (thank you for that, Verizon FIOS...)--there weren't many options available unless you're a senior or working with an ankle injury (so randomly specific!), so I thought that one offered the most promise for a good workout for me despite the horrendous name.  I invited Dan to work out with me, and he was laughing so hard just during the warm up that I told him to take a hike--how am I supposed to be able to concentrate on working out and sweating in a sexy manner when my husband can't stop laughing?  It was okay with me for him to go work out on his own, though--the girl teaching the workout was admittedly sexy and ridiculously fit, so I was regretting asking him to watch her shake her stuff for an hour anyway.  Dan went for a run, and I kept trying to sweat sexy--such a darn oxymoron!  Apparently I'm not sexy in my every day life, because I was terribly awkward just trying to copy that skinny girl rolling her hips all over the place (not my forte!), and I hobbled around extremely sore for three days afterward.  I was pretty surprised I was able to move at all during Zumba on Wednesday night, because I was still hurting from that silly workout!

I was me, and it wasn't sexy

I think changing things up has been good for me--I'm getting out of my comfort zone with a lot of things lately, and that's exactly what The Good Housewife Project is all about.  I just need to figure out how to fire on all cylinders better than I have been--sure, I've been getting done what needs to get done, but sometimes just barely, and cooking has pretty much gone to the back burner (or no burner at all, I should say) again.  I just can't figure out how to cram it all in, but I'm hopeful that I'll get the hang of this new attempt at life sooner or later.  I'll never be one of those housewives who seemingly does it all and still has time to whip up a 4-course meal every night, but I'm not sure those ladies exist anyway.  I'm not aiming for perfect--I'm aiming for perfect for me and my family, and there's a pretty big difference.

Our First Home

I do have a life outside the Challenge, but balance is hard to find for me right now!  Paying such close attention to what I eat and also adding quality exercise to my days takes a lot of effort and time, so I'm working to make sure I don't neglect everything else in my life on this quest to become healthier.  As I become more familiar with what's good for me, it shouldn't take up so much time, so I'm just plugging along until I reach that point.  It's hard to make time for my husband, and it's really hard to keep up with this house when I have a lot going on--fortunately, the kids all seem to finally be feeling much better and life is getting a little more back to normal around here.

just for laughs today!

 
Aside from the Challenge the last two weeks, I've been crazy busy dealing with some interesting developments with the house we own in Ohio--we still own our very first home purchased together in 2005.  Dan went to law school in Ohio, and being a military family, we felt like buying a home there was the right move for us--there was no military housing since we weren't near any military installations, and we were guaranteed to be in one place for three years (a long time for us!).  We bought our first home, an adorable 3-bedroom house full of character that was built in 1920, and had our first baby while we lived there--it was a wonderful existence for those three years.  It was hard to leave when Dan graduated in 2008, and even harder to sell the house--I was very emotional about the idea of letting go of the house we had loved so much and in which we started our family.  Despite late nights up painting the bathroom and touching up trim, we endured months of showings that never resulted in an offer, and ended up having to put the house up for rent.  We've been fortunate to have good renters in the house since then (in that they have taken good care of the house and haven't trashed it!), but the period between renters has been rough--before our current renters moved in, the house sat empty for 5 months.  Even with renters in the house, we don't entirely cover our mortgage, so we lose money every month--and we pay a property management company since we don't live in Ohio to manage the day-to-day issues at the house.  It's not a money pit, per se, but it is a big part of our financial considerations every month.

Our current renters just let us know that they will be moving out of our house in early March--we had really been hoping that they would buy the house from us, since they had expressed interest and really treated the house as their own, but it wasn't meant to be.  The bright spot is that a friend of theirs may be interested in buying the house--he's a single guy and a first-time homebuyer, and we are thrilled at the prospect of being able to sell without having to put the house on the market (and all the expenses that come with hiring a realtor, sprucing the place up, and repairs needed after years of rental tenants).  I've spent the last 2 weeks on countless phone calls to our bank, realtors in Ohio, and real estate attorneys, as well as emailing our hopeful buyer and Googling "how to sell a house by owner" so that we can figure out the best way to move forward should this potential sale come to fruition--it's been a full-time job some days, on top of everything else I have going on!  As it stands right now, we are just waiting--the buyer is still looking at other properties and hasn't made up his mind, so we wait until he does.  While I'm hoping that we are able to sell the house (we'll still take a loss on the sale after considering all the closing costs, but at least it won't be a monthly budget consideration and we won't have the unexpected expenses that come with home ownership...especially with an older home), I'm a little sad that we may be closing that chapter of our lives.  I love that old house and all our cherished memories it holds, and I love the excuse to go back to Ohio--we have such great friends there, and checking on the house is a convenient rationale for our repeated trips back there!

our very first home, where Abby was born

As part of a military family my whole life, I'm used to saying goodbyes--a lot.  I've never really gotten attached to homes that I moved in and out of as a kid--some I liked more than others, but I guess as a child, I wasn't as invested in the houses themselves and was more up for the adventure of a new place.  As an adult who specifically picked that little house to call our own, it's a lot harder for me to separate my emotions.  I think I will handle it better than I would have in 2008, now that I have years of distance between when we last lived there and have a harder time conjuring up the spaces as they looked when we were there, but it will still be sad to let it go.  There is something special about the house, and there always will be in my heart.  We will get through this next goodbye if that's where life takes us this time, and we will build new memories where we are now, and wherever we head next--as good military families always do.  :)

One Week In

Well, this weekend was a little rough for the Challenge, as I knew it would be.  I went into the birthday party on Saturday determined to be good while I was there--and despite the awesome spread of goodies, I stuck to carrots and fruit salad!  I even stood around the food table, but I didn't eat any of the not-so-good-for-me stuff...and honestly, I tried not to even look at that stuff on the table so that I wouldn't be tempted (although I couldn't miss my dear husband right next to me, chomping on what looked and sounded like delicious tortilla chips...).  My sweet friend Brynne made an awesome Toy Story birthday cake for her son, and of course I had to have a piece--I don't like it when I spend a ton of time making a cake for my kids' parties only to have folks not eat it...and let's just be honest--I like cake.  I took an interior piece, so not much icing at all--I splurged in what I thought was the healthiest way!  I felt really good about my choices leaving the party--even though I ate the cake, it's a birthday party...one of those real-world things I'm going to have to just work to incorporate into my day.

And that's where Saturday went off the rails for me.  We went back to my parents' house, since the birthday party was really close to where they live, and my mom fixed an awesome home-cooked meal for our family and my siblings' families, who all came over as well.  She made flank steak, sweet and baked potatoes, rolls, corn, and her famous "green"--a pear jello salad that we all devour, so much that she has to make two 9x13 pans of it!  Then for dessert, she made brownies from scratch and smothered them with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup.  I don't get my mom's homemade cooking all the time, so I take advantage when I do...  I knew she was making flank steak before we came over, so I looked up the calories on my trusty WebMD food log--not bad for 3oz., but I could swear I always eat way more than 3 oz.  I was cognizant of that when I made my plate, and tried to stick to smaller portions of the meat and everything else.  I passed on the rolls, had 2 small ears of corn, and half of a sweet potato...and a small bowl of green.  Seriously delicious!  After the kids ran around a bit while the adults sat around the table chatting, my mom brought out the brownies and ice cream, dished up and ready to be eaten.  It wasn't that much ice cream or that much syrup, but it was a pretty big brownie underneath--and so good!  When all was said and done, I ended up almost 600 calories over my daily goal for Saturday--and that 600 was only after I very generously estimated my calories out for the day considering I didn't do any actual working out...

my calorie tracker for Saturday--I really did eat more than 2000 calories!

So yeah, that really wasn't the greatest day, and I learned a few things:  1) Don't have dessert twice in one day.  (Duh!  In my defense, I didn't know my mom had fixed brownies and ice cream...so I didn't know I would be eating two desserts.  Obviously I could have passed on brownies and ice cream after I knew I had already had cake...but I'm not out of my mind!)  2) Homemade foods are really hard to track calorie-wise.  I had my mom's recipes for her flank steak marinade and for her green jello salad, so I input all the ingredients into my tracker, but then had a hard time figuring out how much I had eaten--1/8th of a serving?  2/3rds?  I just didn't know, and tried to extrapolate based on the fact that 8 other adults and 7 kids were eating the food with me...so obviously, I didn't eat the entire stick of cream cheese that was in the green all by myself...  Sunday and Monday were better days--although I still ate more calories than I should have, I was able to balance it out better by doing a workout on Sunday (an exercise show through our cable's OnDemand menu), and by cleaning on Monday (3 hours digging out Abby's messy room!).

all this calorie counting is hard work!

One bonus of being at my parents' house on Saturday was that I got to weigh myself on their scale--I always use their scale because it's digital and a lot better than ours, which is not.  Even after stuffing my face with my mom's cooking, I weighed 162.4--I lost 0.6 pounds since I had last weighed myself at their house 6 days earlier at the start of the Challenge.  Not exactly a resounding success for my effort, but I'll take a loss!  This week, I'm going to try to be more active--I'm so ridiculously sore after the TV workout I did on Sunday, but I'm ready for more.  Finally feeling healthy again!  After I attended my friend's Zumba class last week, my mother-in-law asked if the gym here on our military installation offers Zumba...so I looked into it, and they do!  It's pretty cheap, and they offer it in the evenings on Wednesdays and Fridays--so Dan can be home to watch the kids while I go.  As luck would have it, the first class is tonight--so I'm going!  They also offer an evening step class on Mondays, so I can get in 3 hour-long exercise sessions per week if I make this a regular thing.  Like I said, I've never really been a class person, so I'm nervous that I won't enjoy it--I mean, I really liked my friend's class, but part of the fun in that was that I knew I couldn't go every week, and I know her, so it was just fun to watch her in action and get a little social time afterward.  How will it be in a room full of unfamiliar faces?  I don't know, but I'm accepting the Challenge, and I'm going to find out!

I also want to send a shout-out to Brynne, because she has checked in with me numerous times since the start of the Challenge and given me lots of encouragement and advice from her own journey--thank you for being such a positive force in my life for literally as long as I can remember!  :)  Her own love of Zumba and her advice to "just go in there and shake what your mama gave you!" really gave me the courage I needed in my friend's class and going into this new class to just focus on me and not worry about anyone else--a hard thing to do for this Mommy!

Challenge Temptations and Tests

Zumba on Wednesday night was awesome!  I got to the class after they had started warming up, and my friend told me to get to the front so that I could see the moves better, so I did--not front row, but second row.  I was very self-conscious--I've never done a group fitness class before, excepting an aerobics class my college roommate and I took together (for credit!) our first year of school.  I'm not one to make a fool out of myself in front of other people...and I'm SO out of shape.  My friend is a really amazing instructor--I was in awe watching her up there, and just so impressed!  She was rocking it, and having a lot of fun--it rubbed off, because even though I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to be doing, I was having fun watching her and trying my best.  About 30 minutes into the class, I looked at the clock and thought that she might possibly be trying to kill me, but I survived--I didn't go as all-out as some of the folks there because I was awkward and definitely exhausted as the class neared the end, but I was pretty proud of myself for the effort.  Now I want to get some Zumba DVDs to do at home--if working out can be fun like that, I want to keep doing it that way!  I wish I could make her class all the time, but it took me almost an hour in traffic to get there, and I would have to join the gym--it wouldn't be feasible on a regular basis.  But it was a great time, and I'm really glad I went.  I thought I would be super sore, but so far, no major aches and pains...I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, though.  Maybe it will hit me tomorrow--I promise, I really was working hard and sweating like crazy!  Dan and I were supposed to get up early this morning to work out, but that didn't happen (it's really hard to start the early-morning workout habit, especially when our garage is so cold in the mornings!)...so we'll have to fit in some fitness this weekend.

I broke my no-eating-after-the-kids-go-to-bed rule last night...not because I was hungry, but because I was really low on my calorie count.  I underestimated the amount of calories I burned folding and putting away laundry for an hour, and I also underestimated how many calories were in those pieces of cake I was eating on previous days!  The cake is now gone, so I don't have that as a temptation anymore.  I didn't have any dessert after dinner last night, so after we got the kids down, I made myself a large bowl of fresh fruit!  I sliced a whole banana, and then had half a cup each of sliced strawberries, blueberries, honeydew, and cantaloupe.  It was a huge bowl, and it was only 232 calories!  I always knew fruit was good for me, but I thought a big bowl like that would be way more calories.  We always have a lot of fruit in the house because I'm determined to make sure my kids eat healthily, but sometimes that means that I don't eat the fruit...because I want to save it for the kids.  This philosophy of putting my kids' needs above my own is part of how I got myself into this mess--I don't make time (or fruit salad, apparently) for myself, to focus on what I need to do and what is good for me.  I love fruit salad, so I need to be better about making sure I get to have some, too!  I didn't feel great about eating after my 8pm deadline, but I thought it was necessary to bump my calorie intake to a healthier level.  That's something I'll have to investigate--do I hurt myself more by eating later in the evening, or by not taking in enough calories?  I was mostly just proud of myself for the big bowl of fruit instead of a big bowl of ice cream!

delicious fruit salad!

As some sort of cruel trick of nature, my kids are really into chocolate-covered pretzels right now.  In case you couldn't guess, chocolate-covered pretzels are one of my very most favorite treats in the world--such a wonderful combination of salty and sweet!  My parents gave me two bags of chocolate-covered pretzels in my stocking at Christmas, and the kids all wanted some...but this was my pre-Challenge gluttony, so I ate them all after they went to bed...seriously.  Where was that putting-my-kids-before-myself philosophy when I needed it?  Apparently it doesn't apply to chocolate!  Jake saw the bags in the trash can the next day and was a bit distraught that I didn't share with him--I was talking to my mom on the phone at the time, so she heard him getting upset about it, and she felt bad.  So, like a good Grandma, when we got to her house this past weekend for Jake's birthday party, she had 4 bags of chocolate-covered pretzels waiting for him to take home!  Now those bags are in my pantry, screaming at me to eat them.  The kids asked for chocolate-covered pretzels for dessert after dinner every night, so I have to dole them out and try not to eat a few in the process.  This is a MASSIVE temptation, and even saying that is an understatement.  I almost sneaked one last night (I mean, c'mon--it's just one little chocolate-covered pretzel...), but I managed to hold myself off, because I knew one would lead to twenty in a heartbeat.  I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with my willpower this past week--I haven't been perfect (ahem, cake), but I've been way better than I was pre-Challenge.

the dangerous treat spread at Jake's party

I'm really going to put myself to the test tomorrow, though--we're going to a birthday party.  Should I have cake?  Will I stand by the table and eat a whole bowl of chips like I did at Jake's party?  I just don't know how I'm going to be able to handle all the ready-made temptation in bowls out in front of me.  I have a habit of not being able to stop myself, so this will be a true test of my newfound willpower.  It's also going to be hard because I'm a little addicted to my WebMD food log--I've been typing in food before I eat it to see how many calories, and I check my log all the time to see how many calories I have left for the day.  Without that, I'll be flying blind on the calorie count...who knows what my daily log will look like when it's all done.  That's a little scary for me, but I'm going to do my best--this is the real world, and I can't stay cooped up in the safety of my own house and my WebMD food log all the time.  I also can't cut out every treat from my diet, because that's setting myself up for failure--it's not possible to live my life without the fun stuff every once in a while.  I just need to figure out how to treat myself in moderation.  We are going out to dinner tonight as well, so I get a little practice eating notoriously huge restaurant portions without the help of my trusty food log telling me what's good!  Maybe I'll be better at portion control now that I know what I'm looking at?  And this will be my first weekend on the Challenge--we are a big restaurant eating family on the weekends, to include stops at our favorite ice cream places after dinner...stay tuned next week to see how this all pans out for me, and send some willpower, healthy-food vibes my way!