Finding New Motivation

So, back in January, I was trying to eat more eggs and better breakfasts than just cereal. I did ok for a few weeks, then it sort of tapered off.

I recently found some more breakfast ideas, the make ahead sort, that I've been trying out. I am particularly fond of the freeze-able breakfast quesadillas (here). It's nice to be able to pull them out and zap them; and they warm up really well; still tasty. Also, the yogurt parfaits are easy enough that I can just pull them together without too much trouble in the mornings.

But what's really been working is that I took advantage of scheduled text messages. I set up a month's worth of daily texts to myself telling me to get on the treadmill. It's actually been pretty effective for this first week. I paired the texts up with an audio book (finally getting back to Harry Potter).. and it actually is almost fun to get walking; the book gives something to look forward to.

It's still early, my normal burnout on these attempts to get more active or eat better, is about 2 or 3 weeks in.. but there's a *lot* of Harry Potter, so hopefully that keeps me going long enough to build some better habits.

"You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down." - Mary Pickford

Trying a New Approach

Happy new year!

Truthfully, I'm not much of one for resolutions. I generally don't make 'em because my history is to go for a couple weeks and then fall off the wagon. Then I get discouraged and my motivation fades and nothing changes.

So, I'm sort of casting about, at the moment, for a new method that'll work better for me. What has been working the last couple of weeks isn't really quantifiable or with a clearly defined direction, however, my scale ticked down a bit for the first time in ages. Now, that little number isn't everything, but it is nice to see! What's been working is that I've changed the way I eat breakfast.

Typically, my breakfast is a bowl of cereal; it's fast and easy and that's nice. However, it doesn't seem to matter what type I eat, it doesn't stick with me and I end up munching my way through the morning.

So, I've decided to start eating an omelette for breakfast. They are pretty quick and not that hard to cook (thank you YouTube). Then I can fill them with veggies and they're quite healthy and sooooo delicious. Plus, they feel fancy and that's me starting off the day with a little boost of self-care.

Right now I'm loving a broccoli, tomato and cheese omelette. I steam the broccoli in advance, then cut up my tomatoes and warm them up a little as I wait for the eggs to cook.

Deeeeeelicious!

Starting off the day this way seems to lay a good foundation for my eating the rest of the day. I tend to snack less and it's not such a trial to avoid binging on sweets (even when I'm grumpy and/or tired).

So, maybe not a resolution per se, for now, I'll go with this.

Happy New Year!

It's resolution time and once again I have decided to try to get a handle on my weight. I started making a relatively valiant effort to gain a little self control in the kitchen sometime around the beginning of November. Leading up to Christmas I dropped a few pounds and then waffled around in a 5lb range. Then Christmas hit. There was chocolate in the stockings. There were gingerbread houses. There was candy cane bread. There just haaaaaad to be the traditional baking of cookies. My scale did not appreciate my festivities. It actually made a little popping cracking noise when I stepped on it. Ouch.

So Happy New Year. Happy New You is what it really should be called since that's what most people try to focus on at the beginning of each year. My new me this year is going to involve more gratitude, more consistent schooling for my kids, more artsy creative stuff, more traveling, and much less sugar. I've known for a long time that I am quite sensitive to sugar. Rits' reaction to her chemical ice cream? That's me with sugar. I have made several half-hearted attempts at the no refined sugar, only whole grain diet, but I have been successful twice for about a month each time and I literally drop 10lbs a week for two or three weeks. This time I'm starting with no sugar and am working my way over to only whole wheat. I'm almost there, but I'm giving myself another week to make the switch.

I weighed in on January 1st and in the last 5 days I've been 100% successful with absolutely no refined sugar and I'm down 5 1/2lbs. Not too shabby for the first week and only doing half the diet. I would like to make it a permanent change since I obviously do not respond well to sugar. Dave says he wants to do no sugar most of the time (as in he wants to have it on occasion, not he's waffling about joining in) so we can work on it together. Much better odds for success. :)

Speaking of doing things together, they say fitness is made 70% in the kitchen and 30% in the gym so Dave and I have been getting up early in the mornings to exercise together. We haven't been doing a ton, but about 20 minutes each morning of strength exercises. I think it's going pretty well and it's nice to work out with my hubby.