Foodie or Fitness Freak

These challenges occasionally elicit one of two extreme responses. Participants might become more athletic than they've ever been or, in my case--and I may be alone here--I've become a foodie. Actually, I've been a foodie for a long time, but I rarely made the food I craved. I would only eat it at fancy restaurants, while I mostly made kid-friendly foods for dinner. Since late winter, however, I've been relaxing by perusing food blogs (foodgawker is a fun place just to look) and cook books. I've also been talking to friends and complete strangers about food, asking them how they fix salmon, what's in their favorite salad, the ingredients for summer grill marinades. And best of all I've been cooking and enjoying it. I even ordered myself recipe cards, something I'd never done before, for the recipes I really like.

Now about that exercise. Many of you are doing amazing races and feats of strength that defy my understanding of how a body works. I'm so amazed with your transformations, your endurance and your persistence. I'm doing the exercise daily, but still haven't seen a mentality shift there. I think it's because I'm still obsessed with good food.

Out of my comfort zone

I tried something new at the gym yesterday that I've been too intimidated too venture into before. Spinning! And aside from wanting someone to give me a piggyback ride down the stairs to my car afterwards, I was pleasantly surprised! I actually found it invigorating.

Normally I want to poke my eyeballs out on the stationary bike, but the spinning class had the right amount of music, diversion, instruction and fun to keep me going the entire hour. I'm planning on returning and maybe even now tackling a step class that I've always felt to uncoordinated to tackle, but why not?!? Anyone else out there pleasantly surprised when confronting something new to you? What's next on your exercise bucket list?

Tomorrow is now today

Mark and me May 10th, 2010 (I picked the skinniest recent picture of myself I could find.)

Hello my name is Cammy. I will try to keep this fairly short and to the point for now. I am a mother of three kids ages 7, 3, and 1 and I just celebrated my 10 year anniversary with my best friend and husband, Mark. I love just about anything crafty, especially knitting, card making, digital scrapbooking and sewing. I also love food, especially those not so good for you foods like, ice cream, pizza, chocolate, butter…you get the idea.

I found this site thanks to Alicia and boy am I ever glad I did. Lately, I keep trying to go it alone and honestly it isn’t working out for me. I do really well in the morning, only to derail by early afternoon and end up telling myself I will start tomorrow. Too bad my diet always starting “tomorrow” resulted in gaining another five pounds over the last month, ouch! I am currently at my heaviest (not including pregnancy) and ready to take that plunge and fight my inner demons. I am a little nervous but excited to have the support of some wonderful gals along the way. Let’s get started!

Jumping Into the Fray

Hi, I'm Victoria, mother of Samantha and Melissa, mother-in-law to the amazing Audrey and Mindy, sister-in-law to Julie, pseudo-mom to Sue and friend to all. I've been lurking, commenting, reading and actually doing a lot of the challenges for the past 3 months so I guess it's time to actually jump into the fray and join the challenge for real. My life is amazing, crazy, chaotic and dramatic and for the past 12 years it's been filled with some pretty stressful events.

I have to confess that for most of my life weight has never been a problem. I've been blessed with a lot of energy and a fairly high metabolism. I grew up eating healthy food and tried to feed my own family healthy food, pretty much I could eat whatever I wanted to without worrying about gaining weight.

Exercise was something that other people did, but for myself it was a dreaded thing, easy to ignore.
Back in the 80's, I joined a women's gym for two years and actually did a bit of jogging but klutz would best describe my efforts and mediocre would describe my commitment.

Ten years ago, things started to change a bit as my body started to prepare for the big M....yep, MENOPAUSE. Six years ago, I was well into it with hot flashes, night sweats, loss of muscle and muscle tone, dry skin and hair, change in metabolism, the start of many age spots and some weight gain. By the beginning of this year that weight gain had turned into 24 pounds.

Three years ago, I joined a gym and actually lost 18 pounds through exercise and calorie counting but then some huge challenges came into my life, and the gym and calorie counting went out the window. Quintuplets, two cancers, deaths of father and brother, five new grand kiddos, and the rebirth of a daughter were my excuses for not going to the gym for two years. Now I say, "No more excuses", it's so easy to let real life keep you from having a healthy life.

For the past 3 months I've gone back to counting calories, hired a personal trainer, (I'm not sure he's worth it), gone to the gym almost daily and have been giving away all my size 10 clothes. I've lost almost 14 pounds and hope to lose another 10 by the end of August. If you look at the picture, you can see that I still have a flabby fat stomach— that's where the menopause weight goes and it is very hard at my age to lose it or firm it.

I'm at a different place in my life than most of you, but someday you will be where I am. If you develop healthy lifestyles now, it will make for a healthy lifestyle and easier transition as you too go through the life changes ahead....

Me with daughter Melissa on Mother's Day after losing 10 1/2 pounds

Garbage in, garbage out

Sometimes I just have to do this. Those chips leftover from the Memorial Day picnic, nobody in this house needed them any more. Goodbye. But I did eat some yummy leftovers for lunch: green beans, grilled red peppers, baked potato with salsa and watermelon slice.

Last night I was the garbage can for a part of my kids' dinner: seared scallops. They weren't fans. Even though I presented them as "Chinese scallops" since they like Chinese food a lot. Still, no love from the kids for the scallops. At only 13 calories a scallop but a little over two dollars a piece, none of that good stuff was going to waste. Lesson learned: only buy scallops for appreciative adults.

HWHL Newbie

Hi there! My name is Katie. I've been married to my husband for 11 years, and get to stay home with my 4 kids. I enjoy sports of all kinds and am chomping at the bit to get more hiking in now that the summer weather is here to stay. And I have those same pesky 10 pounds that I can't quite seem to get rid of!

When I hit Jr high, I quit any kind of organized sport and filled my time experimenting with lots of different recipes to come up with the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe! It resulted in some killer cookies and a chubby 8th grader! Making the high school soccer team in 9th grade reversed things for me and I lost the extra weight and gained back some self confidence. I look back now and realize just how tough of a time Jr high is without that extra burden and wouldn't wish it on anyone. It's been a little up and down with the weight since then.

After my 4th, I was 20 pounds overweight and was motivated around her first birthday to lose a little over 10 pounds but this last year has felt a bit like a hamster in his wheel. Exercising fairly regularly, but not religiously and eating healthy to start off with all the best intentions but going down hill as the day goes on. This basically just has kept me at the same starting point each day! Hamster in my own little wheel! I'm ready to kick it to the curb and break through and emerge a happier, healthier me. Can't wait to join in on your journey!

New Kid on the Block

My name is Jennifer Kay.  I was introduced to this blog by my great friend Marci Green.  I'm excited to join the challenge and start making better eating choices.

I have a 2 year old son named Logan.  He's by far the funniest kid I've come into contact with.  Nathan and I have been married 7 years.  I can't imagine life without my guys.

I am a stay-at-home mom and working artist.  If you are interested in seeing my art feel free at ArtMommy

I guess it's accurate to say that I've always struggled with weight and acceptance of my body.  My food consumption role models growing up were either my two insatiable brothers or my mother who ate like a bird during meals but horded chocolate and diet coke under her bed.  I chose the former.  Even though my eating habits were far from stellar, I exercised quite often and never really considered changing.

Now my body feels a bit foreign to me.  Pregnancy has left it's mark and the general stresses of life have made food my number one comfort.  I'm ready for a change not only of eating habits but of attitude.  I'd like to start treating my body like the miracle it is.  And I'm hoping this challenge will help me get there.

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone!

AND THE WINNER IS...

MINDY

SHE'S ONLY MISSED OUT BY A POINT SEVERAL TIMES BUT THIS TIME SHE TOOK IT TO THE LIMIT. NONE OF US WERE EVEN CLOSE.

Mindy also completed her first race...please do tell Mindy. We can't wait to hear about it!

Now you have three weeks to give it all you got and take your turn at the bragging rights!

Thoughts on Sweeping

I have been sweeping a lot. Sweeping dust out of the garage, sweeping grass off the sidewalk and driveway, sweeping those twirly-bird maple seeds off the patio in the back. Every day. And while I'm sweeping, I'm thinking. Thinking about how some things in my life are never truly done. How the minute I have a sense of accomplishment or a sense that I've finally figured something out, more twirly-birds drop, more dust accumulates, the grass must be mowed again. Some days I look out and think "Really?! Do I really have to do this all over again?! I just did it yesterday. And it looked, felt, seemed perfect then! Where did all that hard work go?"

You all know where I'm going with this sweeping analogy, right? Taking a break implies not sweeping for awhile, stopping certain practices and disciplines to reap the rewards of success, but in the case of Healthy Wife I've had to retrain my brain. The reward isn't eating junk food and not exercising: the real reward is keeping the healthy habits going even without the support, encouragment and discipline that all of you provide.

Now for the question, the one Sue's prodding me to answer, did I do it? Sort of. Kind of. But not perfectly.

Exercise

The first week I was told to stop lifting weights because of muscle soreness, so I turned instead to gardening, walking and biking with the kids. The second week was the first week of no pre-school, but I went to my twice a week 5:30 a.m. weights class that week and walked the 3rd grader to school twice. The third week my Mom was here and I was experiencing good and bad stress due to a combination of church obligations, painting a dark wood paneled playroom entirely white, two birthdays, mammogram stuff, and the superhero part of my life (my identity as a child of two sets of fabulous, but different parents: see the apple for a visual) and, well, I managed to exercise in a formal way only once. I could have used more and I felt it because we all know that exercise is a great way to handle stress. So I made up for it over the Memorial Day weekend: two long walks, two bike rides and major yard work.

Food

I was actually a healthy foodie most of the time. We had a lot of cook outs with family and I felt that made it easier because we were limited to the food we brought with us. The exceptions were the apple pie I baked for birthday number one. I think I ate 4 slices (half the pie), using pie as a breakfast substitute two mornings in a row and I ate three brownies in a row after I decided I needed the caffeine to stay up until 1 a.m. watching a lovely BBC rendition of "Our Mutual Friend." But I passed on the chocolate cupcakes with homemade marshmallow frosting for birthday number two. I continued feasting on roasted veggies, carrots and hummus, oatmeal and fresh fruit. I ordered veggie and fish dishes at restaurants. And I drank more water than I used to drink back in my dry ice age of water drinking, although probably not the suggested 64 ounces.

While my Mom was here I made her three of my new favorite salads and she wondered how I became interested in cooking all of a sudden, so I told her about this inspiring place in a land far far away, over the rainbow, with chirping birds on tree branches called Healthy Wife Happy Life.

The end result of my three week hiatus: no weight gained or lost (I give stress and genetics the credit there), but I feel like my muscle tone has declined (a fancy way of saying that I feel flabby, but flabby is a weird, gross word).

So this go round, I am picking up my broom again, clearing out the cobwebs and joining all of you to reap the rewards of good habits, good friends and the good, healthy life. You know I'm a post-a-holic, so you'll be seeing me here!

I'm not ready

I was going to take a break during this challenge. Y'know, try out all my new habits without keeping track and see if I could continue to progress or at least maintain. But after how badly I bombed the majority of last week, I decided that I'm just not emotionally ready to go it on my own yet.

Something snapped in me last week and I just got sick of not having anything I wanted. It seems that for the last several months my life has been defined by stringent self-control and going without, not just with my health, but with all aspects of my life, and I finally just had a little temper tantrum and decided to eat whatever I wanted. Oh, I would start the day saying, "I'm going to try not counting calories today, but I'll still eat really healthy." Then I would crave a piece of Amish Friendship Bread leftover from what I had baked to give to Lily's 2nd grade teacher. "I'll just have one slice. It's only 160 calories, not a huge deal." And later I would justify going over my calories because I needed to get the rest of my vegetables in. Never mind that I could have eaten nearly a whole day's worth of veggies for 160 calories. Then, once I had gone over my calories I just decided to eat more since I wasn't going to get my 10 points anyway.

Or I would remember that we were having birthday cake and ice cream with our neighbors in the evening. I carefully planned throughout the day and left myself enough calories to have one piece of cake. I ate the piece of cake. Mmm, it was delish. "I'll just have one more piece and I'll lose my 10 points, but I'll only be over by a couple hundred calories and I can exercise extra tomorrow." So I ate another piece. Then I ate the leftovers on Amelia and Mack's plates. Then I got back home and upon realizing that it was two hours earlier than when I normally stopped eating for the day, I decided to just eat more since I'd already blown my calories.

Or my friend would remind me that there was a pancake dinner fundraiser at the high school that evening. I ate moderately most of the day, but when I took the kids to the park in the afternoon, I brought along the animal crackers. "I'll just eat 13, that's 100 calories." But with the open bag sitting next to me while I looked at quilting books from the library, I easily let myself eat at least 3 times that much because "I'm going to blow my calories eating pancakes anyway, so who cares?"

Are you sensing a trend? I sure am. I can stay committed as long as I'm within range of my goal. But the moment I go over my range, I just shove food in my mouth with reckless abandon. For me, I can do that once a week on a free day and still have success. But I think I had at least 4 free days last week.

So now I'm back up two pounds. I did at least exercise nearly every day last week, but I slacked off on weight lifting and interval training. Lately I haven't been able to stand the idea of working out to a DVD. I've needed to be outside, to exercise without my children, to breathe deeply and clear my mind. I've been running a lot and I'm finding that I crave that time of solitude. I need to meditate and pray and get my mind right for the day. I love being out at sunrise, watching my shadow on the sagebrush and smelling the fresh air.

I can now run 40 minutes without walking, at rate of about 10 minutes per mile. When I first started exercising, I could go for about 5 minutes before I felt like I was going to die. I started doing some interval training a couple weeks ago and that has helped my endurance a lot. I usually jog for 5 minutes, then do 5 intervals of 1 minute sprint (not a full-on 100 meter pace, but about a 400 meter pace) followed by 1 minute of walking. Then I jog again, do another set of intervals, and end with jogging. Now when I just jog the whole time I can go a lot longer. Read a great post about interval training here at Trainer Momma.

It's not official yet, but it's about 70% sure that my husband will be starting a new job which will take him to a training school in Texas for 10 weeks. Yep, that's the entire summer. While I'm HUGELY looking forward to a stable income, I'm dreading being a single mom for the whole summer. And one of the things I'm going to greatly miss is going out on my morning runs while Dan stays home with the sleeping children. Amelia has started riding a bike with training wheels and she's really quite good, so I should still be able to run with Mack in the stroller and the girls on bikes. But it won't give me that time of quiet and solitude that I love so much.

So, Melissa, I'm anxious to hear how your 3 weeks off went. Were you the Wonder Woman you hoped to be? PLEASE tell me how I can get there, too!

Great News and Not so Great

Are you excited to start this challenge? I am! I had big plans today to get my miles in. That was until 4:30 AM rolled around and the 6 year old has been puking non stop since. I've learned as a mom that things usually don't go as planned. I've tried to remember that especially with my exercising. I can adjust. I'll find sometime today to get my miles in. Even if it's when the baby is taking a nap and I have to hop on the dreadmill, oh I mean treadmill.

I am so excited that these have finally arrived. They are Trainer Momma's favorite adjustable dumbbell set and I have been eyeing them since last September. My husband got a gift certificate at work and has known that I've wanted these. I can't wait to try them out. Fitness Freak here reporting about how excited I am about new exercise equipment :)

The not so good news: I will be taking a leave of absence this challenge to enjoy a ten year anniversary trip with my husband. While I am so sad to not participate, I am so excited to spend some one on one time with the hubby. While I am home, I will still post, comment, eat healthy, and exercise. I am anxious for the next challenge to begin. BTW, Melissa, are you back on board with us. I've really missed all your posts!

Post your final numbers here!

Audrey's Orzo Salad

Try it, you'll like it.

Orzo with Roasted Vegetables
1 small eggplant, peeled and diced into 3/4" pieces
1 red bell pepper, diced into 1" pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, diced into 1" pieces
1 red onion, peeled and diced into 1" pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound orzo

Dressing:
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 tsp pepper

To Assemble:
4 scallions, minced
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
3/4 lb good feta, crumbled
15 fresh basil leaves cut into a chiffonade

Preheat oven to 425. Toss the eggplant, peppers, onion, garlic, salt and pepper with the olive oil on a large baking sheet. Roast 40 minutes, turning once with a spatula.

Meanwhile, cook orzo in boiling, salted water for 7-9 minute or until tender. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the roasted vegetables to the pasta scraping all the liquid and the seasoning from the pan.

For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and pour on the pasta & veggies. Let cool to room temperature, then add the scallions, pine nuts, feta and basil. Check the seasonings and serve at room temperature.

Last time I made this, I cut the oil on the veggies to about 2 tbsp, and I added another eggplant and another bell pepper or two. I would love to tell you the calorie info, but I've never measured it out to get accurate serving sizes. I've only just guessed. As written, if it serves 16 than it's 241 calories per serving.

To add insult to injury...

After a healthy lunch today I decided I would eat a rice krispie treat. Low-cal right? Well then Tessa only ate one bite of hers, so I ate that too- a bad mommy habit, but we all do it. Can't stand to let that food go to waste. I ate what I thought was 210 calories worth of treats. Not something to be proud of, but not horrific. I usually don't really even like rice krispie treats, but these were so delicious I couldn't resist. They were extra gooey. Too gooey. So gooey I decided to re-check the recipe. Turns out I made them wrong. I tripled the marshmallows and butter, but only doubled the cereal. To make matters worse, when I made them I mis-read the serving size. What I thought was about 210 calories ended up being 756 calories. I just ate 756 calories worth of rice krispy treats. 7-5-6! Now I only have 450 calories left for the day. Looks like I'll be eating a lot of celery and pickles.

Can I have a do-over?

Something New

I am trying something new and different.

A while back I mentioned a little about my stomach issues. I have been eating gluten free for a few months now, and it feels so much better. But every now and then, I have a rough day. While browsing through Trainer Mommas blog I stumbled upon a blog called Nutritious Foodie. I discovered that she suffered from the same issues and diagnosis I have, and has been able to control them through what she eats. I quickly emailed her, spitting out thoughts faster than my fingers could type. To my surprise, she responded that day with a heavenly sent email full of tips that might help me.

One of her tips was to eat my fruit first thing in the morning. I eat a serving of fruit, then wait about 30 minutes. Then I eat another one, and then I wait again. My main symptom is bloating...big, huge, stretched out bloating. What I learned is that when I was eating fruit before, it was having to wait its turn in line inside of me before it could be digested. There was other food that I put in there first, and the poor old fruit had to sit and wait. While it sat there, and sat there waiting for my eggs to digest, it began to ferment. The fermenting can cause bloating.

Now, I don't know if this is why I am having bloating every now and then. Maybe it's just hormonal, but before I went gluten free, it happened EVERY day. Now it happens about once a week. Much better wouldn't you say? If there is a way to improve that even more, I am willing to try it. Especially because my doctor wants me to do that thing where they put you to sleep and look up your you know what. (My neighbor swears it was like a spa treatment. I don't believe her).

I won't be able to visit the "spa" until July, so instead of just sitting tight till then, I am happy to have something new to try.

So far, I feel great. I like it that I get all my required fruit in right away. I don't have to think about it, and the rest of my day is spent eating my veggies.

One last note I found interesting. Her doctor told her to eat as fresh as she could and to eat meat sparingly....hummm....sound familiar? The Word of Wisdom truly was inspired. I think I will take this advice seriously too!

I Am Still Thinking About It!!

I am still thinking about the events of this morning.

It began when my alarm was set to go off at 5:35. (Yes, at that time in the morning five minutes does make a difference). I opened my eyes at 5:34 to see if it was almost time to get up. YES!! I jumped out of bed, put my running clothes on, scarfed down my banana, and drove to my moms house for our first early morning run of the season. I was thinking we would do a nice leisurely run, but she had a different plan. She wanted to take on the four mile hill climb. AHHHH, not the four mile hill climb. I don't know if I'm ready for the four mile hill climb. I didn't want to tell her that, so I reluctantly agreed. Do you think I made it?

YES!!! I did it! Talk about a huge mental booster. The best part is, my legs and rear are only slightly feeling the effects. BEST RUN EVER! I'm still thinking about this morning.

Then to top it all off, I made this for breakfast:
1 sunny side up egg with the yolk completely cooked

1 Sandwich Thin Toasted

2 tablespoons of Avocado

1 ounce of mozzarella cheese melted from the egg and toasted bread

All for a whopping 310 Calories and a full belly for hours!

OH MY! I don't usually reflect back on a healthy meal and anxiously wait to try it again, but this one is going to be repeated in the morning.

Food, you are no friend of mine.

Do you ever get into a slump, emotionally? The past ten days have been like that for me. We've been dealing with some difficult personal issues and I've felt sad, lonely, and depressed. I'm in a rut and I know it.

Not coincidentally, my ability to resist bad food has been weak too. I keep finding myself opening the pantry door, or staring into the fridge. I've never really considered myself an emotional eater, more like a social eater. But this morning as I was contemplating throwing my calorie range out the door for the day, I realized something. FOOD IS NOT GOING TO FILL ME UP. I'm empty inside, and food will not fill that hole. It will not give me courage and faith. It will not make me feel valuable and loved. It will not bring me happiness and peace. I know that... in theory. The application is a little tricky. When did food become a coping mechanism for me?

Ode to Audrey . . .

Whenever I am in a rut

You always seem to kick my butt

With healthy tips and yummy food

You motivate until my mood

Has changed and I am good to go

So it's only right to let you know

That as a sister, friend and wife

Your birth has truly blessed my life!

Happiest Birthday Audrey.  I love you!

Samantha

Thank you for being the best sister I could ever ask for!! You are amazing inside and out and I appreciate everything you do for me and this blog. You have changed my life and you are changing the life of everyone here too. I love you more than you know!

Question to the Runners....

So I have a friend who has been trying to eat right and exercise as well. Although, when she runs she gets a cramp-like, almost charley horse after running just a little while. She says it's closer to the shin on the side, not the calf. She wears the right shoes, I had her make sure she was eating bananas, etc. but it keeps happening. It's only when she runs on the treadmill, not on the elliptical or walking.

Do you guys have any advice I can give her?