From the mouths of babes..a learning curve

I used to be really into all of the "extreme makeover" shows.  The weight loss, the homes, the general makeovers...but after a while they all lost their luster.  It's all just too good to be true for some people and I don't live in that world.  But yesterday as my mini was playing a game on the computer and I sat channel surfing I was at a loss for anything to enjoy so I decided to see what on in our on demand line up from TV shows I may have missed.  I found one episode of Extreme Makeover Weight Loss edition, and thought...why not?

The episode I watched was about a young woman named Ashley.  She was someone who dealt with feelings of guilt and loss by turning to food.  At 26 years old and 5'2" tall (the same height as me), she found herself at 325 pounds.  I can't even begin to imagine going through what she did.  The near loss of a sibling, then the loss of a child.  It's terrible.  Especially because she blamed herself for the loss of her daughter.

I tried very hard when my older daughter was little to train myself to not say things like "I'm fat" or "Do I look fat" because I didn't want that idea in her head.  I tried hard to make sure when my hubby and I were trying different diets that we referred to it as trying different eating choices.  Now that she is almost 13, she in inundated with all of it.  She has been for quite some time actually as we can't protect our kids from everything they see and hear in the media, but I tried to keep home as safe as I could in the world of self image.

So with this mindset already built up pretty well, imagine my surprise when my mini turns around to see what Momma is watching and asks me "Why is she so fat?"  WHAT?!?!?!  I was in shock!!!  I took a minute to regain my composure and knew that this was a pivotal moment for her, so I decided to try and make it a teaching opportunity.  Everyone is made differently and sometimes we forget to make time to take care of ourselves and make sure we get all the good, healthy food we need or to exercise and get our hearts happy and healthy.  I explained why saying that was not the nicest way to express the idea that someone may be bigger then someone else, and how would she like it if someone said something not nice about her. 

It was a nice way to segue way too into our need to go to the grocery store and get lots of good healthy foods that would help fuel our bodies so they will grow strong and make us able to run and play and do our workouts.  So we made a grocery list.  I pulled up a pin from one of my boards and we looked at fruits and veggies that are in season in spring and I had her choose some that she thought we should get at the store.  She was so happy to help pick out what we were getting she even asked to write some of the list and put her choices down. 

my mini's written grocery list

Victory!  We took what started a s a negative comment about someone else and turned it into a learning activity that resulted in a fabulous dinner.  Roasted chicken breast, roasted brussel sprouts (for mom and dad...celery, carrots and dip for the kiddos), and cous cous.  Each little victory makes me feel like we have the kids on the right path.  Especially with my mini...at 4, sorry 4 and a half (she reminds me constantly that I forget the and a half) she is becoming very aware of what her body needs and how to make it the very best it can be, which will make her the very best SHE can be!

Baby It's Dry Outside

Oh winter!  You can make things so beautiful with your white fluffy snow...but the things you do to my skin.  Is it just me, or does the idea of the snow and turning on your heat make you think of turning into Mother Gothel?!?  I feel like no matter how much lotion I use or water I drink my skin just gets so dry and cracked and, well blech!  I sometimes imagine myself turning into Mother Gothel at the end of Tangled when she starts to dry up and age.  Yuck! 

So I have invested in various lotions (by fav in case you care...Palmers Daily Intensive), have upped my W.Q. (water quotient) to try and offset some of it.  I'm also being very aware of how much I am drinking as part of the Small Changes Challenge from Small Changes. Big Picture.  No help it seems.  We as a family have also been using our humidifier daily and running vaporizers at night (dry skin and dry sinuses need a little love from Vicks). 

Now this guy here

he is not just good looking, he is smart as a whip too.  He too is suffering with excessively dry skin, and the kiddos have complained about dry, chapped lips.  As the sun disappears more and more in these long winter months, and the fresh veggies and fruits are sometimes of a variety that the littles don't' like so much...my genius of a hubby suggested looking at possible vitamin deficiencies.  Genius!

So that is what I have been doing the past few days.  Checking to see what we may need more of.  I found this article helpful from Dr. Oz.  (no comments Kate C.).  So I am going to start being more diligent about a multi for everyone in our house. 

 

What are your winter woes?

Feeling a Bit MisInformed

I don't know about you, but I take great issue with BMI calculators.  I always have, even at my skinniest.  It seems to me that they are just too arbitrary.  There is no consideration of musculature or activity.  My hubs, awesome man that he is, is on the end of the BMI charts that he does NOT want to be on...but his arms and legs are like tree trunks of pure muscle. And now, in the past two weeks I have had to more pushes over the BMI line.

I took my sweet mini to the pediatrician for her 4 year check up.  She is perfect.  Smart, funny, healthy, quite brave (she sat through two shots), and according to her BMI overweight.  The look on my face said it all I'm sure as my pediatrician explained how it's not a concern because of how strong she is...she has a lot of muscle (she comes from strong parents after all).  It did help that the doc also said that she hates the BMI stuff and doesn't put stock in it.  If our medical professional disagrees, that is enough for me.

My second push was my own biometric screening.  I am VERY proud to say that I was in the "green zone" on all areas: HDL, LDL, total cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, BMI...but I was darn close to the overweight zone on the BMI (also the glucose...worry!!!!!)

While I struggle with my weight, I know my fight is not the same as others.  Mine is more of a vanity fight...but with health repercussions.  I watched my Dad collapse with a heart attack when I was 15.  I am lucky that he was ok, but I know my genetics and my eating habits and workout habits (or as of late lack of workout habits) is going to bite me in the butt!  I have heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer looming out there in my genetic cloud...and I am trying to take action to overcome them all.  I will not be passive in my life.  While I am on the "normal" side I am barely hanging on there so I am taking action.  I am on the downward slope to 40, I have a family history that is not so great, and I have 2 amazing kids that I plan to watch grow old...so I have to take action and this whole BMI thing makes me think I am failing sometimes.

So in the interest of good health I got a Fitbit flex from my parents for my birthday, as I mentioned in my last post.  well it arrived yesterday and I promptly charged it up and have it on now.  Already adjusted the step goal to 12,000 since its been awhile since I tracked my progress and am ready to go.  To top it off, mini asked if we could workout together after reading (yet again) The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food.  I love that she is actively involved in her own health already...our example must be in the right direction!!

What are YOUR thoughts on BMI???

 

 

Blog of the Week

Isn't it funny that the people you knew and were close to in your childhood tend to be the ones you come back to?  You may not reconnect on the same level, but you still reach out to them and have such high hopes for them and their families.  This weeks Blog of the Week is written by that kind of friend. 

When I was in 10th-11th grade I had a close knit group of friends that were a year ahead of me in school which meant I always had that fear in my hear of "What will I do when they graduate and leave me?"  One of those friends was Kate.  Kate was and is amazing!  A heart so open and sweet that you couldn't help but just love her.  It was the same with her family...I remember sleeping over on yoga mats in their living room and just smiling. 

Kate also opened my eyes to fitness and health on a different level.  I was active with dance, soccer and track...but outside of regular practice times and classes I didn't think much about my own good health.  For me that changed on March 25, 1993 when my Dad had a heart attack on the way to a dinner at our church.  He was (at the time) 46.  He had a triple bypass and is now doing well, but it made me stop and think. 

In the fall of that year I began to really know Kate.  She taught aerobics at the Y and encouraged me to take a class.  I LOVED her step aerobics class.  To this day I credit her for my mad step skills when I bust out the Wii fit and school my family in step. :)    We had so many great times together and when she graduated I was so sad.  As with people of that age...we drifted apart.

Fast forward almost 20 years later (holy cow really...are we THAT old) and welcome to Facebook.  Thanks to social media I have been able to catch up with Kate and see pics of her beautiful family.  And this year, born out of similar circumstances, Kate has started her own blog as well The Well Balanced Family, and has her own facebook page for her blog as well.  Kate is still an inspiration to me, and is on her won crazy journey to find a better, healthier life style for her and her family.  I encourage you wholeheartedly to check out her blog!!

Spring Clean

Well, as I mentioned in my last post, I was starting to feel rather strongly about getting some spring cleaning started in our house, what with all the illness and such, and that is exactly what we did this weekend.  It felt GREAT to bust out my dusting cloth and vacuum and go to town.  WHAT?!??!  I know, I'm weird like that.  Back in the early days when we had but 1 small, sweet child...the hubs and I kept a pretty neat and tidy house.  I used to work Monday-Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and each and every Thursday was dedicated to cleaning our apartment.  Now, that may sound smaller in comparison to our lovely little house now, but we actually had an amazingly large and impressive apartment.  I loved that apartment, but I love our little yard and play area for the girls more. 

Every Thursday with a whole day to myself I would get up, have my coffee and cigarette (I know, it was a LIFETIME ago and happily a nasty habit ago), and set to work.  Dusting, vacuuming, Murphy's oil soaping all the hardwoods, laundry, dishes, wash the kitchen floors, scrub the bathrooms, change the bedding, I was a busy, busy bee.  Even after we bought our house, I was able to keep things together pretty well.  Enter bambino #2, and things start to get a little more hectic.  When she was tiny it was ok, but as she gets bigger and more active, and both she and her sister have busy social schedules, things have fallen to the wayside.  I do blame myself partially for all the illness in our house lately.  If I was being a little more diligent about disinfecting and cleaning perhaps we would have kicked the germs a little sooner. 

I think the ick just added to my general need to purge things and so this weekend was HIGHLY productive.  We put away all of our winter decorations (we had left all my fat little snowmen), we put away the new Valentine's Day décor we made, and we started to get out the Easter fun stuff and started making more Easter fun!  The little one has been stuck on Valentine's Day a bit, but the way I see it, you can never have too many of these wonderful little hearts, (the ones below adorn the board in my office at work):

note the sweet little hand written "Mom" on the top row shots

I do make it a habit of doing a cleaning when changing out décor.  Nothing worse then having dust trails from previous decorations :)  So in honor of redecorating, we did a massive cleaning!  My house looks so much better, even the kiddos helped out!  We filled garbage bags, stored unused toys, cleaned out drawers and closets for donations, vacuumed, and I started a list of things that will be cleaned.  I figure a little bit at a time.  I want to do a major clean though....wash draperies, clean baseboards, the whole house!  I even found this nice little checklist compliments of Martha Stewart to look through, as well as all my fun cleaning tidbits on pinterest (check out my board Clean Slate), I think I could have the cleanest house in America, at least for a few minutes. 

On top of ALL of this, with the launch of my facebook page for my little family business, we are starting to get some inquires.  I am SO excited.  This is something I have wanted to be able to do for a LONG time.  Check us out at Ardeline Arts & Crafts on facebook, and make sure to like the page...you could earn a free prize!  If you see something you like or want to design something with us, let me know.  Prices can be worked out with postage and handling!! 

With all this talk of spring too, I need to make sure I add my thoughts on a spring inspired Friend Making Monday (better late then never).  Thanks Kenlie for a FMM that keeps us looking forward to the warm weather to come!!

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: http://www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

 Almost Spring

1. What do you love most about Spring?  This year what I love most is how exciting it is to my 3 year old.  She looks out the window each morning and whenever there is less snow she yells that spring is here!  We even heard birds outside the front door the other day and that was just WAY to much excitement for one little lady to handle. 

2. If you're lucky enough to have a Spring Break, what will you do to enjoy it?  I will spend it at work while my husband spends it with a finely detailed honey-do list J

3. What is your favorite flower?  I love my Gerbera daisies.  We had them in our wedding and I just love the bright colors they come in and something about them in general just makes me happy.  I also adore the smell of hyacinth, and that always makes me happy in the spring and around Easter time.

4. Do you have a garden?  If so, what do you grow?  We haven’t’ had a garden in the past, we do have lots of flower beds, but this year we are adding a vegetable garden for the girls.  I’m pretty excited to get dirty with them and grow some of our own yummy veggies!

5. Share one thing that you hope to accomplish during Spring.  I am REALLY hoping to get my little family business up and running.  Check us out on facebook at Ardeline Arts & Crafts!

6. Do you do Spring cleaning?  We are taking it to the extreme this year, see my above post!

7. What is your weather *really* like right now? {Just b/c it's almost Spring, doesn't mean that it feels like it for some of you.}  When I left for work this morning the temperature gauge in my car said 25, it should get up to about 40 by the afternoon though.

8. Share one photo that you've taken during the month of March.  This is one of the custom pieces we have made for our facebook site, it’s a custom designed corn hole board.

 

9. What's your favorite thing to do on a sunny afternoon?  I love to be outside with my girls…hiking, playground, and soccer, whatever!

10. If you could spend the day doing anything in your city, what would you do?  Good question, maybe walk the town triangle and really use what it has to offer.  Yoga studio (never been), restaurants, ice cream parlor, library, shops.

Now it's your turn to answer this week's questions!  Don't forget to come back and link up in the comments!

Well, well, wellness

Before I came to work where I am now...I was at another educational institution.  What I like about both is that they both place a value on employee health.  They both offer may free wellness events and classes. 

The bonus to where I work now is they have a full wellness/health fair.  We can get, as employees, all sorts of info on our various insurance options, "fancy" gym rates, life insurance, free flue shots and hearing tests, etc.  My boss and I love to take advantage of all of the free stuff.  We got bags, pens, granola bars, our flu shots and hearing tests but most exciting of all they do a health screening where they test your blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure and BMI.  I am pleased to report that I came in at the healthy range in all of these areas.  I was a little bit higher than I have been in the past in the BMI department so I need to work on that, but am glad to have for the most part a clean bill of health.

The only downside to this is they don't give you the full breakdown on things.  Like, my cholesterol is within a normal range overall...but I don't know how the good compares to the bad.  Another reason to force myself to find a PCP...I know.  I am so good with the girls and their doctor stuff, and am good with my specialists types (dentist, optho, OB/GYN) but the hubs and I both need to get our acts together and get PCP's.  Especially since I feel as though my metabolism (which has been quite good since my early twenties) is slowing down.  It's like my birthday called and said "Hey metabolism, you've been working so hard for the past decade...time to make her sweat a little more, go ahead and slow down now that she is 35."  Just for the record...that stinks!

So over the next few weeks I will be: setting up a physical, and setting up a workout schedule with the hubs.  he gives his finals on 12/12/12 <insert doomsday music here> and then he has some freedom so we can get back on track with a schedule that allows for workouts with childcare.  hee hee  Getting excited!