Daily Scale

I must get on the scale every day.

I know, some of you may think that is obsessive. But I have a problem--and its not the scale. My problem is I don't know when to stop eating. If it weren't for the scale, I would eat constantly. Which is what I did when I stopped getting on the scale back in October of 2011.

By mid-January, I knew things were not good. The jeans were not fitting. But even worse, my dress pants that were a generous size that always fit me no matter what--were now dangerously snug.

Somehow I worked up the courage to take that scary, confrontational, no-denying-it-now step onto the scale. And it was worse than I thought. Way worse. I was not up 6-7 pounds like I suspected, like the year before when I went on a similar bender over the holidays. Nope. I was up 15--fifteen-freaking pounds.

Ugh.

Fortunately my husband was facing some reality when it comes to his diet as well. For the first time we started eating healthy together. With some diligence and self-control, I managed to get down 11 pounds over the next few weeks. Progress. Some relief. I let my guard down . . . . .

And I stopped getting on the scale again for four days in a row.

Once again, I took that step. And, ugh! Again, way worse than I thought. I was thinking maybe 3 pound gain or, at worse, 4. Nope, not me! My body just loves to hold onto waste, fat and toxins. I'm up 7 pounds over a 4 day bender.

And only 5 weeks to the first race of the season.

Stay tuned, because tomorrow I will write about my past struggles, self-sabotage and the goals I have for this upcoming season. I'm going to need to face and conquer my fears if I ever want to see my full potential . . .

Do you struggle with a healthy weight? What helpful hints keeps you on track? And have you ever been within reach of your goal but then you unconsciously sabotaged yourself from reaching that goal?

Somethin' Right

Most days I feel completely lost as a parent. Other days I feel like a failure. But, there's brief moments where I feel like maybe something, just something might be going okay.

For the last 2 years, the one pictured on the right would complain and cry and stomp over whatever was for dinner. It didn't matter if it was spaghetti or chicken or something she loved a week earlier: that day she hated it! Ugh.

Sick of being a made-to-order chef and dealing with the tantrums, I decided to put the responsibility back on the Kids. Hah! Hahahahahahahaha!

Now, every Sunday night the kids, yes, even the 2 year old, have to contribute to the meal planning. Everyone is responsible for planning one meal a week. To make it fair, we draw days of the week. The day you draw is the night of your meal. There is a structure to the meal planning that includes a main dish and two servings of veggies.

When I started this, I thought we'd end up eating Pizza and French Toast every night. Turns out I was wrong pleasantly surprised.

Two months in and the system is still going strong and very popular with the kids. One of my daughter's favorite meals is a Giant Salad topped with sunflower seeds and dijon vinaigrette and a half sandwich on the side.

My son alternates between Oviolees (ravioli), Sloppy O's (bbq sandwiches), or mac and cheese. For sides its either broccoli and cauliflower or green beans or even a small salad.

And in case you are wondering how we fit in our vegetables on a night the kids pick pancakes, chocolate oatmeal or french toast--we do Green Smoothies.

Happy Friday.