Put the Seat UP!!

I've been home with the boys going on 3 years.  In that time, I've always kept the toilet seat up during the day and tried to put it down after school.  It's an easy habit for me to remember, I really don't mind putting it down.  We're an equal household~3 boys, 3 girls, so really we shouldn't worry about this should we?  Yes we should!  The boys are slobs, plain and simple.  They are lucky to make it to the bathroom and when the do, their aim is not always the best.  To top it off, they rarely put the seat UP!!  This means that I am always watching the bathroom first to make sure the toilet is flushed, second to make sure the toilet seat is clean and dry.  These little boys are not putting the seat up.  I'm not fighting it right now cause frankly, I'm just glad they're making it to the toilet and I don't have to clean up messing throughout the house.

So what's next?  Habit forming. How do I get these boys to go to the bathroom without me pestering them.  Then, how do I get them to put the seat up before taking care of business.  It's a work in progress.

Today, I met with my territory manager for Weight Watchers.  She is fairly new to our territory, but not to Weight Watchers.  She's been around for a long time, just not around Milwaukee, closer to Green Bay.  She's been meeting with all of the WW staff in both of her territories just to touch base and see how we are doing and what our goals are.  I was pleased with our short chat and remotivated to get to a healthy BMI.  She encouraged me to see the doctor to make sure my goal is still appropriate.  I've been lifting more and working out regularly so I know my body composition has definitely changed since the last time I went to the doctor close to 4 years ago.  It's time.

1st Day of School

The first day of school was today. It's always an exciting, nervous, frightening, stomach turning experience no matter how old you are.  My kids are now entering 5th grade, 2nd grade, 5K and even the little guy is going to school everyday 3K.  They were extremely excited to get all their new supplies to school last night and to get their outfits ready for this morning.  No one woke up too early, I had to wake the 2nd grader up and we were on our way. 

I'm worried about the little guy going to school as he's still not totally understandable.  He speaks a lot, but drops the first sound of the word before spitting the rest of the word out.  If we don't understand him, he shows us.  I was also worried that he wouldn't want to let me go this morning.  He was a champ! Hopped in line, held my hand, walked up the steps, into school and into the classroom.  He showed me his hook for his backpack, pointed out his chair to sit on and ran off to play.  I think I was more scared for him than he was for himself.  He's gone to the gym daycare for almost a year and hasn't had a problem saying goodbye, so I'm not sure what I was worried about.

Reminds me of going to a Weight Watchers meeting for the first time.  Excited to conquer a new challenge, frightened to be a failure, nervous to not live up to our own standards, and the stomach is a bit full from stuffing in one "last supper."

Everything went fine for the kiddos.  Benjamin ran from his line to find me after school.  I was relieved to see he had fun and a good day.  The rest of the clan soon joined and our first journey of the school year was complete.  I tried to get the obligatory first day pictures, but Alex, my 5Ker did not cooperate too well.  Will try to post sometime with all my free time now.

I Wanna Learn Too

My kids are too cute for their own good sometimes.  Yesterday, I didn't make it to the gym as Benjamin had a fever and my oldest, Elizabeth was still sleeping at 9:00. I usually hit the 9:00 spin class, which is now totally awesome because we got brand new bikes, but I stayed home and rode the elliptical as the little guy took a nap in the afternoon.

Today, as we woke up, Caryn declared to everyone, "We have to go to the WAC because Daddy skipped his class yesterday, he CAN'T skip another one!" 

Cracked me up! I am glad that she's looking out for me and making sure I'm getting my daily exercise done.

On another note: Alex has taken off, full steam ahead, no more stopping him on his bike. In fact, he's been waking up early to ride. Today, it was 7:00 when he wanted to hit the pavement.  Since Alex has been having a good time riding, Caryn has decided that it is her time to ride a two-wheeler as well.  Her bike was a bit too big for her last summer and really it has sat in the basement most of this summer.  Sunday night we hauled it back out and by Monday afternoon, she was cruising.  Still having problems getting started by herself, but cruising and stopping on her own.

We went shoe shopping today, along with a new outfit for everyone for the first day of school next week.  It was an expensive day!

Milestones

Our computer finally is back home and ready for action.  Our five year old is also ready for action.  He gets things fixated in his little head and will not let go of them until they are resolved.  The first quest this summer was to get a library card.  He practiced writing his first and last name for at least two weeks before our trip to Disney World.  As soon as we got home, his first stop was the library to get his own library card. The second quest has been to get his bunk bed set up.  I have not done that yet as I had it set up about this time last year and he ended up in our bed for a week straight before I took the bunk beds back down.  So, I hesistate to make that wish come true, but I continue to hear about it everyday!  The last quest was to learn how to ride his bike with no training wheels.  Again, I put this one off until after our trip to Disney World, but once we got back I took the training wheels off.  He tried a few times, but was frightened to fall.  I refused to put the training wheels back on, so it sat for a week or two.  Today, he decided once again to hop on.  He did it! Rode up and down our block with pride! Still needs to practice the starting, but he's got the stopping down.  Soon he'll be a pro. He's already stated that he's ready to ride to the park.

Our family was out of commission last week.  The flu hit a different kid each day from Tuesday thru Friday and our poor Caryn had flu symptoms the week before so we thought she was the one that started it all, she ended it too! 

That's it for now, we're headed to the State Fair tomorrow. The big sellers this year include a bacon wrapped hotdog, deep fried butter, deep fried beer and our traditional cream puffs. We set a World Record yesterday by baking a 125 pound cream puff.  15.5 gallons of cream! Unfortunately, it was warm outside and after it was prepared and the record recorded, the cream puff in inedible because it was in the warm sun too long.  Poor planning!

National Weight Control Registry

It's that time of the year again when I receive my annual survey from the NWCR. It's a humbling experience if you've gained weight in the past year as I have.  I've gained 8 pounds since last July, putting me in a category of "gainers" instead of "maintainers" that I would prefer to be in. I'm not bummed about it though since I've really concentrated on exercise, fitness and weight training this year. My clothes still fit fine, my wedding ring is still loose most days depending on the humidity and I'm overall feeling great.  But, when you are asked to answer tough personal questions, it gets you thinking about motivation, why you eat, when you eat, and if you're happy.  It's a long survey and I know several people you have just stuck the survey on a pile if they've gained, but I know it's important to the overall project. 

Our trip to Disney World was a blast. Awesome weather, comfortable temperatures for the most part and the kiddos got along, which is always a plus.  I'll try to post a few pics on the family blog, but our computer is still sick as "Santa" somehow didn't leave the start-up disks for our computer, making matters a bit more difficult to fix. 

I do love going to Disney World and besides the amount of steps I can get in daily, the amount of food I eat seems to be less than I eat at home. 2 meals a day, 2 snacks a day...if I want more, I have to pay extra and as a cheap Milwaukeean, that ain't happening! I eat yogurt for breakfast followed by sensible lunches and dinners.  My kids love walking the steps in the hotel.  This year, we stayed again at the Pop Century and were in the Yo-yo buildings. All the kids wanted to walk up eat yo-yo; red, blue, and green yo-yo's that were each four stories high. We stayed in the green yo-yo building on the fourth floor, so there was plenty of step walking to be had.  My boys would have preferred to stayed at the hotel and climb stairs all day rather than head to the parks. 

My goal of getting more steps was met.  The first day in Disney I hit 29,600 steps. My low this year was 18,000, but for the most part, I had 20,000 steps daily.  By the end of the week, I was pretty tired.

Hoping for a good week, but today we have a sick 7 yr old; fever and throwing up doesn't make for a fun Sunday.

June 30 Deals

Yesterday, the boys and I had a day to ourselves as the girls spent the day with my sister and her two girls.  We had a fun day as Grandpa came over to visit too. First we went to the State Fair to get a few tickets. They are almost half price until June 30 and then for the month of July and into the fair, they go up in price. So, since it was the last day for cheap tickets we took a walk.  Alex, rode his bike. It was the first time he rode his bike farther than our block, which is very flat.  He had a few tough hills to travel over and was pretty worn out by the time we go home.

Of course, since it was the end of June, we also had coupons for free happy meals that were expiring too. Hop on the bike again young man! We walked the six blocks to McDonald's to get two free happy meals with apples and chocolate milk.  Grandpa sat and read the fair preview booklet and decided we needed to walk back to the fair for another bargain.  Cream puffs! A six-pack for $15! Only through June 30.

So, back to the fair we walked. And on our way home from the fair, I made Alex ride in the stroller and I could tell he was hot and tired.  So it was on the bike for the 3 yr. old, Benjamin! Again, the first time he had riden farther than our flat block.  We got home, and crashed.  Benjamin was asleep within 10 minutes and Alex took a good rest time, but never fell asleep.  I did!

After dinner, it was off to pick up the girls and have a campfire and my sister's house. We were up too late! The 3 oldest kids and my wife slept out in our tent last night in the backyard.  I felt so bad for Benjamin this morning when he saw Alex come in from outside.  His eyes welled up and he just balled! Maybe a camp out for the wee one tonight?

Off to "Cars 2" today!

Days of the Week

My 5 yr. old, Alex, loves figuring out the days of the week.  Each morning he asks what day it is today. Then he proceeds to tell me what yesterday was and what day tomorrow will be.  Then he sings this cute weather song that ends with naming all the days of the week.  Quite the production, but it's the routine he liked in school and I'm sure by the end of the summer, he won't be doing it anymore.

Do you ever just go through the motions? Another day, another dollar? Or do you take the bull by the horns and seize the day?  I go in spurts; sometimes I am so focused and know exactly what I want to accomplish and other times, I'm just existing.  I have really been focused since joining my gym and having a set workout routine.  I love cardio and could do it two hours everyday, but I also know the importance of strength training and I know the days when I need the strength training.

I look forward to our little morning routine and can't wait till the weather will be sunny and hot once again.  The kiddos have had a good time at the gym, but still put up a fuss before we leave daily.  Once they get there, they have a blast.  Today, was "Shark & Minnow" with the older kids and I actually saw my 9 yr. old smile.  She had a good time walking through the group exercise room and seeing me sweat too.  I have decided to try to get to the gym a little earlier a few times a week, but I do enjoy my groups and the leaders too, so I'd hate to have to learn new routines.

Non-Food Rewards

As the "baby" is learning how to go on the big boy potty, we've been once again looking for those non-food rewards for staying dry.  His favorite reward so far has been gum.  Really that's the only one he's been looking forward to.  And when he has to spit the gum out for wetting his pants, he has not been happy. 

The other kiddos have been trying to "earn" money to spend in Disney World next month.  This has been an easy reward to work towards.  They're cleaning up after themselves, clearing the table after we eat, brushing their teeth without asking, getting along with each other, etc. to get extra spending money.

Trying to get them all the gym has been a challenge as well.  We've been doing the rewarding with a trip to the park and today our reward was a trip to the library.  What next? Always up for suggestions, but I'll be sticking with the park reward as long as they're happy with that one.

I always struggle with non-food rewards. Even when I was actively losing 80 pounds, I always found it difficult to walk without thinking about what I could eat as a reward after my walk.  I've still found myself on occasion saying to myself that I can't wait to get done exercising so I can eat such and such.  I'm sure it will be a life long struggle to get past, but one I will continue to fight.

Counting calories has been going well, and I've been imposing a "no-in-between-meal-snacking" rule since last Wednesday.  Last night, was the first time I had a snack in the evening and I really didn't need it.  I know it's just a habit that once I break I will be happy I did so.

Cleaning Out the Closet

Seems we've kind of split duties when it comes to cleaning out closets.  I've come to clean the boys closets/dressers out while my wife usually tackles the girls.  We don't receive many hand-me-downs for the girls, only occasionally when we're in the right place at the right time.  The boys have received tons from one of my sister's friends and tons from a "bigger" boy in my 5 year olds class.  Alex hasn't grown much at all this school year, while the other little boy grew over 4 inches this year.  Needless to say, both my boys are wearing the same size right now making it easy to get rid of the smaller sizes, but keeping track of who's clothes are whose doesn't matter to me.  The boys let me know when I put some clothes in the wrong place.

The reason I started this process today was because I had just bought some red shorts for Alex and could not for the life of me find them.  Wouldn't have been a huge deal, but of course he HAD to wear them today! Nowhere in his closet, nowhere in Benjamin's closet, nowhere on the floor in their room...knew they had to be somewhere. So, in the middle of checking their room, I meandered into my own room and there they were tucked under my bed. I must have dropped them on the floor while folding laundry and didn't discover them yet. 

Cleaning out my own closet has been a welcome occurrence the last few years.  I have not had to clean it out to get rid of clothes that are too small for me.  Instead, I've been gradually "thinning" out the clothes that have become way too big far me.  I wear mostly size large now and still have a fair number of double extra larges hanging around just because I like them too much to part with them.  I think I'm down to only two or three left and those are jerseys which I hate to give up and replace...who wants to wear a Packer Favre jersey anymore anyway?

So, the closets have been thinned out and we are ready for some summerlike weather now. I did get up early this morning and headed out for a long bike ride.  Definitely sets my day up for a much more successful day when I start it with exercise.

Family Shopping

I finally got around to shopping and filling our empty kitchen cabinets. Even after going shopping, our cabinets still look pretty bare. It's amazing how much room a new kitchen with actual cabinets has versus our old kitchen with a pantry that held all our food, pots, kettles, appliances such as the blender, toaster, bread maker, griddle, etc.

I took my two daughters grocery shopping and we actual stuck to the list and my 6 yr. old really did add some good things to our list. Before we checked out, we all guessed how much the groceries would cost. Elizabeth, my 6 yr. old, guessed $100. Caryn, my 3 yr. old (soon-to-be 4), guessed $16. And TB guessed $222. As we were guessing, I said that I hoped Caryn was the closest and it got a good laugh from the shoppers around us.

So here's what $175 bought tonight:
Elizabeth's list:
Garluck bread: We bought Texas Toast
Poudured doonits: This actually was a Mommy addition and since she's preggo, who could argue
Popsukles: A simple dessert since we love having something for dessert every night
Drumsticks: We bought "Skinny Cows" cones
Cookies: Animal Crackers were a good compromise
Lettus: (didn't need this one, but I'm glad she was thinking of me)
Coffee
Nutty Bars: (Daddy crossed this one off when no one was looking, so we didn't get them)
Pink Lemonade
Grapes
Oranges
Raspberries
Pizza: Bought 4 frozen pizzas, but also Flat-out Wraps that can be easily made into pizza

TB's list:
1% Milk
Soy Chocolate Milk
Eggs
Country Crock
Sour Cream
Coffee Creamer
Rice: brown rice
Pasta: whole wheat 5 boxes!
Spaghetti Sauce
Taco seasoning: 6 packets
Tortilla Chips
Rice Krispies
Marshmallows
Oatmeal
Pancake Mix
Sugar Free Syrup
Onions
Chicken Nuggets
Fries
Chicken Parmesan
Canned Peas
Canned Beans
Frozen Veggie Mix


I will admit to treating them to a bag of "Air Heads" at the end of our trip. It's tough to go shopping for an hour and a half without some sort of reward. They did a great job and didn't have any meltdowns.

I love going shopping with the family and I look forward to the next trip when I hope Caryn's guess is the closest, however Elizabeth did get her to change her guess to $1600 before the trip was complete.

Our grocery store is doing a great promotion once again. Now until the middle of July, every $50 purchase earns a point towards a gas card. 6 points equals a $10 gas card. 10 points equals a $20 gas card. 15 points equals a $30 gas card. 20 points equals a $40 gas card. Last time they offered this promotion, we easily hit the 20 point make. After tonight's trip, we have 3 points already, so we are well on our way.

"Two Peanuts Walk Into a Bar..."

Yesterday, I was greeted by my 2-yr. old. I had been riding the elliptical early in the morning in preparation for a long, challenging weekend. He greeted me with a half filled bowl of Trix. Unfortunately, we followed the trail all the way down the stairs where a pile met us at the bottom of the steps. From there, we followed the colorful trail through our soon-to-be wonderful kitchen, into the dining room. At this point, I knew it was going to be a challenging morning as I saw the biggest pile in the middle of the living room with the empty box and bag sitting on the couch. Without our kitchen, I have been struggling to stay on track and our kids have been struggling too. We all our surrounded by food and the old "Out of sight, out of mind" sure goes a long way.

We had a smorgasbord of leftovers including pot roast from the slow cooker, soup, and Easy Mac for lunch. For dinner, I was sent out to buy a rotisserie chicken and some potato wedges. It was a good dinner, but I went a little over board on the wedges. Well, I knew today would be a challenging day right from the start as we had plans to visit our wonderful friends Nancy and Miloudi. Nancy and Miloudi are the sweetest couple you could ever run across and I am lucky to be able to call them friends. I had run into them earlier this year at a luncheon and I mentioned that I had bought some couscous. I had never had it before and knew that they would be expects. Well, Nancy went on to invite me and my wife AND our three kids to their house for a traditional Moroccan Feast. Miloudi is from Morocco and Nancy met him on one of her worldly travels not so long a go. The two have been married for over 25 years and are getting ready to travel to Morocco again in a few weeks to visit Miloudi's family.

I knew I was in trouble before the meal started, so my goal was to not overindulge, but try a little of everything. We started the meal with T'mar or dates. I honestly can say that I had never tried a date before so, this was my "first date." We were served Khobz or Moroccan Flat Bread. They had made three loaves and I think my 6-yr. old ate a whole loaf on her own. We were then served Harira, which was a flavorful soup filled with chicken, beef and lots of hidden vegetables. I was plenty full after the soup and then came Bastilla or Pigeon Pie. "Bastilla is made either with pigeons or chicken and is usually served as a first course. Wrapped in rich, gossamer-fine, flaky pastry, the filling is a blend of chicken, with parsley and egg along with oil and spices." First Course??

After the Bastilla came the main course, Couscous. Served in an authentic Moroccan Tigane with a heap of veggies I couldn't pass out. It had carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, turnips, onions, raisins, tomatoes, chicken, not to mention the couscous. The kids loved the veggies and I'm sure it's because we have plenty of veggies at home regularly. In fact, my 6-yr. old usually asks if she can finish the veggies at home.

I'm sure Nancy and Miloudi spent countless hours preparing for this feast and it was wonderful right down to the Moroccan Kab-el-ghzal or Gazelle Horns, straight from Morocco and the Mint tea. The tea was very dainty and sweet. I would definitely gain a pound a week if I ate meals like this daily.

After Nancy and Miloudi's, we had to drop my 6-yr. old off and Grandma and Grandpa's and were greeted by Lasagna. I had a small piece and again had dessert: Key Lime Pie.

I will be so glad when our kitchen is done and we can let the kids play throughout the house again. Mission this week: paint the computer room, kitchen, new closet, and a few walls in the living room.




Oh, and by the way, Nancy would always tell this joke during Happy Hour at the nursing home and because many of the residents have some form of dementia, it was always a hit: "Two peanuts walk into a bar...one was: 'A-salted!"

Thanks Nancy and Miloudi for a wonderful afternoon.

Early Wake-Up Call

Today, we received an early wake-up call as drywall was delivered at 6:30 this morning. Luckily, my wife and I have been getting up a little earlier since the kitchen remodel because everything is just a little more inconvenient in the morning.

Tomorrow, I have to be at work by 7:00AM. I really don't mind, but to get the kids going by 6:30 will be a struggle. Our daycare serves breakfast at 7:00. My kids have never eaten breakfast at daycare, so they are a little excited about that fact. I had to let the daycare teachers know that they are coming so they have food ready for them. As I was telling them, the 1 year old teacher chimed in that she remembered Alex always coming to daycare with either fruit snacks or pop tarts. I was a little embarrassed to admit that my kids were regularly eating these kind of breakfasts. Alex has not been in the 1 year old room for 5 months and in that time, he has taken a liking to oatmeal. Lately, he's been waking up early and eating cereal with my wife. He's been watching her drink the milk from the bowl and thinks he can do it too (we've gone through a lot of paper towels since the kitchen is gone). My 3 year old has been feasting on either pudding or yogurt, still probably not the best breakfast, but it does beat Scooby-Doo Fruit Snacks. My 6 year old still does not realize the importance of breakfast and I'm usually just happy to get her out the door. She has gone in spurts of certain cereals. This week, it's been Reese's PB Cereal.

I'm sure our breakfast choices will change again, but I am sure it will never go back to the fruit snacks and pop tarts of not-so-long ago.

Lifetime

Last Week: 188

This Week: 189.6

Starting Weight: 270.2

Total Weight Loss: 80.6

I did it. I've been drinking tons of water and know I drank too much yesterday, so I'm not worried about my 1+ gain. I brought all three of my kids to weigh in last night and found out that my regular leader wasn't there, so I just weighed in, collected my "bling" and left. It was a great feeling! We got home and took these fun pictures. Notice my little guys gut is bigger than mine now. I've gone from a tight size 44 to a loose size 32.

Family Product

So Does Your Mommy Love It? is having a group writing project. Doesn't really have to do with weight loss, but has to do with family activity. What is our one family product that we could not live without? I'm been thinking about this one all day and asked my kids and wife. My kids had tons of answers like crayons, and markers and paper, CD's, games, toys, etc. My wife did not give it much thought. I was apparently in the housework frame of mind and thought of our awesome Maytag Front Loading Washer and Dryer. This washer and dryer is huge and has allowed us to spend more quality time together versus spending so much time on laundry. Our old washer and dryer was so small and now we fit almost two loads in one. The best part has been the pedestals. We debated about getting them, but went out appliance shopping today and were reminded at how much we love them. Our kids help with the laundry by loading and unloading and filling the detergent and adding the dryer sheets. They fight over who gets to press the start button as Mommy has taught them how they need to count to three before letting the button go. It definitely is a great product that I couldn't imagine living without now.

Now that I think about, maybe one of the reasons I don't do as many loads of laundry is because I have shrunk and so have my clothes!

Fat Tuesday

I did have ONE punchki/paczki and accounted for it. I counted 10 points for it and I am glad that I had it because otherwise I would be have eaten tons of other stuff before finally giving into having one in the end anyway. That is something that I have struggled with and have finally realized works for me. If I just face the music and eat something I am craving or in this case, just plain want, I am much better off than if I try to avoid it. In the past, I would have settled for a cookie or a piece of chocolate just to go back a little while later to have the doughnut...and I probably wouldn't stop at one. I'd go back and eat more junk and look to see if there were any doughnuts left and if there were any left, I'd stop for another one. I was definitely thinking today and I am confident that I did the right thing and made the better choice. Had I avoided the punchki, I would have wanted it more and more.

Enjoy the picture, poor Alex saw his two sisters dressing up and decided he needed to join in. He marched right upstairs and brought this nightie to his mother and started pulling off his clothes. Oh dear! We can only hope this next one is a boy so Alex will not have to play "dress-up" any longer. Ultrasound was yesterday, but since my wife did not want to find out what is, I decided not to find out either. It was too tough to keep the secret from her and everyone else last time.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Going to my parents today. Yesterday had a family party with my wife's side of the family, 5 birthdays in January and February. Not looking pretty for the scale this week. Not to mention, "Fat Tuesday" is coming!

What are You Going to Make Me?

My wife's birthday was yesterday. I like to tell people she is "MUCH OLDER" than me since my birthday is not till next weekend. We celebrated by going to TGI Friday's at Miller Park. I was thinking that made for an easy way out of eating birthday cake until this morning. I worked for a while this morning and when I came home my darling wife asked, "Are you making me brownies or cake?"

Doh!

Well, I decided that an Angel Food Cake was much more point friendly than a pan of brownies, so I did it. Made my first ever Angel Food Cake. While it was baking, I hopped on the elliptical for 47 minutes, since that's how long it stayed in the oven. So I will enjoy my cake and feel good about it, since I exercised while baking it.

Great Visit with an Old Friend

Today, an old friend of mine came over to visit. He and I were roommates in college for three years and once college was over, we lived together for another 3 yrs. He got married, I got married, we both had kids and have seen each other infrequently since. I haven't seen him since about this time last year. I've talked to him and he has even visited the blog, but seeing me in person made his jaw drop. I told him that he had actually seen me at this weight before because I started college at 186. I am now very close to that weight.

So what happened. All I can say is St. Norbert College, made me fat. They forced freshman living in the dorms to get either a 14 meal or 17 meal plan for each week. I would eat breakfast after I worked in the food service department. My job was to get up before the break of dawn and put the food away as it was delivered off the truck. Not the most glamorous job, but it worked with my schedule through my senior year. I'd eat a full breakfast after work, usually grab something from taco bell or the campus Knight Klub full of fatty, fried food, and I usually ate a full dinner with the guys from my floor. Now that I look back at those meals, it's a wonder I didn't gain more weight.

Well, the visit today was very nice. My friend said that he probably wouldn't have recognized me had he seen me on the street. Somehow, I don't quite believe him, but it was a great feeling to have someone really take notice who hasn't seen me for a long while and used to see me daily.

"What's for Lunch?"

Our at-work weight loss challenge is under way. I've had so many people come up to me and ask for pointers as to how to lose weight. There's no magic pill, no vanishing formula, just plain hard work and determination. Of course, everyone is looking for an easy way out. They do not want to hear that I exercise 30 minutes every morning, talk a walk every lunch and another walk in the evening usually. Exercise has and will continue to be a big part of my success.

The last few days, I've noticed more people than normal asking me what I was having for lunch. Well, today I had an apple, a banana, a grapefruit, a can of Progresso Soup ((I know it's 2 points for the whole can and not 0, but that's still reasonable)), and a WW yogurt to go along with a packet of diet hot chocolate. The nurses and CNA's were stunned to see no meat. I did explain to them, the I have been changing my lunches up and have not been relying on meat so much. I eat a lot of peanut butter sandwiches, some chicken salad made with canned chicken and low fat mayo, and lots of salads with loads of veggies. I have been quite full after lunch on most days, but have had an afternoon snack of 2-3 points at about 3:00pm.

My 6 year old, Elizabeth, surprised me earlier this week. She takes hot lunch 2 days a week and cold lunch 3 days a week, just because hot lunch costs so much and she eats so little. She asked me on Monday night if she could have a lunch full of "healthy" food. She said that she is tired of all of her friends asking for her food. Normally, I give her a peanut butter sandwich, a granola bar, fruit snacks and something else for a treat. She said that her friends always ask for the fruit snacks, so today she took a banana and I was surprised to find out that she actually ate it. I will be sending more fruit with her tomorrow as well.

I am so glad to see that all my healthy eating habits are having a positive impact on everyone around me: friends, family, co-workers, and people I hardly even know.

Creatures of Habit

I wake up every weekday and down 32 oz. of water along with a vitamin. I find if I drink my water right away and not ice cold it is easier to drink. Afterwards, I make myself oatmeal and eat it. Then it's time to get the kids up and ready. This past week has been a bit different since I was off and home with the kids all week. One thing remained consistent.

My 2 yr. old, joins me every morning for oatmeal by the computer. He grabs his own bowl, own spoon, goes to the pantry to grab a pack of oatmeal, takes the bowl and oatmeal to the sink and waits by an open microwave for me to make it. When it's done, he swings the refrigerator wide open and grabs the syrup. I drizzle a little on it and away to the picnic table in the back office when go.

Well, today when he woke up I was on the elliptical. Mommy picked him up and did not know his routine. Fortunately, he is smart enough to do all the steps in order and lead his mother through our routine. When I was done exercising, my wife asked why he grabbed the syrup out of the frig and I told her our routine.

My breakfast is the one meal that I keep consistent. I've changed it up a bit since beginning WW, starting with 6 points and know I'm down to 4 points for breakfast. I usually have oatmeal and some fruit, but sometimes I skip the fruit and add peanut butter. The peanut butter seems to keep me filled up till lunch much better.

Can't wait to teach my little guy more habits, such as folding the laundry and washing the dishes. He already clears his plate from the table, so we're getting there.