DAY 152- Healthier Eating Journal

The husband spent the day meeting the new staff he'll be working with so he left bright and early and my daughter had to be in town early as well so it was just the baby and the two year old and grandma..... I survived! :D They survived! It's one thing to have them over or to go visit. It's quite another to have them all day AND try to get the house clean, the laundry done, your phone calls made, everyone bathed and dressed and dressed again after the poopy diapers. It's like.... mom's gone and grandma's in charge so let's see how many poopy diapers we can crank out during that time. Hello! Killin' me here!

It's like riding a horse... after a while you have one tucked under the arm, a load of laundry under the other arm and you're cleverly having the two year old constantly assigned to a "helping" task. I even remembered to throw some dinner in the crockpot since Jas was coming over for famiy council and dinner tonight. Baby Kayson was actually really good today (other than the diaper thing). And Rello was fine except no nap. My bad. I even took them to the park since Rello was such a good helper all morning. Mom was horrified at this news when she got home. Seems that baby Kayson is too young to be in a stroller yet. Hmmmmmm. He slept the whole time at the park just chillin in my arms on the bench beneath the shady tree whilst Rello played on the slides and swings.

I guess children were just a lot tougher in the 80's when we raised ours. Seatbelts were optional then too. I'm not saying seatbelts are bad, so save the emails, but I'm just saying that sometimes I think today's kids are a little TOO pampered (thus the obesity rate in teenagers in America). Okay, don't get me started. They're 1 month and 2 years old. Calm down grandma. :D Like I said... we all survived.

Breakfast? Who can remember. Pretty sure it was a bowl of cereal. There were no-bakes left on the counter so I vaguely remember eating two more of those today. For lunch I had 1/2 a tuna sandwich and used Miracle Whip lite which tastes exactly the same to me but less calories. I also had 1/2 cup of my potato salad with it. I split an apple with Rello for our snack. For dinner I made crock pot chicken, brown rice, and steamed veggies. Later my husband gave me a little bit of jerky but it was too spicy.

Family council was long and tedious because we had so much to plan and decide for the summer. It was so much easier when the kids were all young. Now that they all have families it's hard to find a time we can all get away together with everyone's schedules. Plus we have to start packing to move out of the rental for this sumer and packing our house on the other side of the state to get moved down here permanently. Sounds like a real summer break!! We're going to head to the mountains for family camping is what we finally decided for the 4th. The husband and I will also squeeze in our 30 year class reunion that weekend since it's nearby where we'll be camping. Then we're going to head up to Wolf Creek Resort for a couple nights then back through Utah to take the grandkids to Lagoon.

We may have to camp at Jason and Anne's a little in July depending on how the house hunting goes, but hopefully we'll sell one of our houses and can get moved in to our own place. We'll see. Thank you Jason and Anne for offering and thank you everyone for enduring the two hour family council to get the summer planned out. Jeremy.... you're fired. :D No, we just planned stuff for you. :D That's how we roll.

Food Intake Today (Pretty sure I burned most of it off being mommy sub):

BREAKFAST: Raisin Bran (230)
Snack: No-bake cookie (50)
LUNCH: 1/2 Tuna Sandwich and potato salad (400)
Snack: 1/2 apple (45)
DINNER: Brown Rice, chicken, cream of chic. sauce, steamed veggies, no-bake cookie for dessert (640)
Small Piece of Jerky (35)

Total Calories Today= 1400

John Wooden Pyramid and Web Site

click on the pyramid to enlarge. Found this great web site as well if you're a Wooden fan:
http://www.coachwooden.com/index2.html

Sunday-DAY 151- Healthier Eating Journal

Late getting this posted. But I did get it done. Had cereal for breakfast (Raisin Bran Extra again) and had a Fiber One bar for my morning snack. After church I made goulash with the left-over spaghetti sauce. Just boiled pasta shells and added a can of corn, a can of green beans, and a can of olives (cut in half). Pretty simple. We were out of eggs (forgot to get some yesterday) so had to go with the no-bake cookies instead. Found a recipe on line that included using crushed graham crackers in them. Said they were only 40 calories each (probably because of size too) and I ate 4 of them throughout the day. Good fiber thanks to the oats I might add. I had another small helping of goulash for dinner and ate my 100 calorie mini-pouch popcorn for a night snack while playing cards (hand and foot and yes I won). I also finished off my Squirt from yesterday (100)

Total calories today= 1100

Enjoyed church. Rello's face is still like a lobster but much better than it was yesterday. Mandy's kept the aloe on it. Pretty quiet day and other than getting to bed late.... (it's 1am) that's a good thing. Will write more tomorrow (which is technically today). Sorry for slacking.

Crockpot Stuffed Peppers

(241 calories per serving) Ingredients- 4 bell peppers, 1 1/2 lbs 93% lean ground beef, 1 large egg, 1 1/2 cups brown minute rice (uncooked),1 cup onion, chopped, 2 cups tomato sauce or V8 Juice, 1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp garlic powder (I’m going to sprinkle a little taco seasoning packet in there too). Directions: Cut bell pepper in half and clean out seeds. Mix all ingredients except 1 cup tomato sauce (or V8) and bell peppers. Split the mixture into the 8 bell pepper halves. Pour 1/2 cup tomato sauce in bottom of crock pot. Add stuffed bell peppers and pour the remaining tomato sauce over the peppers. Cook 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low.

DAY 150- Healthier Eating Journal

When it rains.... it pours. Literally and in life. This week has been a rain storm in many ways. The beauty of rain storms is that afterwards, everything is cleansed and starts fresh. I hope that happens.

Thank you Jas for coming over and having breakfast with us this morning. You didn't even gag on the wheat pancakes. I can tell your wife has been training you to eat healthier too! Good job Anne! :D Poor Rello went to the Air Show today with his dad but came back with such a sunburned face that we eventually took him in to have it looked at because it was so terrible. The doctor said it will most likely blister and peel poor little guy. A little common sense goes a long way! Okay... grandma radar hit the red peg on that one.

Although I fed Mandy and Jas pancakes and twice baked hashbrowns w/bacon bits and cheese, I ate breakfast earlier with Rello and ate Raisin Bran extra (230). For lunch I had Activa Yogurt (110) and a fiber one bar. I know.... a bit of overkill on the fiber. After that we headed to Jason's to help with the yard. I pulled all the weeds in his little garden spot. It's rained so much this past week that it felt like the Amazon instead of a garden. He got the front yard looking great and I worked up such an appetite we decided to call the other son and his family and invite them over for a BBQ and break in Jason's new Father's Day BBQ grill. I made my potato salad and Jas ran to pick up Rello and get some propane for his new grill.

Jeremy helped him out a little since they have the same grill now but he didn't help him enough because he put the hotdogs on the bottom level of the grill and burned them all. Rookie! :D I heard this later as we had a family drama I had to go deal with and had to leave the BBQ. I came back later to pick up leftover potato salad and a cold hamburger but just ate some p. salad for dinner. My sweetie made it home safely and Rello was glad to see papa. We all were. It's been a very long day.

Today's Food Intake:

BREAKFAST: Raisin Bran Extra (230)
Snack: Fiber One Bar (90)
LUNCH: Activa Yogurt (110)
Snack: Wheatables (140)
DINNER: Potato Salad (350) and two homemade choc. chip cookies (160) and Squirt (100)
I know.... healthy dinner.... it was survival food in between go, go , go

TOTAL CALORIES TODAY= 1200

DAY 149- Healthier Eating Journal

Be sure to read the article below about not eating before a sporting event or a workout. It's definitely food for thought. Today was a very rainy, melancholy day for many reasons. Rain was appropriate. Some sadness and weariness today. May I just say that some people.... me.... stress eat for other people too and not just themselves. Dumb huh! But sadly true. And... if we think we're having some little trials, we can always look around and see that other people are having much larger trials. Today was one of those days where I went.... really???? is it that big of a deal? Who does it hurt? Not you. What goes around.... comes around. You reap what you sow and I know that people who sow dishonesty and contention.... well... it'll bite them in the butt. People who lack integrity... spend a lot of time justifying and lyin'. Rhymes for a reason. My last thought.... this too shall pass.

Okay.... so to my daughter.... I love you. You're a great mommy and I do not want your job at my age. However, I will ALWAYS be here for you. And... I will eat for you when needed!! (bad). The middle son is missing his wife and baby Maddy as they make their visit to Missouri to see her family (his Mother's Day gift to her) and I'm glad he lives near his brother so they can spend time together. I know his brother is loving it. And thank you Stacy for being so good about everyone popping in. Jeremy (the oldest son) informed me John Wooden died tonight. A poopy end to a poopy day. That said, I know there are a lot of people who had much worse days than we did. Like Wooden's family.

What a giant. I got to see him in person when they inducted him into the Hall of Fame here. He is just my idol. I have stolen so much from him as a coach. His methods work-- my trophies and state championship are small evidence. His own record is the large, undeniable evidence. I will never forget his sock talk, first 30 min. of practice the same, his pyramid, and his dedication to God. What a giant.

So food seemed pretty minor today. Rello and I had scrambled eggs and toast w/butter spray for breakfast. I also had some cantaloupe. I gave him a bath and we headed to town with his mommy and baby Kayson. He was elated that we included stopping at his cousins in our travels again today. I know we are very boring company when he gets home because we are not his cousins. We went to Wal-mart to get purified water for the baby bottles and the evil McDonalds is inside. Rellie spotted it immediately and knew that Shrek toys were in the happy meal. He's 2...... I caved and got him the happy meal w/chicken nuggest, juice, evil fries, and a Shrek toy I didn't even recognize with flaming red hair. Must be from the new Shrek. I ordered a chicken sandwich and ate it with only one side of the bun (the side without the mayo) and some fries. It was a stress day. My daugther had a parfait and some chicken nuggets.

When we got home later in the day I made spaghettie with whole wheat noodles. I also made a green spinach salad with apples, carrots, craisins, and cucumbers. Rello ate some spaghetti and had his tapioca pudding. Him and grandpa are tapioca fanatics. I also had 4 oz. of pop thanks to Sam I am. Thanks Sam! :) I still appreciate you though and it's always fun to have you over to visit Mandy. You two still seem like you're in high school when you're together (they're eating movie snacks and watching a movie as I type this). It's good to maintain positive relationships that don't detract from your grown-up responsibilities. Sam is great with the kids and she will be a great mommy some day.

The husband will be here tomorrow night. Hooray! Rello can sleep on his head and I get homemade chocolate chip cookies on Sunday! His daughter misses him too. She always was a daddy's girl. I will have to hide Rello's tapioca from him though. :D

Today's Food Intake: (stress eating included at no extra charge--except calories)

BREAKFAST: 1 scrambled egg w/spinach (90), 1 piece of WW toast w/butter spray (100), 1cup of cubed cantaloupe (50)
SNACK: Wheatables (140)
LUNCH: McDonald's McChicken sandwich minus 1/2 bun and no mayo and a small fry (500)
SNACK: Banana (90)
DINNER: WW Spagehtti w/hamburger and Ragu sauce (325-350) and spinach salad w/apples, craisins, carrots, cucumbers and low-fat ranch (100), 4 oz of pop (75)

Total Calories Today=1500

And on that note.... I'm going to count my blessings that I didn't hit 2000 calories on such a stress day and I'm going to go do my squats and crunches.

DON'T EAT BEFORE EXERCISING

Read a great article today. Recent studies suggest taht exercising on an empty stomach (assuming you're healthy of course) has a lot of benefits. Your body actually burns more fat during the workout. Muscles get their energy from carbs so in the past some athletes (myself included) were encouraged to down some carbs before a game/event. However the new research shows that if you don't eat before the event or workout, your body is forced to burn fat instead because the carbs aren't there to burn. Furthermore, it could help with blood sugar.

"If you exercise after fasting your adrenalin is high and your insulin is low," said Peter Hespel, professor of exercise physiology at the University of Leuven in Belgium. "That ratio is favorable for your muscles to oxidize (break down) more fatty acids." Hespel recommends people do this kind of training beofre breakfsat, since eating carbs interrupts the process of metabolizing fat for abotu 6 hours afterward. He also thinks this could help people with problems like diabetes because exercising without eating produces muscles that are better at absorbing glucose which is important for preventing diabetes. He theorized that it would also help diabetics control their insulin levels.

I have to mention though that while it's a major breakthrough in understanding gluclose and insulin control through exercise, that the study also said the athletes who didn't eat before their event or workout burned more fat, but they also performed worse. So..... if you're looking to help your diabetes or you're not competing, I think it's very noteworthy. The article was put out by the AP (Associated Press) with Maria Cheng as the author.

DAY 148- Healthier Eating Journal

My day began at 4am with a two-year-old crawling in bed with me and planting his chubby cheeks right next to mine. He must have had a bad dream because I was not allowed to turn my head or eyes until he fell asleep. Then I escaped back to my side of the bed. At 6am he woke back up and went to see if mommy was awake with baby Kayson. That lasted about an hour then he was back patting me on the hand and telling me to "get up grandma". He even pulled back the covers for me..... so much for sleeping in on my first day of summer break. I scrambled him some eggs and made him some toast, but I had Frosted Mini-Wheats because I wanted to start off my day with some fiber.

After breakfast he wanted to go see his cousins at Jeremy's house. So.... I loaded him up and we went to get the other boys. They played while I ran a few errands then I made my daughter come with me and we took them to ice cream at a little ice cream shop in a town the same size as ours.... but we don't have an ice cream shop in our town. Rello loves any type of berry ice cream. Tucker is plain vanilla no matter how many choices and Bryton wanted oreo cookie ice cream-- which he wore everywhere including up his nose by the time he finished it. Speaking of "up his nose"..... Tucker informed us that his sister had stuck popcorn kernels up his nose a couple nights ago and he was scared cuz they wouldn't come out. Hmmmmmmm. Luckily mommy got the tweezers and got them out.

After ice cream we took the boys back home, picked up some groceries, then came home to fix dinner. I made grilled zucchini, squash and shrimp along with corn on the cob and 1/4 cup of brown rice. I knew there'd be cake or something fattening at the baby shower so I tried to eat light for dinner. Sure enough.... cheesecake. I had a very thin slice but I'm sure it was still 300 calories. The baby shower was fun. I have never seen so many people at a baby shower quite honestly. They just kept coming. People here have just gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. They really are amazing, caring people. They certainly have given me a lot to think about as we decide about where we will buy or build a house if we ever sell our other two on the other side of the state. Great time to buy..... bad time to sell. At least the husband and I will be in the same town again.... that's what's important.

I feel like taking care of any grandkids under the age of 6 should count as an exercise program of it's own. I'm confident I burned some calories today. Now I know why I was so dang skinny when my kids were little.


TOTAL FOOD INTAKE TODAY:

BREAKFAST: Frosted Mini-Wheats (230)
Snack: Banana (90)
LUNCH: 1/2 Tuna Sandwich and Cheetohs (300)
Snack: Baby Ice cream cone (150-200)
DINNER: 8 small shrimp (25) , grilled zucchini and squash (25), corn on the cob (60) 1/4 cup of brown rice (75)
Baby Shower Food: Thin slice of Cheesecake (300)

Total Calories Today: 1300

DAY 147- Healthier Eating Journal

I am now officially less than 30 days from reaching my New Year's goal. I wanted to lose 20 pounds and I've done that, but I revamped that to getting down to 140, so I still have a few pounds to go by July 1st. I also wanted to blog daily about my journey to eating differently and losing weight and I've done that too. I am proud of myself because it hasn't been easy. I will say though, that I may have quit several times along the way if I didn't have to sit down and face this blog every night. The accountability factor has been all the difference in me sticking to it.

Speaking of that.... I did much better today. I knew we would be having an end-of-year fiesta lunch today so I only had a 90 calorie fiber one bar for breakfast and a small banana (80) for a morning snack. I made my taco with chicken, 1 tblsp of rice, 1 tblsp of beans, lettuce, tomato, 1 tblsp of avacado, 1 tblsp of sour cream and I didn't eat the shell (220-250). I also had 1/2 cup of fresh sliced strawberries (20) and a sour lemonade slushy (120). Oh, and probably 6 chips w/salsa (80).

It was a nice last day with friends/faculty. I work with some exceptional teachers and staff members who are the kind of people I want to hang out with outside of work. I'm reminded of the Donny Osmond song about a few bad apples don't spoil the whole bunch. Something like that. My sister was the Donny Osmond fan.... not me. Anyway, I felt a little like the kids today saying goodbye on the last day. Sad.

After school it was still pouring rain and I started feeling like I was in Oregon because everything's turning so green. Don't have to worry about when to water the lawn, but you have to have that umbrella with you everywhere you go. I'm hoping the sun comes out tomorrow so we can enjoy our first day off. The ladies from our church are throwing the daughter a baby shower tomorrow so I'm worried there will be homemade breads and cookies there (they're elderly ladies). I think I'll ride my bike tomorrow before the shower just in case. That way.... I can eat it without guilt. See.... that's planning ahead. Do not mock me Kali.

So for dinner we had some grilled chicken cut up (140) and I had a small baked potato with butter spray and sour cream (100). Later I checked my fiber and decided I needed a little more so I had another fiber one bar (90). Thank you Mandy for stocking me up on those. Rello is ready to go fishing. He likes to go "catfishin" in the river, but it's been raining too much. Maybe we'll go tomorrow if the sun ever comes out. Anne (daughter-in-law) flew to Missouri today to visit her family while Jas works in summer school. We will miss her sweet spirit and baby Maddy will get to see her other grandparents. Glad they got there safely.

Total Food Intake Today:

BREAKFAST: Fiber One Bar (90)
SNACK: Sm. Banana (80)
LUNCH: Taco without shell, lemonade smoothie, 1/2 cup of sliced strawberries, 6 chips w/salsa (450)
SNACK: Fiber One Bar (90)
DINNER: Grilled chicken (140) and a small baked potato w/butter spray and sour cream (100)

Total Calories Today- 1000-1100

Article on Stress Eating

June 17, 2008
Ghrelin stress hormone linked to comfort eating, say Texas researchers
Mark Henderson, Science Editor

Comfort eating among people who are stressed or depressed may be explained by the action of a “hunger hormone”, according to research.
Experiments with mice have suggested that the body makes extra amounts of an important appetite hormone to combat the effects of stress-induced depression and anxiety, which in turn prompts overeating.
The findings, by a team from the US, could have implications for understanding eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
When both mice and people do not eat, levels of a hormone called ghrelin rise in the gut, sending increased hunger signals to the brain.
The study, led by Jeffrey Zigman, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre , in Dallas, has indicated that the body also produced extra quantities of ghrelin in response to stress. This hormone synthesis seems to be part of the body's natural defence against stress, as it tends to reduce typical depressive and anxious behaviour. However, it also boosts appetite, leading to comfort eating.
Michael Lutter, another member of the research team, said: “Our findings support the idea that these hunger hormones don't do just one thing. Rather, they co-ordinate an entire behavioural response to stress and probably affect mood, stress and energy levels.”
The research, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, raises the prospect that blocking the body's response to ghrelin might help people who comfort-eat to control their weight. However, it also suggests that this approach might be problematic, as it could also reduce ghrelin's beneficial effects on mood and stress response, so that susceptible people suffer in different ways.
Dr Zigman said: “This new research suggests that, if you block ghrelin signalling, you might actually increase anxiety and depression, which would be bad.”
Dr Lutter said that, despite this drawback, the research could shed important light on the biological processes behind some eating disorders. “We're very interested to see whether ghrelin treatment could help people with anorexia nervosa: the idea being that, in a certain population, calorie restriction and weight loss could have an antidepressant effect and could be reinforcing for this illness,” he said.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4152037.ece

Day 146- Healthier Eating Journal

I was on the road at 5am today. That means more hours in the day to eat and idle hours in the car. It was 4 and half hours to be exact. Work was just finishing up grades and getting my room in order. Then when I got home the daughter had just returned from the dentist and needed to sleep it off so I took little Rello and we went to visit the other grandkids. He loves seeing his cousins. I love seeing my sons and their families. All my kids love and depend on each other and I'm glad they have each other.

I don't have the husband to blame for my eating today. I suppose I could blame a two-year-old for making me go to Wendy's when he asked for "nuggets". But that's lame. I have four more days to turn it around before the husband comes down for the weekend and we go back to start the summer. I need to get it together. No excuses.

Backsliding a day or two once in a while is one thing, but this is four days of going over my calories. Throwing out smoke signals. I know it's emotion eating. Gotta stop it. Dinner can't be a killer tomorrow. It's the breaker. It needs to be the one I plan the most and stick to the most. It's where I can eat more or less and make my goal of 1300 or less or fail it. After 4 days of going over my calories, I need to shoot for under 1300.

BREAKFAST: Danon Fit Yogurt (90), Banana (80)
SNACK: Apple (80)
LUNCH: 1 cup of potato soup (220) and ½ sandwich (RB on whole wheat w/cranberry mustard and ½ slice of cheese) 250
Snack: Wheatables (140)
DINNER: Wendy’s (650)
Snack: Fiber One Bar (90)

Total Calories= 1600