Those of you reading here who also saw an earlier post on Facebook know that the above-mentioned DP is Diet Pepsi. Time for it to go. This is just a part of my overall plan to get the family's diet in better shape. By "diet", I really mean eating plan, btw. None of my kids are overweight, and in fact, Noah could stand to gain a few pounds! The problem is really not with how much my kids eat, but with the quality of their nutrition. It could definitely use some improvement.... more whole (clean) foods, and less junky processed stuff. In the long run, not only will cleaning up our nutrition be better for them, but it will make it a whole lot easier for me to stay on track nutritionally as well. After all, if the stuff is not in the house, it will be more of a challenge for me to eat it. I'd have to go somewhere to get it, and chances are pretty good that by the time I decided to go to the store, whatever craving I had may have passed. (At least that's what I'm hoping!). Admittedly, I should have done this a LONG time ago. I have always felt a bit of guilt for feeding my kids some of the things that I do (Little Debbies HAS to be at the top of that list... ), but I have continued to do it for a couple of reasons. 1) It's fast and convenient and 2) It's easier than fighting with them about eating healthy stuff. The third reason, btw, that I think a lot of parents feed their kids crap food is that it's actually CHEAPER than the healthy alternatives. That is so maddening, and just wrong... but it's probably not going to change, sadly. Just like the junky stuff that we can get cheap from overseas, you get what you pay for. Stepping down from the soapbox now....
Anyway, in my last post I said that I would outline my plan for keeping myself on track with regard to my fitness and nutrition. What follows first are some thoughts on nutrition:
- Give up my one Diet Pepsi a day and replace it with more water. Substitute tea as well.
- Generally follow the Zone diet by having several small meals per day. Include protein at every meal.
- Eat mostly whole, clean foods. Avoid processed foods as much as possible.
- Clean up the family diet. Try at least one new recipe per week. Have the kids help choose some new things that they are willing to try.
- Partner up with a friend at work who also wants to improve her diet. Use the SMARTpath website to work together and earn money while doing it! :)
Now for fitness:
- Regular visits to the chiropractor to help with my foot and overall wellness.
- Get to the gym AT LEAST 4 times per week. Minimum of 300 minutes of exercise per week, with 2 days of weight training and the remainder cardio. I will log this on SMARTpath.
- Spend time at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans site for support and challenges.
- Serve as our district Wellness Liason for the upcoming SMARTpath challenge activity...need to be a good role model, right?
- Get back to working with a trainer after the first of the year.
OK, so that's the skeleton of the plan. I have done well this week with regard to taking care of myself, so at least I've got the ball rolling in the right direction.
I'll close with a quote I saw today that is just perfect. I think I'm going to write it out and put it on the fridge!
"Well being is attained little by little, and nevertheless it is no little thing itself." ~ Zeno of Citium
