The 3 R's

Recap: I was sick over the weekend, sleep-deprived on Monday, had a whirl-wind of activities on Tues, and Wed when I awoke I realized I had been slacking in the workout department. I rectified that today though by getting in a good 45 minute workout during Duet's afternoon nap and then following that up with the Core Program. I'm happy to say that now that I'm more familiar with the Core Program, it only takes 15 minutes to complete.

Restrictions: I'm rethinking the restrictions I've placed on my sugar consumption. Don't get me wrong, I've definitely benefited from curbing my desire to consume any sweet in sight. Limiting my intake to 1 treat per weekday has forced me to make decisions about my food and really plan ahead. If I know I'm going out for dessert that night, for example, I'll skip that afternoon dip into the candy jar. I've become more aware of what I'm putting into my body and I've been (more or less) in control of my cravings. I don't want to go back to the old way (stuffing sweets into my mouth at an alarming rate). But here's the deal: with the holiday season upon us, I've got parties to attend and I don't want to limit myself so strictly during those times. So, at parties and holiday gatherings, I'm going to allow myself to eat multiple treats at the party, as long as I maintain control. An example of maintaining control would be trying a small piece of cake, nibbling on a cookie, and drinking a small mug of hot chocolate. An example of losing control would be standing at the dessert table for the duration of the party cookie in one hand, fudge in the other (I cannot resist fudge), cake in my mouth (and likely, around my mouth--as in, smeared on my face), concentrating on the choices spread out before me, instead of engaging in conversation with actual people. This rule lasts until the new year and then we're back to 1 treat per weekday. Until then, I'll be taking the sugar situation side bar down and replacing it with something else (TBD).

Randomness: I know I just wrote a whole post about Christmas music, but I heard Wham's timeless "Last Christmas" on the radio today and was reminded of how much I loved Wham back in the day. Even as an elementary school kid, I had great taste in music.

At Least It's Not Vodka I'm After

Duet has not slept in past 5:00am in over a week. Translation: I have not slept in past 5:00am in over a week. I've had enough. The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was eat a giant frosted sugar cookie. It's the Mary Poppins version of starting my day off with a good, stiff drink.
I'm not a drinker, but on mornings like these I can understand the need. I probably inherited that sympathy from my grandpa, Edgar. And no, that's not a fictional name. That's the real deal, folks. One morning when my cousin was 10, our grandpa asked him to bring him a screwdriver. My innocent 10 year-old cousin (did I mention that he was 10?) produced a phillips-head screwdriver. Apparently Edgar was less than thrilled to have a household tool in his hand instead of the desired glass of orange juice and vodka.
Many sleep-deprived years later I can sympathize with him a bit. I'm not sure that I would have been able to make it through the day had I not been able to perk myself up with a pre-breakfast sugar cookie. Thankfully with my vice there's no possibility for object confusion. If I ask 4 year-old Una to fetch me a sugar cookie, you can bet I'll be getting a sugar cookie, and not something else.

The Compact Part I

Over the last year or so I've been reading a lot about simplifying. I truly crave a more simplified life. What exactly do I mean by that? I want to get by with fewer things. I want my home to have a place for everything and have everything in its place. I want to spend more moments enjoying my family and less time searching for the paper that should have been signed and turned into preschool last week. I totally subscribe to the notion that I should "live simply, so that others may simply live." I've been meaning to do it, too. It's just eluded me on many levels. But no longer. After tackling 3 challenges in almost 6 weeks of blogging, I think I can safely say that I'm capable of making positive changes in my life (still working out 4x a week, still staying on top of the dishes/dishwasher situation for the most part, and sticking to the 1 treat rule on weekdays). Being accountable to you readers most definitely helps me stay on track. Again, thank you for keeping me honest.

Tuesday night Bert and I were talking about how we were sick of financial stress as well as stress that comes from living in a cluttered space. Yes we do live in a small space and that makes it a bit tricky to keep things under control. But other people manage it. And so will I. You may recall that a few weeks ago I worked on keeping my dishes and the top of the dishwasher in check. It was tough, and it's still a bit of a struggle, but it's so much better than it used to be. As I type this my sink is empty, my dishwasher is running, and the top is clutter-free. Things are much better on that front than they were a month ago. In that small way, I improved and I will continue to improve in other areas as well. Here's the problem with the clutter on the dishwasher scenario. Although it's a step in the right direction, it's not getting at the root of the problem.

Yesterday while checking out Mrs. Furious's blog, she linked to this and this and everything started coming together for me. I realized that I have way too much stuff in my home already and then compounding the problem is the fact that I'm bringing in too many items. Of course I've read about this (in the last year or so I've read all of the following books on this subject: Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping; Give It Up!: My Year of Learning to Live Better With Less; Affluenza; The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need), but I haven't done anything concrete about it. Mrs. F. and I spoke for a long time yesterday afternoon about ways in which we can commit to living more simply and consuming less. Last night I filled Bert in on what Mrs. F and I had been discussing and how it pertained to the conversation Bert and I were having about clutter and finance-related stress. Today I'm tackling the clutter problem at its root. Although I'm not following verbatim this compact, I will seriously be:
1. reassessing my needs and wants;
2. getting rid of things we do not need (in the process I hope to declutter the house);
3. limiting my purchases for the rest of 2008 (and possibly beyond) solely to consumable items (consumable items include diapers, toilet paper, food, etc. Consumable items do not include "good deals" or impulse buys at Target for me; new toys for the children; or new CDs for Bert).

You may ask, "But Mary Poppins, what are you going to do about the holidays?" I've already purchased most of our Christmas presents for our families (I will need to get 2 more and I will do that because I'm not going to give one sibling something spectacular while the other sibling gets a used book that I'm trying to clear out of my home. I am, however, going to stick with the budget that I've set for those presents.). Everyone else is getting non-consumable or homemade items from us. I know that at this moment you're all wishing that you were on my Christmas gift list.

The Poppins crew is going out of town for the weekend so I'll be posting again on Sunday evening upon our return. At that time I'll post The Compact Part II where I'll outline the specific ways in which I plan to accomplish the aforementioned goals. And I will tackle them one at a time, Mary Poppins-style. You can hardly wait.

sugar situation: yesterday I ate some one smores bar. Think Rice Krispy treats made out of Golden Grahams and then add some chocolate chips. Sickeningly sweet=delicious in my book.

Mystery Solved

A couple of days ago Una had just completed a puzzle in her room and some of the pieces were wet. Upon investigation I couldn't determine the source of the liquid. When I asked her about it she pled not guilty and she genuinely seemed as perplexed as I.

Today Duet escaped upstairs. When I ran after her a few moments later I solved the mystery of the wet puzzle pieces.

She was dunking them in the toilet like they were oreos in a giant glass of milk.

I wonder what else has been dunked lately...


sugar situation: yesterday I ate (I'll be really honest about this) 2 tiny cinnamon-sugar doughnuts. They were really small though. Way smaller than your average doughnut. So I decided that 2 really counted as one average doughnut. If you do not agree, I do not care.

P.S. I had a L-O-N-G conversation with Mrs. Furious today about my next challenge. This is going to be big and I'm posting about it tomorrow afternoon before I leave for vacation. You do not want to miss out.

The Enormous Bowl Made Me Eat Too Much Ice Cream!

Like most Americans, I love having someone or something to blame for my problems. I happily stumbled across Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink and read it over the weekend. In doing so, I learned that I am not entirely to blame for my uncontrolled sweet snacking. Is there better news than this? I think not. While it wasn't the best book I've ever read, it is backed by some serious academic research and I found some points to be quite enlightening. Although some of these ideas may seem basic, his research proved time and again that we're all fooled by our eating environment. I was intrigued by how consistent the results were with each of his experiments. I don't want to spoil the whole thing for you, but here are some fun facts and how I applied them to my life:

1. The average person makes 200 food choices daily. So of course some of those decisions are going to be wrong. No one is perfect 100% of the time. Especially when they're at it 200 times a day. I can't be blamed entirely for making some poor food choices. With those numbers, it's bound to happen.

2. People always eat more snacks that are kept within reach/sight. So having a plate of sugar cookies sitting on my counter isn't such a great idea after all? I can't help eating them if they're right there. It's the cookie's fault for being there, not my fault for eating it.

3. Humans are conditioned to like sweet foods. My sweet tooth is totally genetic.

4. People eat more or less based on bowl/plate size. The larger the bowl/plate, the more you'll eat. I'm not to blame for my increased ice cream consumption. My over-sized bowls are.

5. People always underestimate the number of calories they consume. We all suck at this. Not just me.

This is all based on science, folks. Guess I won't be feeling too guilty after all. But now that I've learned these facts, I'm going to use them to help me resist the urge to overindulge on sweets. Fighting that battle will be easier if I employ these tactics:

1. Be more conscious of the food decisions I do make. Don't just mindlessly grab a handful of candy and start snacking on it.

2. Keep treats behind cupboards and in opaque containers so that I don't have constant reminders that they are in the house.

3. Allow myself an occasional treat (this is what I'm trying to do), but remember the first few bites are always the best. There's no need to overdo it.

4. Serve myself ice cream in a mug, not an enormous bowl; serve myself cookies, cake, etc. on a small plate, not a large one.

5. Truthfully, I'm not going to worry so much about calories. But I am going to stick to my one treat rule on the weekdays and that will ensure that I don't go overboard on my calorie consumption.

Here's to learning that I'm not entirely to blame. And here's to using that knowledge in a way that will help me steer clear of temptation (hopefully 199 times out of 200).

sugar situation: yesterday I ate an apple dipped in caramel sauce. Such a great fall treat.

MKMYDAY

You know you're sharing the road with friendly drivers when you glance in the rear view mirror and see that the giant pick up truck behind you has a personalized license plate that reads "RNNOVRU."

At that moment, I didn't feel very secure in my Honda Civic.

You know how they say that a smile from a stranger can make your day? Surprisingly enough, a warning that the menacing monster truck intends to "RNNOVRU" has the opposite effect.

The scariest part of this is, given the spelling of the aforementioned vanity plate, I can only assume there is another like-minded person on the road. One whose license plate reads "RUNOVRU."

sugar situation: yesterday I ate 1/2 of a peanut butter cookie. It's getting easier to keep my treat-intake in check.

Weekend Update

After eating a Godiva Hazelnut Truffle this afternoon and then coming home to freshly baked peanut butter cookies homemade by Bert and the kids while I was out, I decided that I am allowed more than one treat on the weekend days. Come on, had you been in my shoes, you know you would have made the same decision too.

Sugar Situation: yesterday I ate one piece of a delicious gourmet caramel apple that my neighbor made. I am on a roll (except, of course, for the weekends).

P.S. Tomorrow I promise to post about something other than my insomnia and sugar intake.

Hmm...

Turns out that if you stop eating 6 giant frosted sugar cookies a day (or the equivalent amount of cake, chocolate, candy, ice cream, you name it, I've consumed it), you lose 1 and 1/2 pounds in less than a week. Go figure. I've got one word for that: serendipitous.

Sugar situation: yesterday I only had 1/2 of a doughnut at my daughter's preschool function. Ordinarily that would have made me proud, but this morning my friend told me her daughter was in tears last night because they ran out of doughnuts. Now instead of feeling pride in exercising self-control, I just feel like a jerk who steals treats from kids. And makes them cry. I can't win.

Insomniac

Last night I tried going to bed shortly after the debate but couldn't fall asleep until 3:00am. Needless to say, I'm a bit out of sorts today. This will be a quickie because I'm on way way out the door for an event this evening and you can bet I'll be climbing into bed as soon as I get home (the jury's still out on whether or not I'll stop off in the bathroom to brush my teeth before climbing under the covers. I'm that tired.)
I'm sure this wasn't the welcome home that Bert envisioned. I'm a zombie right now due to the total lack of sleep. Even though I'm not as enthusiastic as I'd normally be to see him, I'm still glad he's home. You'd better believe that someone other than me will be getting up with my kids tomorrow morning. I'll be sleeping in till 8:00. Funny. I can't believe I'm at the age where 8:00am feels like sleeping in.
Sugar situation: Yesterday I drank one mug of delicious hot chocolate while I watched the debate. That's it. I considered eating a chocolate pecan turtle too, thinking that the hot chocolate was just a drink and not really a treat. But in the end I resisted the temptation.

Omama!

Look at his smile. That is one happy man. When you notice the strategic placement of his face, I think it's pretty obvious why he's so happy.

I recently got this shirt not to showcase my physique, but instead to showcase my Obama pride. Much to my parents' chagrin I am a registered Democrat. And I can understand their disappointment. I'm inculcating my daughters with Democrat ideals at an early age. And I would be sad if years down the road they turned against that and started voting Republican. (This isn't a rant against Republicans, by the way. I dearly love many Republicans, I just don't happen to agree with their ideology).
From the time she was 3, my oldest would respond "Democrats" when asked "who do we vote for?" We've talked about how women weren't always allowed to vote and so in our day it's especially important that we exercise the right that so many women before us fought so hard to attain. I take her to the polling place every election day and have her stand next to me as I cast my vote. That could have backfired on me the year I accidentally marked the "Republican ticket" box, thereby voting for every Republican on the ballot. Luckily I realized my mistake before my vote was counted. And thankfully she was too little to remember that voting error.

Now that my youngest is 19 months old, I want her to get in on the political action. The first time I wore this Obama shirt I pointed to his picture and repeated "Obama" over and over. She finally started to say "Omama." That was several days ago. You can imagine my pleasure when she saw me in this Obama shirt today, pointed and declared "Omama!" Then while driving in the car and listening to a report about Obama on NPR, I heard her echo "Omama" from her carseat behind me. As far as I'm concerned, you're never too young to recognize a winner. Too bad she is too young to vote.

Sugar situation: yesterday I ate one chocolate pecan turtle. It seemed kind of lonely in my stomach and I desperately wanted to consume another so the pair of turtles wouldn't be lonely down there. But I resisted.

4:20

It's a good time for watching Oprah, or thinking about what I should start fixing for dinner, or walking my eldest home from preschool, or straightening up the mayhem around me. It's also supposedly a good time to get high. That's not what I do at 4:20, though. It's not like I'm a character from Weeds or something.

My favorite activity at 4:20 am is sleeping. Sadly though this morning my oldest woke me up at 4:20 because she'd had a bad dream. By the time I got her settled back in her bed and sleeping again, I was wide awake. Of course. The good news is I got my workout in before my kids woke up.

Bert is still out of town so he's not around to take a turn with these early morning wake up calls. I get particularly annoyed when there's no one but me to deal with this day after day. It just doesn't seem fair that I'm the only one whose sleep has to suffer.

Well it turns out I don't have a right to complain about this particular injustice. Not today anyway. Guess who received a phone call at 5:30am from our 18 month-old? Looks like she was playing with my cell and managed to speed dial him. Even from thousands of miles away she succeeded in waking him up earlier than he wanted.

I can't decide if I feel sorry for him (I know I'd be looking forward to waking up at a decent hour if I were staying in a hotel room all by myself) or if secretly I'm a little bit happy that I wasn't the only one whose sleep they managed to sabotage this morning. Does that make me a bad person? Immature, yes. But bad?

And now for the sugar situation: I am proud to say I only ate one chocolate pecan turtle yesterday. It was the biggest one in the box, but still it was only one.

Point of Clarification

I was on the phone with Mrs. F. today when she asked me to define "one treat." So here I go breaking it down Mary Poppins-style. One treat, for the purposes of this blog, means one serving. For example, one piece of candy (not one giant bag of candy), OR one piece of pie (not one pie), OR one cookie (not one batch of cookies), OR one bowl of ice cream (not one pint of Ben and Jerry's), etc. And don't think I couldn't eat those examples in parentheses. I can't even count the number of times I've downed an entire pint of Ben and Jerry's. And I'm not talking about the low-fat varieties, either.

So, how'd I do? Well, the day's not over yet. I'll post about it tomorrow so check back then.

Things did not go well today at the Poppins household when I tried to give one piece of candy to my older daughter without the younger one noticing. Moments after my 18 month-old detected that she had been left out of the candy distribution she looked like this:


Moments later when I caved she looked like this:


Hers wasn't the only happy post-sugar face:I spared you from having to look at my picture. It was a hat day today.

Just Say No (to the 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.)

A spoonful of sugar may help the medicine go down. But there's no need to consume it by the cupful (or, if we're being really honest, bowlful). I do have a massive sweet tooth and I should be better about controling it. Historically, this is not a great time of year for me when it comes to self-control on the sweets front. You may recall that Bert and I have birthdays at the end of September, Halloween and all of its trick-or-treating (in my experience all treats, no tricks) follows suit, then we're on to Thanksgiving with those apple pies (I'm such a sucker for apple pie), and finally Christmas which is one huge dessert-fest. I love it all. Too much. That is the crux of my problem.

So without further ado, I'm revealing vice no. 3: consuming a spoonful of sugar x10. Here's what's going to happen from now on. I'm not denying myself sweets, per se. I'm just limiting my intake to one treat per day. "That's easy," you might think. "Not even a sacrifice at all." And you might be right if you were talking to anyone but me. To put this in perspective you should know that I ate a half-dozen sugar cookies yesterday. Not the little ones. With frosting. True story. So, yeah, I need the motivating power of this blog to help me have more self-control with this issue.

For me this challenge is about self-control and being healthier, not weight management. I don't think I can really continue to justify eating 6 giant sugar cookies in one day simply because I wear a size 4/6. That's not a healthy habit at any size and I need to set a better example for my daughters. I've got 2 girls with very different body types and I need to be more careful about how I frame the eating and exercising discussions that go on in our household. I'm trying to eliminate words like "calories" and instead talk about eating foods that are good for our bodies. Similarly, my workouts shouldn't be done simply to burn calories, but to instead to make my heart stronger. I'm a concerned mom and I limit the number of sweets my girls get. It's about time I start doing the same for myself.