My Confession

I love bread.

I eat bread.

I now make bread.

When my husband and I were first married we gained. We gained a new apartment, new jobs, new life, and new weight. I weighed more 4 months after we got married than I did full-term with my daughter.

What did it?

I blame Me. My weakness. My bread.

Hot Ham and Cheese Bagel for Breakfast,

Bagel with jelly for a Morning Snack,

Sandwich for Lunch,

Banana Bread for afternoon Pick-me Up,

And Chicken breasts with Bread Crumbs for Dinner.

Don't even ask about dessert....it wasn't pretty.....

Along my quest to be aware of what goes in my body, I found that buying bread was one of the hardest things to do. There was the healthy bread, but even that had HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) in it, and a whole bunch of other things that I don't recognize. I did find some natural stuff, but really.... $4 for a loaf of bread?

Yes, my bread addiction has been under control for 3 years now, but really, $4? It just wasn't in our budget. So...I began my search for a breadmaker! And FOUND ONE! (Brand-new Betty Crocker at Goodwill for $15)

I was hesitant that my addiction would come back. Reading in SuperSized Kids today, I found this quite fitting to my situation:

"Another patient...carefully preserved a picture of his grandma, a woman the size of the Titanic who had a great fondness for baking bread. He loved his grandma and he cherished that picture. Yet... [he said] time and again, "I just don't want to be like her." He love her, admired her, respected her- but he absolutely did not want to wind up morbidly obese, like her."

Meet more families studied by clicking here.

"Parents, the time to prevent or reverse SuperSizing in our kids is always now. Don't wait until the problem gets worse. Don't wait until serious physical problems appear. If your child has an apparent obesity problem, start today to deal with it. Why? An average-sized adult may have 20billion to 30billion fat cells; a moderately obese adult, however, can have 60billion to 100billion fat cells; and a morbidly obese person in excess of 300billion fat cells. Obese children can have five times more fat cells than children of normal weight!"

"Once formed, these fat cells can decrease in size, but they do not decrease in number....

"Today is the best day to start!"

Feel the Earth Move

I was online this morning, and ran across THIS page about Exercise Needs by Age.

They said that it's never too late to start a regular fitness program. Even though it is April, almost May, the New Year's resolution can start with TODAY. A New Earth Day's Resolution!

Up to 35 years old

Two fitness components are often neglected during these years are form and flexibility. Practicing good form in any sport will help you stay injury-free later in life. Devoting time to stretching, yoga or Pilates will also help. Avoid overtraining by always building rest into your exercise program.

35-50 years old

Strength training should be a part of your fitness goals. Perform 30 minutes of resistance training at least three times per week. This is vital for women in order to help prevent osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.

50 and up

Even if you haven't exercised in a long time, you have every reason to start now. The real key is slow and gradual progress. Begin any new actrivity with its lowest run. For example, instead of running, start walking first. Instead of lap swimming, take a water aerobics class first. If you're unsure about how to start an exercise program, consult with a qualified personal trainer.

And if you need extra motivation, click here to link to Parent's magazine reader's responses to the question, "How to busy moms fit in time for exercising." My favorite one, probably because I do it, is using your kids as a workout. Hmm...so if I keep it up, when she's 10 will I still be able to bench press her weight? :)

DON'T just READ! GO and DO SOMETHING!

Hop to the bathroom...or maybe from the bathroom is a better idea.

Calf raises while doing the dishes, making a sandwich or talking on the phone!

Do chair lifts before getting up from the dinner table or computer desk.

Commercial Crunch!

Oops, I mean, Commerical Crunches!

Hey, the earth is moving, why can't WE!?

The Coolness Factor

I love friends. I love my family. I most definitely love my family more though. So, when I think about what others think about me, I think about my family. Am I Honest with them? Hard-working in serving them? True to myself?
So naturally, my family's health comes before my coolness factor.

Now to define 'cool'. My definition of 'cool' in this situation is minimizing akwardness. :) Wikipedia says that cool "often is used as an expression of admiration or approval." Okay, so social approval.

Enough background, now for the story. I have friends. I have family. I most definitely control my family's health, and not that of my friends. When my friends go to a certain fast 'food' place every week after a get-together it's hard. It's hard on a lot of people. It's hard because it's now socially expected, not just accepted.

I have found myselft not going to the weekly get-together to avoid the situation. Do I have problems saying, "Naw, I'm not going to go this time." or "No, she's ready for a nap." or "Naw, have fun though."? No, I can do it, but it gets old. Just like we get old. And we become what we eat. And I don't want to be a re-heated science experiement served on a tray with a side of diabetes and preventable heart problems.

My point? It's not easy to eat healthy, but it can be cool.
I think it cool, who's with me!?

And friends, if you read this too-my cool group is accepting applicants! :)

oh, and just to clarify, this isn't the only place that the 'coolness' factor comes into play. It's really any type of social gathering that is loaded with a whole bunch of stuff that the guests get to choose from. Luckily though, in those situations there are CHOICES! :)

...while you're at the store

Click here for Ingredients to Avoid!

Combo #4

As the title of this blog suggests, I am promoting self-education in regards to eating and living a healthy lifestyle. It just seems that it's too easy to NOT eat healthy, that doing the alternative actually takes time and study. My goal is to put all of my observations, opinions, and random tools into one place to make it easier on me and anyone else who enjoys participating in this journey with me.

Right now, I'm busy doing a lot of things.....aren't we all right? But one of the things I AM working on is creating a budget-friendly, healthy menu for a month. When I googled "how much should a family of 3 spend on food for one month" and similar search phrases I got everything from "I don't have to worry about that 'cause I'm on welfare" to "My husband and I cut back to $400 a month for the two of us". Soooooo obviously, it's just a lot of opinion.

MSNBC reports that you should spend 15-20% of your overall monthly spending on Food- groceries and restaurant. Just food for thought. (don't worry, I won't charge ya for that one)

Speaking of Grocery-store spending, my friend let me borrow her New2010 edition of Eat This, Not That. I'll have to say, that I've plowed through this book faster than I used to a bowl of ice cream with sprinkles! Chapter 4: entitled Eat This, Not That! At The Supermarket, gives some helpful advise.

#1. Stay away from the soft, creamy center....of the supermarket that is- "the healthy stuff like dairy, produce, meat, and seafood is usually located around the edges, the interior of the supermarket is almost always packed with highly processed foods made with corn and soy and the 3,000 or more additives manufacturers use to make things that are edible but aren't actually food."

#2. Avert your eyes!... eye level (well, for the average person) around 5 feet is where the store packs it's high processed, high caloric, high priced foods.

#3. Get back to the Earth...You choose: apple, chicken and a potato VS a jar of applesauce, a bag of chicken nuggets, and some chips. :)

#4. Eat more food, eat fewer ingredients...The fewer ingredients on the label, the better something typically is for you. They give the example of applesauce. Yes, apples turn into applesauce, but "they can often double their caloric load because of hte addition of high-fructose corn syrup."

#5. Watch Who's on First...Nutrition labels you're looking for 2 things. "The first is the order of ingredients- labels by law must list them in order of volume. So if the number one ingredient is, say, "spinach," that's good. If it's "sugar" or "high-fructose corn syrup" or "canary droppings," that's probably bad. The second thing to look at is the servings per container." If it's 2 per box, but you know you'll eat the whole thing, then 200 calories becomes 400 pretty quick.

#6. Eliminate the Drive-by...Quick trip to the store = 54% more purchased than planned. Bring a list, and a pen (and might I add, a calculator.)

NOW, LET'S GO SHOPPING!!

Blueberry Buttermilk Mini Muffins

..or normal sized muffins. :) I got this recipe from a kids' book I checked out from the library a few months ago....I didn't write down what book it was...
SOOO GOOD SOO HEALTHY and SOOO EASY, CHEAP to MAKE!

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (i use 2/3c white, 2/3c wheat)
2/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar ( i use 1/3...it turns out perfect)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
MIX ABOVE TOGETHER IN A LARGE BOWL

1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil (i need to try applesauce...)
1 egg slightly beaten
1 cup fresh/frozen blueberries
MIX LIQUIDS IN A BOWL (not the blueberries) THEN POUR INTO DRY MIX BOWL

stir just enough to moisten. Add blueberries
BAKE 350 FOR 10-12 MIN

toothpick clean? means time to cool and eat up! :)



*blueberries are obviously good for you
*buttermilk is surprisingly low in fat
*corn meal is packed of good nutrients (the real stuff) and gluten free
*WAAY better than anything packaged and packed of chemicals
*did I mention easy to make!?

My Buffet

A random sampling of facts and opnions. Please don't take too much, we all know what buffets can to do ya.....


I'm currently reading a lot of stuff- one of the books I'm reading is "Super Sized Kids: How to rescue your child from the obesity threat." Written by Walt Larimore, MD; Sherri Flynt, MPH, RD, LD; with Steve Halliday.

It's packed with super sized greatness. :) I haven't gotten through the whole thing but throughout the book they sprinkle in 50 ways to SuperSize your Kids. I thought I'd share what I've read so far.


#1. Believe that your child's SuperSize status is normal.

#2. SuperSize their portions.

#3. Let your kids eat frequently at fast-food restaurants.

#4. Give your kids lots of soft drinks!



A few points that I found interesting:

They did a study that followed obese children to obese teenagers to obese adults. Children in the study who were obese as teens died as adults at the average age of 46. Not only that, but a different study pointed out that the effect of obesity "significantly impairs quality of life."

"Severly obese kids have a quality of life similar to that of children who have cancer."

What has happened? What has happened that we as adults have become so lazy, unintelligent, and passive in our decision making.

Say 'yes' to knowledge. This is my motivation.

Underdeveloped societies suffer from: TB, malnutrition, pneumonia, parasites, typhoid, cholera....

Affluent America now suffers from: obesity, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, liver diseases, drug addiction, alcoholism, divorce, abused children, suicide a murder.

Take your choice.

My last point(S):

• It's not about appearance. It's about health. I heard on the radio the other night that by the age of 2 a kid can recognize a McD's (or any other frequented fast food store) by their logo. How awful.
• As a person commented in my last post, wouldn't it be nice if HEALTHY restaurants had "playplace"s? That would be a good help.
• Wouldn't it be even nicer if we ATE at home (which is important what we eat there too...) and had our own "playplace"?
• I think it's awful how parents introduce their children (fat, obese or fine) to fast food so frequently. Maybe you disagree. That's fine. This is my opinion based on my observations. You can make your own. In fact, I encourage you to do just that.

Say, "yes" to knowledge and research it yourself.