Just Try It

Week 1 – 1^st entry.

Our organization is doing a 10 week challenge called Just Try It.  Each week we will get an email with suggestions in four categories:  nutrition, prevention, stress management, and active lifestyles.  After you try 1 or more you log your progress.  I’m going to try for 3 or 4 a week of the suggestions.

I have decided to journal or track my choices and how it goes.

• A whole-wheat pita stuffed with hard-boiled eggs - FAIL 

I liked this suggestion.  Here’s the problem.  I live in a fairly small town.  I didn’t realize trying to find whole-wheat pitas was going to be so difficult.  I’ve tried two stores with no luck.  Well, three stores but the first store I wasn’t really seriously looking, but just browsing as I was walking by.  Scratch that suggestion and move on.

• Multigrain pancakes with fruit and yogurt - FAIL

Another suggestion I liked.  However, again, not finding any multigrain pancakes in this town in any store.  I did find honey wheat pancake mix but the packaging left me with no desire to try it.

• One of the easiest ways to stop skin from aging is to wear sunscreen.  Try slapping on some sunscreen this week.

I find this one a cheat.  I always wear Oil of Olay with SPF 15 daily.  I once (does it repair itself) had sun damage on my upper lips.  Spent the day on a boat and fried my upper lip.  I had a permanent marking on the top of my lips that looked like lipliner.  Guess for a bit that worked in my favor to outline my lips.  But, it did freak me out to see the damage under a skin scan at a Women’s Health Fair I attended years ago.

• Use a hand basket instead of a shopping cart for small purchases. Do curls with the basket as you walk down the aisles. 

I did this one in two stores.  You don’t realize how tired your arms can get once you put two ½ gallons of milk in the basket.  I found it much easier to alternate hands after a few curls.  I still felt the slight burn almost an hour later. 

•  Do one full circuit of the store before you go down the aisles. If you are in a mall or shopping center, walk once around the mall and look in all the stores.

This was almost embarrassing to begin with when I started. I thought about my boyfriend from junior high who used to say “What will the neighbors think?”  After the first store the next two got much easier to navigate.  It’s true to the saying for this challenge – Just Try It.

By Popular Demand - White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

White Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake

Family favorite from Taste of Home October/November 2007 magazine.

I’ll post as in magazine, but share what I change…very little.

1 ½ C crushed gingersnap cookies

½ c butter, melted

3 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1 c sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

5 squares (1 ounce each) white baking chocolate, melted and cooled

¾ c canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Almond Topping:

½ cup chopped almonds

2 tablespons butter, melted

1 teaspoon sugar

In a small bowl, combine gingersnap crumbs and butter.  Press onto the bottom of a greased 9-in springform pan; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Add eggs and vanilla; beat on low speed just until combined.  Stir in melted white chocolate.

Combine pumpkin and spices; gently fold into cream cheese mixture.  Pour over crust.  Place pan on baking sheet.

Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until center is just set.  Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine the topping ingredients; spread in a shallow baking pan.  Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring twice.  Cool.

Carefully run a knife around edges of springform pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer.  Refrigerate overnight.  Transfer topping to an airtight container; store in the refrigerator.

Just before serving, remove sides of pan, sprinkle topping over cheesecake.  Refrigerate leftovers.

I put a cake pan of water on bottom shelf in oven to keep it moist.  If your cheesecake cracks, it is overdone.  Cook till still jiggles in middle usually closer to 50 minutes.

I use graham crackers with the butter, ¼ cup sugar, and some crushed walnuts.

I use walnuts in topping, not pecans…I prefer walnuts.

New Mission

My new mission in life is to become a better Mom.

My inspiration and help are other blogs.  Certainly not my own…lol.  I’m a new Twitter nut and have found many resources for me.  Resources that can benefit all moms from finding crafts, activities, nutrition, products, routines to a stronger happier child and parent.  I don’t understand coworkers that think Facebook and Twitter are pointless.  Boy, they need to catch up to today.

Fridays on Twitter are Follow Fridays where you share with your Twitter followers others you thing they should also follow.

Today I’ll talk about a few.  

The first is @Resourcefulmom.  I thank her very much for creating Twitter Parties.  I have not won anything, but what I’ve learned from other parents far exceeds receiving a product.  http://resourcefulmommymedia.com/

The other is @MomCentral (and @MomCentralChat).  MomCentral has wonderful advice in multiple blogs, some great Twitter Parties, and giveaways.  Great blogs on lifestyle, food, books, babies, products and a listing that goes on and on and on.  http://www.momcentral.com

Twitter Parties have no longer become about let me win something please. I never win anything!  They have become a resource.  The ideas that are shared by other parents and the products represented have encouraged me to spend more time with my daughter, make better food choices for both her and me.  It makes me want to do crafts, spray paint pumpkins, make banana ghosts, go to a corn maze for the first time…lol.

The bottom line is I didn’t plan on being a mother let alone a single mother.  It’s been seven years and I’m still not prepared…lol.  Nine months I guess is not enough to shock you into being a good parent.  I look back and think of how fast the seven years have gone, and how much fun I’ve probably missed by not learning how to be a parent.  Why would anyone think that it comes naturally just because you deliver a child?  It doesn’t.  I know.  It’s hard work. 

I’m not saying I’m a bad parent.  I feed my child, I put her to bed, make sure she has clothes, we go on activities occasionally.  She enjoys Halloween, Christmas, Easter and other holidays.  She’s went to church, Sunday School, Vacation Bible School.  We have visited zoos, shopping, now a corn maze, birthday parties.  She even had her first non-family only birthday party.  We decorate for Holidays.  She has a dog and now recently a kitten.  We read, we do homework, she has tried soccer, wrestling, t-ball, tumbling and is starting swim team in November.

And, my child has a few emotional challenges.  We are seeking help because I can’t do it by myself, but I think I need to grow and learn and adapt to better help her with her challenges.  She’s not good at knowing no means no and that disappointment happens such as not getting a toy she wants.  Usually even a greater disappointment when something fun ends and unable to enjoy the day she has had and focuses on the point that it has ended.  The issue is how she manages those feelings.  Not well at all, in fact, full blown tantrums until sometimes she’ll even throw up.  All the time the tantrums make my temper rise and my desire to continue activities with her harder and harder to want to do.

So how do we journey through the trials we are facing?  I think in part as I grow and change she will grow and change.  I will find resources I need to better us both because we can’t do it alone.

Attitude Adjustment

I’ve been gone a long time.  I’ve needed an attitude adjustment.  I lost 16 pounds and hit a brick wall.  The frustration just built up until I ditched my plan.  I guess I’m this way.  What’s wrong with me?  Am I the only one that struggles with this…follow through on a plan.  I thought of a few things.  One being if you don’t adapt slowly and break it into small goals then you just won’t make it.  What can I start today to take a step at a time?

I also thought of Fish Philosophy.  Have you heard of Fish Philosophy.   Check it out on Wikipedia if you haven’t.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FISH!_philosophy   Two parts that I think of often.  I even used to have them posted on my computer like fortune cookie papers.  

Be there.  Like be there in the now.  Pay attention to what’s in front of you.  Don’t be running the grocery list and to do list through your mind when someone needs your attention and need you to be listening, really listening.  I find my mind wandering frequently lately.

The other is choose your attitude.  I forget this one.  I really believe that we can do this.  We can choose to let the dirty laundry and spilt milk destroy your day.  Or, you can choose to let it go and move one. Know shit happens.  Get over it.  I stew.  I stew and I easily snap.  Why?  No clue.  Forgetting what is important.

I think I’m about ready to Post-It Note my life with sayings. 

•  Count Your Blessings
• Will this matter tomorrow?
• What’s your priority?
• If you were going to die tomorrow what would you do today?
• You know you feel better after you exercise.

 I need ones for the refrigerator/kitchen.  

  

• If you eat that will you be here to see your daughter get married?
• If you eat that will you lose weight? 
• If you eat that will you be fueling your body?
• Shut your mouth!  (Can’t put food in an open mouth.)
• Can you substitute and make that healthier?
• Don’t touch that!
• Water.

 I guess this is a long way to say I'm back.  I'm better, and I'm going to figure this out.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

Amazing that I have lost 16 pounds in 24 days and that it has actually went quickly.  But, I have spent some time reflecting on the past 24 days and pondering away.

I have always been my own worst enemy and my own worst critic.  Don’t know where that stems from, but I’m thinking it is probably true for most of us.  Though the 24 days have went by quickly some of those days were very agonizing.

Things I beat myself up over:

•  Skipping the gym
• Going over my calorie count
• Making poor food choices 
• Frustration over holding for days at same weight
• Gaining 10 pounds before I even began this process
• Not working out harder
• Not joining classes at the gym
• Not going back to weight lifting
• Not tracking food nutrition on some days
• Late night snacking

My resolution is to lighten up literally and figuratively.  I made it this far and will make it to my goal with day by day purposeful movements and choices. 

Skipping the gym – fine, make it there 3 or more times a week.  I shouldn’t discount other activities I do around the house and yard.  I mow the lawn, I trim shrubs, pick-up sticks. I do laundry, dishes, clean, clean and clean.

Going over my calorie count – having the fear that doing so is going to pack on way too many pounds.  I think my body knows when it needs a day of more than the 1200-1500 range.  A normal day of 2000 tells my body that I’m not trying to starve it or harm it.

Making poor food choices – what’s a treat like a donut occasionally going to do to me?  I am making better food choices in the last 3 plus weeks than I have in years.  I have made better food choices even when dining out.  It’s not like I’ve fallen off the wagon and eaten pizza, buffalo wings, fried chicken, and chocolate bars all night in the closet.  I should be patting myself on the back for my lack of chocolate bars in the last three weeks.  And, not having a Mt. Dew or 3 or 6 a day has been an amazing feat. 

Frustration over holding for days at same weight – my body will need to stall, adapt, and process the changes it is going through.  I am losing quickly and should be in awe of that, and not the frustration of seeing the scale hold for a week.  I have learned it is not the end of the trail, but a brief pause to reflect and enjoy the view.

Gaining 10 pounds before I even began this process – pounds I didn’t even know I was packing on.  I decided last night that if I had not started this journey I would probably gain another 15 and be back to my heaviest weight.  The weight I was at when I got pregnant and excluding the weight I hit while pregnant…ouch!

Not working out harder – but, I’m out of shape.  I’ve learned that you have to start somewhere and that somewhere is usually at the bottom.  Friday I completed 47 minutes on the Elliptical Trainer and the treadmill.  I was not exhausted and felt quite a burst of energy.  If I stay in my target range or not, I’m progressing and will take stock in that each time I make it to the gym.

Not joining classes at the gym – because I still have the stigma of being the fat, out of shape, ugly, old lady that needs to hide in the back of the room.  I decided one step at a time.  If I’m not ready to take a class, then don’t force it.  I’ll get there.  

Not going back to weight lifting – so I’ve added it to my August goal.  Go lifting!

Not tracking food nutrition on some days – I’ve learned in the past week that my body is getting good at telling me when it needs fuel.  That when I’m hungry choose the correct combination of good foods and I still lose weight.  I think I do need to adjust to eat more in the mornings and for lunch or I am eating a lot for dinner to get that count in.

Late night snacking – a few nights I’ve eaten after 8 p.m.  Something I had told myself not to do.  I have read and heard that if your body is not processing food when you are sleeping that your metabolism is higher and you burn more sleeping.  At least my late night snacking is not a binge or a binge on something terrible for me.  One night I had a small bowl of cereal and one night I had a little bit of popcorn, maybe ½ cup.