Day 5, 6, and 7: Whirlwind Weekend

My logging over this past weekend was non-existent, and my exercising was sporadic. Here's the rundown of the craziness:

Friday was Kieran's birthday, and his class went on a field trip to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. How cool to get a cool field trip to one of your favorite places on your birthday? I went along as a chaperone, which was just great! Breakfast was steel cut oats with fruit and nuts and milk. However, I failed to pack my lunch so I ended up eating out after the field trip with my friend Rebecca, who was also chaperoning. Girl lunches like that are rare for me, so that was just awesome. We went to The Daily Planet, where I had a chicken salad melt (brie and chicken salad on whole wheat toast) and a cup of fruit salad. After school, we went out to the grandparents house for some family time, and Denise had made a big ham, sweet potatoes, and some of our favorite pea salad, so that's what was for dinner. Dessert was classic strawberry shortcake--so good. So--eating not perfect, but not terrible. No formal exercise time, but I walked a lot and I did my ab work.

Saturday was the party for K, so we cooked out and I made cupcakes after running all my normal Saturday morning errands (farmers market, etc). I forgot to eat breakfast, and then ended up eating half a ham and cheese sandwich while working in the kitchen--it was an insanely busy day. Dinner was a homemade burger with cheddar, lettuce, and tomato, baked beans, and my summer corn salad. Dessert was one blue velvet cupcake, and I am pretty proud of the fact that I have only eaten one of these. Kieran asked that I make both blue velvet with cream cheese frosting and chocolate with chocolate frosting, so I did. Again, there was no formal exercise time, but I spent literally the whole day on my feet.

Sunday, we got up from K's sleepover--his two best school friends, Marco and Julian (they're twins) stayed over--and I made brunch for both our families: buttermilk pancakes with duck eggs, bacon, chicken and sage sausage, cheesy scrambled eggs, and fresh strawberries. I actually felt kind of off for most of the day, so I didn't eat as much as I normally would have. I skipped lunch in favor of a nap, and then had some leftovers for dinner: grilled BBQ chicken thighs, corn salad, and baked beans. There was no way there was going to be any real exercise, and it was too rainy for a hike. Sunday was a true chill day--the first we've had in a long time.

Of note: we're hatching some baby chickens! We put the eggs in the incubator yesterday! In 3 weeks, we should have some babies!

Rising Up

Goodness. What day is it? I've lost track!

After all my good intentions, I was brought low once again by a bout of acute bronchitis. I am still coughing, but it's finally starting to get better, and I have been trying to ease back since the weekend by walking and walking and walking. And stretching--I went to yoga class on Monday night, and it felt amazing to stretch out my very stiff muscles. I am trying so hard not to over-do it, but that's not really in my nature. I tend to be all in, or not in at all--and i am trying hard to accept that this is not always the right way to do things. I think I keep getting sick because I keep trying to jump back in full throttle before I am really better. Walking and yoga, I can do, though, so I am. And I am trying to rest and make decent eating choices. It's very frustrating! I am finally to the point where I WANT to exercise, and my body is pretty much betraying me.

So. I am walking and walking and walking. And I am stretching and stretching and stretching. And that's it for right now. Next week, I am hoping I can add back all my classes, and really get back at it.

As part of catching up, I posted all the pretty things from the walks I have taken since the last post. And I'll tell you, we went for a huge hike this past weekend that was just amazing. The boys made it 6.24 miles, which is just great! We have come a long way as a family since we started with a mile and a half at a time last January. I hope we can hit 10 by the end of the summer. Still loving getting us all out into the woods, and I certainly plan to do more of that.

For the next week or so, I am not really logging things, but I am moving. I am working my way back to being back on track. I am trying to kick out the last of my lingering congestion. And once I jerk all the wheels back on the bus, I'll be back to writing more regularly as well.

I am so glad spring is in the air!

Day 179: Recovering from Ice-pocolypse

Whew. We definitely had plenty of family togetherness over the past few days. I haven't weighed in in days--I dread what that scale is going to tell me. This is the result of some wild inconsistency I know. I take two steps forward and one step back pretty often. I get de-railed by life, and I have trouble getting the train back onto the tracks. This week is, again, another reset. And I will keep resetting as long as I need to.

School was closed today, so Jason and I both worked from home. Sometimes, that works out really well--I got a ton done in a short amount of time this morning. It's worth noting that I somehow lost my fitbit for a while this morning, so many of my steps today were not counted. I found it in the bed, if you can believe that--I think I went to bed with it on the band of my PJs, and it came off during the night. Oops! This afternoon, we were all close to snapping inside the house, and it had warmed up so much that we put on our boots and headed to the woods. It was amazing to hike through the snow, though we were slower than usual because of it. The woods were cool, the air refreshing, and the boys ecstatic to be outside--definitely a great little family hike!

I had planned to go to my yoga class tonight, but I was overruled by the family who wanted to try a new (to us) Irish pub in our town. I made an OK, but not great choice for dinner at the pub, which resulted in a bit of an overabundance of calories for today. I did do some yoga at home to make up for not making it to class. I admit I don't challenge myself as much as Cathy and Beth challenge me, but I feel good about doing some sun salutations, stretches, and breathing exercises on my own. I have to say though, between Jason's commentary and the cat trying to groom my hair in every downward dog, it wasn't quite the centering and relaxing experience to which I have become accustomed. Lol

Log: 

Exercise:

•  Afternoon family walk in the snowy woods at Hemlock Bluffs: 1.88 miles
• Day 9 (picking up where I left off, since I have failed to do this since last Thursday) of the 30-day Abs Challenge: 45 sit-ups, 30 leg raises, 30 crunches, 38 second plank
• 30 minutes of yoga at home (missed class with Cathy tonight--boo!)

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: 2 eggs over easy, 3 slices of peppercorn bacon (very little fat), one slice of whole wheat toast with butter, and tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch:Turkey chili with a little cheese and a handful of corn chips
• Dinner: Dinner out at Doherty's Irish Pub--a middle of the road choice--a mullingar boxty with garlic green beans and potato croquettes
• Snacks: no snacks today

Stats:

• Steps: 6449 plus whatever I walked between the hours of 7:30am and 12:20pm
• Calories: 1611 consumed, 427 burned
• Weight: No idea--I shudder to think...

Day 155: Pushing Past a Crappy Cold

I woke up this morning feeling like boiled death (again), so I took it slow for a couple of hours. But in the end, it was clear that our whole family REALLY needed to get into the woods, so I powered through and went with the boys to Hemlock Bluffs for a good walk in the woods. So very glad I did--I felt a lot better afterwards. I am definitely not 100%, but I think the past couple of days of good eating and getting outside again is helping. Dear universe, please let it be helping! I'm definitely ready for bed.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Family hike at Hemlock Bluffs: 2.72 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: baked eggs with kale, chicken sage sausage, herbs, and parmesan, 2 cups of tea with 1/2 tsp raw sugar each and 2% milk
• Lunch: turkey, smoked gouda, and avocado wrap on whole grain and flax seed tortilla, cut up veggies with ranch, 1.5 clementines
• Dinner: roasted pork loin, sauteed swiss chard with brown oyster mushrooms and garlic, 1/2 a large baked sweet potato
• Snacks: TJs pumpkin rooibos tea with honey

Stats:

• Steps: 9,566
• Calories: 1247 consumed, 396 burned
• Weight: 192 lbs

Day Ninety-Five: What a Day!!!

Kieran's school was closed today for Veterans Day, so Jason and I both worked at home to field our rowdy kids and still get work done. We both ate lunch while working, and then decided to take the boys on a walk in the woods so they could burn off some energy. Unlike most of our family walks, which are awesome, this one seemed to consist of one annoying thing after another, culminating in Finn throwing a huge tantrum in the middle of the woods. So we cut the walk short and headed back to the car to discover a big puddle of coolant underneath it. It overheated on the way home, so we located a mechanic close to home, and now, it's in a garage. This means working at home tomorrow (again) because we're down to one car till this mess gets worked out. And none of that has anything to do with getting in shape, but I am brimming with frustration, so here we are anyway. 

By the time we got everything settled, the timing had derailed my dinner plans, and we ended up at our local pub, where there is, thank goodness, something relatively healthy for me to eat. I had to work hard to resist drinking about 100 beers instead of going to the gym. Thank the sweet baby Jesus it was Tiffany's Zumba class tonight, or I would never have made it. That said, I feel a lot better after going! Zumba = stress relief. Now, I'm off to bed so I can hopefully make it to barbell class tomorrow morning, too--that's the hardest one to make it to by far. I like the teacher a lot, but man--sleep is dear. Y'all say a prayer.

Log: 

Exercise:

• Family walk in the woods: 1.74 miles
• Zumba with Tiffany at the Cary gym

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs with cheese, 1 slice of banana bread, 2 cups of tea with raw sugar and milk
• Lunch: butternut squash soup, muhammara with TJs pumpkin cranberry crisps
• Dinner: Salem Street Pub's tuna salad wrap with a garden salad and thousand island dressing and a boatload of pepper
• Snacks:N/A

Stats:

• Steps: 14,170
• Calories: 1404 consumed, 1070 burned
• Weight: 190 lbs and holding

Wild Child

I have mentioned before that we really notice the effect of going for walks in the woods on the boys. This is something I have been thinking about and that Jason and I have been discussing a lot for a long time. One of the main reasons I want to be fit and healthy and active is to set a good example for my children so that THEY will be fit and healthy and active. It is my fervent hope that if Jason and I set this example for them, they will have a good chance of enjoying lifelong benefits from the foundation we are building for them now. I want them to see for themselves how good it feels to be outside, to move, to run! I want Kieran and Finn to recognize the benefits of exercise and movement on not just physical health, but also on mental health, especially the attention issues that run in both their parents' families. We certainly see direct correlations between how well Kieran performs at school and how well Finn controls his temper when we get them out into nature. Jason and I both grew up playing in the woods nearly every day, and we really want the boys to have the same opportunity. Clearly, they love it, and it's so good for all of us!

If you are thinking about getting your own family outside more, I highly recommend this great book by Dr. Scott Sampson (the paleontologist from the PBS kids' show Dinosaur Train) called How to Raise a While Child. Jason's been reading this book, and we have been actively working on implementing some of its recommendations in our lives with these crazy boys. To be fair, we already were doing a lot of what he says, but it's still good to be reminded about why it's so important.

Partially to this end, and also for our own fitness goals, we started a tradition of going on family hikes on the weekends. We are fortunate to live in an area where there are many parks and semi-wild spaces around us, and we are trying to take full advantage of them. We seek out trails at the beach, in the mountains, and wherever we find ourselves. As the boys grow bigger and stronger, we are able to go farther and farther on these hikes, and it's getting glorious! And we are trying to let them lead us to a certain extent. Even on the greenway through our neighborhood, there's a stream in which they can stomp around in rain boots and get muddy, which is awesome. They are learning about our native trees and plants and animals--things that, as a child, I took for granted, but have realized as an adult that many people never know.

This weekend, we drove down to Raven Rock State Park and hiked almost 5 miles, our longest one yet, up and down big hills, along cliff tops and creek beds, and deep enough into the forest that we couldn't hear anything but the sounds of the trees and streams and critters. The weather was beautiful, the woods smelled like fall, and the dappled sunlight coming through those trees was absolutely rejuvenating. We were treated to stunning views of the Cape Fear River, and we saw many beautiful details along the path. Kieran ran almost the whole way, and Finn was a boss--he finally started to tire out at around 3.5 miles. We will definitely go back there.

As a bonus, my fitbit was so happy with that hike that it gave me a new badge. I always get excited by these, even though I know it's a little silly. :-)

Day Fifty-Seven: Finally! A Walk!

After a lazy morning, we got lucky and had a break in the rain today. We immediately hit the neighborhood trail for a VERY MUCH needed walk! We were all getting cabin fever.

It's been eye opening taking family walks on the weekends. I watch the effect it has on the kids to get out into the woods for a little while, even when they don't want to go. They can be full-on hot whine-y messes all morning, and they can resist going to the point that we almost don't do it, but then, the minute we get into the woods and surround ourselves with trees, it all changes. It is extremely rare that we don't end the walks in better moods than we start. And I have to believe that it's having the same effect on me as it does on them. I know for a fact that walking mid-day makes my afternoons better and more productive. More and more, as I go through this process, do I see the effects of moving more and eating better on me, on my kids, on our family dynamic, on my work--everything.

It sure feels good tonight to have done something active today.

Log:

Exercise:

• Family walk on the neighborhood greenway: 2.76 miles
• Short evening walk to finish steps: 0.52 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: spinach and mushroom frittata, a pile of little tomaotes from the garden, 2 cups of tea with milk and sugar
• Lunch: Salem Street Pub's tuna salad wrap with a side salad
• Dinner: vanilla yogurt with this amazing cashew and coconut granola and half a banana
• Snacks: N/A

Stats:

• Steps: 12,213 (YAY!)
• Calories: 1272 consumed,  461 burned
• Weight: 196.5 on the home scale

Day Fifty-Six: Home Day

Rain, rain, rain, rain...so tired of it.

Today, we didn't even leave the house. I cooked a lot. We cleaned a lot--I made Kieran clean his room, which is no small task. There was laundry. I spent pretty much the whole day on my feet doing house things, but my ftbit, sadly, doesn't recognize standing. Lol. My friend Lisa brought her kids over to play and stay for dinner, which was fun--the kids had a Minecraft afternoon while we chatted and hung out.

Oh, and there was wine.

What there wasn't was exercise. I feel very much like a slug. Tomorrow, I will do SOMETHING for exercise, even if it's small--I can't take it anymore.

Log:

Exercise:

• *sigh* I don't want to talk about it.

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: my favorite omelet with turkey bacon, avocado, tomatoes, and parmesan, a slice of 9th St Bakery Omega 3-seed toast with homemade apple butter
• Lunch: turkey chili and a few Trader Joe's Black Bead & Quinoa chips
• Dinner: roasted chicken, roasted baby potatoes and carrots, green beans cooked in tomato sauce with onion and bacon fat, 2-ish glasses of wine
• Snacks: N/A

Stats:

• Steps: 5403
• Calories: 1262 consumed,  0 burned
• Weight: 196.5 on the home scale--not surprising after the past few days!

Day Forty-Six: Busy but Beautiful Day

I didn't have time for my normal lunchtime walk today, so after I picked up Finn, I suggested to him that we go on a Finn and mama walk before we went to get his brother from camp. He suggested bringing his scooter, so we grabbed it, and we headed to Apex Community Lake for a Big Walk. It was absolutely gorgeous out, and we made it all the way around the lake in 40 minutes--that's kind of a miracle with a 5 year old boy. It was honestly one of the best walks ever. 

Log:

Exercise:

• Lake Walk with Finn: 2.28 miles
• Evening dog walk:1.04 miles
• Strength work: 25 minutes with the hand weights I bought last week--quick head to toe workout (basically, about half a barbell strength class)
• Ab work: I had better intentions, but it's late, and I got nauseous. I made it through 25 sit-ups and a 1 minute plank (Note: Still hate me some planks!)

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: spinach and mushroom frittata, half a honey crisp apple, a cup of tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: I was planning to eat at home, but I got stuck at work, so I grabbed a Chelsea Cafe BLT on whole wheat, a tiny amount of broccoli salad, and a banana--not awesome, but not as bad as it could have been.
• Dinner: cold roasted chicken, robusto cheese, half a honeycrisp apple, a rosemary flatbread from Trader Joe's
• Snacks: small glass of whole milk

Stats:

• Steps:13,218
• Calories: 1391 consumed, 542 burned
• Weight: 198 on the home scale 

My Walking Companion Today <3

Day Forty-Three: Lazy Sunday

Today, we slept in, which is unheard of around here! Then I got up and made buttermilk pancakes (pig shaped ones for the kids!) and bacon from Holland Brothers in PA, which is equivalent to family treasure. I had some, but I held back on the portion. Then, since we ate breakfast at something like 10:30am, I didn't really eat lunch.

The grandparents showed up for a visit at around 2, and I made us a big cheese plate with two lovely hard cheeses, some pecans, fig preserves, apple butter, and crackers. We opened a really good bottle of wine and had a glass or two while chatting. It's hard to feel too bad about all that--I think we all needed it.

For dinner, I roasted a chicken over some tiny delicious fresh potatoes, and served it with roasted carrots and French green beans tossed with porcini salt. Delicious, heavy on the vegetables, and again--I held back on the portions to keep it from getting too crazy.

No exercise was had beyond the carrying of laundry and the family dance party we had right before the boys' bedtime. Tomorrow is my big reset and the day that Jason leaves for the Netherlands for a whole week, so today was just a day of puttering around the house getting things done.

Log:

Exercise: 

• uhhhhhh...

Nutrition:

• (Late) Breakfast: two homemade buttermilk pancakes, 2 slices of bacon, 1/2 a honeycrisp apple, a cup of tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: N/A
• Dinner: roasted chicken breast, French green beans with olive oil and porcini salt, roasted carrots, baby potatoes roasted under the chicken
• Snacks: cheese plate with 2 cheese, fig preserves, pecans, and crackers, 2 glasses of red wine

Stats:

• Steps: 4615
• Calories:  1277 consumed,  0 burned
• Weight: 200 on the home scale (shocking!)

Pigs & Crossbones for Breakfast

Day Forty-Two: Family Fun Day

Today was all about family time. We all went to the farmers market together, then we went with Jason to pick up a lost debit card in Chapel Hill. It was so astoundingly gorgeous out, and so lovely driving in the country, we took a spontaneous trip to Maple View Farms, a local dairy farm with an ice cream parlor on site--SO. GOOD. that i can't even feel bad about the massive serving of ice cream I had in a giant waffle cone while gazing out over the lovely farm.

Then, just to complete the day of craziness, we went to our neighborhood's food truck rodeo, where I had an absolutely fantastic bulgogi sandwich and 4 pork and chive dumplings from the Pho-Nomenal food truck. I skipped the free beer and the ice cream truck--I figured I'd had enough with the earlier ice cream extravaganza. At least we walked to and from the food truck party, so there was some exercise--better than nothing, right?

Log:

Exercise: 

• Walk to/from the neighborhood food truck rodeo: 1.8 miles

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: a slice of Great Harvest low-carb, high-protein country crunch bread with Big Spoon mission almond butter and a sliced banana, a cup of tea with milk and raw sugar
• Lunch: turkey roll-ups with avocado, cucumber, and havarti, half a honeycrisp apple
• Dinner: dinner from the Pho-Nomenal food truck at our neighborhood food truck rodeo--Cheerwine bulgogi sloppy joe (sliced marinated and grilled beef topped with kimchee and Sriracha mayo), 4 pork and chive dumplings
• Snacks:an ENORMOUS waffle cone with scoops of lavender honey and rosemary ice cream at Maple View Farms

Stats:

• Steps:7679
• Calories:  1812 consumed,  248 burned
• Weight: 200 on the home scale (still holding..)

View of Maple View Farms from the Ice Cream Porch

Day Thirty-Nine: So Tired!

I swear, this week is a bit of an exercise bust. For some reason, I have just been EXHAUSTED, as has Jason. I almost fell asleep last night while eating dinner. I nodded off while putting Finn to bed. So, with some sadness about it, and feeling like a failure, I decided to skip Zumba and go to bed early. I love the Wednesday Zumba class--it's the most fun of all the classes I am taking, but tonight, I just could not do it. I did at least, drag my family outside for a little after-dinner walk to get some steps in and watch an absolutely amazing sunset. Soooo nice outside this time of year. I am trying to take full advantage of it!

Log:

Exercise: 

• Lunchtime walk: 2.28 miles
• Evening family walk: 1.08 miles with a gorgeous sunset

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: cup of tea with 2% milk and 1/2 a tsp of raw sugar, steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon, a little brown sugar, walnuts, and banana
• Lunch: baked chicken with nectarine avocado salsa and a little spicy sour cream, a big old garden salad with honey mustard
• Dinner: stir fry with skirt steak, soy, ginger, garlic, eggplant, bok choy, celery, onion, and shitake mushroom, served with a little bit of jasmine rice
• Snacks:24 almonds, a steaz green tea with coconut water

Stats:

• Steps:11,570
• Calories:  1576 consumed,  463 burned
• Weight: 200 on the home scale (Whaaaat??!)

Pretty Thing From My Walk

Day Twenty-Two: Family Hike!

This morning was supposed to be a gym morning, but there was perhaps more exhaustion in the house than could be easily overcome. This time, it wasn't me, but I respect it, plus I feel like I may be fighting off a cold, so a little extra sleep didn't go amiss.

To make up for that little lapse, we went on a longer family hike than usual. We went to the park at Lake Johnson in Raleigh, and we actually made it all 3.62 miles around the lake. Granted, Finn was DONE at about 2.5 miles, and Jason had to carry him on his shoulders for the last mile--the one with all the hills. Kieran made it the whole way on his own with almost no complaining--he was a total boss! It was gorgeous out--so glad we went!

In other exercise news, I failed my plank tonight for the first time due to wrist failure. I finished on my elbows, but it didn't feel right. Carpal tunnel is a rip off.

Today's Log:

Exercise:

• Family walk at Lake Johnson: 3.62 miles
• Day 22 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge (95 situps, 140 crunches, 55 leg raises, 85 second plank)

Nutrition:

• Breakfast: hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar, scrambled eggs with cheese, microgreens, little tomatoes
• Lunch: a tuna salad wrap and a side salad at Salem Street Pub with an iced tea
• Dinner: grilled skirt steak and veggies (asparagus, portabella mushrooms, and orange bell peppers)
• Snacks: 2 water crackers with camembert

Stats:

• Steps:11658
• Calories: 1180 consumed, 509 burned
• Weight: 202 (home)

Day 14: Designated Birthday Cheat Day

I am at my mother's house, and I have to say, it's easier to eat healthy at Chick-Fil-A than it is at her house. There are no fresh vegetables in this house but a handful of baby carrots (which I bought the last time I was here). There are grapes at least, but that's not so helpful when you are trying to limit sugar. Couple that with the fact that tomorrow is my birthday, and the fact that we were planning to be out most of the day apple picking and exploring with the boys, and I decided not to worry about it for one day. As Jason said, "You work hard so you can play hard, right?"

And he's right. One cheater day doesn't derail a whole plan unless you let it. And I won't. I am pretty proud of how far I have come in just two weeks, and I want to keep going--I am not going to let a couple of slices of pizza and a little bit of birthday cake kill my long term goals. So here's the log, shameful as it is for today, and then after that--some pictures of the beautiful day I spent with my family in the mountains. Tomorrow is soon enough to get back on track.

Today's Log:

Exercise:

• Apple picking
• Short family walk on the Flowering Bridge in Lake Lure, NC
• Day 14 of the 30 Day Abs Challenge (65 sit-ups, 85 crunches, 42 leg raises, 55 second plank)

Nutrition (if we can call it that):

• Breakfast: hot tea with 2% milk and 1/2 tsp raw sugar, 2 eggs over easy, 3 applegate farms chicken apple sausage links
• Lunch: Super Cheater Lunch at Mezzaluna in Hendersonville (not sorry): fried calamari, 3 pieces of Marguerita pizza, side Caesar salad
• Dinner: Mama's spaghetti (not much--still stuffed from lunch) and a piece and a half of garlic bread
• Snacks: 1/2 a fresh honey crisp apple, i.5 inch square piece of chocolate birthday cake

Stats:

• Steps: 7204
• Calories: 2022 consumed, 229 burned
• Weight: no scale, so no weighing today

 Apple Picking at Stepp's Orchard

 

 

 

 Beautiful Flowers from The Flowering Bridge in Lake Lure, NC

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday to Me!
(even though my birthday is really tomorrow)