The Jar of Kids' Food

Loving the response I am getting from my friends on FB from this. And I appreciate the evaluation of 'food choices' for my kids that I am receiving.

However, the main point of the video originally was for me to get an idea of why it is so hard for me to drop a pound or two when I feel like I'm trying my best. I found that I wasn't quite eating the # of calories I was counting. I was counting MY meals...but not the bites I take here and there of my kids' food. For example, I haven't been counting the calories in the chickey-nuggets I eat when: I test if they're too hot, the bite I take as I clean up their plate, and the last bite on the cookie sheet that I take so that I can wash it.

This is a typical day of how I take 'mindless bites' of food, not necessarily a typical day of my kids' meals. This is obviously why I am not dropping the weight I feel I should be with the intense workouts I do.

However, as a response to some of the comments from some fb friends, I thought I would explain a little about the food choices in my jar & for my kids, just in case you are concerned for their health. :)

• All foods were cooked at home, while many receive similar foods from drive-thrus, deep fried. (see the following...)
• Most kids do eat this stuff DAILY. And they eat it from McDs as the chicken nugget kids meal: 6 pc. chkn nugget: 280 cals. & small fry: 230 cals. for a total of 510 cals. (before you add the Hi-C drink). My chicky-nugget home version total: 270 cals. (just btw). Use this as a meal at home as an alternative for your Micky-Ds kids!
• My kids don't like potatoes anyways (mashed, fries, baked, period). Just trying them on 'em again to see if they will even start to eat potatoes...Potatoes (baked) aren't bad and have vit. C in them, did you know that?
• My 4 yr. old will not break 33 lbs. and I am constantly catching flack on how skinny he is...adding fat to his diet is an interesting task when he doesn't like red meat, can't eat cheeses, and you can only have so much egg yolk. And the overall goal is to eat healthy & he's a typical, picky-eater 4 yr. old. (I am open to suggestions always...)
• I cannot serve noodles daily - their fave food, which they had spaghetti the night before. (And we don't do Kraft Mac & Cheese, actually because of the color they add. I make a home version w/out the cheese.)
• The baby doesn't eat beans. (BTW, I am honestly preparing 3 meals on a typical night.)
• And the jar did not contain the healthy items I served them throughout the day: cauliflower, honeydew melon, bell peppers (that they actually filled up on at dinner), peaches, and spinach (on the sandwich). (Why would I want to stuff those healthy foods in my mouth?)

I do appreciate the concern over what I feed the kids from a couple of viewers. I am open to a list of foods that are healthy and have more variety that will help my 4 yr. old gain a couple of pounds.

(Side Note: Being the open/honest person I am...I will share an observation: I now realize the reason many avoid being transparent in general is because of the scrutiny they will receive. This is why I continue to be transparent in things. People need to be freed up & educated at the same time. This is a whole other topic on another day.)

For those of you wondering what my response is re: and missed the video I posted last night...here it is.

 

Don't feel bad if these are what you eat daily...many do. The goal is to make the healthiest choice as often as possible. People don't plan accordingly. People can't always afford the best foods, 100% of the time. Do your best as often as possible...and soon, the weight will drop. That's my main point! Enjoy!

Extreme Effort = Extreme Results

Being transparent this morning...Here are some thoughts and things I'm trying...

I share often that it is so hard for me to drop a pound or two. In fact it took me a month to drop 3...and then one weekend of lack of planning...I'm up 1-2. I realize that for myself, now in the 2nd phase of my P90X hybrid, my weight may fluctuate as I am focused on building muscle.  I am paying close attention to inches. My first month of this workout program, I lost an inch off my waist! :)



Up on Rancheria - scouting out
for some deer w/ dad!


Over this last weekend, major lack of planning. A 3 hr. road trip up Rancheria Rd. to the mountains WITHOUT my own snacks...I ate my lean meal before we left at 5 p.m. But on the way down, I was snacking on 'THE KIDS' FOOD': a granola bar, some pretzels, and....some alphabet cracker/cookie things. (Which I never typically have in my house, but bought on a day that we were at Lassens just cuz...ugh!)

Rule #1 - DON'T BRING JUNK IN THE HOUSE!

Yesterday, I packed a lunch for the boys to have just in case we made it to the park after church. What do you normally take as a picnic lunch: pb sandwich? Yep, that's what I do. I did pack my own chicken breast & apple. But the kids had the pb sandwich (no jelly, they don't like it & I don't like all the added sugar). I had a couple bananas....and pretzel. I was so good to just eat my chicken & apple (right when we got out of church). I did good!

Rule #2 - PLAN AHEAD & PACK YOUR MEALS!

Saturday, made an appt. at 8:30 a.m. Now why would I do this? This is too early to have to get out of the house & fit my workout in. So what happened? I missed a killer cardio workout to burn 600-700 cal. Now, if I'm on a mission to keep that pound off that I lost the week before, I cannot miss this workout. But I did!

Rule #3 - KEEP YOUR APPT. TO WORKOUT!

Now realizing that I was going to miss my workout, I was proactive....When I got ready for the day, I put my workout clothes on! I was ready for any opportune time to work out! And I did get some exercise that day when we took the boys out to the bike path. Daniel on his bike, Jacob in his stroller & our tennis shoes on. And thank God I wore them...Daniel took off numerous times on his bike, and what I thought was going to be a walk, turned into multiple short sprints to catch up with him. Not sure who he was racing, but I had to bolt to catch up with him before he got to the hills, the intersections, and close to being out of sight.

Rule #4 - If you can, wear your workout clothes so that you have one less obstacle to getting your workout on!!!!

By the end of Sunday, I was feeling frustrated with myself. I spent all of last month focused on trying to drop a couple..and in one weekend I can easily lose the ground I gained. So I said, it's time to get extreme w/ the little things that are getting in the way of me getting the best results!!! The kids' food!

I have found that I mindlessly take bites...and I don't add these up at the end of the day. So as a result:





Rule #5 - DON'T EAT THE KIDS' FOOD!

So as a visual aid & an experiment, I am going to stick every bite of their food that I would normally eat. So far today, by 8 o'clock, there were 3 bites of oatmeal & the crust of buttery toast in the jar. Why so many bites? Well, as a reflex, after I stir in butter & honey, I usually take a bite to 'taste it to make sure it taste good for them'. Then, I stick the hot bowl of oatmeal in the freezer to cool for a minute. Then I stir it and take another bite to see if it's cooled down...and if it's hot...I put the bowl back & repeat. Then as I made Daniel's toast, I cut the top crust off to 'get it out of the way'...and yep, I normally eat this.

Now, just doing this little experiment, I have avoided 7 bites of buttery carbs. And I realize, it's out of reflex. I just put food to my mouth and eat....mindlessly. So, I will be MINDFUL today & see how much food I avoid!

You learn a lot about why you can't drop a pound or two when you:

1. Have workouts scheduled (and miss).
2. Are trying to watch what you eat.
3. Keep a calendar of events.
4. Have days jammed pack of activities.
5. And don't plan ahead for your outings.
6. Are in the kitchen too long! :)

Since I have 2 more months of this hybrid...I gotta make it count. Why devote 60 more days of killer workouts and NOT eat accordingly???? If you want extreme results, you gotta put out extreme effort & that's just what I've gotta do!

Who is with me?