What's for Breakfast? Solved.

When I was TT7’s age it made me feel secure to have a daily routine. I knew what to expect and what would be expected of me. That was comforting. So instead of making new things every day I’m going to try setting a repeating breakfast routine. I also made it easy to remember by rhyming it with the day of the week (in most cases.)

Introducing the new breakfast system for our house:

Muffin Monday

Toast Tuesday- cheese, cinnamon, pbutter, jelly, butter

Waffle Wednesday- or pancakes

Thirsty Thursday- smoothie

Eggciting Friday- fried, scrambled, boiled

Cereal Saturday- or oatmeal

Cereal Sunday- or grits

Add: bacon, sausage, or ham if no protein in meal.

I ran the idea by the kids, and they love it! I'm sure we'll find other breakfast items we want to add, but for now this is our basic plan.

Thanks to Bru Crew Mom for the idea of repeating meals!

Exercise Goal for the Week

Goal: Figure out how long it takes to walk 1 mile at my best speed.

We always walk with our kids so of course we have to stop at every bug and flower along the way. Then if they’re riding bikes we can walk faster, but we still have to pull over for cars to pass. So right now we have no idea how long it takes us to walk a mile without interruptions. We are very excited to walk a 5k with our friends but we have to be able to match their time. So my goal for the week is to accurately determine our starting point. Stay tuned!

Day 4 South Beach = Feeling Weak

Oh my gracious, it’s Day 4 and my body is feeling so weak. I can’t work at anything longer than 5 minutes without sitting down. I feel quite dizzy too. So far I haven’t had cravings for sweets after the first 2 days, and I feel much more in control of my food choices. Thank the Lord! I’m glad to see some progress since I feel so stinkin’ exhausted.

First Healthy Craving

I'm freaked out! I'm craving SPINACH. It's amazing what your body asks for once you start getting all the sugar out. Just had to share because it feels so weird....

Back to the Beach

So we’re making changes around here, huh? Well, the first one is going back to the beach…The South Beach Diet. I’ve found there is no way I can eat bread, cake, sweets, pasta, etc. in moderation. My body has EXTREMELY STRONG cravings for them all day long which means I’m always hungry. I’m sure it has something to do with insulin, but what do I know about Biology? (haha! My degree is in Biology.)

So I’ve finally given up and accepted that my only option to live a “normal” life is to get the sugar out of my system. I keep thinking of how much better I felt when I wasn’t hungry all the time and didn’t think about food 24/7. I’m not an emotional eater- I just NEVER feel full. Anyone else with me on this?

So I started Phase 1 of South Beach yesterday. I’ve decided to keep a log of what I eat during the next 2 weeks because on South Beach anytime you eat a significant amount of food that is “off plan” you return to Phase 1 to get the sugar back out of your system. So I want to have a set menu that I can return to easily. Btw, did I mention how much I love that you don’t have to count portion sizes or calories on SBD? And if you are hungry at night you are encouraged to have a snack! That makes me happy.

Disclaimer: I am NOT doing SBD exactly by the book. I’m doing what works for me. So don’t follow along with me thinking this is what the diet says. Read the book for yourself and find what works for you. No need to tell me what I’m doing “wrong” either. I already know, thanks. J

Breakfast- 2 eggs scrambled with smoked ham and reduced fat cheese. Cup of milk.

Snack- pickles
Lunch- hamburger patties with reduced fat blue cheese, flavored water
Snack- carrot
Dinner- Sonny’s salad with pulled pork, unsweet tea
Snack- peanuts, reduced fat Swiss cheese, cocoa almonds

Oh the cravings! I had to tell myself no at least 10 times yesterday when I would randomly crave something sweet. Wendy’s commercials were especially hard for some reason. THEN not 30 minutes after telling GBD I was back on SBD he suggested to TT7 “Why don’t we go to the store and get everything to make homemade sundaes?” Agggh! Dude, work with me. It was so funny we both laughed for a while on that one. I adore that goofy dude.

But I survived Day 1 and the entire family even walked for 30 minutes! I’d say we’re off to a pretty good start.

Changing Focus

There’s been some wrestling going on in my mind over this blog. I created it to be a fun little place for people to stop by and get healthy tips for their family. But at this point, I need to change focus for a while. I need it to be a place of release for my emotional ups and downs on my journey back to a healthy me. I’ve done this before so I know what a long road it’s going to be. And I know there will be many days where it certainly isn’t going to be pretty.

But there’s one thing I promise you, and that’s to be real. I will give you an honest inside peek into my journey if you choose to follow along with me. If you simply visit for fun tips, I invite you to visit periodically. I’m sure I’ll stumble over some along the way. For the others that are choosing to stay with me, literally through the fight for MY LIFE, let’s do this!

Not A Planner

I realized a few days ago that my life would be SO much easier if I was a “planner.” Unfortunately, my personality is naturally very spontaneous and planning things ahead of time seems very…well…restrictive and boring.

A huge factor in my weight struggle is that I can’t bear the thought of sitting down to plan meals each week. I know it would make life much easier (and we’d all eat better) if I knew exactly what we were eating for the day when I woke up, but my brain just doesn’t work that way. I can’t even plan something for dinner if I’m not hungry. It’s terrible. (I have subscribed to dinner planning services, but even then I struggle planning breakfasts, lunches, and snacks.)

I need tips! What do you do to plan meals, events, exercise, etc.? Any advice to make planning fun and something I’ll actually look forward to and might even…enjoy?