My Fitness Pal

After my 30 day No Sugar Challenge, I decided to use an app called MyFitnessPal to help me track how many calories I eat every day.  My goal is to keep off the extra pounds that I lost during the sugar fast.  I'm not sure if I will only go 30 days with this new challenge, or keep it up for longer.

MyFitnessPal works. If you are wanting to lose weight, it really works!  Check out my husband's blog to read about his weight loss journey.  He has lost 35 lbs. in 100 days!!  I am so proud of him and how he has inspired many others to join him.  My husband's example and using this new app are definitely helping me keep myself in check.  In fact, I've even lost a pound in the 15 days I've been tracking my calories.  I'm happy with that since I'm eating enough to maintain my weight rather than trying to lose more.

M.F.P. is a free app, and easy to use.  Of course, it takes time (and can be a hassle) to track down labels and barcodes to find out how many calories are in your meals.  But the benefit is you start to develop healthy eating habits.  One of the most important habits is portion control.  We've learned to budget our calories.  We can eat whatever we want, but since we only get 1400 or 1500 calories a day we don't want to blow 1/3 of them on a cinnamon roll!  We have found that we eat more fruits and veggies and fewer processed foods since they are so high in calories.  At the end of the day, if we still have calories left we enjoy a treat.  Actually, I think we both aim to have leftover calories so we can have a cookie once the kids are asleep.  :-)

Here's one other bit of good news, you don't have to exercise!  If you do exercise, MyFitnessPal will give you more calories to eat on that given day.  So, if you really want that piece of pie you might go for a walk or run up the stairs for ten minutes.  My extended family is also using MFP.  My sister and mom were wanting to have dessert the other night but had both run low on calories.  So, they went for a jog around the neighborhood!  We all had a good laugh about that.

Well, what about you?  Are you tired of feeling like you are losing the daily battle to control your food cravings?  Try using MyFitnessPal, and get a friend or spouse to join you.  I promise that if you stick to the calories suggested you will see positive results!  Let me know how it goes.

October 2012, this picture really motivated my husband to make
some dietary changes.  

April 2013, after three months of using MyfitnessPal, my husband is 35lbs lighter!
This is the thinnest he's been in the 13 years we've been married.

No Sugar: Day 20

This challenge to avoid sugar for a month has been so educational.  After about two weeks of fasting sugar, I noticed that not eating sweet things wasn't hard anymore.  I didn't crave it insanely, and fruit seemed to satisfy my desire for something sweet.  I still wanted sweet things, but I was content without them.

Then I invited a group of ladies over to my house for coffee.

One gal brought muffins to share.  I thought it would be rude to not eat one, and I didn't wish to offend her.  So, I ate half of a muffin.  It had chocolate chips in it, and I tried to savor every bite.  It was a store bought muffin and wasn't bad, but it wasn't as amazing as I expected it to be.  Even though it wasn't fantastic, the other half of that muffin was so tempting to me!  I looked at it and longed to eat it for a day.  Finally I gave it to my kids so I wouldn't eat it.

After eating that half of a chocolate chip muffin, I felt like I was starting over on day one of my sugar fast.

I had terrible sugar cravings for about three days!  My mind was screaming at me, "Give me sugar!!"

I was so surprised at how my body reacted to just that little treat.  Thankfully, the feelings of insane craving have subsided and I'm once again content with my sugarless diet.

One thing that has helped me immensely is to find replacements for the foods I used to love.  I've purchased all kinds of tea to replace my beloved Chai.  When stress strikes, I get a cup of tea.  When I'm craving a pastry type of sweet, I eat gluten free rice Chex.  When I just want sweets, I have some kind of fruit.  When I make peanut butter and honey sandwiches for my kids, I have a pb and banana sandwich.  It's not bad!  I've tried applesauce on my peanut butter sandwich too.  That wasn't so great.  By far, my favorite treat is home made fruit smoothies.

As I'm nearing the end of my fast, I'm wondering what I should do now about sugar.  I don't want to avoid it for the rest of my life.  But I also don't want to be a slave to it.  I definitely don't want to go back to the sluggish, tired, pants feeling-too-tight living that I had before this challenge.  I guess these thoughts will be explored further on my day 30 post.

No Sugar Update: Day 10

It's been ten days without sugar.  The first week was REALLY tough; I wanted to quit every day!

I was so cranky and feeling so sorry for myself whenever I couldn't have a treat.  My poor family had to put up with me being a grouch for a while.  Around day four, my husband joked about pinning me down and pouring some sugar down my throat!

After a week went by, it seemed like I turned a corner and avoiding sugar has been easier since then.  I'm not craving it as much or as intensely.  I miss treats, and I still want something sweet four or five times a day.  But, I'm not feeling irritable or cranky anymore.

It has been an eye-opener to find out how my body and my mind has been so reliant on sugar.  For example, I will eat dinner and feel full but my brain will send out signals that I'm still "hungry" because my body is craving something sweet.  I also still find myself yearning for chai or chocolate when things get stressful.

However, there have been benefits too, and that has kept me going.

One change I didn't expect is that I'm less tired.  Before the challenge, I'd eat a meal and then feel like taking a nap about twenty minutes later.  Not anymore.

Also, food has more flavor since I quit eating sugar.  Some processed foods that I enjoyed before, like chicken nuggets, don't taste good to me now.  I can detect the additives that aren't natural.  It's really weird.  Other foods that were just o.k. before are now delicious!  Fruit is so much sweeter than I'd ever realized.  Tonight I made a fruit smoothie and added unsweetened chocolate.  Wow!  What a treat that was.  (The kids didn't think so though.)

Another awesome result is that my too-tight pants aren't so tight anymore.  I have known for a while that I needed to make some changes to my eating habits because all my jeans were getting uncomfortable.  But, I had been ignoring the problem and hoping it would go away without any effort on my part.  HA!!  Other days, I'd feel like there was no solution to my pants shrinking and I'd just have to live with my body expanding.

So, here's the crazy thing, in just three days of no sugar I could tell a difference.  I tried on my too small pants and found out they were wearable!  I now have three pairs of pants that I can wear again.  (They were actually on their way to the "donate" pile because I was giving up on ever fitting into them again.)

Seeing physical improvement has been the biggest motivator to keep going with my No Sugar for 30 Days challenge.  I am so happy to be taking charge of myself.  (Apathy was a miserable place to be!)  Although self-discipline is not fun, it sure has it's rewards when you keep going for a while.

I'll be checking in again on Day 20.

I'd love to hear from you.  What changes are you making in your life?

30 Days Without Sugar

Character training is a major part of parenting.  Right now, the lesson of obedience seems to be the theme with both of our kids.  (I've been quoting Ephesians 6:1 to them a lot!)  As I prayed about the issues of disobedience that have been cropping up, the Lord reminded me that He'd challenged me a month ago to give up sugar for a while.  I'd ignored it and kept on doing what I wanted to do.

Then I saw the irony of it, how could I continue to ask for help with my children's disobedience without addressing my own?  Well, what better way to teach obedience than to model it?

Yesterday I decided to say good-bye to sugar for thirty days.

Yesterday was a rough day!  My mind kept screaming..."Give me something sweet to eat!!"

Chai is my morning "coffee".  I think this has been the hardest thing to give up!

Today hasn't been easy (or pretty) either.

I'm realizing that sweet foods and drinks are my go-to snacks when I'm feeling stressed, tired, or sorry for myself.  First thing in the morning, and during the tired times in the afternoon, I love to drink Oregon Chai tea.  If the kids are being unusually loud, rowdy, or naughty... I surreptitiously gobble a Dove chocolate.  Late at night I often have cold cereal before bed.  Problem is, all our cold cereal options are high in sugar too.  Telling myself no to these treats is a bummer!

My favorite go-to stress reliever.  One chocolate, not the whole bag :)

However, I know that eliminating sugary foods is good for me.  If nothing else, it's helping me to eat better.  Oh, and food already tastes better too.  Crazy, but the natural flavors are more obvious when you're avoiding sweets.  Another bonus is that I do feel better about myself.  It feels good to do something healthy and a bit radical.

When stressed, this was my snack of choice today...sliced and dipped in Adam's peanut butter.

I wonder what other benefits there will be from this 30 day sugar fast?  I think God has some things to teach me.  Things that have nothing to do with food, sugar, or eating per se.  I'm praying that He'll do a good work in me, and help me to not have a bad attitude about what I'm giving up for a while.  I'll be blogging now and then to share the journey and the lessons that go with it.

What changes are you making in your life?  Is there something you've felt challenged to do, but haven't started yet?  Maybe today is your day to start.

Sleep, or the Lack Thereof

Our daughter is delightful, but she doesn't like to sleep.  I think this might be normal for some kids.  We don't know much about her first eleven months of life, but I often wonder if nights were a rough time for her.  Maybe that's why she struggles now.  Or perhaps she'd have the same issues with sleep if she had grown in my womb.  Anyway, we've tried all kinds of things to help her sleep through the night...with the goal of all of us getting some much needed uninterrupted sleep.

Here's our most recent sleepless adventure...
Last night our dear daughter woke me up at 3 am with a soaked diaper.  I changed the diaper and escorted her back to bed.  As she started to protest, I gently reminded her that she could play in her room if she wasn't tired, but I needed to sleep so she must stay in her room.  She chose to play in the hallway outside our bedroom door and I guess she got bored, so she popped back into my room at 4 am.  Lovely.  That time she got a consequence and I calmly returned her to her bed.  I was proud of her that she didn't melt down but accepted the circumstances.  She finally went back to sleep in her room and slept till 8 am.  At nap time today, she opted to skip the nap and played in her room instead.  By dinner she was exhausted and took a brief nap while I got the meal prepped.  I woke her- have to admit it was sort of fun to wake her since she woke me twice last night!!- so she could have dinner with us.  She was an angry bear!  But, finally she ate and we went through our normal night time routine after eating.  Funny thing, while we snuggled and read books she repeatedly told me, "I'm not tired!"  But all her body language shouted, "I'm exhausted!"  My husband and I laughed and laughed.  I figured at bedtime she'd drop off quickly.  Nope, an hour later she was cruising the halls again- which she is not supposed to do.  I reminded her that a consequence awaited her if she roamed around again.  As I write this, all is quiet and our sleep fighter has finally given in to slumber.

Our sweetie in her toddler bed. The bed didn't last long as she kept falling out in her sleep. Not fun.

Like I said, we've tried so many different "solutions" in the 18 months that our daughter has been home from China.  Some things work for a while, but then we revisit the struggles all over again and new solutions have to be found.  I've read the books, and I've dialogued with other adoptive moms from our travel group.  Still, I'm reaching out again to see if there's an idea that we haven't tried.  (Please share your thoughts in the comments section!!)  Also, having her out of the crib is still quite new and presenting a whole new set of "adventures" for us to figure out.

Here's our list of trial and error attempts to help our girl rest well:
-stick to a night time routine
-night light and ocean sounds in room
-no night light (now she has one again)
-bottle before bed (when she was a baby)
-no bottle before bed
-rock her to sleep in desperation
-investigated food allergies (none we know of)
-bumper in the crib
-no bumper in the crib
-parent sleep on the floor in the room (when we are desperate)
-change diaper around 10:30 or 11:00 pm
-scripture lullabies playing in room
-daughter sleeps in our bed (she thrashes around, chats, and nobody sleeps!)
-switch from crib to toddler bed in her own room
-switch from toddler bed to twin mattress on the floor
-she prefers sleeping on the floor since she rolls off the mattress in her sleep
-digital clock in her room so she knows what time it is (still learning her numbers)
-sleeping on the floor in parents' bedroom...a solution when we are desperate
-allowing her to play with stuffed animals in her room until she's tired
-snuggle with her till she falls asleep, another desperate measure
-always...we pray.

The one thing that is working for me is to stay calm in the midst of loud crying in the middle of the night.  I tend to get really ticked when I don't get good sleep, so this has not been easy for me.  I know God is using this whole experience to smooth the rough places in me and make me more like Jesus.  I also know that this is only a season.  Eventually, our daughter is going to be able to sleep through the night regularly.  Still, it can be really rough being in the midst of it.  That's why I so appreciate conversations with other moms.  We usually discover as we chat that our life experiences are strikingly similar at times.  Sometimes one mom will have a brilliant idea that is so helpful.  Other times it's just a balm to have somebody to talk to that can honestly say, "I know what you mean!"  Thanks for listening to me babble on tonight!

Boundaries With Kids

I've read quite a few parenting books.  None of them have been super helpful...I don't know why??  However, I recently checked out another parenting book with hopes that maybe this one would shed some light on the struggles of parenting a four year old & a two year old.  Yep, I found the book! Boundaries With Kids by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend. This one is a winner!!  I'm seeing results as I implement the suggestions, hallelujah!  The biggest one for me is giving consequences while showing empathy instead of anger...that has been very effective with my four year old son.  You can read about showing empathy while giving consequences starting in chapter 4: The Law of Sowing and Reaping.  I think I'll need to read the book over quite a few times to let it all sink in because I need to change my perspective and how I approach certain situations with my kids.  I wish this book had been required reading instead of some of the other books I had to read before we adopted. (Yep, they require that you read parenting books if you want to adopt!) What I love about this book is that the authors are Christian psychologists (they understand how people tick), they incorporate scripture into every chapter (so I know they are giving wise advice), and they give lots of real life examples that make sense (which keeps me interested and connected to the text).  Of course, I'm also learning a lot about myself and areas where I need to establish better personal boundaries.  I checked the book out at my local library and then decided to purchase a copy on Amazon for around ten dollars.

Transition Times & Other Challenging Moments

I am a very slow learner when it comes to life lessons.  I wish it wasn't so, as I have to keep going through the same hard stuff over and over before finally...I get it!  Recently I had one of those moments where I realized a pattern that had been happening repeatedly for the past two and a half years.  Good grief, why didn't I notice this sooner??  It has to do with my kids and times when they are most likely to misbehave.  We all know that when our kids are tired, hungry, or bored they are more likely to be hard to get along with.  What I did not notice until a couple of weeks ago is transition times are also a major time for misbehavior.  You know, like stopping one activity to move on to another.  Perhaps it's getting on shoes and coats so we can go somewhere.  It might be time to stop playing and head to the dinner table.  A major one for us is pausing the movie so our son can go use the bathroom.  He often fights that one.  Or maybe it's the transition from being away to coming back home.  I have so many memories of standing at the coat closet trying to put away coats after an outing and having an all out battle with my kids about something inane.  "Why?!?" I pondered this after a particularly ugly confrontation in the hall next to the coat closet recently.  Then it dawned on me that these moments are all on the heels of something else.  We had a change in pace, change in location, change in activity and now there's a struggle to transition to something new.  Once I got it I started reminding myself in my head: "Ok, this is a transition time so be more patient.  Don't be surprised if there is noncompliance.  Remember they are still quite small and changes aren't easy for them."  All this self talk- when I remember to do it- has really helped me and I've often been able to see something brewing and ward it off.  I also pointed out what I'd learned to my husband.  The other day we shared a knowing look as we dealt with our daughter melting down at the end of a fun bike ride.  We just nodded and said to each other,  "Yep, it's a transition time..."  Then to the kids,  "Who wants a juice box??"  The meltdown subsided and we moved into the house for some juice.  Seriously, I wish I'd known this when they handed me my son!  Sorry, my sweet boy, that it took me so long to figure this out.  Thankfully, my dear daughter will have an easier go of it through ages two and three than my son did.

Some other moments when my kids are likely to be"difficult" are: when I'm on the phone, when I'm trying to do my hair and makeup in the morning, while I'm making dinner, when we are paying for something at the store...  Hey, parenting isn't easy!!

I'm trying a new game plan for when I'm on the phone.  If my kids are getting too crazy, loud, or doing naughty things on purpose (since I'm on the phone and they think I won't notice) I hold up fingers and count to five.  If I get to five fingers, that means there will be a consequence when I get off the phone.  It's still in the testing phase but worked well yesterday with my son.  I'm not sure that my daughter, at 21 months understands this yet.

Here's the biggie: when I'm making dinner... ugh!  This seems to be the time of day that tries moms' souls!  My goal is to start dinner at 4:30 so it's ready by 5:30.  When I start making dinner, I declare a work zone that is off limits to kids.  They know exactly where they can and can't roam in the kitchen.  That way we are all safe and nobody is literally underfoot while I'm cooking.  Usually, I have to reinforce the boundaries of the work zone at least twice while I'm preparing a meal.  If I'm desperate, I put on a video for the kids to watch.  (We have a one movie per day limit so I make sure to not use the video option up earlier in the day.)  Another method that works is putting miss M in her high chair with toys or a small snack.  Then I set up big brother K at the island with a drink and something to do that isn't normally available.  For example, I have white erase boards with activities that he can doodle on and feel like he's getting to do something special.   On the nights when my husband is working and it's just me and the kids, I rely on leftovers that can be prepared in a hurry so I can avoid blow ups, melt downs, and all the other miserable misdemeanors that seem to sneak up on us during the pre-dinner hour.  At least twice a month I just wave the white flag and we grab a pizza from Papa Murphy's.

My two angelic children: K & Miss M.  They never misbehave...Ha Ha!

What are some predictable times that your kids are likely to misbehave?  And what do you do to try and redirect them into positive behavior? Please share your ideas.  I love to hear from you all!!

The Toy Box Trial

My latest attempt to curb the clutter in our house and encourage our kids
to be more creative in their choice of toys.  So far, it seems to be working.

Part of my daily "mom stress" is all the clutter in my house.  My daughter loves to spread toys everywhere, and my son gets stuff out and then leaves it in piles here and there.  At the end of a long day, the living areas in our house look like a tornado has touched down here.  I find that I don't function very effectively in the midst of the mess.  There are a lot of other piles of stuff- in the kitchen especially- that are made by grown ups that live here too.  Those piles I haven't figured out how to manage yet.  But I did devise a system for the kids' toys.

I created a toy box for each day of the week.  While the kids slept I took out all their toys and put them into piles: puzzles, books, cars & trucks, things that make noise, stuffed animals, sorting & stacking toys, etc...  I got seven large clear plastic bins with lids and labeled them, one for each day of the week.  Then I sorted all the toys, trying to make sure that each box had something from every pile.  I was a bit nervous that the kids would get bored and need more toys.  So I kept some things out and put them up in a high cupboard to use as boredom busters.  Other items were too big to box up, so they are available to play with anytime.  Plus I kept some toys for them to have in their rooms and the computer room.  K has puzzles with small pieces and trucks with breakable parts in his room where his sister can't get to them.  He likes having stuff that's all his.  M has a basket of toys in her room that keeps her busy while I'm tidying her room or changing her brother's diaper.  (Yes, insert eye roll, he's still wearing diapers.  But right now I don't have the energy to potty train!)  I've also created a bin with educational toys and items that K can only play with while he's supervised by an adult ie: markers, white erase board, work books, and so on.

I've implemented this new toy box system for almost two weeks.  So far, it's going really well!  K does sometimes ask for a toy that's in a different box.  But, he's soon engrossed in something else and hasn't really been that upset by the change.  M is easily bored, so having something fresh each day has been super helpful in keeping her content for a while.   I think my son is enjoying the excitement of discovering what's in each day's box.  The last three mornings he went downstairs first thing instead of coming to greet me.  He wanted to see what was available to play with, and probably to have a chance to play with the toys sans sharing.  Some of the boxes are less engaging than others, so I'm figuring out what to switch around, and I've also purchased a few more items to fill out the boxes too.  I'm also pulling out stories on cd to add to the day's activities.  Seems like this experiment is forcing me to be more creative too.

For me, the experiment has also been a stress reducer.  There's definitely less clutter in our house- hallelujah!  At the end of the day, our family room is less like a preschool play area and more like a place to relax.  We can quickly box up the toys, and then tuck the box away in the guest room.  I haven't figured out what to do with the boxes when guests arrive, but we'll tackle that question next week when my parents get here!  Also, the toys with lots of parts don't annoy me anymore.  All the parts go back into the box instead of being spread all over the house, which used to render the toy almost useless since all the parts were missing.  I'm loving it!  The organization of this project has given me energy to tackle other things, like the kitchen clutter.

So moms, give the toy box experiment a try.  You may just have a couple of boxes that rotate out once a week rather than one box for every day.  Whatever works for you...give it a whirl and let me know how it goes.

The Hair Cut

Last week my son drove his toy car through the back of my hair (unmaliciously) and got the tires tangled up- ouch!  Simultaneously, my daughter stuck her fingers in the front of my hair and gave a good tug to get her hand out of a knot.  At that moment, I decided it was time to cut my hair.  Really, I'd been thinking about it for a long time, so the dual attack by my children was the last straw I guess.  If I had known what a wonderful sense of freedom I'd experience from the loss of ten inches of my long hair, I'd have done it sooner.  Truly, I'm so delighted with my new style and how it doesn't get in the way while I take care of my kiddos.  Plus, it's quicker and easier to maintain.

I've realized that change can be very good.  My hair is just one way I've been implementing changes at home to make life easier and our daily "schedule" flow smoother.   (I still have a lot to learn and more tweaking of our routine to do.  But, I'll share what I've found that is working for us right now.)  I'm excited to pass on an organization tip with you soon concerning toys and reducing clutter.  For now, here are some photos of my hair before and after...

Just another bad hair day.  I rarely had time to style it.

My son wanted to be in the pictures :)

90 minutes later... I feel fantastic and realized my old style
was just weighing me down.

I cut off at least 10 inches with plans to donate
my hair to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths campaign.
They make wigs for women who've lost
their hair from cancer treatments.  

K & Mommy making dinner the following evening.  I am so happy
with my hair cut!