For one month...

It's March 1st, a good day to make some changes and kick start new habits. I took a look at what I eat, and I want to alter on a few things this month:

1) Sip water throughout the day. I guzzle at least 12 cups of water every day. I want to drink the same amount (maybe less), but sip instead of chug. A small change, to give my body a better chance to hydrate.

2) No toast (No bread). I never thought about it before, but yesterday, while talking with the folks at pure+simple, I learned that toast is very drying. Apparently, your digestive system needs to divert liquid from other parts of the body to the digestive track to process dry foods. I have incredibly sensitive, dry, dehydrated skin and which is telling me something (it's telling me winter sucks). I will take toast out of my diet for a while, and see if it helps. Let's go another step and cut bread for the month. It's my junk. Once I get started, I have a hard time stopping. 4 slices, 6 slices, just one more slice. Not to mention how easy it is to eat bread or toast instead of reheating leftovers (real food) for lunch. I doubt I could kick bread long term, but I think I can stick to it for 31 days!

3) No sugar - we got this! We are good here. I go weeks without sugar anyways. It's no longer something I have to think about. I do treat myself from time to time. I will cut all cheats for 31 days.

4) Eggs -  Eggs are my favorite food in the world. Why would you give up your favorite food in the world, you ask? To shake things up a bit, and see what happens. I am sure if I cruised the web there are very good reasons for or against eggs. I am doing it to break lazy food habits (How easy is fried toast and eggs every single day!?)

It comes down to something simple: more veggies.

ps. Why? I want to feel good about my body when we go on a sun destination. So I will do the work! It makes sense to me that if I eat the healthiest food possible, then I will be at my best. I don't think I can accept my shape or my aging skin (without regrets) if I know I am not treating my body well. I will end up blaming myself for every unavoidable, natural sign of aging.  

Bored?

Making pretty veggie stock

I am on the verge of becoming a bored housewife*. (Promise this is not the reason for renovating, although I am looking forward to the activity.) I have the usual hobbies: cooking, reading, buying stuff, diet & exercise, blogging, cleaning...

Most of my day is given over to care-taking the kids, this isn't about finding more stuff to do, but finding more stuff worth doing.

Enter: the dinner party. I cook up a storm every night, but we rarely invite other people in to share. I am pretty sure people are what's missing. Time to break out of my shell.



*or it is just the sub-zero Celsius weather...all in favor of spring, please raise your hand!!!

UPDATE: four dinner dates planned in March, then we get into Renos... the entire ceiling of my kitchen will be removed at some point. Not looking forward to that! Be careful what I wish for! 

Four weeks without sugar (or dairy, or white bread)

- I don't feel deprived - at all!

- The scale read 131lbs* this morning!  (129lbs yesterday morning, but whatever)...more importantly my clothing is getting looser, and my love handles are melting.

- I have to make an effort to eat. Before, I was always hungry.  Perhaps my appetite is changing as the baby eats more solids?  At any rate, I don't need to stuff my face, and when I am hungry, there is something delicious and healthy to satisfy me.

- My skin is clear. Sure, I got a facial, and I started exfoliating again.  Diet can't take all of the credit...but the little sweat bumps that broke out on my forehead have been tamed.

- I eat a lot of fat.  Olive oil in particular is a much larger part of our diet.  Simple oil & vinegar salad dressing; oil, lemon, and rosemary chicken marninade; grilled veggies lightly tossed in oil...I am making an effort to use Pam spray when cooking.

- I have more energy. I still wake up tired from disturbed nights.  However, I have the power to get through my day without feeling that I need a nap.  I am more alert. 

- I have more patience.  This is key!  This is what I was after.  Patience is often missing from my life, and when I get even a little, good things happen. 

I will keep going, at least to the end of summer, because it is easy.  For me, it is much easier than trying to eat 'everything in moderation'.  Whomever thought up that bit of logic never encountered my taste buds. If I have a little - I want A LOT!  If I have none, I don't even miss it. 
ps. The fridge is rarely this full...

*down from 140lbs four weeks ago...

I quit sugar

I've been eating a lot of junk lately, by a lot, I mean - A LOT! I ate a whole package of chewy chips ahoy cookies at the cottage...gross, right? I have been feeling pretty blah (major mood swings, debbie downer)...So last Thursday, I stuffed one more butter tart into my mouth and decided to give up sugar, diary, and white bread products*

I thought I would clean up my diet for the month of July.  I started googling to read other people's stories** (Anything I can possibly think of has been done before and blogged about!) Anyways, this is when I watched the online lecture Sugar: The Bitter Truth. This video was exactly what I was ready to hear. Now I want to see how long I can live sugar-free!

What will I feel like after an extended period of time? I feel like I signed up for a radical science experiment! I think I already feel different, but that could be all in my head.  At any rate, because I am doing this for my insides, as well as my outer shell, discipline has not been an issue. I am still waiting for my first sugar craving...that will be the true test!!! (I mean, it's only been a week)

Are you interested in how it goes? I will keep you posted if you are curious!

Have you tried this?


Starting Stats: 140 lbs, size 28-29 jeans, muffin top and rolls

* still eating fruit, I've ditched all the sugar I am aware of, soy sauce seems pretty sweet though, so does that pink ginger that comes with sushi.  I am not eating any artificial sweeteners.  I also gave up cheese/dairy and white bread so that I didn't swap one bad habit for another!
** apparently, I have too much time on my hands

ps  Not counting calories, eating whenever I am hungry. I am still nursing.  The baby has been sleeping better - could it be related??
pps I was super hungry the first few days...developed a migraine last Friday, with an annoying headache most of the weekend...


UPDATE: I managed to quit sugar for two months. Then, while on vacation, I ate whatever I was in the mood for. It took a while to quit again.  This time, I am walking away from canned tomato sauce, dried fruit (raisins in my oatmeal), and limiting my consumption of sushi (we don't do take out as frequently anyways...)  I will still eat fresh fruit. 

8FOOTSIX

I put up the new 8FOOTSIX banner ages ago, and haven't mentioned it. I love it! Take a peek now if you haven't already...
 
The logo was designed by Dabito, of OldBrandNew Blog (love this man! He has been switching up his banner from time to time, and the creativity blows my mind! Mind-blower!  Never mind his mad camera skills!  I bet you've even pinned some of his shots without realizing! )

ANYWAYS, I wanted something simple... simple is never as easy as it appears to be, but when it is done right...

Next Lindsay from Aubrey and Lindsay's blog, and Penny Paper Co. produced a stamp using the new logo and my contact details...

Finally, to stay consistent, we switched the domain from 8foot6.blogspot.com to 8FOOTSIX.com*


Small happy changes! 





ps. The feed for 8foot6.blogspot.com is still working, but it is a little slow...so if you have the chance, can you switch it over to 8FOOTSIX.com?

*we also registered eightfootsix.com and 8foot6.com but I have no idea how to link up multiple domains

I want to drink more water, and I want to recondition my core

So here is what I am doing about it!  For the next 30 days I intend to:

- Drink only water (tea or decaf black is ok too)
- Do full Chapter Six* exercises every day
- Track my progress!

I am totally taking control of the month of March.  I made a poster, so, you know, that means business!

(Sometimes I make these sort of promises to myself, then I let them slide.  This time, I am using the internet to hold myself accountable!  I will report back in April!)

UPDATE: 100% SUCCESS!

*Exercise After Pregnancy, by Helene Byrne

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday, I heard this song for the first time, and for the one-millioneth time today

\

I am feeling incredibly UN-hip...can a mom be hip?


- I put in a request for a radio, something easy for me to use, with good sound. I really miss music (wheels on the bus doesn't count)...
- Today is day three of 2 kiddies, 1 mama...it is better than I could have imagined...besides the fact that my two-year old is stuffed up, and keeps handing me boogers to toss into the trash for him: "here you go mama"...GROSS!
- Our Christmas cards are ready...well, ready to be sent off to the printer-guy...two of my photos made it into the card this year! Whoo-hoo
- I am craving NYC! Just a short weekend trip...at this point I think it will have to wait until Spring...Maybe we can escape to Langdon Hall instead?  We are thinking California (not sure where in CA) in the first half of 2012...BUT, if I could drop everything and take the family anywhere, it would be to Barcelona...
- I want a slouchy black turtleneck (with a chunky collar that holds up, not a cowl)...I used to have one in first year university.  I wish I had held on to it....it was shrunken and had holes in it by the time I let it go...I can remember what it felt like wearing that sweater while walking down bloor street past the old varsity stadium (where the TD bank machines used to be, and there was always 1-3 vagabonds hanging around) ...going to the Club Monaco to look at clothing I couldn't possibly afford at the time.  
- I started wearing concealer again - it is a miracle product!

New status: SAHM

Let it be known that I am now, officially, a stay-at-home-mom.  Goodbye career (for now...)...put my CFA designation on ice...

I will miss the intellectual challenges...I will miss my colleagues...and if you can believe it, I will even miss the adrenaline rush when pushed to speak in the morning meeting...


I couldn't have imagined that I would be the one to stay home to be 'just a mom'...but here is the wonderful part...I am NOT just mommy...I am mother, wife, homemaker, student, blogger, decorator, landscaper, traveler, entrepreneur...and a number of other titles plucked right out of my dreams...