What is it about the human spirit that itches the inside of us and drives us to look beyond where we are right now toward some blurry-eyed future, probes us to keep climbing and reaching for more, to keep creating, inventing, dreaming, brainstorming, vision-casting, striving and risking in spite of the joys and possibilities all around you in your present circumstances?
It's been a few days or more since I've sat down to write something. After a little while of not writing, two things happen. The first, I don't miss it. I slip into the routine of daily life like a favorite pair of blue jeans, usually wearing my favorite pair of blue jeans, and I cook and clean and garden and fold laundry and think about making homemade Christmas presents. It's wonderful. It's immediate. They are dozens of moments to savor.
The second reaction after not writing for a few days or a week is this anxious twitch in my brain. Sometimes it is flicked to life by the joys of the day, a thought or meditation or prayer, a realization, a moment with my children or husband, and I dance with excitement for a pen or the quiet of an evening in front of the computer so I can get it out. But there are other moments when anxiety wells up. If I'm not writing, I won't have anything new to revise, and without anything new to revise, there's nothing sharpened and tuned to a finished version, nothing to submit to journals, nothing to be rejected or accepted, nothing to be published, nothing to be recognized, nothing to add to a growing resume of publications. But to what end is all of this? To what end, when the anxiety detaches the writer from her life, from her family and friends, and leaves her carefully studying her own accomplishments?
It is so difficult to put a stopper on personal ambition in the presence of contentment. Ambition is a buzzing fly around my picnic lunch. I just want to enjoy my italian sausage and watermelon.
And yet. And yet. I love to write. I love to utter whatever notion fluttered through and landed for a spell so someone else might read it and feel something, experience something, have that tight part in their chests softened a bit. I want to be used to touch people's souls. Is that too much to ask? Coupled with the actual writing is wanting that writing to be read, and that rubs shoulders with pride and recognition, then vanity and arrogance.
How do you buttress yourself against conceit and vanity while still pursuing your dreams and goals? How do you stay humble enough to receive grace to share truths eloquently? How do you push forward with enough drive to achieve your goals but with enough restraint to avoid sacrificing your family along the way? It seems like there is a constant need for reflection and assessment: how are the kids? How is my husband? What self-care am I doing? When was the last time I saw my friends? How much of my time is spent wondering when I'll receive my next acceptance/rejection? How fully have I invested in navel gazing lately?
On the other hand, it is the buzzing fly of ambition and curiosity that has provoked men and women throughout the ages to create and consider objects of wonder and stories of life that touch the hearts of men and women throughout the ages. Is it wrong to want to be a part of that legacy? No, but I do not want to neglect the legacy I leave my family in the process.
Someone buy this gal a set of weights and measures. I got me some balancin' to do.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Flavor Enhancement
One of the benefits of cutting down or eliminating added sweeteners to food and eating mostly natural ingredients is that everything tastes better. It isn't necessarily that the food itself changed, but the palate that is receiving the food is cleansed and ready to taste fully whatever it is that it is about to consume. It isn't a carrot anymore, it is carrot PLUS, chicken PLUS, broccoli PLUS. What disguised or dulled the senses before has been removed and now we can taste the full potential flavor of the food.
It has been a while since I drank a Pepsi. I used to drink Pepsi daily, even through the time when I was pregnant with Lydia (that could explain her energy levels). I love Pepsi. It is by far the superior beverage above all other carbonated beverages. I would choose it over sweet tea and for sure over water. Oh, sweet nectar of America!
But Pepsi has high fructose corn syrup, an obvious added sweetener, and we cut that from our diets back in January. A few months ago I was working a weekend conference at the University, manning the check-in table, and it was quiet. All of the other tasks had been done, and it was just me. Alone. With a vending machine filled with Pepsi products. Mmmm, Pepsi, I thought, and started to fish around in my purse for a dollar and a quarter.
I shimmied over to the vending machine and looked around. No one was watching. No one would need to know. Twenty ounces of glorious syrupy soda would emerge from the vending machine into my eager, waiting hands. I put in my money and the robotic arm retrieved a Pepsi from the top row, dropped it down the plastic tube to the bottom where it clunked against the doorflap. I reached out for it, twisted off the cap and heard the k-shhhh of cold pop fizzling. I took a sip and grimaced.
This was not at all what I expected. Where was the rush of sweetness, the refreshing sizzle down my throat? This was sticky and dried out my mouth after I swallowed; the aftertaste was terrible. I rubbed my tongue against the roof of my mouth and tried to work the taste away.
It seems that not only does ingesting healthy foods bring out the powerful flavors of the good, it also strengthens our ability to taste how wretched the artificial and the processed really is, that its fast-and-easy benefits are far outweighed by its lack of quality and sustenance.
The more I ingest the real, the true, the pure, and the lovely in life (food, time with husband, time with children, working in the garden, laughter, friends), the less inclined I am to indulge in the false, the artificial, the impure, and the ugly that try to disguise themselves as virtuous and satisfying. If I find myself faced with temptations, lust, anger, jealousy, fear, or insecurity after eating well for a long time, immersing myself in the things of God, his good word and his good people, listening for the Holy Spirit, then the bottled-up and processed gunk tastes bitter in my mouth. I don't want anything to do with it.
Sure, after a while maybe my tastebuds would numb out to the high fructose corn syrup again and I'd actually like Pepsi, crave it, need it every day or else, but do I want to be ruled by this artificial happiness, this fast high and sudden plummet into lethargy so I need it again and again, more and more to achieve the same level of satisfaction? No.
"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." - Psalm 34:8
It has been a while since I drank a Pepsi. I used to drink Pepsi daily, even through the time when I was pregnant with Lydia (that could explain her energy levels). I love Pepsi. It is by far the superior beverage above all other carbonated beverages. I would choose it over sweet tea and for sure over water. Oh, sweet nectar of America!
But Pepsi has high fructose corn syrup, an obvious added sweetener, and we cut that from our diets back in January. A few months ago I was working a weekend conference at the University, manning the check-in table, and it was quiet. All of the other tasks had been done, and it was just me. Alone. With a vending machine filled with Pepsi products. Mmmm, Pepsi, I thought, and started to fish around in my purse for a dollar and a quarter.
I shimmied over to the vending machine and looked around. No one was watching. No one would need to know. Twenty ounces of glorious syrupy soda would emerge from the vending machine into my eager, waiting hands. I put in my money and the robotic arm retrieved a Pepsi from the top row, dropped it down the plastic tube to the bottom where it clunked against the doorflap. I reached out for it, twisted off the cap and heard the k-shhhh of cold pop fizzling. I took a sip and grimaced.
This was not at all what I expected. Where was the rush of sweetness, the refreshing sizzle down my throat? This was sticky and dried out my mouth after I swallowed; the aftertaste was terrible. I rubbed my tongue against the roof of my mouth and tried to work the taste away.
It seems that not only does ingesting healthy foods bring out the powerful flavors of the good, it also strengthens our ability to taste how wretched the artificial and the processed really is, that its fast-and-easy benefits are far outweighed by its lack of quality and sustenance.
The more I ingest the real, the true, the pure, and the lovely in life (food, time with husband, time with children, working in the garden, laughter, friends), the less inclined I am to indulge in the false, the artificial, the impure, and the ugly that try to disguise themselves as virtuous and satisfying. If I find myself faced with temptations, lust, anger, jealousy, fear, or insecurity after eating well for a long time, immersing myself in the things of God, his good word and his good people, listening for the Holy Spirit, then the bottled-up and processed gunk tastes bitter in my mouth. I don't want anything to do with it.
Sure, after a while maybe my tastebuds would numb out to the high fructose corn syrup again and I'd actually like Pepsi, crave it, need it every day or else, but do I want to be ruled by this artificial happiness, this fast high and sudden plummet into lethargy so I need it again and again, more and more to achieve the same level of satisfaction? No.
"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." - Psalm 34:8
Thursday, October 25, 2012
The Elliptical and Tonight's Work of Writing
It's one of those writing nights where I spend about a minute or two typing out clever sentences and then hold down the backspace bar until the page is white again. It's also the night of a thousand saves as I open and close new and old drafts of poems and essays. And the night of genre confusion as I try to twist an essay into a poem and realize the poem I just started should be an essay.
Also, the night of the social media newsfeed distraction and the seventeen different faces I can make at my webcam without actually pushing out pictures to my Twitter profile.
It's time to face the facts. Tonight, I am completely and utterly without inspiration. Seven hours ago, I had this spark of energy to generate some good details and descriptive language in a revision of an essay, and I really, really, really wanted to work on it right then, right when the words were fresh on my mind and the excitement about it was bright. But I was at work at the time, and tonight was trick-or-treat night, and the husband is out of town, and dinner needed to be prepared, and children needed to be bathed and put to bed and by then, well, this. This happened. This final last distraction of the night because I am determined to hit four posts in October before the month is over and without back dating the entry.
I love this place where I can just type and sometimes find an answer or a revelation and other times it's just me playing, me running the treadmill or riding the elliptical. I'm not going anywhere, but I'm covering such a great distance.
Speaking of the elliptical, this morning I listened to the first six or seven chapters of Matthew while sweating on the elliptical. I can't remember the last time I read through the gospels, instead defaulting to Paul, James, or Peter's letters or the Psalms and Proverbs for some quick and straightforward(ish) answers. But the Gospels are rich with metaphor and puzzle, they are ripe with relationship. This morning, I thought a lot about Jesus being tempted by Satan and how, in the story, Satan waited to start chatting with Jesus until after he had fasted for forty days. Thoroughly exhausted and empty of sustenance, Jesus gets this from Satan, "Hey son of man, ya hungry? Make these pebbles bread."
All kinds of temptations come when we're weary. We're tempted by the quick and easy filling, the fast fix to our emptiness. It's hard to resist temptation, harder still to see the source of the hunger in the first place, to cure the disease instead of just managing the symptoms or popping pain killers instead of identifying the source of the pain. After Jesus resists Satan and Satan wanders off to wait for a more opportune time, Jesus eats real food and is satisfied. He finds a source of true sustenance instead of the shortcuts Satan proposed.
I thought about these things while the British man in my smartphone read to me from the Gospels as I climbed the stairway to nowhere. And now I've thought about them again, cycled through the circuit and worked a few different muscle groups. Tonight might have felt uncreative and uninspired but sometimes you have to just keep climbing, exercising for the sake of the burn, and save whatever scraps and segments you can from the spent time.
Also, the night of the social media newsfeed distraction and the seventeen different faces I can make at my webcam without actually pushing out pictures to my Twitter profile.
It's time to face the facts. Tonight, I am completely and utterly without inspiration. Seven hours ago, I had this spark of energy to generate some good details and descriptive language in a revision of an essay, and I really, really, really wanted to work on it right then, right when the words were fresh on my mind and the excitement about it was bright. But I was at work at the time, and tonight was trick-or-treat night, and the husband is out of town, and dinner needed to be prepared, and children needed to be bathed and put to bed and by then, well, this. This happened. This final last distraction of the night because I am determined to hit four posts in October before the month is over and without back dating the entry.
I love this place where I can just type and sometimes find an answer or a revelation and other times it's just me playing, me running the treadmill or riding the elliptical. I'm not going anywhere, but I'm covering such a great distance.
Speaking of the elliptical, this morning I listened to the first six or seven chapters of Matthew while sweating on the elliptical. I can't remember the last time I read through the gospels, instead defaulting to Paul, James, or Peter's letters or the Psalms and Proverbs for some quick and straightforward(ish) answers. But the Gospels are rich with metaphor and puzzle, they are ripe with relationship. This morning, I thought a lot about Jesus being tempted by Satan and how, in the story, Satan waited to start chatting with Jesus until after he had fasted for forty days. Thoroughly exhausted and empty of sustenance, Jesus gets this from Satan, "Hey son of man, ya hungry? Make these pebbles bread."
All kinds of temptations come when we're weary. We're tempted by the quick and easy filling, the fast fix to our emptiness. It's hard to resist temptation, harder still to see the source of the hunger in the first place, to cure the disease instead of just managing the symptoms or popping pain killers instead of identifying the source of the pain. After Jesus resists Satan and Satan wanders off to wait for a more opportune time, Jesus eats real food and is satisfied. He finds a source of true sustenance instead of the shortcuts Satan proposed.
I thought about these things while the British man in my smartphone read to me from the Gospels as I climbed the stairway to nowhere. And now I've thought about them again, cycled through the circuit and worked a few different muscle groups. Tonight might have felt uncreative and uninspired but sometimes you have to just keep climbing, exercising for the sake of the burn, and save whatever scraps and segments you can from the spent time.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Eating Good Food
So I started a catalog of all the foods we love to eat so that I don't have to keep googling recipes I've had before. I'm cooking-dumb when it comes to common food preparations, like how to make chicken broth or how long to roast chicken, things like that. The list isn't very long yet because I'm trying to build it as I cook rather than sit and backlog all of the great meals we've eaten, and since I know that I'll have to look up every.single.recipe as I cook every.single.meal, well, the catalog will grow daily.
I've noticed a trend with most of these dishes that I'm sure you'll pick up on, too. We really like food, all food, prepared with minimal ingredients, quick and easy, sauteed, steamed, or roasted. It is important to have garlic on hand at all times. Preparing food from scratch and making things that serve as substitutes for pre-packaged and processed food is an extremely satisfying endeavor.
Our natural food fetish is starting to bleed over to our healthcare. I started to feel a sinus infection coming on the other day, but instead of rushing to the medicine cabinet, I googled natural sinus infection remedies and got this fine site: http://green.yourway.net/natural-sinus-infection-remedies/, which gave me all sorts of tips about preventing and treating colds and sinus woes.
So much of this stuff is tried and true old school treatment of ailments and diet. It's simple and common sense. I think we resist this stuff because it's often harder and slower than what we're offered over the counter and off the shelves. Just like pretty much everything else in life, what comes easy isn't always the best choice in the long term.
So, eat your good and healthy and simple and natural and whole foods, drink, and be merry! :)
I've noticed a trend with most of these dishes that I'm sure you'll pick up on, too. We really like food, all food, prepared with minimal ingredients, quick and easy, sauteed, steamed, or roasted. It is important to have garlic on hand at all times. Preparing food from scratch and making things that serve as substitutes for pre-packaged and processed food is an extremely satisfying endeavor.
Our natural food fetish is starting to bleed over to our healthcare. I started to feel a sinus infection coming on the other day, but instead of rushing to the medicine cabinet, I googled natural sinus infection remedies and got this fine site: http://green.yourway.net/natural-sinus-infection-remedies/, which gave me all sorts of tips about preventing and treating colds and sinus woes.
So much of this stuff is tried and true old school treatment of ailments and diet. It's simple and common sense. I think we resist this stuff because it's often harder and slower than what we're offered over the counter and off the shelves. Just like pretty much everything else in life, what comes easy isn't always the best choice in the long term.
So, eat your good and healthy and simple and natural and whole foods, drink, and be merry! :)
Saturday, September 29, 2012
That Isn't on My 30th Year Goal List
It's been a while since I checked in on my 30th Year Goals. Ever since the summer residency my reading and writing efforts have been unimpressive. Besides a draft of an essay that probably won't ever see the light of day because it's so bad, I've written one poem and a short lyric essay of about 750 words. I've started about half a dozen books, some from my "read ten books list" and then others that have been recommended, but lately all I want to do after the kids go to sleep is hang out on the couch with my husband and watch movies or listen to him play the guitar and sing along.
Part of this is because I've been exercising in the mornings before work, and the wake-up call is early. By the time the day is over, I'm just plain done with anything that requires brain activity. I'm rather sure if I picked up a book I'd fall asleep within the first five pages. Exercising at the gym wasn't on my 30th year list.
I expected weekday writing and reading to drop off with the kids in soccer and implementing date night again, but I had hoped that the weekend reading and writing would ramp up, since my weekend evenings are now husband-free. Instead, I've watched a lot of romantic comedies. That wasn't on my 30th year list either.
I think the next time something comes up (like laundry or dishes), I'm going to let my husband/boss/friends/church/family know that I'm exempt because it wasn't on my 30th year list. Sorry! :) Of course, neither was sleeping, so maybe my body will pay attention if I tell it to stop spending 1/3 of every 24 hours doing nothing.
The good news is that I'm not in a binding contract with my 30th year list of goals. They are goals, not vows, after all. I also wrote the list in January, and it's amazing how much changes in the course of ten months. I didn't know that Pruning Burning Bushes would be published this year or that I would be trying to schedule readings from it this fall. If I had known that, I might have added something about my book to the goal list. I also didn't know that we would become such foodies, losing weight and feeling better in 2012. Can I retroactively add goals to the goal list so that I can check them off? Absolutely!
In general I feel good about the status of my goal list for 2012. We're making progress in most areas, and the areas I'm not are at least on my radar or in "continuous improvement." We have a ways to go in the credit card debt area but we have a plan, at least. Bible study and daily quiet time looks more like frantic random prayers on the treadmill, spurts of conversation with the Holy Spirit in times of stress and thanksgiving, and the occasional deep breath appreciation of nature/family/seasons/life.
The marathon or half-marathon idea is eliminated from the list; I laugh just reading it. Sometimes you have to approach your goals realistically within the framework of real life in order to find balance. I don't aspire to be a marathoner, and my guess is that it is hard to be a marathoner plus anything else.
I am glad that I didn't say "write 12 good poems" or "write 6 publishable essays." I've surpassed 12 poems, though who knows if any of them are any good. I'm close to six essays, maybe seven if I count the really bad one that won't ever see the light of day, and I'm way beyond that if I include the short essays and articles I've written for a few different blogs this fall. This makes me feel better about myself but it also makes me wonder if I shouldn't have had a higher goal in mind. Meh. I think instead of raising the bar in quantity, I can spend the rest of 2012 working on quality.
This has been a great exercise this year. It's something I've kept in the back of my mind, and having a place I can refer back to in order to see how I'm doing has been really handy. It's helped me to keep perspective when I don't feel like I'm accomplishing much besides living, which should be enough, anyway. I think that contentment and ambition don't have to be mutually exclusive. It's possible to strive toward goals and be content, and whether ambitions succeed or fail should not shatter that contentment, especially when there's so much around us to be grateful for.
Things Left on the 30th Year List:
Part of this is because I've been exercising in the mornings before work, and the wake-up call is early. By the time the day is over, I'm just plain done with anything that requires brain activity. I'm rather sure if I picked up a book I'd fall asleep within the first five pages. Exercising at the gym wasn't on my 30th year list.
I expected weekday writing and reading to drop off with the kids in soccer and implementing date night again, but I had hoped that the weekend reading and writing would ramp up, since my weekend evenings are now husband-free. Instead, I've watched a lot of romantic comedies. That wasn't on my 30th year list either.
I think the next time something comes up (like laundry or dishes), I'm going to let my husband/boss/friends/church/family know that I'm exempt because it wasn't on my 30th year list. Sorry! :) Of course, neither was sleeping, so maybe my body will pay attention if I tell it to stop spending 1/3 of every 24 hours doing nothing.
The good news is that I'm not in a binding contract with my 30th year list of goals. They are goals, not vows, after all. I also wrote the list in January, and it's amazing how much changes in the course of ten months. I didn't know that Pruning Burning Bushes would be published this year or that I would be trying to schedule readings from it this fall. If I had known that, I might have added something about my book to the goal list. I also didn't know that we would become such foodies, losing weight and feeling better in 2012. Can I retroactively add goals to the goal list so that I can check them off? Absolutely!
In general I feel good about the status of my goal list for 2012. We're making progress in most areas, and the areas I'm not are at least on my radar or in "continuous improvement." We have a ways to go in the credit card debt area but we have a plan, at least. Bible study and daily quiet time looks more like frantic random prayers on the treadmill, spurts of conversation with the Holy Spirit in times of stress and thanksgiving, and the occasional deep breath appreciation of nature/family/seasons/life.
The marathon or half-marathon idea is eliminated from the list; I laugh just reading it. Sometimes you have to approach your goals realistically within the framework of real life in order to find balance. I don't aspire to be a marathoner, and my guess is that it is hard to be a marathoner plus anything else.
I am glad that I didn't say "write 12 good poems" or "write 6 publishable essays." I've surpassed 12 poems, though who knows if any of them are any good. I'm close to six essays, maybe seven if I count the really bad one that won't ever see the light of day, and I'm way beyond that if I include the short essays and articles I've written for a few different blogs this fall. This makes me feel better about myself but it also makes me wonder if I shouldn't have had a higher goal in mind. Meh. I think instead of raising the bar in quantity, I can spend the rest of 2012 working on quality.
This has been a great exercise this year. It's something I've kept in the back of my mind, and having a place I can refer back to in order to see how I'm doing has been really handy. It's helped me to keep perspective when I don't feel like I'm accomplishing much besides living, which should be enough, anyway. I think that contentment and ambition don't have to be mutually exclusive. It's possible to strive toward goals and be content, and whether ambitions succeed or fail should not shatter that contentment, especially when there's so much around us to be grateful for.
Things Left on the 30th Year List:
- cut our credit card debt in half (unrealistic at this point in the year, but pushing forward anyway)
- blog once a week (average isn't too far off)
- incorporate Bible reading and prayer into daily life more
- read ten books (eight down? I think?)
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Paleo Parenting Update
It's been seven solid months since we dramatically changed the way that the Wells family eats, from a primarily grain-based diet (cereal for breakfast, sandwiches at lunch, pasta/rice at dinner) to a more fruit, vegetable, nuts, seeds, and meat focused diet, with an emphasis on food that is not processed or packaged. If it comes in a package, we can read the name of the ingredients on the package and know where it's coming from. It's called "Paleo" because it's supposed to be closer to what our pre-packaged, pre-GMO ancestors ate. It isn't so much a diet or weight-loss strategy as it is an attempt at living healthier lifestyles.
We kickstarted our food change by following a detox-type diet for 30 days - the Whole30 Program - which we found out about through one of our friends. The Whole9Life is a cool concept worth reading about, too.
BW and I knew, based off of the positive impact it has had on us, we would keep on eating this way as much as possible, with the occasional cheat and indulgence, but it seemed almost too much to ask to get the kids to skip peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cereal, mac and cheese, and pizza, their four main food groups.
We started with breakfast because that was easiest. They like eggs well enough, and when we discovered paleo pancakes, well, breakfast became a piece of cake... er... paleo pancake. Throw in some bacon or sausage frequently and the kids are set for breakfast. The default bowl of cereal is history. Henry, our squishy Paleo baby, typically eats scrambled eggs with turkey, kale, or spinach in 'em and a banana. The older kids almost always have eggs and meat, and if they are still hungry maybe a banana or an apple.
Dinners were the second beast. Our kids (except the Paleo prince) balked at all things vegetable for quite a while, unless it was broccoli (with cheese), carrots (coated with honey), or potatoes (with sour cream, cheese, deep fried, or french fried). They whined. They sometimes cried. They sometimes didn't finish their food.
Just the other day I marveled at our three children at dinner. On their plates: grilled chicken, roasted carrots (no honey), steamed broccoli (no cheese), and a cucumber/tomato salad. There were no complaints, no pouting, no whining, just eating. And asking for more! It was amazing.
I never thought we'd get to the point where they would stop asking for candy and sweets as a snack or begging for the gut bomb foods that dominated their lives before, but here we are.
Lunch has been slower going, but I think we're just about there. Lydia seems to have a more sensitive stomach than Elvis, and white bread especially seems to give her a belly ache. She gets this now, and so she's suggested a few things for her lunch. Instead of packing a PBJ sandwich, Lydia usually gets something with peanut butter - either celery or sliced apples - or if no peanut butter, a couple of slices of turkey, plus a couple of other add-ons: grapes, banana, raisins, greek yogurt, sweet potato chips, carrots, etc. We try to pack her stuff we know she'll eat or let her pick out what she wants us to pack. It seems to be working out well.
It might just be that Elvis is getting older and maturing, but I also think that his diet changes have affected his behavior and his ability to pay attention and listen at school. Since school started he has "stayed on green" every day. This is a big change from last year. In fact, last week he OPTED OUT of the "good listener treat" that is given at the end of each week to the kids who stayed on green all week long. As a reward, he had a "banana sundae" for lunch - banana with peanut butter, plus strawberries and blueberries and some honey. He was one happy little man.
I am really proud of my kids and the choices they are making. It seems to be true that the more we incorporate healthy lifestyle choices into our family, the more they seem to get it. We aren't psycho about it (I am going to order a pizza tonight, after all), but we want them to understand that, like everything else in life, we have a choice -- whether to eat healthy and feel good, or whether to eat something that tastes good but might make us feel icky later, and knowing that, to indulge or abstain. Sometimes we indulge and love it (fair food!), and sometimes we choose to skip junk and wait for the good fuel.
So far, so good.
Here are some foods that we eat a lot and places that we refer to frequently for recipes:
Sweet potato fries
Paleo pancakes
Roasted carrots (nomnompaleo.com - love her stuff)
Roasted chicken
Baked sweet potatoes
Grilled anything
Steamed broccoli
Cabbage
Guacamole (awesome with the sweet potato fries)
Avocado salad
Avocados straight-up
Lots of salads with veggies and chicken or turkey on top
Roasted butternut squash mmmmm
Omelets
Kale chips
Sauteed spinach or kale
Sauteed peppers and onions
Sauteed apples or homemade applesauce mmmmm
and more, of course. Usually I just google "Paleo +" whatever I am wanting to cook in order to find quick and easy meal solutions with what I have on hand. The greatest thing about eating this way is that most of the food prep is quick and simple food prep that brings out the natural flavors in foods. The trick is to find the things that you can return to over and over again -- for us, sweet potatoes are a must on our shopping list, and so are bananas and eggs -- figuring out what staples are going to replace your defaults from before really helps when dinnertime rolls around.
We love eating this way, and not just because we feel (and look) so much better, but because food actually tastes good this way. Once you've killed your need to add sugar to everything, suddenly your tastebuds can actually taste the natural sweetness in foods like carrots, sweet potatoes, and so on. And they are way more delicious and satisfying than any added sweetener. We also have the added benefit of knowing exactly what it is we are ingesting.
We'll keep working on the lunches and let you know what we come up with. There's a few websites that have been referred to me recently with some lunch options for kids that I'm excited to look into more - Paleo Parenting, Eat Like a Dinosaur, and NomNomPaleo all have some great lunch suggestions.
Feel good and enjoy food! :)
We kickstarted our food change by following a detox-type diet for 30 days - the Whole30 Program - which we found out about through one of our friends. The Whole9Life is a cool concept worth reading about, too.
BW and I knew, based off of the positive impact it has had on us, we would keep on eating this way as much as possible, with the occasional cheat and indulgence, but it seemed almost too much to ask to get the kids to skip peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cereal, mac and cheese, and pizza, their four main food groups.
We started with breakfast because that was easiest. They like eggs well enough, and when we discovered paleo pancakes, well, breakfast became a piece of cake... er... paleo pancake. Throw in some bacon or sausage frequently and the kids are set for breakfast. The default bowl of cereal is history. Henry, our squishy Paleo baby, typically eats scrambled eggs with turkey, kale, or spinach in 'em and a banana. The older kids almost always have eggs and meat, and if they are still hungry maybe a banana or an apple.
Dinners were the second beast. Our kids (except the Paleo prince) balked at all things vegetable for quite a while, unless it was broccoli (with cheese), carrots (coated with honey), or potatoes (with sour cream, cheese, deep fried, or french fried). They whined. They sometimes cried. They sometimes didn't finish their food.
Just the other day I marveled at our three children at dinner. On their plates: grilled chicken, roasted carrots (no honey), steamed broccoli (no cheese), and a cucumber/tomato salad. There were no complaints, no pouting, no whining, just eating. And asking for more! It was amazing.
I never thought we'd get to the point where they would stop asking for candy and sweets as a snack or begging for the gut bomb foods that dominated their lives before, but here we are.
Lunch has been slower going, but I think we're just about there. Lydia seems to have a more sensitive stomach than Elvis, and white bread especially seems to give her a belly ache. She gets this now, and so she's suggested a few things for her lunch. Instead of packing a PBJ sandwich, Lydia usually gets something with peanut butter - either celery or sliced apples - or if no peanut butter, a couple of slices of turkey, plus a couple of other add-ons: grapes, banana, raisins, greek yogurt, sweet potato chips, carrots, etc. We try to pack her stuff we know she'll eat or let her pick out what she wants us to pack. It seems to be working out well.
It might just be that Elvis is getting older and maturing, but I also think that his diet changes have affected his behavior and his ability to pay attention and listen at school. Since school started he has "stayed on green" every day. This is a big change from last year. In fact, last week he OPTED OUT of the "good listener treat" that is given at the end of each week to the kids who stayed on green all week long. As a reward, he had a "banana sundae" for lunch - banana with peanut butter, plus strawberries and blueberries and some honey. He was one happy little man.
I am really proud of my kids and the choices they are making. It seems to be true that the more we incorporate healthy lifestyle choices into our family, the more they seem to get it. We aren't psycho about it (I am going to order a pizza tonight, after all), but we want them to understand that, like everything else in life, we have a choice -- whether to eat healthy and feel good, or whether to eat something that tastes good but might make us feel icky later, and knowing that, to indulge or abstain. Sometimes we indulge and love it (fair food!), and sometimes we choose to skip junk and wait for the good fuel.
So far, so good.
Here are some foods that we eat a lot and places that we refer to frequently for recipes:
Sweet potato fries
Paleo pancakes
Roasted carrots (nomnompaleo.com - love her stuff)
Roasted chicken
Baked sweet potatoes
Grilled anything
Steamed broccoli
Cabbage
Guacamole (awesome with the sweet potato fries)
Avocado salad
Avocados straight-up
Lots of salads with veggies and chicken or turkey on top
Roasted butternut squash mmmmm
Omelets
Kale chips
Sauteed spinach or kale
Sauteed peppers and onions
Sauteed apples or homemade applesauce mmmmm
and more, of course. Usually I just google "Paleo +" whatever I am wanting to cook in order to find quick and easy meal solutions with what I have on hand. The greatest thing about eating this way is that most of the food prep is quick and simple food prep that brings out the natural flavors in foods. The trick is to find the things that you can return to over and over again -- for us, sweet potatoes are a must on our shopping list, and so are bananas and eggs -- figuring out what staples are going to replace your defaults from before really helps when dinnertime rolls around.
We love eating this way, and not just because we feel (and look) so much better, but because food actually tastes good this way. Once you've killed your need to add sugar to everything, suddenly your tastebuds can actually taste the natural sweetness in foods like carrots, sweet potatoes, and so on. And they are way more delicious and satisfying than any added sweetener. We also have the added benefit of knowing exactly what it is we are ingesting.
We'll keep working on the lunches and let you know what we come up with. There's a few websites that have been referred to me recently with some lunch options for kids that I'm excited to look into more - Paleo Parenting, Eat Like a Dinosaur, and NomNomPaleo all have some great lunch suggestions.
Feel good and enjoy food! :)
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Life with Kids, Diet, and Exercise
I like to challenge myself occasionally to see just how much we can jam into a few hours or a few days and still survive. In order to prove to myself that I can and WILL continue living life with three kids and a husband away for the evening, I think, "Hmmm, what would my husband/mom/mom-in-law think I was crazy for trying to do on my own?" and then I take a deep breath and yell, "Kids! Get your shoes!"
I will not be held hostage to the house because it's too much work to do anything else, especially to go to a friends' bbq.
So tonight when I got home and it was raining (YES! Rain! Soccer practice cancelled!), I decided to first take advantage of the awesomeness that is the Ashland YMCA and its free child watch program from 5:15-8:15 Monday-Thursday and get a little workout in before we headed over to the bbq we had initially bailed on because of E's soccer practice.
Before leaving I steamed some broccoli and cut up some strawberries, and then for fun I thought, hey, we have some kale that needs to be used, I'll make kale chips too! (This is the part where a friend at the party might think, hey, I didn't see any kale chips, and I'd say, hey, hang on a sec, I'll tell you why.) While Elvis and Lydia chowed down on some sliced apples and peanut butter and Hank gnawed on an apple... gagging occasionally because he jams the whole thing in his mouth... I preheated, boiled, sliced, and prepped my delicioso goodness.
I always forget that sea salt is more granular and packs a bigger punch than table salt. That's kind of an important detail when you are making kale chips. The kale crisped up real nice like, but oh. my. salt. Inedible. Even though I tried to eat them again when we walked in the door an hour or so ago and nearly died choking on a piece. Henry watched me with silent concern. Tears, hacking, sneezing, coughing. Salt.
With steamed broccoli, sliced strawberries, and no kale chips in hand, the kids and I raced off to the Y. Oh how I love to sweat. I worked my tail feathers off on the elliptical for 30 minutes and then wobbled around to a few weight machines before calling it a day.
I am new to the world of afternoon exercise. I am used to getting up around 5:15 a.m. to work out or waiting until after the kids go to bed. I am not used to a) it being light out and b) having people see me as I bust a move on the elliptical, and by busting a move I mean red-faced, sweat and snot dripping, hair stuck to my forehead move busting. Hot. Really, really hot. It can't be a pretty sight. In the future, I am going to remember that a 5:15 p.m. workout means more people in the wellness center and that I will also need a shower prior to leaving the building.
Because I am new to afternoon fitness, I did not bring deodorant. Or shampoo. Or soap. Or a towel. I did bring a change of clothes, so there is that. There's hope for next time.
Onward, smelly, sweaty mommy! Onward to the bbq! Among this group of friends, we have the most kids and the oldest kids. A couple others have some infants, but we're the crazy people with the crazy kids who touch everything and run and knock things over and beg for more chips and lemonade and who are denied chips and lemonade and who pout and cry about chips and lemonade until it's clear that the chips and lemonade were a bad idea and now it is past our bedtime anyway so let's GO.
I really like trying to make it to things like this because I love these people and enjoy conversation, but I am not always sure whether our kids are a delight or an annoyance, and I am terrified about them being an annoyance. I worry whether they are behaving well enough to not wear out our welcome, but I also want them to have a good time. I don't want them to be those kids or for us to be that family. Here they come! Ah! Run away!
It's partly due to the fact that we have some kidless friends and by default kidless friends don't have to deal with kids all of the time, so I just expect them to be overwhelmed by my herd. This expectation launches me into overdrive parenting. Behave so these people will keep wanting to be our friends! I want to whisper to the kids. This is probably unnecessary; I don't think our friends think we're the crazy parents with the crazy kids. I think they think our kids are kids, hyper, silly, goofy, lovely kids. But that doesn't stop me from the paranoia that our kidless friends are going to say adios to the Wellses because they don't want to deal with our little people anymore.
The bbq was quite nice, and the food was AMAZING. The grillmaster did a phenomenal job on some pork loin and chicken in particular. The kids managed to enter and exit the scene without breaking or spilling anything, and Henry only whined and squirmed most of the time. I left too late, which compounded silliness with sleepiness, but Henry conked out quick when we got home and the older two were asleep shortly after that. Deep sigh. Silence.
School has started, indeed, and with it the nine-month sprint to accomplish the next goal. On the agenda for the weekend: the first soccer games. Stay tuned.
I will not be held hostage to the house because it's too much work to do anything else, especially to go to a friends' bbq.
So tonight when I got home and it was raining (YES! Rain! Soccer practice cancelled!), I decided to first take advantage of the awesomeness that is the Ashland YMCA and its free child watch program from 5:15-8:15 Monday-Thursday and get a little workout in before we headed over to the bbq we had initially bailed on because of E's soccer practice.
Before leaving I steamed some broccoli and cut up some strawberries, and then for fun I thought, hey, we have some kale that needs to be used, I'll make kale chips too! (This is the part where a friend at the party might think, hey, I didn't see any kale chips, and I'd say, hey, hang on a sec, I'll tell you why.) While Elvis and Lydia chowed down on some sliced apples and peanut butter and Hank gnawed on an apple... gagging occasionally because he jams the whole thing in his mouth... I preheated, boiled, sliced, and prepped my delicioso goodness.
I always forget that sea salt is more granular and packs a bigger punch than table salt. That's kind of an important detail when you are making kale chips. The kale crisped up real nice like, but oh. my. salt. Inedible. Even though I tried to eat them again when we walked in the door an hour or so ago and nearly died choking on a piece. Henry watched me with silent concern. Tears, hacking, sneezing, coughing. Salt.
With steamed broccoli, sliced strawberries, and no kale chips in hand, the kids and I raced off to the Y. Oh how I love to sweat. I worked my tail feathers off on the elliptical for 30 minutes and then wobbled around to a few weight machines before calling it a day.
I am new to the world of afternoon exercise. I am used to getting up around 5:15 a.m. to work out or waiting until after the kids go to bed. I am not used to a) it being light out and b) having people see me as I bust a move on the elliptical, and by busting a move I mean red-faced, sweat and snot dripping, hair stuck to my forehead move busting. Hot. Really, really hot. It can't be a pretty sight. In the future, I am going to remember that a 5:15 p.m. workout means more people in the wellness center and that I will also need a shower prior to leaving the building.
Because I am new to afternoon fitness, I did not bring deodorant. Or shampoo. Or soap. Or a towel. I did bring a change of clothes, so there is that. There's hope for next time.
Onward, smelly, sweaty mommy! Onward to the bbq! Among this group of friends, we have the most kids and the oldest kids. A couple others have some infants, but we're the crazy people with the crazy kids who touch everything and run and knock things over and beg for more chips and lemonade and who are denied chips and lemonade and who pout and cry about chips and lemonade until it's clear that the chips and lemonade were a bad idea and now it is past our bedtime anyway so let's GO.
I really like trying to make it to things like this because I love these people and enjoy conversation, but I am not always sure whether our kids are a delight or an annoyance, and I am terrified about them being an annoyance. I worry whether they are behaving well enough to not wear out our welcome, but I also want them to have a good time. I don't want them to be those kids or for us to be that family. Here they come! Ah! Run away!
It's partly due to the fact that we have some kidless friends and by default kidless friends don't have to deal with kids all of the time, so I just expect them to be overwhelmed by my herd. This expectation launches me into overdrive parenting. Behave so these people will keep wanting to be our friends! I want to whisper to the kids. This is probably unnecessary; I don't think our friends think we're the crazy parents with the crazy kids. I think they think our kids are kids, hyper, silly, goofy, lovely kids. But that doesn't stop me from the paranoia that our kidless friends are going to say adios to the Wellses because they don't want to deal with our little people anymore.
The bbq was quite nice, and the food was AMAZING. The grillmaster did a phenomenal job on some pork loin and chicken in particular. The kids managed to enter and exit the scene without breaking or spilling anything, and Henry only whined and squirmed most of the time. I left too late, which compounded silliness with sleepiness, but Henry conked out quick when we got home and the older two were asleep shortly after that. Deep sigh. Silence.
School has started, indeed, and with it the nine-month sprint to accomplish the next goal. On the agenda for the weekend: the first soccer games. Stay tuned.
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