My Body Image

I have been working lately at changing my body image.

No, I am not changing how my body looks.  Well...I am, but that's because I am pregnant and by body is growing and changing on it's own.

But more and more I am focusing on mentally accepting my body for what it is and appreciating its beauty.  Moving beyond what the media says is "ideal" and appreciating my own normal.

Of course, this doesn't mean that I want to throw caution to the wind, eat everything I desire and sit on the couch watching my favorite shows.  For me, part of my love of my body has come from knowing that I am treating it right - making healthful choices and staying active. If I know that I am taking care of my body, I feel more at ease with the shape that it gives me.

Part of the reason that I have been working on changing my mental "ideal" is for me.  I want to be happy "Being Sara."  But another, bigger reason that I want to accept myself is that I want to teach my children that there are many types of beauty - and that's okay.  Most of all, I want them to have a mother who is confident in the way that she looks and feels about herself.  I am hoping that in the long run, I can set an example and help them build their own confidence.

A few days ago, I posted on my personal Facebook something that my son said to me.  I was bending over to pick up a few toys and he stated, "Mom, having a baby suuuuuure makes your bum big."

It was a cute little anecdote from my kiddo that points out the honesty of children.  I really thought it was quite amusing. 

However, what I didn't post was my response.  I straightened up, turned, looked at him, and smiled.  I said, "You're right, it does!  Look at how big and soft and squishy it's becoming."  At this point I actually squeezed my bum.  "It's going to be so soft and comfy for the baby when it comes out.  Isn't it beautiful?"

My son nodded and smiled and then innocently asked, "Can I feel how squishy it is?"

"Sure!"  I let him squeeze it a few times and he giggled.  It WAS kind of silly, but I think it made a good point.  "Don't you think the baby will like that?" I asked.

He once again nodded vigorously.

"Yup, daddy likes mommy's bum too.  He thinks it's big and soft and beautiful.  Right daddy?"

At which point my husband chimed in that he absolutely loved my bum.

I'll admit, a few years ago I don't think I would have responded this way.  It probably would have hurt my feelings and I would have told my son that it wasn't a kind thing to say.  But this isn't the first conversation that my son and I have had about bodies and sizes.  In this last year I have been much more generous about myself when we discuss bodies and I must say, I like the new approach so much better.  It not only helps my child have a healthier understanding of bodies, but it helps me feel better about my own in the process.

I have seen this approach pay off in little ways.  Not long ago, my husband was getting ready to go out walking.  "Why are you going for a walk?" my son asked.

"Because I'm fat," my husband responded.

My son frowned, "Fat's not a nice word, daddy.  You are big and soft and beautiful."

I was so proud of him at that moment!  I can only hope that the things we discuss now will stick with both him and my daughter throughout the years.  I hope that I can even provide a least a tiny bit of a buffer for them through life when the world will often tell them that only one type of beautiful is acceptable.  And I hope to continue working with myself on my own acceptance.

Today I challenge you. Sometime this week I want you to look in the mirror at yourself.  Really look.  Notice the gentle shapes, the curves, the angles.  I want you to find 3 things that you find beautiful.  Then I want you to go further.  Find 2 more things - things that you hadn't really thought of as beautiful before - and try to find their own unique beauty.  Perhaps it's a bum that's big and soft and squishy.  Maybe it's the gentle curve of your shoulder or the smoothness of your back.  Or it could even be the excess flab on your tummy, full of stretchmarks, that speaks of babies being grown and cared for.

Have you every really noticed how amazing your body is?

Because it is. 

It is remarkable and beautiful all in its own way. 

YOU are beautiful.

Weekly Goals

Geez, it has been a long time since I posted on here.

Life has been crazy.  Temporary job.  Balancing kids and schedules.  Bronchitis.  Children with pneumonia.  And baby Schwab #3 on the way.

Baby #3 has been my biggest obstacle.  I am currently 24 weeks along and still experiencing some morning sickness.  Plus, I have a low placenta and have to be careful with my activities.  I don't feel like cooking at home.  I don't care about eating healthy (I typically just want what I want...and it isn't healthy).  I don't feel up to my doing my usual exercises (and shouldn't exercise too strenuously).

However, I have been watching the scale creep up, perhaps a little faster than it should, and I realize that I can't completely let myself go with this pregnancy.  I will definitely regret it later as it's not good for either the baby or me.  I am going to have to take control of something.

I have decided to start setting a few weekly goals for myself again.  And I am determined to do it here, in public, where I tend to be much more accountable than if I just make them to myself.

I know it's already halfway through this week, but I don't care.  I've got to start somewhere and now is always better than later when it comes to being healthy.

My goals for the rest of this week:

1. Drink no more than one soda per week.  I had tremendous success with "soda Saturdays" once before.  I have slowly edged into having more - especially since I have been eating out more.  It's just easier to order a soda.  Plus, I love them...so there's that.  But I need to cut back, so one a week it is for me.  In my mind I am already counting down the hours till Saturday...

2. Eat only one portion-appropriate treat per day.  You would think this would be easy for me right now.  You see, my baby hates sugary things.  Anytime I eat something sugary, I pay for it by feeling sick for several hours.  Is this enough to stop me?  Nope.  My craving for sweets is so strong, I often tell myself it'll be okay, only to regret it later.  And yes, I do this more than once a day sometimes.  I am going to start by limiting myself to one small treat a day.

3. Eat appropriate serving sizes.  I keep telling myself that extra calories are needed to grow babies, so I allow myself to eat more and more all the time.  My goal this week is to keep an eye on serving sizes and not eat more than my body tells me it needs.

Wish me luck!  And please, feel free to set some goals for yourself and leave them in the comments (here or on Facebook).  I would love to have you join me!

Tasty Thursday - Butterkase Macaroni

My husband has been on a bit of a cheese kick lately.   According to him, there are so many cheeses that we just never try and he has decided that each shopping trip we should try a new cheese, just to broaden our horizons.

I like cheese well enough that I was all on board with this idea.

On Monday we took a trip to the grocery store and in the fresh deli section we selected a small block of Butterkaese (this is how it was spelled on the package) cheese, imported from Germany and known for it's buttery taste.  (Yeah...I had no idea about any of this, but the package was nice enough to inform me.)

Great!

Now what?

Thank goodness for the internet!  I searched recipes and found this little gem from Betty Crocker: Butterkase Macaroni and Cheese.

Perfect!  Expanding horizons and making the kids happy all at once.

Oh my goodness.  This was delicious!  I pretty much followed the recipe except I had cooked up some bacon to go in a salad and had a little extra, so I threw that in too.  Oh, and I didn't have fresh cilantro or parsley, so I just sprinkled a little dried parsley.

The mac and cheese was so creamy and tasted really buttery thanks to the flavor of the cheese.  Yum!  I highly recommend giving it a whirl.

Now I know this isn't a super healthy option.  But it is made from scratch, clean eating.  So that's a bonus.  But remember, I did mention a salad too.  I had about a half a cup of scrumptious cheesy goodness along with a hearty salad covered in this greek dressing. 

 All-in-all it was a very filling and tasty meal.

And the kids and hubby enjoyed it too. :)

Win win win.

Now go out and find ways to broaden your own food horizons just a bit.

Edited: I entered the ingredients for the mac and cheese into MyFitnessPal and came up with the following:

4 servings: 
Calories: 456
Carbs: 51
Fat: 21
Protein: 20
Sodium: 415

My portion was more like 1/2 serving size, so calories = 228

Replacing Habits - My Warm Milky

I went ahead and read The Power of Habit this week.  I liked it!  It was really interesting.

I started looking closer at my habit of winding the day down with a sweet.

Basically the author suggested that you fix a habit by replacing it with another one.  The problem with picking a new habit, is that it has to become something you crave and really desire.  I was kind of hoping for more suggestions but since it was general book about habits, I had to come up with ideas on my own.


When I was younger, my mom and I were reading a book where the character made herself some warm milk with honey.  We decided to try it and found it pretty tasty.  I decided to change it up a bit and make my own version.

Warm Milky
Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp flavored syrup (I used Torani Hazelnut)
Splash of vanilla

Pour milk and honey into a mug.  Microwave on high until desired temperature.  (I put mine in for a minute and a half.)  Add your syrup and vanilla.  Let it cool a tad, while you soak in the warmth on the your fingertips.  Enjoy!

Thus far, this has been a lovely end to my day.  The milk is not only tasty, but warm, comforting, and relaxing.  It has the honey in it, which is a more natural sweetener and it is also full of vitamins, so I don't feel too guilty about my little indulgence.  It's a great way to wind down.

The Power Of Habit

Last week I posted this link on our Spank the Pounds Facebook page.  I follow this blog, Afford Anything, regularly and while it is, in fact, about finances, the author made a great point concerning food consumption and habits.

I found this rather interesting.  What habits were causing me to eat more sweets?  You should all know by now that sweets are my big temptation.

For the last week I decided to track my habitual cues every time I craved something sweet.  I found that most of my factors also fluctuated, but the factor that was most consistent for me was preceding action.  Here are the top three things that signal sweet time to me:

Spying Sweets. This was a big one.  Every time I walked into the kitchen or opened a cupboard and saw something sweet, I instantly thought, "Oooh, that sounds yummy."  I also found Pinterest to be a big pitfall because I cannot seem to log on without spotting a delicious dessert of some kind or another.  The solution?  Stop keeping sweets readily available.  (And maybe un-follow a few Pinterest boards.)

Completing meals.  I can definitely see the habit in this.  Our family consistently has a "treat" after almost every meal.  My sister-in-law once remarked to me that her family never had treats so regularly and, once she married my brother, she found it easy to fall into desiring a treat after every meal.  It's now a habit.  The solution? Find another, healthful option to signal the end of meal-time.  Perhaps some fruit?

Putting the kids to bed. Hmmmm, treats are apparently my way of finishing things up. In this case, it is a reward for a job, well...done.  Once the kids are in bed, I want to relax and do something for me.  The solution?  Once again, find another, healthful option to signal I'm done for the day.  Maybe a short round of yoga?  Some cold cucumber water?  Warm milk with a bit of honey?

This was an interesting exercise for me.  I have identified my own personal triggers and can now hopefully come up with some solutions that will help me form new habits.  I will have to think more on the actual habits I want to replace sweets with.  In the meantime, I think I will take myself off to the library and check out Charles Duhigg's book for more information.

My 30 Days Without Sweets

I recently did a personal challenge of 30 days without sweets.

Now that it is over and I am looking back on it, I find that I still have mixed feelings about it.

I hated it.

But guess what.

I also loved it.

Don't you hate that?  When you feel conflicted on something?


What I hated:

• I really missed my sweets.  My cravings for something sweet never really disappeared in the 30 days.  I thought of sweets a lot.  I would imagine exactly how they would taste.  I would even dream about them, binging in my dreams and feeling guilty that I ate so much...till I realized it wasn't real. 

• It didn't make me feel physically better.  I guess I was just expecting something more in this area.  A boost in energy?  More clarity in thinking?  I just assumed that I would somehow feel better and, although there were benefits, I didn't feel any different.

What I loved:

• My calorie intake went down. I wasn't wasting empty calories filling up on sugary, junky foods.  This left room for more nutritive, filling foods.  Also, once I taste something super sweet, my taste buds instantly crave more of it, leading me to eating more and raising my intake.

•  It helped me overcome a recent weight loss plateau. This happened quickly.  In my first week of cutting out sugar I suddenly dropped a few pounds that I had been working on for weeks.

• It was much easier to just say no. This may, in part, have to do with the alluring taste of sugar.  But I also recently read an article by Gretchen Rubin about abstainers vs. moderators and I guess that I am an abstainer. I found that items were less tempting if I knew that they weren't even a possibility.  The answer was just "no" and it was easier to say than, "maybe just a taste." 

I don't even know where I will go from here.  The problem lies in the fact that I am a better abstainer, but that I really, really want to be a moderator.  I don't want to give up sweets completely.  I want to have them as a treat on occasion.  Or even a little taste each day.

But it is so much easier for me to just say no.

Maybe there is another rule that I could set for sweets.  Fridays only?  Holidays only?  Special events only? 

*sigh*  I don't know what to do.  It shall take some further pondering.

What do you do when it comes to sweets?  Any suggestions on what I should do?  Let me know!

My Really Whiney Complaint About Having Lost Weight

I know.  I shouldn't complain.

I'm going to anyway, though.

Of course, MOST things about having lost weight are lovely and exactly what you expect to hear.

More energy, looking more healthy, having more confidence, feeling fabulous.

That is all truly wonderful!

But I am having an increasing awareness of something bothersome.

Bones.

Yes.  Really.  Bones.

Here's the deal; bones creep me out.  I can't explain it, they just do.  When anything rubs against my bone, I get the heebie-jeebies.

And now, well, my bones are less protected with a layer of fat.

I have 3 major areas that bug me:

1. Sitting on hard surfaces.  Oh. my. goodness.  I can't remember this ever bugging me so much.  Did I just forget what it was like?  Have I grown so accustomed to my fluffy built-in butt cushion?  As soon as I sit, my tailbone rubs against that hard surface and it's not long before I have to get up again.  Ouch.

2. My knees.  Most of the time, these don't bother me.  Sitting, walking, going through the day, I don't even think about my knees.  But now, when I lay down, my knees rub together and grind on each other.  There is no more thigh cushion to keep them apart.  In a way, I imagine that my knees are blissfully happy to finally be reunited again.  Maybe they're making up for lost time.  I just wish that happy thought would be enough to keep the knee grinding from driving me to distraction while I'm trying to sleep.

3.  My collar bone.  This one is silly.  It probably wouldn't bug most people.   But, you see, I have this terrible fear/hate/can't stand it-ness about things touching the front of my neck.  And now that there are bones sticking out there, the problem has heightened.  Heaven help me if something rubs against my collarbone.  It is enough to make me gag.  Literally.  And I know that's just my own weirdness, but it doesn't make it any less real for me.

I am not even sure what to do with these.  Perhaps a pillow could be my constant companion.  I could sit on it and sleep with it between my legs.  Although, I draw the line at wearing one on my neck (I probably couldn't stand it anyway.).

Bah!  

Bones!

Our support.  Our protection.  Our suppliers.  (Not to mention the name of one of my favorite shows.)

I am lost without them.  But they are slowly driving me crazy.

(P.S. Don't even get me started on tendons, because they are just as creepy...just not in-your-face annoying.)

Tuesday Tip - Get Your Vitamin D

This last week I went in for a routine checkup and found out that I was Vitamin D deficient.  In fact, according to my provider, Vitamin D deficiency is quite common.

Who knew?

I sure didn't!  In fact, I knew very little about Vitamin D at all, so I decided to go look up a few things.

First off, what is Vitamin D good for anyway?
 

Benefits of Vitamin D (CDC):

• Promotes calcium absorption
• Needed for growth and remodeling
• Assists in neuromuscular and immune function and reduction of inflammation

That sounds like important stuff, right?  I wondered if I could find a way to just add it to my diet more rather than supplementing it.  So I looked up what foods had Vitamin D. 


Foods high in Vitamin D: (The Daily Green)

• Wild Salmon
• Tuna
• Sole or Flounder
• Fortified Milk
• Fortified Cereal
• Pork
• Eggs
• Mushrooms

Bwahahaha!  Well, gee, now it's no real surprise to me that I'm deficient. I hate seafood and mushrooms. That cancels out, like, half of those foods.

Luckily for me, there's another way to get more because the body is designed to produce Vitamin D in response to sunlight exposure.

Hey!  That's sounds pretty good.  I happen to live in a place that gets tons of sunlight.

Of course, it is still winter and I just don't spend as much time in the sun as I should, so for now I will be supplementing...and maybe drinking a little more milk.

P.S. I wouldn't have known about this if I didn't go to regular checkups, so make sure you visit your doctor's office regularly.

For more information, check out the Vitamin D Council website. 

Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream

If you are on Pinterest, you might have seen a pin like this floating around.

Ice cream made from just a banana.

Freeze a banana, blend it in a blender, and voila!  Ice cream!

I decided to try it. Especially since I'm off sweets and this had no added sugar.

This particular recipe added peanut butter to the banana (and a few commenters added that a dash of cocoa powder was super delicious).

The kids and I put it together tonight and I was really surprised.

It actually looked like ice cream.

I was so excited!

Until I tasted it.

Guess what.

It tasted like mashed bananas...that were cold.

Oh wait...mashed bananas with peanut butter that were cold.

Meh.

I wondered if a splash of vanilla would make a difference, so I added that in.

Meh.

It made it a tad tastier, but what I couldn't get over was the texture.  It was nothing like ice cream. Smooth, sure.  But ultimately it was thick, mashed banana that didn't even come close to melting in your mouth.

After 3 bites, I was done.

I asked my 4 year old if he liked the ice cream and he said yes.

"Did it taste like Ice Cream?" I asked.

"No...it just taste like banana."

I guess he wasn't fooled either.  After one or two bites, he and my 2 year old had both had enough.

I guess we will just have to wait till I'm eating sweets again and have real ice cream.

60 Pounds Lighter

250 days and I have reached another milestone.

60 pounds down!

In fact, I skipped right over 60 and went straight to 61 pounds.

Well, I'm sure I was 60 lbs down sometime during weigh in week...you can't really skip a pound, ya know...but I didn't even notice its passing.

When I first started, I figured my ultimate goal would be 70 lbs.  I am feeling pretty good and like where I am at.  That being said, I will still keep doing what I do.  If I reach my 70 lbs, fantastic!!  If not, I am still super-duper pleased.  I feel GREAT (minus a few minor complaints, but that is another post...)

I must thank you all for your continued support.  I wouldn't have been able to do it without you there to keep me honest and on track.

A million thanks!!

30 Day Challenge

Today starts our 30 Day Challenge.

Are you ready for this one, Spankstas?

For 30 days, make a change that is good for your health.

Promise to go to bed every night at 9:00.

Strive to drink 5 full glasses of water every day.

Floss.

Eat two veggies every day.

Free yourself from drinking soda.

Whatever it is that you think you most need, do it for 30 days.

I, myself, am cutting out processed sweets.  Honestly, I'm terrified.  I love me a little chocolate every day.  But I am curious to see how it will affect me.

Am I worried about missing out on Valentines day?  Not really.  There are actually other Holidays where I enjoy the treats much, much more.  Plus, all of those treats keep quite nicely and can wait for me to finish.

What about you?  Are you joining?  What are you doing for your health for the next 30 days?

Weekly Goals

Technically speaking...I failed each goal that I made for this last week.

HOWEVER

I still am counting it as a success. 

Why?

Because I did so much better than I normally would have.

I only attended one Zumba class... but I did attend ONE Zumba class.  Go me!

I had cake to celebrate my parents' birthdays...but I skipped my pre-proportioned treat for that day and still counted the cake in my calories.

I ate out for two meals...but I talked myself out of several others.

The important thing is that I kept moving forward.  Don't ignore the little successes.  It's all part of the big picture.

Here are this week's goals:
1. Attend two Zumba classes.
2. Be diligent in counting ALL calories.
3. Drink 3 full glasses of water a day.

What are your goals this week?

Little Steps

It's that time again for me.

The holidays are over.  The massive amount of sweets are put away.  Life is back to it's typical routine...whatever that is around here.  :) 

It's time to buckle down once more.

I'm starting this week with three basic goals to get me back on track.

GOALS:
1. Attend at least two Zumba classes.
2. Consume only pre-proportioned treats.
3. No eating out.

What are your goals for the week?