Manic Monday- Meal Plan and Accountability week 1

Hey all!! Today marks some new things! I'm getting my act together!! Now every Monday I will be posting about my weigh in and will be putting up a weekly meal plan. I am doing this with three of my friends whom also have blogs. Check them out too!

Here are their blogs..

Honey I Shrunk the Mom

Hollie Runs This

Simply Healthy Mama

Alright let's get down to business! I weighed in this morning ...169  which I'm not happy with but considering two weeks ago I was 174 and that 4 years ago I was 263 I should be very happy about it! Although I keep saying "yeah but in May you were 151". Well it is what it is, I for whatever reason stopped working hard and my weight shows it, so does how I feel. I want to get my energy back and feeling healthy again. 

Here is what I have planned for dinners this week:

Pulled Pork with Homemade Bread
Healthy Pizza
Homemade Chicken Nuggets, veggies and sweet potato fries
Pork Tacos (with the pulled pork)
Greek Style Chicken with tzatziki sauce and veggies on the side.
Veggie Stir Fry
Leftovers

What are your plans for this week? Are you starting over? Let me know in the comments.

Tis the season to think of everyone else, which is a beautiful and wonderful thing.

Except when you stop thinking about yourself. *sigh* I seem to be doing that, I've put my health on the back burner by not making the time for myself. Even though I do have plenty of time where I could be making the time for myself to get back into shape and be healthier I've chosen to be lazy.

I've chosen to be lazy and have chosen to eat crappy food. Yes I could say "it is the holidays...treat yourself, it's OK" I've been saying half of that, but I know that it is not OK. I feel guilty about it because I have been overindulging, and not in a small, healthy way.

I hate to admit it but I have fallen hard off of my low sugar regime. If I ever didn't think that I was addicted to bad food, I know for sure now, I can't control myself with a little. Not recently anyways, I hope one day I can find that healthy balance, but right now I cannot.

I need to jump right back into being strict with my diet and exercise. This past week I have been trying to get back into some of my old habits, I have been drinking more water and I have had more fruits and vegetables. I also am slowly getting back into exercising.

From now on I AM going to journal all of my food and drinks.

I WILL be in control of my cravings!

I know the first week or so will be the hardest, it always seems to be, but I can get through this. I feel embarrassed writing this post and publishing it but I know that if I am not accountable to you all that this will not work.

So here I am being accountable, knowing that once I hit publish I can't turn back, that I need to do this for me. I am terrified of going back to where I was. Sadly I'm on my way there, but I am turning it around NOW!

Elf On The Shelf: Positive Reinforcement

KBeaner was very lucky this year and received an Elf from Santa!!! I think I may have been just as excited as KBeaner was. She decided to name our elf "Merry", she came up with the idea all on her own and said "Like Merry Christmas" SO CUTE!! 

Anyways...I've noticed a lot of people with the Elf like to point out to their children that "the elf is watching..." when the children are not behaving well. I did that the first day, and then I started thinking, "what if she only decides to behave while it's Christmas time? What if she thinks that's the only time when it counts?" I try to do a lot of positive reinforcement with KBeaner anyways, with her I find that that outlook helps her more than me getting "mean". Not to say I don't yell...I mean I am human haha. 

So now when KBeaner does something nice, or is listening well I say to her "I bet Merry is going to tell Santa how well you listened today!" When I say this KBeaner usually says "YEAH!.... oh but I not all the time...I did this.." and then tell me about something she did that was not too nice. I think try to reinforce the positive situation of the day, making that more important than the small part of the day when she was not behaving, because we all make mistakes. The other day KBeaner was throwing a fit, and was sent to time out, recently when she has a time out it is a big production of her screaming and crying. This time she went and took her time out and then we talked about it, there was no screaming! (I was so excited!!) We talked about how even though she did earn a time out, that I was very proud of her that she took her timeout right away and did not fight about it. That day I'm sure Merry the Elf told Santa about how even though KBeaner did make a mistake she took a break and then had a great day! ;)

I guess what I'm trying to say with all of this is that, we should make the Elf on the Shelf (or Holiday friend that comes to visit you)  an even more magical thing! There is so much stress during the Holidays for everyone even kids, let's make it a little easier for them. Enjoy your elves!!

A-Z Thankful Project week 3 Q-Z

Q is for Quiet and sQuare KBeaner originally wanted it to be square since it does have a "q" in it. She is thankful for Quiet because she likes quiet time...sometimes.

R is for Reading "I love reading books with you" -KBeaner

S is for Sunshine "I love when the sun is out!"

T is for Turkey. I asked her why she was thankful for turkey she said "just because..."

U is for Umbrella she said they "keep you dry"

V is for Valentine's Day KBeaner is thankful for that holiday because she "loves hearts"

W is for Water KBeaner said she "loves playing in water and drinking it"

X is for Xylophone because she has "fun" playing hers.

Y is for Yellow because "it is a pretty color"

Z is for Zoo KBeaner is thankful for Zoos because "I love going to them and that's where some animals live" If you're wondering that's a giraffe in that drawing.

A-Z Thankful Project Week 2... H-P

H is for Halloween KBeaner said "because its fun!!"

I is for Ice Cream because "It's so yummy!!!!!"

J is for Jungle because "lions and jaguars live there."

K is for Kindness KBeaner likes "being kind by playing with her friends and cousins"

L is for Legs because she loves "to dance and run"

M is for Mom because she "LOVES" me!!! <3 p="">
N is for Numbers... no real reason for that one.

O is for Octopus they are KBeaner's "favorite sea creature"

P is for Puzzles because KBeaner "loves to do them!"

A-Z Thankful for.... week 1 (B-G)

Here is the continuation of A-Z Thankful Project I am doing with my little one. Click here to see the letter "A".

B is for Ballet

KBeaner is thankful for ballet ...."I love it, I love dancing, and going to class with my teachers, and friends, and I learn new things"

C is for Crayons

KBeaner is thankful for them because...."I love them, I love to draw and all the colors!"


D is for Dad

 KBeaner said "I love Dad...I'm thankful for all the other dads too.. I like Papa.." and then she went on to list her Uncles and some of her friends' Dads! I thought that was so sweet and thoughtful of her to think of all the other great Dads she knows.

 KBeaner is thankful for Energy because... "Bo on the go, you run and give Bo energy!" We also talked about how she needs energy for dance and to play.

 F is for Family KBeaner is thankful for her family because she "loves them!"

She is thankful for Grandparents because ..." I LOVE THEM!!" she yelled that a few times

MIA but back again!

Sorry I have been MIA recently, I was visiting family, and have been pretty busy. Plus to be honest I haven't felt like writing that much either.

I am still at the same weight I have been for the past few months, I'm happy that I'm maintaining but I'd like to be maintaining at a lower weight. I have been trying very hard so far this week to make good food choices. I have been struggling with that a lot recently, I have an easier time saying "yes" to unhealthy foods. I need to consciously remember that the good for me food will make me feel much better than the unhealthy food. Last week I ate like crap, and guess what...I felt like crap!

I am going to try really hard to write more on here, I know I don't have a lot of readers, but the few I have I feel like I need to stay accountable to you! So thank you for reading and keeping me accountable, I hope I can help you too. Whether you're just starting out, have been at it a while and struggling or doing great, I think we all need people to keep ourselves accountable. Obviously we have to be accountable to ourselves first but I think it really does help to have other people who understand what you're going through and are there to listen and support you. I am very lucky to have a lot of those people.

I also need to remember why I started this healthy lifestyle journey...yes part of it was to look and feel good, but really, it is for KBeaner, I want to be here for her, I want to be the best role model I can be and show her how to be healthy!

 

photos by QH Photography