Parenting

Talking about parenting in class this week has really got me thinking about how much I love and miss my own family of origin.  I was very blessed to be brought up in a home where I never doubted that my parents loved each other or us kids.  Something that I love about my relationship with my parents is that I feel a renewed confidence in myself after speaking with them.  In all my associations with my parents, I feel strengthened.  That is something that I am striving to incorporate into my marriage (it sure takes practice!) and something that I hope to emulate as a parent.  I think that if my children know that I think the world of them it will do great things for our relationships!

Thursday, march 28th

10 AM: Lg bowl of honey bunches of oats
3 PM: 1/2 a red bell pepper, 2 tbsp humus, applesauce
8 PM: cheese sandwich on ww bread

11 waters

ran 8 miles

slept 6ish hours

energy at a 7

March 26th, 27th

Tuesday, 26th

9:30 AM: 1 c. oats, 1 tbsp pb
1 PM: lowfat yogurt, protein bar
7 PM: 1 1/2 veggie c. veggie pasta

ran 3 miles

8 waters

8 hours sleep

Energy at a 7

Wednesday, 27th

7:30 AM: ww pb sand
10:30 AM: 1/4 c. almonds and pumpkin seeds, cheesetick, applesauce
2:30 PM: orange pineapple smoothie
5:30 PM: ww pb sand
9 PM: 1 1/2 c. brown rice with butter and salt

For some reason, I was STARVING today!!  I could not get enough.  I ate waaay too much starch, and not a stitch of produce!  Basically we are out of produce until Saturday though, so that probably won't improve too much.

no excercise

9 waters

slept terribly

energy at a 7

Monday, March 25th

I cannot believe that it is March 25th!  Shiver me timbers, where does the time go.

8 AM: 1 piece ww bread with 1 tbsp pb

10:30 AM: 1/4 c. almonds and pumpkin seeds

12 PM:  low fat vanilla yogurt

4 PM: cheese stick, 1 peice ww bread, apple

8 PM: 1 1/2 c. veggie pasta

12 waters

ran/walked 5 miles

Back on track today and feeling great!  Energy at a nice 8, even though I got only 6 hours of sleep!  Stayed up late to finish some homework the night before, naughty me.  

Sunday, March 24th

9 AM: 2 lg. bowls of special K
12 PM: 3 cheese sticks, 2 pieces ww tst with butter, 2 fruit bars, a crescent roll
6:45 PM: 2 fruit bars
8:45 1 tbsp pb, fiber one bar, 3/4 c. hot stuffed veggie quinoa, 2 orange slices

So definitely not a great day with eating.  I just wanted to stuff my face with starches all day long, so I basically did.  We need to go produce shopping and it is also a time of the month where I usually crave a ton of sugar and starch, if you know what I mean...

Slept a good 8 hrs.  As usual, not a problem on the weekend.

8 waters.

I sat in the same spot on the couch for about 11 hours straight doing homework.  That combined with all those starches made for a lethargic 6 on the energy scale.  

Money

I had a lot of fun learning about/discussing finances this week.  I feel excited by the challenge presented to live within our our means and manage our resources.  I love going to this school and being in the classes that I am in.  I think that I am getting a sense of my potential and just the free feeling that my life can be whatever I want it to be.  I know that my husband and I have so many great things ahead of us.  We really want to be in a position to help others however we can, and as we incorporate tools like the debt elimination calendar and a budget, we will be able to have one more resource with which to do so.

March 21st, 22nd

I'm thinking I may start trying to blog at the end of the day of, so's I can better capture the day.  But I suppose this will have to do for now.

Thursday, March 21st

7:30 AM:1 c. cooked oats w/ 1 tbsp natural pb
11 AM: 1/4 c. almonds and pumpkin seeds, 1 piece ww bread, cheese stick
3 PM: apple
4:30 PM: fiber one bar
6:30 PM: pb and ww bread sandwich, 2 popsicles

I had my cooking class today.  We made pie, and I abstained!  Proud!
12 waters

Ran just over 1 mile.  I was supposed to do three, but today was just one of those days where it felt like pullin' teeth.

Same old story with the sleep: went to bed in plenty of time, but didn't sleep too great.  My cute husband has agreed to switch me sides of the bed to see if that helps (I was sleeping by the window/wall, he by the open room/bedroom door).  I think it will help- my side feels sink-y, and I have nightmares about the wall squishing me.

Energy was pretty good, maybe even an 8!

Friday, March 22nd

7:45 AM: 2 pieces ww tst w/natural pb
10:30 AM: apple, low fat vanilla yogurt, fiberone bar
2:30 PM: salad, ww pita

Ok...so this is where it starts to get a little a little ridiculous.  In my defense, I spent most of my day (from 11:30-6:30) working a big event that our office put on, and there was naughty, scrumptious, energy-zapping food EVERYWHERE!!! And in most cases, I was in charge of arranging it,  So I just have to remember that it could have been a lot worse.

3:30 PM: granola bar
6:30 PM: 1/2 c. potato salad, white dinner roll, 3 granola bars
8 PM: m/l bowl of popcorn popped with olive oil and salted, 2 popsicles

10 waters

No exercise (resting up for my big run tomorrow)

SO...Slept on the other side of the bed and...it helped!  It still wasn't a perfect night's sleep, but it was definitely an improvement.  Luckily David sleeps awesome just about any where, so he didn't suffer switching sides.

Energy at a 7

Saturday, March 23rd

10 AM: 1 ww tst w/ natural pb
1 PM: 7 almonds
2 PM: YUMMY smoothie made from yogurt, berries, and almond milk.  1 piece ww tst w/ natural pb
6 PM: 2 cheese sticks
8 PM: m/l bowl of popcorn, prepared as before, cheese stick, 7 olives, 1 granola bar, 3 popsicles

SOOO...this weekend hasn't been the greatest for eating.  I've been eating a lot, and not enough veggies.  mostly due to cravings, but also due to the fact that we need some groceries!  I am trying not to be too hard on myself, because even these past few days is much better than my natural tendencies to gorge myself all the live-long day!  Even though some of my food choices have been questionable and overdoing it, I am grateful that I have still managed to avoid candy and desserts, my Achilles's heel!

10 waters


- I slept great last night, I always do when I can wait to go to bed when I am sleepy and naturally wake up.  I slept about 8.5 hours
- I psyched myself up for it all week, trying to think positively about, think about it something that would definitely happen
- My husband encouraged me and prayed for me.  When David prays for me, it is seriously a game changer!
- I wrote motivational sticky notes and placed them over the time and distance on the treadmill.  I set my pace and watched Andy Griffith shows while I ran.  Every now and then I would take a peek to track my progress, but this way I wasn't focusing on how far I still had to go.
- I ate beforehand and stayed stretched and hydrated throughout.

After I ran, I was pretty pooped.  I hardly did anything else today besides lounge and rest in hopes of recovery!  Energy a 7.

One thing I noticed today as I reviewed this first week's entries is that I haven't seen that much of a spike in my energy levels...But one things that have changed pretty significantly are my moods!  I have felt peaceful and happy.  I have not had my usual mood swings or depression.  I have been slow to anger and quick to smile and make a joke!  I think this is AWESOME!  Other great side effects:  feeling better about myself and my body, and feeling less sluggish.

March 19th, 20th

Tuesday, March 19th

9:15 AM: natural pb sandwich on ww bread, low fat cherry yogurt
1 PM: salad, ww pita
5 PM: apple, string cheese
9:30 PM: 2 lg. bowls special k w/ 2% milk

10 waters, no excercise

So today I came THIS CLOSE to eating sweets!  this is the only day so far that I have had an unbearable urge to deviate from my plan.  It was about 6, an hour after my apple and string cheese, and I just got really hungry again and wasn't prepared with more snacks.  It was rough, but I made it without caving to the craving!
I went to bed in time to get 8 hrs, but it didn't happen.  I tossed and turned.  As a result, I was pretty sleepy, but my energy was pretty decent!  i'd say about a 7.

Wednesday, March 20th

8 AM: fiberone bar with a small applesauce
11 AM: 1/4 c. almonds and pumpkin seeds, low fat cherry yogurt
1PM: 1/2 c. baby carrots
2 PM: ww pita with an avocado spread on it (yum!)
6:15 PM: small strawberry jamba juice

Ran 4 miles, walked 1 mile
8 waters

Once again the issue of going to bed on time but not being able to sleep.  I honestly think I just get really anxious to sleep and it prevents it from actually happening.  Heaven knows, I need the rest.  I'm not napping, i'm going to bed at the same time every night, I'm smelling lavender..I got a lot more sleep before, when I went to bed when I was sleepy (usually around 12 AM) and slept until 6:30 or 7.  Then I at least got 6 or 7 hours...Now I go to bed at 10 and sleep maybe a couple of hours...Something must be done.
One thing I did notice today was that I had amazing energy during my run.  I didn't tire as easily as usual, and  I ran I bit faster as well.  Overall energy at a 7.

Be praying for me/wishing me luck for my 8 mile run on saturday!

March 17th and 18th

Sunday, March 17th

9 AM: 1 slice ww bread, mozzarella cheese stick
11 AM: 1/2 c. carrots, 2 tbps hummus
1 PM: ww bread and natural pb sandwich, light cherry yogurt
2 PM: 1/4 c. almonds and punkinseeds
6:30 PM: 2 LARGE bowls of special k with %2 nilk

The eating went pretty well, except for when my craving for sweets and crunchy carb goodness got the better of me a bit and I ate all that cereal.

8 waters, 1 glass shy of the goal.

As it was Sunday, no excercise.

My energy was pretty low, probably about a 5.  I was sleepy on account of I lived it up my last of freedom and I only got 5 hours of sleep.  Felt slightly nauseous.  Sometimes I don't feel very physically well when I am eating healthy, which strikes me as odd.  I always wonder if I'm not eating the right nutrients or the right amount, or if my body is just having a temporary hissy fit about the excess of fat and sugar being removed from my diet.  I guess I'll just have to stick with it long enough to figure it out, huh?

All in all, I'd say it was a
 pretty successful day.

Monday, March 18th

7 AM: 1 c.cooked quick oats, 2 tbsp natural pb, 1 apple
10:14 AM: 1 c. baby carrots, 1 mozarella cheese stick, 1/2 c. almonds and punkinseeds
2 PM: 1 banana
4 PM: 1 ww pita
8 PM: 11/2 c. hot stuffed vegetable quinoa, ww pita
12 waters

I went to bed just leaving just 10 minutes shy of the 8 hours required.  Hey, I had to finish The Walking Dead.  Though I went to bed early, I unfortunately slept perfectly awfully.  I don't sleep great, as a rule, and I sleep especially terribly when I know it's really important for me to sleep well.  What is up with that?!  At any rate, last night was a mess of tossing, turning and sweating.  I woke up with a headache and nausea but felt better shortly after eating breakfast (which was darn tasty, btw!) Although I was sleepy today, my energy was up a bit, maybe a 7.  Now I don't want you to see that I don't feel well or sleep well and have low energy and chalk it up to this new lifestyle, It's been pretty bad the past few years!  I would say that my average energy is about 5-7.  I am working really hard to change that, and I feel that it's only natural to have an adjustment period.  I fully expect to see great results and to feel awesome!  Just waiting for the proverbial dust to settle.

As far as exercise goes:  I am training for a half marathon (13.1 looong miles, count 'em!) held in Ogden, UT on May 18th.  I have been  training for about 4-5 weeks, running 4x/week.  When I started, I could only run 2 miles, and I have worked my way up to 5!  I am really proud of the progress that I have made, but 5 is still really hard for me, and I am struggling to up my mileage.  Sometimes 3 miles still feels difficult, and longer runs (like the 6 I was supposed to run on Saturday and ended up walking) evade. I am getting nervous/stressed/discouraged.  I have really been doubting my abilities.  This Saturday I am supposed to run 8 miles, and it seems impossible! One thing that I have thought would be helpful is having someone to run alongside me.  There's just something about knowing you are not alone that makes it easier to carry on.
Well, today I ran 3 miles, and it was one of those days when 3 was hard.  BUT- I totally did it!  And what's more, I met a cool girl named Alex who loves to run and who is going to run my long runs with me on Saturdays!  What a wonderful blessing.

Fatigue Management

Today is the first day of my practitioner project!  Here are the details:

Are you tired, run down, and listless? Do you poop out at parties? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should participate in my FATIGUE MANAGEMENT project! The goal of this project is to see what happens to the energy levels of participants who follow certain patterns of healthy living for a two-week period. The project runs from March 17th through March 30th. Please readthe following guidelines and comment if you are ready to kick your fatigue in the tushie!

Please remember that I AM NOT A DOCTOR! These rules for fatigue management are just the result of my research. Listen to your body and research things for yourself as well. The rules of fatigue management:

1. Exercise for AT LEAST 20 minutes AT LEAST 3 times per week

2. The hardest part: Get 8 hours of sleep per night. Less can obviously sap energy away, but so can more than 9 hours of sleep for a developed adult.

3. Drink 9-13 glasses of water per day

4. Eat a nutritious breakfast EVERY DAY

5. Eat 5-6 small nutritious meals per day instead of a few large ones

6. In the late afternoon or when you know your energy usually dips, make one of your small meals a protein/carbohydrate combo. Some suggestions:
http://www.wkyc.com/news/health/cuttingedge/article/205925/407/Fighting-Fat-The-power-of-the-protein-carb-combo
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/snacks/low-calorie/after-workout-snacks/
http://www.bodyresults.com/e2supersnacks.asp

7. Make sure you are eating iron-rich food daily and/or take iron supplements. Some sources of iron can be found here:
http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/food-sources-of-iron.php
http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/top-iron-sources-44111008#slide-1

8. Make sure you are eating ENOUGH calories
Free calorie calculator:
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

9. No caffeinated beverages

10. On a daily basis, rate your energy level on a scale of 1 to 10, describe your feeling and observations- share with me so that I can complete my project!

Those are the hard and fast rules. You can decide for yourself if you want to add or eliminate additional things.  An additional rule that I will be applying is no sweets or desserts- simply because I have never been able to be "moderate" with those, and sugar causes your energy to spike and crash.  Just keep in mind that the healthier you are, the more energy you are likely to have, and everything that you put into your body should be for the purpose of fueling it. Let me know if you have any questions!
Remember- failure to prepare is preparing to fail! I would highly recommend that before March 17th, you sit down and plan out your exercise and meals, and go shopping for what you need.

I will be sharing ideas and posting updates on this blog about my implementation of this plan, and I will also be rating my average energy of the day from a scale of 1 to 10.  In order to give a more complete view of the day, I will most likely be posting retroactively.

A few of my friends have been so kind as to consent to jump on the band wagon with me (hurrah!) and to share their findings and results as well, so that we will get a good idea if the suggestions for managing fatigue that I came across in my research are actually effective.   

Don't Speak, I Know Just What You're Saying.

Do you ever feel like you are trying so hard to communicate, but you are not being understood?  It can be a very frustrating feeling, and if you feel consistently thwarted in your efforts to communicate, it can even lead to depression or despair.  How could you help but feel lonely when you feel as though no one understands you?

Luckily, there are things that we can do to enhance the way we understand and the way we are understood.  With those that we love especially, we must strive to learn their codes, and to make our codes known unto them.  The term “coded” indicates the meaning of something- in this case, the meaning of something we say or a way that we act.  In a marriage relationship, if both partners understand what is truly meant as opposed to what is actually said or conveyed, communication is vastly improved.  Take for instance the wife who says, “I am so miserable!”  The husband could interpret this as “You make me so miserable!” when in fact, what the wife means is that she is facing a hard challenge at work, school, or even that she hasn’t felt physically well lately!  Our teacher told an example of a husband who was frustrated (NOT with his wife) and demonstrated his frustration by pounding his fist against a wall.  His wife wouldn’t speak to him for days, and when she would finally talk about it, she shared that she was hurt and scared because she interpreted his fist pound to the wall as a desire to hit her.

It is imperative that we not only strive to clearly express our feelings, but also that we resist the temptation to assume that we know what the other person means.  Take the time to learn how to communicate with each other.  I bet you’ll be glad that you did!

Jedi Mind Tricks

This week I learned how to change the way that I think.  I learned that when we act out of emotion, we literally become a completely different person.  The reason for this is that the (emotional) part of our brain that senses danger is so prevalent that we are unable to think of anything else besides the perceived threat or possible danger.  So we are unable to think rationally.  One way that we can try to bring that element in in order to make better decisions is that we can become cognitive and aware of what we are feeling and thinking.  This allows some of our rational thinking abilities to start creeping back in and slowly, before  you know it, the crazy element is greatly reduced. 

Trading Your Birthright

Tonight I went to Stake Conference.  One of the speakers talked about "trading your birthright for a mess pottage."  he asked us what we thought that meant, and some of the responses given were about how our nature is divine, how we are heir to the Eternal Kingdom, yet sometimes we inadvertently exchange that great inheritance for something of much less value.  This train of thought caused me to ponder the subject of marital intimacy, which we have been studying and discussing this week.  My thoughts are this: sometimes, I feel that we either overlook the sacred potential of intimate marital relations, do not correctly understand or value them, and at times we even crowd intimacy out of our lives, filling our time with things of much less value.