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Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Whole Grains and Such

Before I go on to whole grains, I want to address my goals again. I realized that I put too many on one week. I need to make 2 or so a habit before adding the next one and so on. I've been so resistant to doing some of these things, that I need to start a little smaller. But I'm only dropping #6 - the "to do" list. The rest are too important to put off.

On to whole grains.........

I love to bake. I've always done some baking, but lately it's become almost an obsession. Even worse, it's a great way to avoid doing what you really SHOULD be doing - like laundry, getting dressed, exercising and counting calories! On the other hand, I really, really enjoy it and am amassing a wonderful collection of recipes. So, I figured if I'm going to bake, at least maybe I can try to find a more healthful approach to baking. In that vein, I asked for and received King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking. So far I really like it. Even if the recipes don't always turn out fantastically, I'm learning about different kinds of flour, what works and what doesn't. Even bad recipes are learning experiences. I haven't had any downright bad recipes from this book yet, but some have been better than others.

Why eat whole grain, you ask? Check out these articles for some good information:

Get the Whole Truth (MSNBC/Newsweek)

Why is it important to eat grains, especially whole grains?
(MyPyramid/USDA)

Dish Up Whole Grains (Cooking Light)

Anyway, you can check out these recipes over at The Savory Notebook. Although these are whole grain recipes, they are NOT low fat, so you still need to eat them sparingly. Which is a big reason why I really need to count calories!

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Time to dust this blog off......

........and try again. Wow. I can't believe that Halloween was my last post! Well, I guess I can believe it.

Time to try again!

While I'd like the main focus of this blog to be health and fitness, I have realized that I need to make other changes to my life in order to get not just my fitness program jump-started, but my life in general.

Although I have been working part time subbing in the schools, so far it has been very part time - I am basically a stay-at-home-mom these days and therefore without a set schedule. Even worse, I do not have any activities outside the home to keep me busy. When we lived in Indiana, I was always pretty active even as a SAHM with things like MOMS Club, scrapbooking with friends, etc. Here, I don't have a social circle to help me get out of the house and keep active. I do volunteer at the schools occasionally, but those opportunities don't arise often enough to keep me busy much.

The result? I spend a lot of time doing inactive things like surfing the internet for recipes, cooking (gets me up and moving, but also eating) or working on my blog(s). It's admittedly fun to have time to do these things, but at the same time, I spend TOO much time on them.

The lack of schedule has not only made me more sedentary, but also less organized with no real routine. So, I have more time on my hands than ever, but I feel like I'm getting less done than ever. Ironic, huh? I find that I put off what needs to be done because I can always do it some other time.

The only good thing to come out of this extra time is more cooking (as opposed to takeout) and at least a hobby of some sort - blogging. Still, cooking and blogging don't get the house clean or the bills paid. Actually, bills are one thing that I have been very organized about - we are on a tight budget, so I've really been keeping a very close eye on finances. And thank goodness. A disorganized house is one thing, mishandling finances another thing entirely!

Some people are natrually energetic and self-motivated. I am not one of those people. Therefore, I need to set up a few goals and get myself on some sort of schedule to keep myself going and accountable. I plan to put a few of FlyLady's principals to work here to help me get started. More on FlyLady later. And to be fair - it's not as if the house is in terrible disarray - it's not - but it could be better and I let things (like laundry) go too long and there are quite a few projects that I would like to get done that I keep putting off and putting off, for no really good reason at all.

To get things started, I'll set a few fairly simple goals:

1. Exercise 5 times a week.
2. Weight train 2 times a week.
3. Count calories.
4. Showered and dressed by 9:00 a.m.
5. One load of laundry per day.
6. Make a "to do" list and accomplish at least one thing off that list every day.

Some of these goals may sound pretty silly to some of you, but this is my reality at the moment - I need a major kick in the butt! I'm going to start small and add on and/or change these goals as weeks progress.

That's it for today. Just enough to get things started. As FlyLady says......babysteps!