Paleo - Day One

Yesterday I started eating the Paleo way. Mostly I'm just eliminating processed carbs, grains & dairy (except for eggs). So far it's been a good transition. Here's what my day looked like yesterday:

Breakfast:

• 2 scrambled eggs
• black coffee with honey

Lunch:

• 1/2 steak
• salad (kale, chard, romaine, spinach) with olive oil & seasoning & avocado - I was out of balsamic vinegar which I didn't realize until after I had made the salad.
• 1 apple with sunflower seed butter
• pumpkin seeds

Snack:

• almonds & pumpkin seeds

Dinner:

• 1 apple with sunflower seed butter

I worked last night from 4pm - 9pm so I didn't get home from work until 9:20. By then I knew I wasn't going to make an official dinner, and I actually wasn't all that hungry either so that's why I opted for the apple & sunbutter. I do also realize that I need to incorporate more vegetables ... I'm working on it.

I'm pretty excited about this way of eating because I don't have to measure food or count calories. I just eliminate the processed carbs & grains & dairy and continue to eat lean meats & fish. I haven't felt deprived and hungry like I felt before when I was on a traditional diet.

Although you're not supposed to weigh yourself daily, based on my morning weight yesterday & my morning weight today, I've lost 2.5 pounds. But being female with shifting water weight I know that the scale fluctuates a lot during the day so I'm not overly convinced it was due to one day of eliminating processed foods. Who knows.

And while I might not follow the Paleo diet 100%, I do feel better about eliminating the processed sugars & carbs & grains.

New

New Year.

New Job.

New Body.

New POST!  Freaking finally, right?

Happy New Year!  The first few weeks of 2011 have flown by - we've all been super busy.

I got a new job that started January 3rd.  I am a part time teller at a local credit union and I am so happy with this job.  I think I said it best in my Facebook status: LOVING my new employer! It's definitely hard to be away from my kids, but it's also oddly rejuvenating to be working in a professional environment again. It's only been 2 days but I already feel happier as a person and happier as a mother. I'm also thrilled to finally be contributing financially to our household. And my kids are in great hands with my parents - so far it's a win/win situation :) Happy 2011!!


As for the new body, I'm planning to renew my gym membership now that we have more income (thanks to my new job).  I really need to work on improving my fitness level, for both my physical & mental health.  I haven't been this out of shape in a very long time - it's frustrating & disappointing.
 
I'm also trying to get more organized.  I've found a few sites that are really helpful so I thought I'd share with you as well:
 
http://www.simplemom.net/
http://organizing.yourway.net/
http://www.mint.com/
 
Have a great 3-day weekend!

Guilt & Disappoinment

I disappoint myself constantly.  I don't have a regular house cleaning routine.  I don't actually have any house cleaning routine.  I have that "only child" perfectionist characteristic where I have a hard time starting projects because I don't want to get interrupted, so I figure if I won't have time to complete something from start to finish, why even start.  And since I have a three year old whose favorite hobby is dumping every toy in the house, I never feel like I make any progress anyway.  I can spend an hour picking up the house and 15 minutes later it doesn't look like I did anything.

I called a few house cleaning services today just to inquire about cost, convincing myself that if our house got one good deep clean, then I could maintain it.  It's just the initial deep clean that's hard for me to accomplish on my own.  The first place I called offered me a few options, and then suggested an in home estimate to get a more accurate price.  She told me they had plenty of afternoon and evening appointments because she "assumed I worked" and would need one of those later times.  How's that for feeling like a crappy Stay-At-Home-Mom?  I stay home all day, yet I want someone to come clean my house for me.  More guilt.  More disappointment.

And I'm getting fatter.  I'm eating constantly and it's always comfort foods because I've always been the type of person who eats when they're stressed or depressed.  Or bored.  I almost wish I could have my post-partum anxiety back because that was the best diet.  I had absolutely NO appetite.  I really wish I could get it together.  I'm turning 30 on Friday and I want to start feeling better about myself instead of feeling like a lazy blob.  I miss feeling pretty.

I miss feeling like myself.

Making Changes

I'm going to try to quit coffee. I drink a lot, and although it's decaf I'm sure I'm still drinking way too much. So this morning I had my first cup of decaf green tea.

I need to lay off the food because over the past week I really over indulged. And I know that happens around the holidays, but for real ... I think I ate almost a whole pumpkin pie over the course of 4 days. I need to start working on losing the baby weight. I can't rejoin my gym just yet because I don't want to take Lillian to the child care place there until she's older because of flu season. So I'm going to go workout when my parents can watch Lillian & Brandt, or on the weekend when Joe is home. I'm hoping to go this afternoon because my parents are still in town. I really miss it ... I felt great when I was working out regularly.

Last night I slept better, or more accurately, Lillian slept better. The past few nights she wouldn't sleep unless I was holding her. If I put her down, she'd be up 20-30 minutes later. I think I got a total of 8 hours of sleep over 3 nights, so I was not in a good place mentally or physically. And I know it's because she doesn't feel well ... she's been stuffy & hoarse, so she's been dealing with a little cold. But she's starting to feel better because last night she went right back to sleep after eating, so I probably got close to 7 hours of sleep IN ONE NIGHT!! Happy Dance! I know it doesn't last forever and that she will eventually sleep longer at night, and every day gets me closer to that goal. It's just exhausting right now.