Clean Eating Challenge: Step 2 -- Eat Breakfast (and make it a good one)

First of all, I have to ask how your week was last week.  Did you do well with your water intake?  I hope so...  And DON'T stop!  Keep it up for this week too.  Each week we'll focus on one more thing to add.

For this week, I really want to focus on the most important meal of the day.  You've all heard that breakfast is the most important all your life, right?  But why?  Did you ever wonder why it's considered the most important? 

Well, let me tell you what I know. 

Breakfast is so important not only for your health but also for your metabolism and your brain.  We all know that kids who eat breakfast do better in school than those who don't as a whole. 

When we eat breakfast, we are breaking a long fast that our bodies have been enduring all night.  It's great for our bodies to take that break for the night, however, if you extend the fast beyond the hours of sleep, your body goes into starvation mode.  For some people, this sounds appealing.  They think that if their body starves it will chew the fat right off of them.  The fact is, when your body goes into starvation mode, it starts chewing on muscle tissue and other areas that you don't want it to.  Then, when you finally give your body some substance at lunchtime or whenever you decide to nourish your body for the first time each day, it holds onto whatever it can from that meal fearing that you will starve it again. 

Simple fact:  Breakfast boosts your metabolism!  Eat it!!

So, what do you eat for breakfast usually?  Nothing?  Cold cereal?  Oatmeal?  Eggs? 

I personally have never had a problem eating breakfast.  The only problem I've ever had is the content of my breakfast.  Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, pancakes with way too much sugary syrup, or a granola bar (the candy bar-ish type), etc.

These days, my breakfasts are much healthier than they've ever been.  I usually have some oatmeal (I really like the steel-cut oats) with a whole banana cut into it and some skim milk to bring it to the consistency I prefer.  That gives me my carb, and a fruit.  To add a protein I usually eat boiled eggs... 1 whole, 1 white only.  

When eating clean, always try to pair a carb with a protein.  A carb could even be a fruit or veggie.  

If you think it sounds bland to eat my oats with nothing on it, you're right.  It was hard for me at first to eat it with only a banana and milk in it.  I've grown to love the flavor of the oats on their own and with a whole banana cut up in it, I pretty much get a sweet flavor with every bite.  Sounds strange but I don't even miss the sugar anymore.  But if that's too bland for you to start with (or forever), you can certainly use a clean sweetener to help you out with the flavor.  Just try to use less of it than you normally might.  

Some options would be honey, agave nectar (try to buy 'raw'), Sucanat (aka dehydrated cane juice),  or pure maple syrup (the real stuff).  You could also use Stevia (use VERY little as this is potent stuff... too much tastes bitter) but I don't like it.  They sell 'Stevia' products by the sugars in the grocery stores but that stuff is not clean.  Highly processed!  The real stuff is in the health food stores.  But there will be more on that later in a future post for our Clean Eating Challenge.  

Of course, you don't have to eat oatmeal for breakfast.  There are tons of other clean options as well.  This is just what I prefer in the mornings.  Anthony loves to eat his whole wheat bagels with boiled eggs and an orange.  

Other great options include Ezekiel cereals, Kashi cereals (look at sugar content though... I like to keep it under 8 grams per serving.  Yes, it's clean sugar but still sugar), whole wheat (or whole grain) toast, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), turkey bacon (which is a protein), fruits, etc.

There are so many options, it's not even funny.  Angie, with your gluten intolerance, I'm not sure what you usually eat.  I'm an avid fan of breads and things with wheat so asking me to go gluten-free would be like asking me to go vegetarian cold turkey (no pun intended ;).  I'm so dependent on carbs and meats to create my meals at this point that I would be lost if I tried to change it up too much.  I would love your insight, however.  The plan is to eventually migrate more into those areas because I know it would improve my family's health but at this point, I'm just working on whole foods.  

And that's really it, everyone.  Just try to find products that God gave us to incorporate for breakfast.  If the ingredient list says something like chlorosnapwnvoams (not real, just made up)... it's probably a man-made chemical or something.  A preservative, a nasty, yucky thing that our bodies don't know what to do with.  If you can't pronounce it, you probably shouldn't be eating it.

Don't worry about anything else at this point.  Just keep drinking lots and lots of water and make sure you're eating a good breakfast.  Baby steps, right?  This is not too hard yet is it?  WE CAN DO THIS!!  

In case you missed it, here's Step One
and here's the Intro

Soda Pop Can Hair Bows & Felt Hair Bows

Update:  I seem to be getting a lot of hits on this post and I'm guessing that it's because people want to know how to make the soda can bows.  Sorry this isn't a tutorial but I just decided to start a new blog with Wordpress (and can I just say I'm soooo lost... WP is way too complicated) and I've posted a tutorial there.  Here's the link.  I hope you'll follow me on that blog even though there's not much there yet.  Big plans I tell ya, I've just got to figure out how Wordpress works!  Any advice?  Leave a comment to let me know that you stopped by. 

I've been searching for a way to make some extra money since my girls really want to take dance lessons, gymnastics, soccer, swimming, karate and whole plethora of other things.  Well, Anthony and I aren't rich by any means.  Putting even just one kid in any one of these activities would be a stretch for us.  So, we have to get creative in order to make at least one activity a possibility for the girls. 

I'm not really the crafty type no matter how badly I want to be but I have a friend that mentioned on her blog that she had been making soda can hair bows to raise money for her son to get to science camp.  I think it was science camp anyway.  She made enough for him get there and I asked her for the 'recipe' to make such a thing out of a soda can.  Did you know it was even possible?  I didn't!  I thought the edges would be sharp and dangerous.  Surprisingly, they're not! 

My friend was kind enough to share her expertise in such bow making... funny that she thought to make those because she's a mom of five boys.  No girls in that house, except her of course. 

Anyway, they have been so fun to make and since we're trying to get the girls in dance lessons, I've decided to share them here on my blog in case YOU want to buy any. 

Not only those, but K has been hard at work making felt hairbows as well.  She is hoping to help in the effort to make some $$ in order to make it possible to get dancing! 

So, here's an example of our creations.  Soda can bows are $4 and the felt ones are $2.  Let me know if you are interested by either leaving a comment with contact info or you can contact me at babblinbrooke 22 at gmail dot com  (no spaces of course).

 All of the cans I have are donated so I don't always have the colors/brands you may be looking for.  I can send you a list of what I do have on hand or you can choose from the bows that are ready made. 

These are K's felt bows.  You can choose colors/patterns or choose from ready made bows. 

The Serpent Beguiled Me!

I start this post with a long, heavy sigh.  **Siiiiiiiiiggghhh**

I'm so disappointed in myself!  In all the years I've been a mother, I have prided myself on the fact that none of my kids have ever had a sunburn.  Not possible you say?  Ok, well if I'm being honest, you're right.  They've each had slightly pinked cheeks at least a few times each summer but I'm talking about RED sunburns.  The ones that really hurt when you try to smile or even talk.  Growing up I had plenty of them!  But my kids, for the most part are usually protected with a thick layer of sunscreen.  I'm the sunscreen queen. 

Go sunscreen!! 

Today, however, as we all hurriedly scrambled to get ready for the Family Fiesta that was taking place for K and A's Liberty Girls group, I failed to remember ahead of time to rub the kids faces and arms with sunscreen.  I did manage to remember that I had forgotten (is that an oxymoron?) so I grabbed the sunscreen on our way out and threw it into the diaper bag, which is actually a backpack but that's irrelevant.  Sorry. 

So anyway, I had planned to put it on once we got to the leader's home where the fiesta was being held. 

Once there, we got out of the car and it was surprisingly chilly (for a moment there I couldn't remember how to spell chilly *chili*, *chile*, *chillie*... WOW!) and it was overcast.  You see the problem?  Overcast and chill are the culprits!  Serpents, if you will. 

We had a wonderful time at this said fiesta and got to watch K and A perform their little Mexican dance with their big, long skirts, which will be forever adored I'm sure and eat some Mexican food.  And there in the middle of all of this was my fair-skinned little B.  Poor baby!  A couple hours after the shindig, I realized he was flushed.  Sadly, it was not flushing cheeks, it was a BURN... his poor little face got FRIED!  His arms were slightly pinked but nothing major.  But his poor little face... 

Dang you SERPENT!!  Grrrr!!

And guess what, I will never hear the end of this!  This is exactly what I always chastised Anthony about when he worked construction. 

Me:  "Uuuuummmm, you're really red!  Did you forget to wear sunscreen today... again?"

Anthony:  "Oh, yeah I guess so.  Sorry.  But it was cloudy and cold so I didn't even think I needed any."

Me:  "You can still get burned with cloudy skies.  You know you're gonna get skin cancer someday and I'm not gonna be happy with you.  Or maybe we'll end up like the people who smoke.  You're the smoker and I'll end up getting skin cancer even though I protect myself."

Anthony:  **eye roll** "Oh brother."

Needless to say, I have been teased all evening about this.  I let a kid get fried once and I'll never hear the end of it.  Never again I say!  Never again. 

I'll be posting pics of the fiesta (and B's poor little face) tomorrow.  Right now I'm going to watch a movie. ;)

Clean Eating Challenge: Step 1 -- Replace your beverages!

Drink water!! 

Simple enough for this week?  I think so, and yet, it was so hard for people like Anthony and me.  Anthony was absolutely dependent on Coca-Cola while I was a huge fan of milk with everything!  Milk and I were great friends.  But when I discovered clean eating, I realized that I needed to up my water intake and decrease the amount of calories I was drinking. 

So, week number one, make sure you are drinking your water!  How much should you be drinking?  The most common answer we hear to that question is 8-10 glasses per day, right?  Well, that's a great guideline but that might be way more than you actually need.  Or it could be much less than you need.  Another way to guesstimate the amount of water you need is to take your weight in pounds, divide it in half and that number is the amount of ounces in water you need to drink on a daily basis.  Make sense? 

If you weigh 150 lbs, half of that is 75.  You should be drinking 75 ounces of water. 

Basically, what you need to do is drink more water than you ever thought you could handle.  Yes, you'll be in the bathroom often.  But guess what that does... it gets rid of excess water weight you may be carrying! 

Does it seem odd to you that in order to get rid of water weight you actually need to drink MORE water?  Me too. 

But from what I gather, when you are carrying excess water, it's because your body isn't getting enough to begin with so it retains all it can for fear that you won't give it more.  Layman's terms.  I'm not a very technical person so that's as good as it gets.  Just a simple gal. 

So, here's the plan:

• Drink a glass of water when you first wake up in the morning.
• Drink a glass before/during every meal.  It will help you feel fuller and you might eat less.   
• Drink water any time you think you are hungry.  Often times we mistake thirst for hunger.  If you're still hungry after a few minutes, grab a snack.
• Pee often -- trust me, you will have no problem with this if you are drinking like you are supposed to.
• Make sure you drink water inbetween all meals as well. 
• If you feel you must have something to drink other than water during a meal or snack, cut it back to one drink per day.  

DRINK YOUR WATER!!!!!

I don't really care HOW you drink your water, just drink it.  I happen to like mine with ice and a straw.  Yes, it really does taste better with a straw.  Yep, I'm a kid sometimes.  But if you like it room temperature, drink it room temperature.  If you like it with lemon, put some lemon in it.  If you like it with Crystal Light.... you're out of luck!  Those 'packet' things are all OUT!  No powdery substances allowed!  Lemons, limes, ice, celery (weird?), carrots (weirder?), etc... all allowed.  GO FOR IT!  

And that's it!  Not too bad for week one, right?  You can do this.  Don't worry about changing anything else for now. 

And if you're already drinking plenty of water, then you are just one step ahead of the game.  Good for you!  

Let me know if you lose any water weight by the end of this week.  I did when I replaced my beverages.  

Have a happy day (in the bathroom! ;)

Don't forget to comment on my INTRO to Clean Eating post to enter the giveaway. 

What is Clean Eating? - INTRODUCTION

So sorry!  My Saturday kind of got away from me.  And this morning was church, then lunch, then family chats, and now we're watching a movie.  Which means I can finally tell you what clean eating is! 

But before I do, I am just curious..... who's doing the challenge with me?  LeShel, you still in?  It's not scary. 

Tell you what, if you're planning to take the Clean Eating Challenge, leave a comment and at the end I want to do a give-away.  But only if you really are going to try the challenge.  Or, if you want to leave a comment anyway, how the heck am I going to know you're not taking the challenge?  I mean, really, I can't check up on you.  ;)

This is how the challenge will work:

Each Monday I will present a new step.  Baby steps are what it's all about.  Going cold turkey could be disastrous to your progress.  It's true!  I don't know what it is about baby steps.  I just know that they work.  So, check every Monday morning for the new step of the week.  And what is it about Mondays?  Every goal or diet or plan or whatnot always starts on Monday.  I may not understand it but it seems to be the way to go so we're going with it.  

Now time for the disclaimer:

Please remember that I am not a physician, physicians assistant, nurse, nutritionist, dietician, fitness expert or anything of the sort.  I don't know what your particular diet needs are.  I am only presenting this challenge because it is what has worked for my family and has really prepared us for a life of better health and increased energy.  That is not to say that we will never encounter illnesses or physical ailments.  I just know that we feel better, look better, and have way more energy than we did even just six short months ago.  That said, we never realized how poor our diet was until discovering how to eat real, whole foods and eliminate highly processed foods and refined sugars.  It was then that our diets took a major turn for the better and we can definitely tell when we've eaten something yucky.  But more on that later...

Also, I am NOT an expert.  I am a beginner and am definitely learning more about eating clean every day.  My diet is FAR from perfect, just a work in progress.  This challenge is a way for me to keep myself accountable. 

Now on to the question you're all dying to know the answer to.  I know you are!  Well, maybe not but we're going to venture there anyway.  What is clean eating?  Here's the part where you are anticipating a clear, educated, extremely thought-out, detailed answer.  And here's the part where I highly disappoint you by telling you that I can't answer that for you.  It's a loaded question with more answers than I care to count.  Why?  Because it's different for every person.  

Remember the three cookbooks I got for Mother's Day?  They are all clean eating cookbooks but they all contradict each other.  Sounds funny, I know.  I was as surprised as you are.  Or maybe you're not surprised at all but I sure was. 

Here's an example of the contradictions.  Let's use MILK!  (The opinions and conclusions I've drawn from each of the following are my own.  These are only my interpretations.)

The Diet Rebel's Cookbook:  The authors of this book tend to believe that milk and all milk products should be in whole, raw form.  Raw, meaning unpasteurized and not homogenized, milk straight from the source.  That is not easy to find, mind you.  I know that there's a store here in Utah called Real Foods Market that is the only licensed market here to carry raw milk.  I personally have never been there since there isn't one in my area but I am hoping they open one up closer to me.  I'm intrigued by this idea of raw milk.  Are you?  Here's a blog post I found about the benefits of raw milk. 

These authors also believe that cream cheese, sour cream, yogurt, cheese, cream, butter etc. should be in it's whole, raw form.  No skim, no lowfat, just whole and raw. 

And a note on meats-- They like the lean cuts of beef, chicken, fish, turkey, pork, etc.  All in moderation. 

The Eat Clean Diet for Families and Kids:  Tosca Reno, the author, tends to believe that dairy products should be lowfat and/or skim.  Reduced fat cheeses (very minimal), skim milk, lowfat cottage cheese and yogurt, etc.  This is not necessarily fact but I've gathered that she's not a fan of cream cheeses, butter, or sour cream.  Too much fat maybe?  I don't know for sure. 

Meats-- Same as the book listed above but she also really likes Bison.  It's leaner than beef.  Ever tried it?  I had a bison burger recently and didn't even know until Anthony told me.  I thought it was beef with a slightly different texture than normal. 

Clean Food:  Terry Walters is the author of this one and she is VEGAN!  I was really looking forward to this book for this reason.  My family looooves meat.  In fact, I don't really know how to make a dinner without it.  I'm a steak and potatoes gal!  Every meal I know how to make has meat as a main staple whether it's ground beef, chicken, turkey, or whatever else.  Meat is a staple at our house.  However, I've wanted to cut back on the amount of meats we eat.  The Word of Wisdom says to eat meats sparingly and I feel that we have a long way to go before we can say we are following those guidelines. 

Anyway, forgive the tangent above... I've learned from this book that along with all dairy products and eggs, even honey is out on a vegan diet.  It's an animal product so I shouldn't have been surprised by that but I was.  Did you realize that honey is un-vegan (not a word, I know!)? 

I've also learned that there are a gazillion ingredients out there that I've never heard of and normal grocery stores apparently haven't either.  So, it's back to Whole Foods again.  They carry more of the not-so-normal ingredients.  Hopefully they don't remember me from my last visit! 

Well, we already know her take on meats... NONE! 

Do you see why it's so frustrating to try and define exactly what clean eating is?  **Sigh**  All I can do is give you a few guidelines and you get to decide from there what's right for you and your family.  I'll let you know what my family has been doing along the way.  That will help define what clean eating is for US!  It may differ from your idea of clean eating. 

OH!  That reminds me, another way they differ is on the subject of SOY!  How do you feel about soy?  My family has never really integrated soy into our diets so I tend to side with book number one above on this subject.  They believe it to be too highly processed not good for our bodies anyway so they avoid all soy products.  Book number two uses some soy, and book number three seems to LOVE it.  There are still plenty of recipes without soy but as a whole, she seems to love it. 

Another thing we'll discuss in the future is sprouting.  I can honestly say that I have never sprouted anything.  Not wheat, nuts, quinoa, buckwheat, nothin'.  But I'm tellin' you, it seems to be the one common theme among all three of the books.  So, that's a subject for later... perhaps MUCH later.  We'll see how long it takes me to successfully sprout something.  Then, and only then, we'll discuss.  Have you ever sprouted anything?  I could definitely use a pointer or two.  Maybe ten. 

The only basic definition of clean eating I can give you is that it means no processed foods, no refined sugars, eat what God gave you!  Basically, if God made it, you can eat it.  If man made it, DON'T!  I realize that's vague but we'll figure it all out together.  And hey, there are exceptions.  There are ALWAYS exceptions... to everything. 

Well, I guess that's it for our intro.  Confused?  Don't be.  I'll help you out with the process as we get going.  Check in tomorrow morning for Step 1 of The Clean Eating Challenge.  See you then!  I promise not to be a day late.  It'll be up first thing in the morning. :)

Oh, and don't forget to comment and let me know that you'll be doing the challenge with us.  LeShel, if you end up being the only one, I guess you win!  ;)  I'm going to give away one of the books listed above.  The winner gets to choose which one is the most appealing to them.  It doesn't matter when you decide to join... now, a week from now, three weeks in, whatever.  Just let me know you are taking the challenge and at the end, a winner will be chosen! 

Are you ready?

Monday is almost here!  You know what that means, right?  EAT CLEAN TIME!  So, get ready.  It's going to be great.  I hope you'll join me and see how good you can feel.  Honestly, it's amazing. 

Later tonight I'll have a post about what clean eating really is and some resources to help you.  Can't wait! 

Marathon Toes

puh-TAY-duh

This past weekend we headed up to Potato Land (pronounced puh-TAY-duh land), aka Idaho.  It was a crazy but fun weekend.  

Shortly after running his first marathon, Anthony was convinced by his sister, Camille, to run yet another one (only four short weeks later) in Boise.  The Great Potato Run!  And when I say shortly after, I mean like the next day.  He was talked into it the very next day.  Or maybe it was two days... hmmm, can I get a ruling on that?  In any case, he was still walking like he'd been riding a horse for three days straight so I was surprised that he was so quick to agree.  

Camille has been running marathons for years now and it's no big deal to her.  Anthony is a newborn in the marathon world, apparently a very eager newborn.  So, we headed up there to the land of puh-TAY-duhs.  

There are a gazillion pictures below so if you're not a picture person, this may not be the post for you.  56 is the new gazillion, right?  

Little B getting restless, shortly into our road trip.

And C admiring all the cows and horses along the way.  He thought that was the coolest thing ever.

The girls in the back, watching Mary Poppins.

Our first pit stop.  I decided to take a pic of B and me.  I'm always behind the camera, never actually in the pics unless I take them myself.

...or if I demand that Anthony take one of our sandwich shop.  I wasn't trying to get him to take one of me.  I just thought it was funny that we were making sandwiches in the back of the car.  Usually we stop and get icky fast food.  But NO MORE! 

I asked Anthony to 'help' B eat his PB&J but his idea of 'helping' is just to hand it to him.  It's one thing in a high chair at home.  The carseat is another story. 

We took a second pit stop because C insisted, "Mom, I need a poop!"  But when Anthony took him in, he just peed.  TMI?  Sorry...

THIS was our third pit stop because C still insisted he needed to go... once again he only tinkled.  And the man working here was ornery and ignorant.  "Way to teach your kid to freeload!"  He said that because the sign on the door said "Restrooms for paying customers only"  Ok, I totally understand that but c'mon, the kid is three years old, first of all, and second, he didn't know that Anthony was already planning on buying a water after bringing C back to the car because he forgot to take his wallet in.  Some people...  But hey, his llamas are cool, no? 

I tried to get a pic of ALL of us, too bad the boys don't have giraffe necks in order to peek out from the restraint of their harnesses.  Or maybe a 'Go-go Gadget NECK'.  Does anyone remember that show?

He was soooo sleepy but didn't sleep a wink!

But as soon as we got to Camille's house....

So all of the above stuff was from Friday... Saturday was the marathon.  Camille and Danny live at the top of the hill overlooking part of the course.  This is taken as they ran by.  Do you see them?  I didn't think so.  I promise they are there.  See the big green bush in the middle of the pic?  Just to the left at the top of the bush... teeny, tiny white speck... that's Anthony.  Camille is in orange right next to him but she's much harder to see.  This is about mile 5 or 6.

Now we are at the finish line, Ann Morrison Park.  That's little A waiting in line for the restroom.  I swear to you after this line died, no one had to go.  Everyone needed to go all at once.  Why is that?

I followed C around with the camera just to keep him occupied.  Plus, I'm just super excited about having my camera back. :)

A nice lady was kind enough to let C take her dog on a short stroll. 

That's Danny, Camille's hubby, whose home we invaded for the weekend.  And trust me, we are a big feat for anyone to take on!  But they survived us and we were able to enjoy his fantastical cooking abilities.  He really should own a restaurant. 

And here he is!!  The man of the hour... or the man of the 3rd hour.  Official time was 3:57:42.  He beat his first time by a good 6 minutes and made his goal of 4 hours or less.
 

I wanted to take pics of him at the finish line but no sooner had I taken these pics and announced to C that Daddy was right there, than C took off after some random guy on a bike with a trailer (for kids) behind it. He went running off yelling, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" I think when I announced Daddy was here, he looked and saw the bike and trailer, and I can't tell you how much he looooves riding in those trailers, he assumed that was Daddy. So, instead of taking pics of Anthony at the finish, I opted to run after my son who was trying to adopt another Daddy.



And THIS is what he got after all that running... NO POTATOES!  Camille had been talking up the potatoes at the finish all this time and they ran out.  RAN OUT!!!!!  Can you believe it!  Kind of silly.  We're in the potato capital of the world and they ran out. 


However, they did have one potato reserved for Anthony... the one with the blue ribbon stating that he finished first in his age division.  He was stoked! 

And here's Camille about to cross the finish line.  The poor girl had had almost no sleep for the two days before because she had to work and didn't have the energy to finish it as quickly as she normally does but she finished.  That is a feat in itself in my book. 

We're pretty sure B is going to grow up to be a dentist.  He loves playing in people's mouths.  Gross?  Maybe. 

See what I mean?

If I'm going off of body language, I think he's saying... "Help, I'm stuck!"

I think Anthony can officially be called a Potato Head now.

Oh how I wish I would have had Anthony and Camille pucker their lips.  :(

This is where Anthony is telling Camille the story about how he learned that he had won his age division.  She hadn't crossed the finish line yet so she needed to be informed. 

And this is Camille getting excited as Anthony says, "Oh, NO WAY!"  Really.  That's what he's saying right here.

But if you want it to be a more exciting caption, we could say that Camille is either lifting her arm and Anthony is appalled by the stench, or maybe she hasn't shaved for several months.....

And now he's relieved to not be smelling/seeing it anymore. 

Camille and Anthony needed to cool off and relax their aching muscles after the marathon so we went swimming.

B loved it!

And just to prove that I was there....