Latest toddler gift...

I've figured it out, though I'm not sure what I'm going to do if we ever live in a climate that makes having a something cold to drink year round a little ridiculous.

Okay, I'm sure that if you are a frequent blog reader you're familiar with the green monsters or SIAB(AKA= Smoothies in a bowl). This is something that many of those in the healthy living area are already all over. Yeah, I'm a little late to the party.

But here's the thing, I think Mama Pea is onto something.

Alright, I'll stop blathering on and just say it.

How do you get a little person to eat their veggies?

Trick question, you don't. Have them drink them.

Okay, stay with me. Tonight, Abi decided she was perfectly content to just have pizza for dinner. She didn't really want her mac and cheese from last night... well she did but not the "green stuff" (spinach) that I had put in it. (It actually tasted really good, and I am planning to have it for lunch tomorrow.)

So I ask her what she wants for dinner, going through the contents of the fridge. She wants pizza...GREAT! I have no problem with pizza but unless I've really jazzed it up with a truck load of veggies it just doesn't do it for me as a main entree for her. So I'm thinking tonight, what can I add to her pizza to make me feel better.

That's when I have my aha moment. She can have a smoothie. We've been having smoothies for a while, but usually I've made them for me and she wants some. Tonight, she is my audience and bonus I've all the contents in the fridge.

Including the despised frozen spinach! I add a huge hunk of it, I'm talking the size of two her little fist. To hide that distinctive green color a bit, I throw in some frozen blueberries to the mango smoothie mix from Jamba Juice (Earthfare has them on sale right now).

The taste, not half bad. Okay... it's really good and I don't even like mango. What's better than that, she is currently sucking down some spinach in a cup none the wiser.

So do yourself and the parents in your life a favor. When their little person has another gift giving holiday or just because you like them, get them a decent blender/personal drink mixer. Tell them to throw in their favorite smoothie ingredients along with some spinach.

Their kid will drink their veggies and you will be highly favored... especially over that person who buys them toys that eat batteries.

Gave her words and she thought she would use them.....

As children get older they want things. As a small child, their vocabulary and ability to articulate their wants may not quite match their level of comprehension of their surroundings. With Abi this was definitely the case; so the loving and progressive parents we are we taught her sign language. As she got older, she would cry when something happened. So we then made the connection for her, use your words and we will use our ears. Of course the reverse is true.

Fast forward a few months, and she is expressing herself and articulating exactly how she feels. We patted ourselves on the backs, this was a good idea. She was understanding and being understood.

Well the other day, she and her daddy are playing. A tickle war has ensued and finally she reaches her point. The point where the tickling is no longer fun, and you're really just ready not to play in anymore.

"DADDY, I'm all done! Please do not tickle me anymore."

Talk about putting on the breaks. We both turn and look at her. The audacity of the pint size person we created is surprising....and yet, we created this. We created this strong little person who knows her mind, and sees no reason not to give voice to it.

How cool is that?!

Yeah, I know she is only 3 like we are on the right path.

New Year's Resolutions...

Yup, you read that right. New Year's Resolutions is the title you see. Here's the deal, in the past you've heard me say I don't really like making them. I don't! It always seems like a bandwagon kind of thing. If you want it do it. I say this knowing full well that I'm a slacker as well and terribly forgetful. See where I'm going with this?

When my home away from home opened back in December they had these great little new year resolution cards. I looked at them and was all set to walk by it when I realized what was on it, a $5 coupon. Earthfare, you totally know the way to my heart. So I fill one out and I completely forget about it... that is until it arrived in the mail this past week.

There it is. My goal is essentially activity once a week. Lately, I've been feeling like I'm failing myself. I like group workouts and I like yoga, but it takes quite a bit for me to get to my mat or get to my step. So I've missed a few classes, and haven't been in what feels like forever. However, when I saw my card from earthfare I happened to have my planner in front of me and thought let's check in. Let's see how I've really done. For the month of June I planned and completed some activity only 8 different times. :) Except, that puts me at roughly 2 times a week!!

I feel like this is the kind of thing I need to do more often. Really checking in with facts and seeing where I am. What about you? Do you find that reality is sometimes a little different than what you might have imagined?

335 Square Feet

Found this today. It definitely challenges our ideas of what you need in an apartment.

Combat

This is the post I started writing on June 10th... yup, it's a little delayed.

On most days, I feel great about my body. I really do, sure there are things that I would like to be slightly different. However on the whole I'm pretty pleased with overall presentation that is me. If you're around me you eventually hear about the things that bother me. You may not hear the reverse because honestly it sounds a little conceited to my ears. :/

Except here is the thing, I'm raising a little girl (though I suspect I might still feel the same way if it were a boy). I don't want her to be apart of the cadre of young girls who learn both from society and their representations at home that they shouldn't be happy with their bodies. She is getting older and become more aware of what I do and say. She's a little sponge and she is even more so if she has my natural inclination toward people watching. So I worry that some of my personal lamentations (the ones that make it out of my head) will negatively affect her. I worry that she will see me and I'm not happy with myself, then why should she be. I know.... it's friday I should be contemplating weekend plans.

So I'm working on cutting back my verbal complaints in general. Of course complaining about things gets me nowhere. My hope is that when I'm feeling this way, I can schedule a work out in somewhere. Whether it's doing the Beyonce workout or actually scheduling some time at the gym. Either way I don't want to continue to mentally beat myself up about the small things that I can change.

I get how much...

A few days ago the USDA did something that caused them to receive a bit more notice in the blogging/ healthy living community. They changed the food pyramid...into a plate. http://www.choosemyplate.gov/foodgroups/proteinfoods.html

The new food plate is designed to make it easier for people to really understand what an actual healthy portion of food looks like. Nope a healthy portion is not just when your plate is practically running over with yummyness. ;) Rather a healthy portion is about more about nutrition, and providing all that your body truly needs. (I know it needs chocolate and other deliciousness, but it wants way more than is reasonable sometimes.)

Now let me think….where have I seen this before?? I’m sure it will come to me.

When I first heard about this, my first thought was wait. Didn't someone already suggest this to people? With a little digging I found it. This plate is designed by a company called Slimware. The flowers on this plate represent the portion sizes we are supposed to have.

I think slimware should sue the USDA or at the very least link them with the USDA website. Slimware’s product is exactly what the USDA is advocating, but taking the guess work out of it. I personally like the Downtown Chic better than the Urban Safari, but to each their own. If none of their prints are really your thing, you can always stop by your local wally world and pick up a divided plate ala elementary school. You just can’t cheat and put your protein where your veggies are clearly supposed to go.

Portion control is definitely something everyone should be mindful of, but I know that I for one struggle with it. The plates are a nifty, albeit pricey, idea. So how do you manage portion control? Are the plates worth it, and if so what pattern?

Just something I stumbled across...

You no write, no call...

I know, I know. I've been missing this outlet lately. To be honest, I've been missing all the fun things I like doing like reading blogs, yoga, television. Work has kept me so busy that I've just been doing the minimum with regards to the fun bits.

Now, things are starting to slow down and guess what?! I'm tired! :)

I'm enjoying catching up on things and I have some things to share.

- Water consumption is up... okay it's the small things. I usually have at least one bottle of water a day. That second bottle is always a little tricky. When I pick up the little one from school, I don't drink anymore water. Yes I know you're supposed to share with your kids, but I don't want to share with her the fake sugar that is in the mix-ins I use. So I don't finish my 2nd bottle and they have been collecting. I've been throwing them in the fridge, so later in the evening I can just grab a cold bottle of water. See what I'm doing there? See?

- Activity is up... sorta. Okay so my yoga pass will expire at the end of this month. I had 9 classes to use in 4 weeks. They do not have child care. As a result the class I can really make it to consistently is 8:30 AM on Saturday morning. It's essentially Yoga Boot-camp, though of course that is not what it's called. I like this class a lot because it hurts so good, and it gives me a jump to my day. I've also been attempting to keep gym/ yoga clothes in the car in case of exercise emergencies. (You know if the world is ending and we only need someone do some side plank for 30 seconds. I'm you're girl.)

- Remember I was gushing about something called the "Healthy Living Summit"? Well they announced the when and the where. I've already asked off from work and scoped out airline tickets.

- I've also wanted to be/ have more fun. I find at times I get bogged down in the everyday, and then I look up and the whole week has flown by. So I've done an impulsive weekend trip, and I've got some fun trips coming up this summer.

So what are you guys doing? Are you making life what you want it?

Hi my name is Christina and I'm addicted to soda.

It's been a week tomorrow since my last soda.

I totally want one right now.

That is all.

Quick Update

A lot of people believe that if you put word to something, that makes it real. Giving an idea outside of your own mind makes it more into a reality, and holds you accountable. For me I'm not sure how true that is, this is all new for me. Honestly I would love to hear what you guys out there (I'm assuming there is a you guy) think.

On another note, here is an update on some of my healthy choices.

- Drink more H20: I've actually been doing better with this one. It's like anything else with me, I just have to keep making the right choice when out. So after my morning cup of coffee, usually after that moment when I realized it's gone cold. I now start with a bottle of water. With that I am now drinking at least a 20 oz bottle of water each day, and then whatever glass or two I may drink when home. I would say this is double what I was doing before, you know if you could double 0 and get a countable number.

- Be more active: This one ebbs and flows, but there has been less time between the ebbs and flows. Specifically I remembered this week that just to get 30 minutes of cardio in I don't have to go for a run or hit the gym. What am I talking about? Well, I'm going to confess it right here right now. I dance alone. Not just a little bit, but music going like I'm in a club dance alone. With the help of JLo, Shakira, Daddy Yankee, Pitbull, and the Pussy Cat Dolls within minutes I was sweating and doing some moves I could see were working my abs. Judge away.

On this same note, I've also tried to do yoga in moments where I've had a few minutes to do a few "sun salutations". I use the air quotes because this is only the most basic of stuff of what I remember from class and reading online. So I think I may be missing a pose or two but it's close enough. What's great about this is that this is a perfect option like dancing, but it's quiet. No bumping music giving me away.

Of course, now that I've joined Good Friends Group Fitness I think my overall level of fitness is starting to increase. I'm waiting for my clothes to fit better to really say that this is working.

So here's what I'm doing. What are you doing? Do you dance like nobodies watching?

Baby steps

If today's goal had been, get to work on time (8:15 AM) then I totally would have been golden. However, today's goal was to be in at 8.

Whoops...

However, 8:15 AM is definitely a step in the right direction. My arrival time at work, every now and then, gets a bit ridiculous. We're not talking 10 AM or anything, but definitely closer to 9 than is really ideal. But I must say, dragging myself out of bed actually at 6 AM hurt. And yet there have been days when I've done that and felt hung over I was so tired.

But alas, today was a good day. No sleep hangover. I missed breakfast due to phone calls and the controlled chaos that is the office. I know that in a little more than a week, missing breakfast is not going to be an option. So I'm playing with some ideas to streamline my breakfast/ eating in the morning. Fruit is always good, but it doesn't give me that full feeling that a bowl of oats does. However it scores major points when it comes to mobility.

The menu planning is definitely going to be something that is going to be making an appearance here. I’ve sorta been doing it, whether actually writing it all down or having a rough idea of what possible meals are in the fridge/ freezer. I think doing a post or two will help me to see what we’re having regularly, show me where to add some variety, and realize how much of some things we really do eat.

Then there is my want to be active. I think that at this point I’m going to work on actually getting all the way to yoga, going to the new gym, and throwing some walking in as well. We’re about to hit that busy point in our season at work, and I think that I will be wearing a pedometer (shh!) to see just how much walking I do daily. Until then I’ve thrown in the occasional walk to the next building instead of emails or calls for warmth and variety.

When you’re making changes to your life, do you kind of slowly ease yourself in or do you go full throttle toward the new? How well has it worked?

Ideas...

It's challenging to get moving.

I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir.

Yet, it's still a push even though I know it's coming.

I'm pretty sure that my gym has figured out the way to get me in more. Invite the toddler to have a grand time. They had her hook, line and sinker with the purple balloon.

She's been playing with it since Tuesday. :)

Alright... here are the ideas:

- 30 miles in 30 days Sounds cool right..except I don't run...

- Meatless March: this is apparently so common. There isn't just one site devoted to it. I am kind of digging this one because I don't like cooking meat at home. I'm okay with eating it, but I don't like to have to handle/ smell it.

- H2O Boost. I'm not a water person. I really don't like it but it's definitely something I need. I see it in my skin and feel it in my hair... my cells are calling out for it.

- Menu Plan: I think it's just necessary at this point knowing just how busy my days are about to become.

What do you do to challenge yourself to do the healthy things? Make the good choices more interesting?

-1 + 1 = 0 ?

Two things happened today that i think, effectively cancel each other out.

In my effort to make a good choice, I signed up for spinning tonight at Good Friends Group Fitness and signed Abi up for the kids playhouse. Class starts at 5:30 and we got there at 5:40. I decide we are not going to go, but there is a catch. Abi knows we are going and knows that she has two friends from school that also come here to play. Silly mommy. We stay, Abi plays and I watch her because I'm late. FAIL.

We get home, have dinner (good choices were made), and I get Abi into bed. I spend the next hour catching up on my blog reading for the night and realize.... I WON THE YOGURT GIVE AWAY!!!!! Over at edible perspective, Ashley was doing reader appreciation week and this was the last of the giveaways.

Yes I know it's yogurt, but we can go through some yogurt in this house. And who doesn't like winning stuff?!

Btw, if you've stumbled here from the edible perspective... HI!!

"Make a healthy choice... now make another"

These are some pretty wise words I've seen twice tonight both at Healthy Tipping Point and over at Peas and Thank you (granted Mama pea didn't exactly say those words but that was the gist).

Here's the thing, I'm not terribly religious but sometimes I think things happen not merely by coincidence. For me reading both of these tonight and then having my sister in law here this weekend were things I needed to hear.

See my sister in law has a different path than I do, one that some might say is more difficult. Well this weekend when given the option to abandon her plan for the weekend, she actually made plans to make sure she had time to work out. ON VACATION SHE IS WORKING OUT! :) She made one choice, and then another.

I feel like I really only have time to do one thing each day outside of work. I can either go to the gym or I can do laundry. I can work out or I can make dinner. It stinks, but it's life. I am having to remind myself that no one expects me to do it all and I shouldn't expect myself to do an immediate about face either.

I need to make a healthy choice...

I'm already packing my bags

Okay, not really. If you know me, then you know that sometimes my need to plan things coupled with excitement over something leads me to do slightly silly things...like starting to pack for a trip way in advance. So no I'm not actually packing, but I would love to be. (The fact that no date has been set only poses a minor problem.)

I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of you myself in my excitement. Last year, I stumbled across something that I was really sad to be missing out on. A conglomeration of bloggers who cared about healthy living, eating, and yoga took place in Chicago.

Who knew such a thing existed!?

Since last year, I've been stalking www.healthylivingsummit.com.

I just saw today that they have started planning it for 2011. **Swoon**

:)

I will not pack yet.
I will not pack yet.
I will not pack yet.

Ch-ch-changes...

In my head, that's always how that word sounds. Don't know what I'm talking about, here you are.

Anyway, I was reading over at Peas and Thank you about her picks and what brought her to the choices that she has made for her family. You know it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. Though we aren't vegetarian or vegan like the peas, the choices I've made with regards to how we live our life have definitely been little one inspired. (I probably shouldn't call her the "little one" in anymore, she isn't so little).

When I was pregnant with Abi I ate a lot of fruit. I couldn't get enough fuji apples. Realizing I was eating my weight in fruit on a monthly basis, I started eating organic fruit. In addition to following the normal rules for what to eat and what not to eat while pregnant, I started reading about food issues. We started making conscientious choices about the food we were getting instead of just getting the bananas that were just so (bright yellow, no spots, 40 % or less green). She was the cause. I wanted to be better for her, I wanted to give her a fighting chance. The lease I could do was to eat things that couldn't do her any harm.

Once she was here, that kind of increased to making sure that we always had things that were for her- food that I could feel okay about giving her. Now it has become that we, as a family, eat as locally and organically as possible. My father in law is relentless in the teasing about this, it's annoying. I joke with him, but in the end I hope that he gets it. He (and really anyone else who cares) understands that the choices we have made are because, I feel like, it's the least we could do.

Make the choice

I don't do New Years resolutions. I think that alot of people make them, thinking that this will change them. Don't they say you should "be the change you want to see"? I don't make resolutions because I don't want to get roped into all of that.

So instead, I just have some ideas for what I want for myself. And there are a lot of people who give credence to vocalizing the things they want out of life. Here is me vocalizing in no particular order:

• I want to run a race. Disney has a 5k in September, and this might be something I can do. .
• Arrive on time. Yeah, this one really doesn't need an explanation if you know me. It's baaddd. 
• Blog more.  I like this, and why shouldn't I do more of it. 
• Slide further along the green spectrum. Why not embrace more things like that? 
• Strike a balance with work.Who couldn't use a little more balance in life? Honestly I think balance here would make me hate it less. 

These are my non resolutions for 2011.