Hello everyone!
K, so I was playing Chutes and Ladders with my cute five year old this morning….
AND, can you believe I landed on the slide with the girl who ate too many cookies and got a stomachache TWICE in a row!??!?!
Um, ya. That game hit a little too close to home for me. Ha ha.
I’ve actually done a very good job of staying away from sugar the past week and I can definitely tell a difference! The “diet” plan I’m following right now is so practical and doable. I love it. It might just become my “norm” from now on.
I’m basically staying away from all sugary stuff and am just trying to focus on healthy, clean foods. However, I’m not being mega super strict. I’m still having bread from time to time (usually Ezekiel or Dave’s Killer Bread), I’ve had cereal a couple of times and I snagged a few fries the other day.
BUT, I haven’t had ANY sugary treats! In all seriousness, I can resist most junk foods like chips, pizza, burgers, fries, processed foods pretty easily. Yes, they’re tempting, but AS LONG as I’m mentally committed, it’s not too hard for me to stay away.
However, SUGAR is a whole ‘nother story! Once I start eating sugar, I want to eat every single sugary thing in sight!
I’m definitely an addict.
So, I do much better when I just cut it out completely MOST of the time. Since I haven’t had anything sugary for the past 10 days, I no longer crave it. It still sounds good, but I can resist it pretty well.
I do SO MUCH better once I get it out of my system!
For example, my sister invited us up to her house for dinner on Sunday. She fixed a wonderful dinner of spaghetti and spaghetti squash with marinara, meat sauce and Alfredo sauce. We also had a yummy salad and garlic bread. Everything tasted wonderful!!!
After dinner, she pulled out a bunch of yummy desserts! Dun, dun, duuuun…..
Seriously!!???! Those brownies were hot and gooey; fresh out of the oven. They smelled and looked so good!
BUT, I stayed strong and it really wasn’t too hard to do. However, my brother-in-law did his best to get me to cave.
Yes, I called him Satan. In fact, I think he bought the Peanut M&Ms just for me! He knows I love them! He told me I should just “give in” and rename my blog “Happy Being Hefty.” Ha ha!!!!
Yes, that would sure make my life a lot easier.
Sugar is so freaking good and I love it so much, but I enjoy it SO MUCH MORE when I don’t eat it mindlessly. It really is so much more rewarding when I PLAN a sugary treat/treat day, look forward to it and eat it on purpose.
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We went on a quick overnight trip to Idaho over the weekend. We went up there for our nephew’s wedding and it was a lot of fun! I only took ONE picture and here it is….
We got Subway sandwiches on the drive up there and they tasted so good to me! I would much rather feed my family Subways instead of pretty much every other fast food out there.
Case in point, on the way home we stopped at Del Taco. We were in the middle of nowhere, everyone was starving and the only restaurants open were Del Taco or McDonalds.
We all chose Del Taco.
Now, I hate to rip on companies/stores/restaurants, but MAN, Del Taco is just not good! I got myself one of their Fresca Bowls (sorry no pic), which was really pretty decent, but none of my kids enjoyed their food and they usually don’t complain when we go out to eat!
My daughter and my 5 year old didn’t even finish their food and two of my sons said they felt sick afterward. My poor 11 year old threw up a few hours later! I don’t think it was the flu because he felt perfectly fine after he threw up and didn’t act sick at all.
Weird???
Soooo, I don’t think we’ll be going back there any time soon…..ever again.
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My sweet doggie, Jimmer had his fourth birthday yesterday! The kids all wanted me to make him a cake, but I think it was more for them instead of Jimmer (obviously!) So, I decided to make something that Jimmer would actually like….I made meatloaf for dinner and I made Jimmer his very own little one…
It ended up being kind of huge (he ate about 1/3 of it), but he loved it and was in heaven!
I used Kev’s mom’s meatloaf recipe, but I subbed ground turkey for the meat. It was great, but I think I’ll play with it a bit before I share it with y’all. Here’s my plate from last night…
I made sweet potatoes (for me!) and baked potatoes for the rest of the fam. I also made a yummy salad on the side (spinach, romaine, raspberries, cranberries, almonds and mozzarella.) YUM!
Everyone loved this meal and it was super easy to make!
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We had an interesting Family Night last night. FYI, we try to reserve some time on Monday nights to spend some time together as a family. We usually play games, read stories, talk about spiritual stuff or go on short family outings.
Well, last night we did this…
Ha ha. We talked about talents, working hard and learning new things.
Kev had just gotten back from a “freaking hard” class at the gym and he decided to share some of the moves with the kids. They had a good time trying to see what they could do.
It also made for a good laugh. Hee hee. Oh, and check out the baby in the corner. It looks like he’s “working out” too. Love it.
We also played “The Hot Seat” with the kids. I used to play “The Hot Seat” with my family when I was younger and I always loved it! We just put the ottoman in the center of the room and take turns sitting on it. Then we all say something we like about the person in the “Hot Seat.” It’s such a fun “game” and is really great at bringing the family together. It helps us all to focus on the positive and really appreciate each other. We all loved it.
Here I am on the “Hot Seat.”
Usually the person on the “Hot Seat” just sits by themselves, but my five year old and baby are my permanent sidekicks. My seven year old was just hugging the baby because he was being so darn cute.
Oh, and I’m dressed in my running garb because I went on a run yesterday…….AND it sucked. It was only five miles, but the last two miles were very hard for some reason. I’ve had some great runs lately, but I’ve also had some doozies.
I think yesterday’s was extra hard because I was worn out, it was hotter than I like (70 degrees) and I was in a hurry to get home to take my son to soccer practice.
Running is SUCH a mental thing for me, so things like heat, fatigue and time constraints really mess with my head. I’m planning on going on another run tomorrow and I hope it’ll be a good one!
Oh, and since this post is so random, I want to tell you guys about another random thing!
I was recently introduced to a new web filter that I’m really intrigued by! It’s called PYUR and it sounds fantastic!
I love the internet, but quite frankly, it scares the crap out of me to raise kids with all of the junk floating around in cyberspace. I talk to my kids ad nauseum about the dangers of the internet. We’ve tried a few filters before, but I haven’t been 100% happy with any of them.
PYUR sounds amazing because it works on ALL internet devices and it continues to work whether a device is on WiFi or 3G! Woah. That’s so cool! PYUR can also pair with a smartphone to give real-time updates on all online activity. It’s supposedly a “smart filter” that monitors a user’s behavior so it doesn’t block too much or too little.
I’m so excited about it!
I think the best way to keep kids away from harmful things on the internet is to TALK with them and INFORM them about the dangers of the internet. Because, let’s face it, if kids WANT to view inappropriate/harmful things on the internet, they will find a way. However, a great web filter can bring such peace of mind to a parent.
I will be trying out and reviewing PYUR in a few months and I will tell y’all exactly what I think about it! I can’t wait to try it out. For now, you can find more information here:
PYUR website, http://www.pyurweb.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pyurweb
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pyurweb
Instagram: https://instagram.com/pyurweb
Well, that’s all I have to say tonight folks. Have a great night! xoxo
Melanie,
I am exactly like that with sugar. It is so stinkin addicting. Once I start on it I spiral out of control very easily. I am with you, I do much better staying away from processed treats and anything with sugar. I also stay away from all artificial sweeteners, because health wise is worse than sugar. I have found that raw honey or coconut sugar both work really well in recipes to get that sweet tooth satisfied. Of course I do that in small amounts, not daily. I have 4 active boys and it is fun to find delicious healthy desserts.
I know, sugar is SO yummy, yet it becomes such an addiction to me! It’s hard for me to have it in small doses, so I just try to avoid it as much as I can. 😉 I love honey and coconut sugar too and I’m grateful for some of the healthy treat recipes I have. I’m always experimenting with healthy desserts and love to have my kids “taste-test.”
Very fun pics with your family – especially your brother in-law! He cracks me up.
I also hate to run in hot weather. We have a race this weekend, and I keep obsessively checking the weather, knowing that anything above 70 degrees is going to be miserable on that course. I just checked again. Now it’s predicted to be up to 82. Crud. Let the head games begin …
Yes, my BIL is a card! He always gets us laughing.
I seriously CAN NOT run in hot weather. My body literally falls apart. I hope your race wasn’t too hot!
Yep, you sound like me with the sugar. Lately I’ve been trying not to mindlessly eat it, and instead have been having one treat here and there and eating it SLOW. It’s been such a magical moment. Also, I’ve noticed negative affects with PEANUT BUTTER, so now I am going to stay away from it. Such a sad day, but almond butter doesn’t seem to cause the same problems so there’s some hope there. It’s not a bad thing for me to stay away from the nuts for a while anyway…haha.
Oh, I love the “eating it slow” thing! I love treats SO MUCH and really need to learn to savor them more. I’m sorry you’re noticing negative things from PB! That is so sad. I enjoy almond butter too, but not quite as much. I hope almond butter will continue to “work” for you!
I need to give up chips – they are my weakness!!
I’m with you – I would never eat at that Taco place agin after having such a weird/negative experience!!!
Love the idea of the hot-seat game!!
Kev’s biggest temptation is chips too! When we first got married, he didn’t like sweets at all (I loved them) and I didn’t care for salty things at all (he loved anything salty!) Now, we both enjoy sweets AND salty! Awesome.
BAH HA HA! THAT DOG BIRTHDAY CAKE – amazing!!! I wouldn’t be surprised if my sister did something like that for all her dogs too, she just built them a mini dog mansion! BAHHH HA HA HA HA!!
And get that sugar AWAY FROM YOU! I AM proud of you for doing your best to resist though!!! Enablers be damned! LOL!
LOL, I know our dog is just like one of the family. We love him so much!
I love sugar so much, but I’m grateful I didn’t cave! It seems like whenever I try to stay away from unhealthy things, all of the “tempters” come out of the woodwork, lol!
Such adorable pics like always! Good for you for being so strong about resisting sugar, so awesome! Del Taco sounds like a nightmare, lol! We don’t eat out too often…you just never know what goes in the food unless you make it yourself. We ate out last weekend and there was so much oil in the food and it really upset my stomach. I don’t cook with oil at all so I felt pretty icky all day….glad your kid didn’t stay sick for too long!!
Thanks so much Brandi! Yes, Del Taco is frightening. I’m so grateful my son didn’t stay sick for too long either AND I’m glad no one else got sick!
You’re right about eating out, you never know what’s going into the food. I enjoy cooking at home, but it’s fun to have someone else cook for me sometimes too…as long as it doesn’t make me sick! Ha ha.
I’m with you, I do so much better avoiding sugar if I don’t start eating it. Just a little is a slippery slope!
PYUR sounds great I’m going to have to look into that when Cooper is old enough, which is at age two these days, right?? 🙂
I know I’ll always struggle with sugar! Gah!
I’m hoping PYUR turns out to be a great thing. I can’t wait to try it out. Seriously, I remember my oldest son could maneuver the computer when he was about two. It’s crazy! Sadly, I think most of my kids know more about the computer than me!
Peanut M&Ms are the devil. I could eat that whole Costco sized bag. They are too good.
I totally could eat a Costco sized bag too! They are evil, but heavenly too. Ha ha.
Mel your posts are always so happy! Your brother in law is cruel! I never pass up a chance to eat dark chocolate or peanut M&Ms. My fav! Dave’s Killer Bread looks wonderful! Too bad it’s not gluten free.
Have a fabulous Friday XOXO
Thanks so much Jill! My bro-in-law is always trying to get me to cave in to my sugar demons. It’s tough, but I tell him I’m grateful he gives me opportunities to strengthen my will power! Ha ha. I LOVE peanut M&Ms and dark chocolate so much too!
Sounds like a fun few days. Your posts are always so much fun and upbeat, full of family, which is so important. Do you eat dinner together every evening ? That is our family, time and we try to eat together 6 nights out of 7 !
I am a sugar addict too and it comes and goes. I fully agree that if you can get it out of your system for 4 or 5 days, then I don’t even think about it anymore but sugar is in everything it seems like. Have a great weekend & love your hot seat idea.
Thanks so much Karen! You’re so sweet. We try to eat dinner together most nights, but sadly it’s not super organized. We’re all in the same room together though! I love that you use that as your family time most nights. That’s great.
I know I’ll always struggle with sugar because I’m not willing to cut it out of my life entirely. Ha ha. I just try to keep it in check!
I will totally be watching for your pyur updates! I trust our 13 year old a lot (he’s a major rule follower), but it’s so easy to wander in the wrong direction on the internet.
I gave up sweets a week ago as well – sweetest thing I’ve had in 8 days is a banana. And when you aren’t eating lots of sugar, a banana is pretty darn sweet! Keep up the good work!
I can’t wait to try out PYUR! There is so much junk out in cyberspace and I’m raising five boys, so I’m hoping it will help me not to worry!!
That’s awesome that the the sweetest thing you’ve eaten is a banana. I love bananas….AND I love sugar. Dang it.