Everyday Ramblings: Edition 1

When you have a two kids (15 & 8), a husband with extremely odd hours, a house to keep relatively clean, training to get in, meals to prepare for everyone including myself, a small dog, and two businesses to run sometimes it’s difficult to even find the time to get a shower in day to day.  Originally, I had started this blog to document my fitness journey and to share my recipes, thoughts, and tips along the way.  Thus far, I have done my best to share regularly, but unfortunately posts continue to be sporadic.  I have SO many things I want to share, but unfortunately not enough time to do it.  Sigh.

The photographer in me hates to share pictures here that aren’t taken on my big professional camera (totally different story on my Instagram which are all mainly done on my iPhone) but the process of shooting, editing, and then uploading take forever.  I also always feel pressure to create an elaborate post with tons of details and things.  While I realize those posts are good to include when I have the time, it’s just not in my cards at the moment to make them very regular here.  However, in an effort to blog more regularly I thought it would be fun to share more quick posts, mainly when I have something to say but don’t need an hour to get my thoughts down.

Because I get so many emails and questions regarding my life on a day to day basis (which is crazy because my life isn’t all that interesting…. at all… really…. my life is super boring and uneventful… I swear… you will see), I thought it might be helpful and fun to see more of “me” and share just the day to day stuff I do and how those things relate to my journey.  There have been so many times that I think to myself “Oh, this would make a really great blog post!  OK, I need to remember that.  Crap, no time.  What did I want to say?  Oh well. Sigh…” but now, I’m going to attempt more quick posts to share my random thoughts.  Hopefully I can still get my ideas and thoughts across properly in the quick EVERYDAY RAMBLINGS!

So, first up on the new agenda?

Quick tip on being flexible with your “diet” plan and showing moderation to truly enjoy your life and those around you…

Yesterday, one of my kids (and our dog) got shipped off to Los Angeles for the weekend and my husband had a rare training during the day.  This left me alone with one sweet little girl on her first official day of summer vacation!  Instead of staying home waiting for daddy to come home, I figured we would make a little mommy/baby day (as my EIGHT year old likes to call it).  All she wanted to do was go to the library (yup, total nerd…. what kid wants to go there on the FIRST day of Summer vacation?  Well, her for the past 3 years and counting!).  She also wanted to hit up Target (no complaints there from me), show me some monkey bar action at the park, and go to Michael’s for some craft stuff.  I had planned on working in the morning as usual, have lunch at the house, then run around with her.  I had also planned on surprising her with some frozen yogurt as well since both her and I LOVE it so much!  We usually do it once a week as a family after eating out one night, so I thought it would be extra special having some during the day, just her and I.

Normally, my lunch is ALWAYS the same.  I have a bowl of cereal and HUGE salad, at least 4-5 cups worth of greens, veggies, nuts, avocado, and fruit.  I posted this shot on my Instagram of it yesterday…

Since I already knew I was going to have some frozen yogurt with her (with toppings or course), I chose to skip my usual side of cereal for lunch and only eat the salad (also minus the avocado).  What did this accomplish in the grand scheme of staying compliant to my reverse diet plan & “flexible dieting”?  I saved some of my carbs and fat earlier in the day to make sure that my daughter wasn’t enjoying her frozen yogurt by herself.  Could I have just skipped frozen yogurt and watch her enjoy her bowl on her own?  Yes, of course.  But honestly, what fun is that for either of us?  #1 It might make her feel bad or guilty that I “can’t” have any.  #2  A large part of the frozen yogurt experience we have together is sampling the frozen yogurt (all of them), talking about what toppings we are going to get, and then sharing bites with each other.  If I chose to NOT have any frozen yogurt, I guarantee that the experience would not have been the same.  We would have walked in there, filled her cup, and I would have watched her eat it.  Yeah, pretty boring I think for both of us.

How can this story relate to you exactly?  Easy.  How many times have you been on a “diet”/program that tells you NOT to eat XYZ, then you go to a social event or just out to dinner with friends/family, and you choose to NOT eat or drink something because it’s not on your meal plan?  Pretty often I’m sure especially if you are on one of these crazy “diets” that ban entire food groups.  Did you ever think about how your choices might effect those around you?  Did you ever think that they may not be able to enjoy what they are eating & drinking because you are sitting there looking sad with your glass of water?  Do you think the experience was fully enjoyed for any and all parties involved?

Please DON’T get me wrong here and misconstrue my thoughts…

I am NOT telling you to pig out during these events.  I am not telling you to throw your plan completely out the window to accommodate and make someone else possibly feel better.  I am not telling you that you have to partake in everything everyone else does around you all of the time.  I’m not telling you that there won’t be times that a diet simply won’t allow the treats (like the end of a contest prep or cut where 100% compliance and consistency are KEY).  My point is that if you allow some flexibility in your diet and life, are aware of your portions, macros, and food choice for the WHOLE day, not only can you still reach your fitness goals but that you can enjoy ALL those special moments with the people around you to the fullest.  In the end, these TINY moments in your life that you share with loved ones are the ones that absolutely mean the most NOT all the things you didn’t allow yourself to eat.  Don’t deprive yourself or anyone else of enjoying these special and rare times.  If that means having a bite or two of frozen yogurt, cake, a few french fries, or any other food that’s considered “off limits”… so be it.  This is the beauty of flexible dieting and creating the MOST healthy relationship with food!

No “bad” foods, just bad habits.

and more importantly…

Moderation & Balance= sustainability for LONG TERM success.

Unless you plan on cutting XYZ and ABC out of your diet for life, why bother?  If you enjoy cutting things out of your diet, keep it up,  good job, and good luck.  However, if you hate feeling deprived and left out because you have cut those all those things out, is that really a maintainable lifestyle forever?  Just food for thought…

So to recap.  I allowed myself to be completely flexible with my “diet” plan yesterday.  I was aware of my portions and how it relates to the rest of what I ate and would be eating later in the day.  Eating the frozen yogurt doesn’t mean I don’t have goals OR that I am not 100% serious about them OR that I am unhealthy.  I replaced one food with another that allowed me to share a special moment with my daughter doing & eating something we absolutely LOVE together.  I ate about 1/2 cup total of frozen yogurt, 2 TINY broken up brownie pieces, about 1/2 tbsp of shredded coconut, about 1 tsp of chocolate sprinkles, and 1 tsp of nuts.

In the grand scheme of my “diet”, fitness plan, and goals this is a very SMALL amount.  In the grand scheme of my daughter’s day?  This experience was HUGE… I won’t ever regret or feel guilty about choices like these!