Catching up...

OK, so a friend of mine was teasing me for NOT blogging all summer- what can I say, I do better when I'm on a schedule and in a routine!! :)

So, to catch up:
We had a super busy summer- lots of fun!! We went to museums, playdates, farms, parks, beaches, and grandma's houses. :)

My big girl turned five, had an awesome birthday party, and danced her heart out in a very cool recital.

My boy went from bump on a log to motor-scooter, crawling ALL OVER THE PLACE. Chubbers holds his spot in the 95th percentile. Yes, looks like my 8 pound 35 weeker is staying at the top of the charts! Can't believe my baby is ONE YEAR OLD!!

Abby started kindergarten, and after 3 days was splitting her time between K and 1st grade. Two weeks of this and she's now a full time first grader. My barely 5 year old, a first grader. WOW! Doesn't time go fast enough as it is?? So super proud of her though!

I'm teaching at a new school (new to me, that is). I'm happy to be back in an elementary school, excited to be in the same building with Abby, and thrilled at the camaraderie of the folks I am working with. The energy in this building is FABULOUS! I couldn't be happier. :)

I've blogged a lot about my journey to healthy... well, I must say that the train has derailed. I find it easier for me to control my eating when other parts of my life are out of control (like, I can control this one thing, KWIM?)... Well, things are going well, and I'm having trouble pulling the healthy thing back together. I'm embarrassed to say that I've gained back most of what I lost over the last year. :( I'm happy at work and in my family life right now, and it's hard to convince me to go to the gym, when I'm so looking forward to rehashing the day with my hubby, helping Abby with her homework, and snuggling with my baby. Miss an hour+ of this at the gym? :( I know I *SHOULD*... I know I *CAN*... Just gotta get there. *sigh*

If you've read this far, GOOD FOR YOU - and THANKS!! <3

Feeling Good. Really. :)

Lately, I've been putting a lot of thought into leading a more healthy lifestyle.

I'd say about a third of my "mental energy" goes towards thoughts of wanting to be healthy for ME. The future- I don't want to experience all the health issues my mom and grandma have. I want to live to be a funny old lady. For now, I want to be able to walk up the stairs or chase my kids without getting winded. I want to be able to plan things without wondering if I CAN - building something... hiking somewhere... fit in the seat on planes or roller coasters... etc. I want to LIVE life, not just watch it pass me by.

Another third goes to wanting this for Chas, too. I want him to be healthy, to live for a long time, to be able to DO without worrying, to LIVE LIFE.

And the last third... or maybe more than a third- this part may take from the other two at times- goes to my kids. I want them to have healthy role models. I did not see healthy living as a kid. Seems like it was either feast or famine at my house. Celebrations centered around food, then diets would be all too common and obvious. There was no activity for the sake of moving, having fun, and feeling good- there was only exercise as a means for weight loss. I know that these things impacted my outlook - I became them! I do not want this for my children. I want them to know how to live a healthy life- to know because they see a positive example: their parents doing so. I do not want my son to be "the big boy", but even more I don't want my daughter to have worse-than-average body issues because of what I've done or how *I* look. More than anything, I want her to grow up and remain the HEALTHY, HAPPY girl she is now, know what I mean?

Through this reflection, and some life experience, I have come to the realization that I have a food addiction. I came across a list of questions online that tell if you might be a "Food Addict"... Yeah, 16 out of 20 for me. Scary and sad to think of what I've done. I think it also bears noting because this is how I am. It's not just "Geez, Tina, then don't buy oreos"... It's much deeper than that. I don't think that Overeater's Annonymous or Food Addicts Annonymous are for me- they both have a religious base, and it would take much MORE work for me to get to "that place", I think. So, for the time being, I'm working through it on my own.

I'm using SparkPeople.com to track my calories in and out. It helps me track my progress and even tells me where I "should" be. Makes that part much easier. I love it. My name on there is "TinaMarieWelch"- I'd love more people to help keep me accountable. :) I've even gone in and started entering the SPECIFIC nutrition content for items I eat often- food from the school cafeteria, soups I make from recipes, etc. Before I would choose something "close" and I realized today that my entry of "Pizza Hut Veggie Lovers Pizza, 1 slice" was ONE HUNDRED calories less than the actual pizza I ate! OOPS! No more! I'm going to be as specific as I can. In this vain, I also got out my new "kitchen scale" last night. It was an eye opening experience to see how small that 3 oz portion of chicken was. Wow. Portion size is my downfall- even when eating healthy foods, I just eat TOO MUCH of them! No more guestimating or eyeballing portions- real measurement from here on out.

To top it off, I started the year with two exercise games for the Wii- Wii Fit Plus and Wii Active. I like them both, but made excuses every night after work. Truly, by the end of the day, I'm exhausted. The only minutes I've had without the kids are the time I'm physically AT work and the 3 minutes it takes to drive from Abby's school to mine in the morning. It's draining! Exercise isn't the first thing on my mind when they fall asleep at night, to be honest. SO- I started a group at work! A group of ladies is staying after school three days a week to exercise together! Mondays and Thursdays, we meet in my classroom and do an aerobics DVD with the projector and the big screen (it's cool, really! LOL). Wednesdays we are going to walk on the track. I did three days of REAL workouts this week (not the lazy kind I can get away with when I'm alone at home!) and it feels GREAT!

January Two Thousand TEN?!

A new year begins.

I'm trying to pick up where I left off when I last tried to kick my life into "Healthy-drive". I'll be honest- the loss my family has experienced, followed by the holidays was just too much for my willpower to take on. I know that leading a healthy life includes stressful times and holidays, but STARTING then just wasn't going to happen for me.

I've been planning out all our meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner for all three of us. It's saving us money, time, and calories! :) Just this week I've started getting back into exercising. MaryLu (my mother in law) got me the Wii EA Active for Christmas (I'd told her I wanted it!) and it is kick-butt! After my first workout on Monday, I was so sore that I was hanging onto furniture all the time! LOL Today I tried again, doing "day two" of the 30 day challenge- but I skipped the lunges- I just couldn't do it! Next week, I promise. :)

I'm doing well, but still having trouble with stress eating. I swear, it's like something takes over my hands and mouth and I don't even realize it until I've consumed twice as much as I meant to. It only seems to happen when I'm stressed or worried- so dealing with that is step one, but I think I may need more help than my mommy group can provide. ;) I use SparkPeople.com- but the resources there regarding emotional eating just seem silly. NOT what I need. I read up on Overeater's Annonymous- because in theory it sounds perfect- except that the strong religious tenents just aren't for me. SO, I'm still on the lookout. I think I'll end up contacting a counselor of some sort- just not sure yet.

Thanks for reading, and I hope your year is off to a positive and productive start, too! :)