Wonderful News

New guidelines for school lunches are placing more emphasis on nutritious and healthier menu options as reported in the recent USA Today article entitled Schools Serve Up Veggies, Variety by Nancy Hellmich.  Interestingly enough, I have embarked on a journey to get my kids to eat healthier at home.  Having them eat healthier at school will not only reinforce my attempts, but will ingrain that healthy choices can be satisfying and taste good.  I will admit this effort is not based entirely on altruism, as it may sound.  I looked in the mirror one day and saw a horrific sight; not only had I gained 20 lbs, which the scale annoyingly informed me about, but I had developed this unsightly layer of flab over my already pregnant-looking obese stomach.  When I walked, this atrocity jiggled, and you could see it despite how much I tried to hide it under loose clothing.  I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole.

Not only had I fallen off the health and exercise wagon, but my body was just getting rounder and flabbier by the day.  It was scary to realize that the barrel-like body my mom had with the protruding belly would not only be mine, but I was working on a nasty layer of jiggly wrinkly fat in all the wrong places to top it all off.  That had to stop then and there.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect to look like a supermodel, but damn! Hell, no!!!! That very rude awakening was a bit over a month ago.

Since I am still recovering from a surprise shoulder injury.  Oh, it’s so great getting old! I know I am not able to workout as vigorously as I did before.  For years, I have been very active and would always try to find new ways in which to exercise my body.  I enjoy the physicality of working out immensely.  However, the above named injury stopped me in my tracks when I was referred to a physical therapist after not being able to raise my arm above shoulder level.  I was also having really bad pain when I slept on the affected arm or when I would sleep on the opposite side, the arm sort of hung there.  They discovered I had somehow managed to dislocate my shoulder very slightly.  Injuries like this need regular strengthening and stabilization of the muscles surrounding the shoulder, but they never really heal.

The physical therapist prohibited any jumping exercises, upper body workouts, and no running.  That was my entire old workout regimen right out the window.  He wanted me to stretch and do lots of walking, and of course, go in 3 times per week for my sessions.  This not only set me back $120/week for a few months, but it was stressful to squeeze it in during lunch.  My boss was very supportive and understanding, but it was run here, exercise, run back, eat and get back to work.  I felt as if I was always rushing somewhere, and the days, I was really busy at work, it was just overwhelming.  Since I have always walked a lot anyways, I felt as if that wasn’t really helping me, and it wasn’t.  I managed to put on about 15-20 lbs while rehabilitating my shoulder.

After my physical therapy, I am able to raise my arm over my shoulder, but it is still quite stiff overall.  I don’t have the shoulder pain anymore, but I also don’t have the upper arm strength I did once.  And, despite what anyone says, it’s a bit harder building strength back up on one side only.  I decided my best line of defense was making my diet healthy, tasty, and rich in good fats, and slowly incorporating exercise back into my routine.  So, for the last month or so, I have been cooking at home pretty much nightly.  My youngest daughter has discovered she really likes mashed butternut squash, and the oldest does not detest mushrooms as she once thought.  Then again, her main frame of reference was the canned variety on pizza.  Last night, I made a mushroom risotto and the girl had seconds.  That makes me really happy because not only can I watch what I eat, but the kids are also jumping onboard with me.  There is no quicker recipe for failure than dieting alone in a house full of people.

It does take a little more planning and creativity, but the main thing is loading up my shopping cart with fruits and veggies instead of cereals, frozen potatoes (French fries, tater tots, etc.), chicken nuggets, ramen, boxed cereals, pasta, mac and cheese, etc. Now, instead of buying 2-3 cereal boxes weekly, cookies, and several packets of pudding, we get 1 box of cereal, no cookies, 1 box of mac and cheese for a night I can’t make dinner, and lots of fruit.  They can drink some Krystal Light with me or have some watered down 100% juice.  We only have a single 2 liter bottle of diet soda per week.  We usually reserve this treat for the weekends.

Don’t get me wrong the key to all this is to make the kids feel they are eating healthier not being deprived.  Tonight, for example, we will have pizza.  However, instead of calling for delivery, we will make it ourselves.  I buy frozen whole wheat pizza dough.  I also bought a handy rolling pin so we can make the crust nice and even, or as thick as we like.  We will be having mushroom and shrimp pizza with part-skim mozzarella.  I am not letting those yummy mushrooms go bad.  My preference would be to throw in more veggies, but I am satisfied the kids are keeping an open mind, and have been eating everything I place before them.  I do let the younger one have a modest dessert or a piece of fruit after dinner.  Every now and again, I have to use the dessert bribe, but not very often.  It is good to have it in the bag of tricks in case you need it.

I am also loving the fact that cooking more often not only keeps us healthier because it lets us control what we put in our food, and how we prepare it, but the time it takes to cook the food, gives us time to catch up and chat.  It has become a nice moment for us to share things, and every now and again, my youngest daughter will join in as well.  The best part is now that a month has passed, I looked at myself in the mirror, and I can see a definite improvement paunch-wise.  It's not flat by any means or anywhere near there, but the layer of jiggle is not noticeable anymore.  I don't look like I am 6 months pregnant, maybe just 3...lol.

Today, at work, I brought in some of the baked chicken, the portabella mushroom risotto, and carrots and corn I made last night.  I have stopped buying lunch out altogether.  I had at least 3 coworkers come over and ask me what smelled so good.  They were actually disappointed to find that it was homemade, and not something they could buy themselves.  I always try to eat lunch by 12:15 pm so I have fully digested what I ate for lunch by the time I hit the gym at 3:00 pm.  After the gym, it's my tried and true favorite snack after a workout; a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat toast and a cup of skim milk.  I know I am lucky to be able to accommodate working out at the gym 3 times a week while at work.  I eat my lunch and snacks while working at my desk so I can then use my actual lunch break to workout in the free gym downstairs.  I am also fotunate to have one of those jobs that allows me to get up and walk around several times a day.  So, by the time I get home, I can cook, and devote my free time to the kids.  Believe it or not, I also get a little more free time to watch TV if I am so inclined.  Everything is a compromise so I am just trying to balance a healthy lifestyle, losing unwanted pounds, becoming fit, and being a full-time single mom.