On Hold

What a summer! 

My summer break from teaching started off with a bang and never quite calmed down.  We’ve painted (and painted and painted and painted), organized (sounds fun, huh?), rearranged, and traveled and I just never sat down to write.  Sad, because I missed it.

School starts for teachers on Monday.  Oddly, I know that back to school means I’ll have time to write.  Does that sound backwards?  I’m just that person who seems to thrive on busy.  I tend to do better when life is crazy.

Some exciting things are on the horizon and I will be back soon and they’re not all about weight loss (though some surely are).  Speaking of weight, though, I’ve lost 15 pounds at this point.  I’m not sure if I’ll make my 36lb goal, but I’m going to try!

Calories

It’s no mystery that the weight loss game involves calories in and calories out.  We have a calorie target to maintain our current weight, and a calorie target to lose.  I’m sure there’s some highly scientific equipment available to measure exact intake/out take, but what does someone do if they don’t have any fancy equipment?

One pound = 3500 calories.  Consume 3500 calories more than you need and you gain a pound.  Consume 3500 calories fewer than you need and you lose a pound.  Alternatively, you can burn calories to lose.

One thing I’ve been doing lately is playing with my calorie intake to see how it affects my weight loss. I’ve been trying to stick to 1200 calories per day and I haven’t really lost much.  I’ve read in the past that a person can eat too few calories when trying to lose weight, resulting in no weight loss at all.  Hmm… I really grapple with this theory but I want to challenge it by trying it.

I researched several sites to find out how many calories I should be eating.  MyFitnessPal calculates your calories based on a number of factors, including your desired loss/week and exercise amount.  Shape.com’s formula has you multiply your goal weight by 13, 15, or 20 (depending on activity level).  About.com has an online calculator, and CalorieKing allows you to find out your calories to maintain your current weight without creating an account.

Let’s do the math!

MyFitnessPal:  To lose 1.5lbs/week – 1350 cals/day and 1 hour of exercise/week

Shape.com:  135×13 (because I don’t exercise a minimum of 3 hours/week):  1755 cals/day

Caloriecount.about.com:  1407 cals/day to lose 1.5lbs per week

CalorieKing:  To maintain my current weight, I need to consume 1950 cals/day

It’s no wonder people don’t know how much to eat to lose weight!

No matter how I do the math, the results are conflicting.  I’m left with picking what I think will work and hoping for the best.  I came here to make more sense of the calorie game and all I’ve done is become more confused.  One thing I know – eating 1200 calories per day is not producing the results I want (and I haven’t been going over often enough to sabotage my results.

I can’t imagine being successful eating 1755 calories per day – that just seems like so many!    MFP and About.com come in fairly close to each other, and put me at my overall goal  by March.  I plan to set my calorie limit at 1400 calories and STICK TO IT!  And exercise… that’s another post!

$75 Is Better Than $1500!

After A started walking, we noticed that she rolled her feet inward as she walked.  It didn’t seem terrible, but enough of a concern that we mentioned it to the pediatrician at her 1-year WBV.  The pediatrician referred us to a Physical Therapist and said that it would most likely be correctable with exercises.

We arrived at the first PT appointment only to find out that it was considered a part of the hospital and would therefore be subject to our deductible and would not be just a copay.  I should have checked into that BEFORE the appointment, but didn’t.  So, we left and made an appointment with a pediatric Physical Therapy office nearby.  I found out PT is subject to the deductible on my insurance regardless of where we go.  We kept the appointment with the 2nd place because we really wanted her evaluated… I mean, we knew there wasn’t anything serious going on but we wanted to ensure whatever it was wouldn’t cause her problems later.

The PT watched A walk for about 5 minutes, did a few things with her feet, and then told us that A has low tone pronation.  It’s pretty cut and dry, correctable with orthotic shoe inserts.  She went over a few different types with us and said that before we left she wanted her associate to take a look.

Her associate came in and took one look at A’s feet and declared that what A needs are a brace made by a company called Sure Step.  We were told we’d need to go to an Orthotist to have her fitted and that they run around $1500/pair.

In the meantime, I  called my insurance company and did a little research.  The insurance company said that orthotics of any kind are not covered.  Awesome.  The biggest thing I noticed while doing my research is that I couldn’t find a single instance where someone who didn’t have any neurological or developmental delays needed a Sure Step.  Instead of thinking, “hmm, I think this PT got it wrong here,” I thought, “Oh no – does this mean A has a problem we don’t know about?”

Remembering I have a cousin who is a Physical Therapist, I decided I’d email her and find out what she has experienced with low tone pronation.  After a long discussion, I was at ease about the whole thing and had a much better idea of what A needed.

First of all, my cousin gave us a few exercises to do.  If we wouldn’t have been so stunned by the PT’s orthotic/brace recommendation, we would have asked about exercises.  But, we were so thrown off we didn’t even remember!  We’ve been doing at least one of the exercises each day.

Secondly, my cousin told us that she generally only puts kids who aren’t yet walking in Sure Steps and said if it was for her child, she’d start off more conservative.  She recommended we try a Cascade Chipmunk to start and see if it provides any improvement.

We ordered the inserts and they came Thursday.  Today, we went and got her shoes to wear with them.  We tried on about 12 pairs of shoes before we found a pair that worked well with the Chipmunks.

We are hopeful that these inserts will do the trick.  $1500 for something that will have to be replaced every time her foot grows out of them is hard to digest – $75 is way better!

On Being Catholic

I’m what they call a “Cradle Catholic”.  I was Baptized into the Catholic Church very shortly after my birth and went through all of the appropriate sacraments growing up.  My husband, also a “Cradle Catholic, was not only raised in the Church but went to a private Catholic high school.  We started attending church together shortly after we started dating and were married in the Church.

Both of our kids are baptized in the Church and have wonderful godparents (each has 1 Catholic and 1 non-Catholic godparent).

I can’t say that I agree 100% with the Church’s teachings; I think it’s rare that anyone believes 100% in any organization.  However, there is something I find very beautiful about the Catholic Church.  Aside from the ornate stained glass and grandiose alters, there is something spiritually that I connect with – the Sacraments feel holy.  The Mass is solemn and the scripted repetition of the weekly service is comforting.

I’ve visited other churches.  In college, I attended the local Episcopal Church many times.  I also enjoyed the Methodist Church on campus.  There was a Presbyterian Church not far from campus I attended often as well.  The campus Catholic Church had a great priest and my friends and I attended Mass there occasionally.  At one point, I sang in the choir there.  At another point, I became a Eucharistic Minister.

After college, I church-hopped some more, trying to find a place that was satisfying.  I attended a few different Catholic Churches in the area and even attended a singles group.  It was there that I met one of my best friends, D, who is J’s godmother.  The group was nice in that I made a friend, but overall the group was not for me.

I think the Catholic Church has a major flaw.  This isn’t in their doctrine or in their teachings.  It has little to do with the Pope or the Vatican. (I’m not looking for people to point out what they find are the flaws – that’s not the purpose of this post.)  The flaw I see is in fellowship.  It’s a missed opportunity, in my opinion, to get young people interested in the Church.

I’ve attended church a couple of times with friends and have taken my children to their churches.  The kids go off to Children’s Church while mom and dad worship with other adults.  There is a lot of music and the script is in the way the service is organized, not in what people say.  It comes from the heart, not a missile.  The Children’s Church seems a little over the top – they have jungle gyms and a band, or some other kitschy way of getting the kids to love being there, but the kids love it.  As a result, they love church.

While I admit I’m always a little uncomfortable in these churches, I see a major asset to how they operate.  Kids actually WANT to be there!  They leave knowing something about the Bible, understanding teachings of Jesus.  They want to go back not just next Sunday, but mid-week as well.  They meet friends there, and it’s so much fun they barely realize that they are worshiping while they are there.

In stark contrast is the Catholic Church where children are forced to sit still through the entire hour-long service, forcing their eyelids open throughout what they see as a completely mundane service.  Our church recently started taking kids out for children’s church during the readings, and that has helped J be more interested.  But he never asks to go.  He’s never disappointed if we skip.  He rarely can tell us anything he learned while he was there.  And I get it – I never remembered learning anything, either.

When we lived in Sylva, a small mountain town in Western North Carolina, we attended a small Catholic Church where we felt shunned because we had a baby.  If J made so much as a peep (be it coo or cry), we received disapproving looks from many in the congregation.  We didn’t have anywhere else to take him – there wasn’t really a “cry room” to speak of, and to take him out of the sanctuary would mean taking him completely out of the church.  We definitely felt the “children are to be seen and not heard” opinion at this church and, as a result, did not attend nearly enough.

While I’m uncomfortable at other church services besides my own (though I’m sure I could adapt), I miss other activities these churches provide.  At my church, the only organizations are official – I never see anything in the bulletin for Bible studies or other groups I feel I’d want to attend (nothing for my age group – and I don’t really want to go to a Bible Study for senior citizens).  My friends have groups they can belong to through their church and the activities they do together sound like fun.

I feel caught.  I wish there was a way for me to keep the Sacraments I find Holy and gain the activities I feel would make me more excited about going to church.  I wish there was a way for me to get my children to experience these sacraments while finding church fun.  I wish there was a way for me to find middle ground between the rigidity of the Catholic Church and the uncomfortable feeling I have during other church services.  I would love to find a group my husband and I could feel a part of, where we, too, could participate in fun church activities.  I don’t know how to accomplish that.

How do I decide what is most important?

It’s Spring Break – Shoot Me Now

Ah, Spring Break – a week in March we teachers look forward to beginning in January when we return from Christmas break.  It’s a week of relaxation and rejuvenation.  With the kids.  Did I say the words “relax” and “rejuvenate”?

J asked if we could go to Sea World during Spring Break.  As luck would have it, teachers get a free Fun Card.  Since A is still free, it only cost us $50 for all 4 of us to go.  Great deal!

We picked a decent hotel with a separate living space from the sleeping space so it would be more comfortable for all of us.  It had an indoor pool and free breakfast (though I usually despise the free breakfast).

Everyone else whose kids are on Spring Break wanted an indoor pool and free breakfast, too.  In San Antonio.  As a result, our hotel was at capacity.  And it showed.

The chlorine was noticeable from the second we walked through the door.  Trash sat by the elevator on our floor the entire time we were there.  The free breakfast on day 1 was sparse and crowded (or so we thought).

Sea World on Day 1 was awesome.  Not overly hot or crowded, we had a great time.  J’s attitude was slightly out of check, but we chalked that up to travel and excitement (his attitude Day 2 was much improved).  J rode his first big roller coaster:

The Steel Eel

We enjoyed several shows:

"Sea Lions Tonight"

When we left, we were exhausted but we’d had a fantastic time.  We couldn’t wait to come back Monday and finish the things we missed Sunday.

On Day 2, we knew trouble was brewing when the line to get into Sea World (to park) was a mile long.  The line to get in the door was even longer.  It was miserable!  People, people, everywhere.  People, people who just don’t care – they stomp your toes and create much woe.  If Hell was on Earth it would be here!

Thankfully, we saw one fun show:

"One Ocean"

We also fed some Sea Lions and watched as the Sea Lions sunbathed, which was nice.

Otherwise, we were done!  We stayed 3 hours, tops, and called it a day.  Downtown San Antonio, we decided, would be better.

We drove the 15 minutes to downtown San Antonio and it didn’t seem too bad.  We found a place to park and walked to the Riverwalk.

Oh my, were we wrong.  Ugh.  Maneuvering a stroller on the Riverwalk was horrible with so many people.  We barely had room to walk.

We found a place for lunch, sat outside, and enjoyed a leisurely lunch.  It was probably the best part of the day.

After lunch we went to the Alamo.  Visiting the Alamo was J’s 2nd request for his Spring Break trip.  Unfortunately, the line to get in was long and it was hot outside and we just didn’t have it in us to stand in it.  We walked around all of the grounds of the Alamo and let J do everything we could do without actually going in.  We spent at least an hour with him looking at every cannon, diorama and old stone he could see.  We promised to come back early enough the next day to (hopefully) avoid a long line.

We were all so bone tired that we slept in a little Tuesday morning.  We got to the free breakfast a little late.  No lie, the line was about 30 deep, mostly families with hyper obnoxious children we just didn’t want to deal with (we have 2 of our own we have no choice but to company, so the last thing I need is to have to put up with someone else’s!).  We turned around and went back to our room.  We packed and headed to Panera for a bagel.  So much for that free breakfast!

Thankfully, there wasn’t much of a line at all to get into the Alamo so J got his wish of seeing the inside.  It was awesome watching him explore the Alamo.  He was interested in everything.  We even had the fortune of being there when the Naval Academy’s Glee Club was performing.

After the Alamo, we ate lunch at Shilo’s… a fantastic Reuben and homemade root beer.  It was delicious!

We started the drive home, but stopped in San Marcos to do a little outlet shopping.  Outlet shopping with two kids is NOT fun.  At all.  We didn’t stay nearly as long as we hoped and as a result hit rush hour traffic through Austin.  By the time we got just north of Austin, it was dinnertime.

We finally pulled into our garage after 10pm.  All-in-all we had a fun trip.  I have to admit that J was super annoying at times, but most often he was just being an over-excited 7-year old boy.  It was more us being annoyed because we were tired and wishing he was perfect.  Why can’t he be perfect?

Today we did very little.  It’s 3.14, so J and I made pie.  We made the Angus Barn’s Chocolate Chess Pie (a restaurant in Raleigh, NC) and it was delicious.  So delicious, I ate 2 pieces.

That leads me to my next post… I will get back to tracking my food tomorrow morning.  I will.  Promise.

Remind me next year, when I’m planning Spring Break, that we want to research cities where it’s not Spring Break and go there.

Ear Infections – I’m OVER You!

My darling daughter started daycare on January 17th.  By January 23rd, she had RSV and a double ear infection.  She went for her 1-year WBV on February 9th and had an ear infection in one ear.  She was prescribed round 2 of antibiotics.  We finished the 10-day course of amoxicillin just in time for her to get pink eye.  A week later, she got another ear infection!

Jim and I have missed 5 or 6 days of work since she started daycare.  This is a big part of why I wish I could stay at home.  I love my job – it gets crazy sometimes, but at the end of the day I love what I do.  However, I feel like my biggest responsibility is to my family and there are times when I feel I have no choice but to put my family on the back burner.  Unfortunately, me staying at home will never happen since my husband is also a school teacher and we could not afford to live on one salary.

Fortunately, as kids get bigger they tend to get sick less often.  Maybe one day I’ll finish a school year with days left over.

 

My First 5k

I barely exercised at all the last 6 weeks.

I didn’t train.

I signed up with a work friend because I thought it would be fun.

It was supposed to inspire me to train.

I left my bib and my shoe tag at work, and my friend’s alarm didn’t go off.  For a minute there it seemed like we weren’t meant to make it to the race at all.

The website advertised a $5 replacement for the bib.  We trekked from the parking lot, through the crowds waiting for the race, through the wrong door, then around a building to get to the stand selling replacements.

The grouchy old man volunteer curtly stated, “That’s twenty dollars.”

“What?” I replied, “The website said five.”

“Well, the website is wrong,” he said, “that’s twenty dollars.”

My friend boldly whipped out her iPhone and said, “I have it pulled up right here, straight from your website.  See.  Right here it says five dollars.”

Thankfully, the lady standing next to the man made him give me the replacement for $5, but boy was he a grouch.

We lined up, the race started, and we walked.  We don’t know exactly how far we walked, but it was around 5 minutes.  Then we picked up the pace and jogged.  Eventually, we hit a hill, someone got in front of me, and my friend pulled ahead.  I jogged that hill until my shoe needed to be tied.  I stopped, quickly tied my shoe, and kept going.

I jogged everything but the hills.  My finishing time was 42:49, not much faster than a quick walk.  But, I finished.  I am proud of my (our – my friend finished a few minutes ahead of me) accomplishment.

Homemade Cookies Any Day

We heart chocolate chip cookies.  They are best when first baked, straight from the oven, gooey, warm, and soft.

Most recipes make around 3 dozen cookies.  Unless I plan to forget all about my diet, 3 dozen cookies is too many to eat straight from the oven!

I prefer to make a batch of cookie dough and freeze it.  There are two good ways to accomplish this.

1)  Make balls of cookie dough and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet (that will fit into the freezer).  Line up all the balls onto the sheet and then place the entire cookie sheet into the freezer.  After a few hours, the dough balls will be firm enough to put into a freezer container.  When you want warm cookies, remove from the freezer, thaw for a few minutes, and bake (I usually get the dough balls out before dinner and they’re ready to bake when we’re ready for dessert).

2) Make logs of dough to freeze.  I usually divide the dough in thirds, enough to make about a dozen cookies at a time.  Then, I place the dough on pieces of parchment, shape into a log and wrap into a log.  Twist the ends and place into a freezer bag.  When I’m ready to make a few cookies, I take them out and either slice  dough for the cookies or break off chunks to bake.

Notice that these are NOT pretty or evenly distributed.  Who knows how many cookies each one will make.  All I know if that these will be ready when I am – and I won’t have 3 dozen cookies staring at me, waiting for me to stuff them into my face!

Why Weigh Daily?

Most of the time, weight loss programs require a weekly weigh-in.  Normally, people I speak to about weight loss swear by the weekly weigh-in.  I, on the other hand, prefer to see my weight daily.

Does this make me obsessive?

Won’t I get discouraged?

I believe weighing daily helps me see progress more than weighing weekly.  Each day that I hop on the scale, I log my weight into an app on my phone that charts the weight for me.  What’s nice is that I am able to see my normal fluctuations.  As long as I notice a downward trend, I’m happy.

Notice that, even though I have big jumps upward they are occurring at fairly regular intervals.  Additionally, each jump is approximately the same amount but is lower each time it occurs.  Overall, my weigh is trending downward.

If I weighed only weekly, I might always weigh on the “up” day.  I would probably get discouraged and wonder why in the world my pants are looser but the scale is not moving much.  In fact, I’d be losing more weight than a weekly weigh-in would catch.

In addition to tracking my weight, I need to start taking measurements.  Does anyone know how often I should measure?

 

100 Calorie Snack Ideas

It’s hard to think of yummy snacks that are nutritious yet don’t rob your daily calorie bank. I love to snack! In fact, I try to keep my meals between 300-400 calories each just so I have room for snacks. However, more than once I’ve realized that my snacks are too high in calories (at least they’re filling, I guess). I manage to stay within my calorie range each day, but sometimes I just feel like the snack I chose robbed me of too many calories in my already meager calorie fund.

Greatist came out with a list called, “88 Unexpected Snacks Under 100 Calories” that really has a little bit for everyone. When I first saw the title on Pinterest, the thought that ran through my head was something like, “yah, sure… another list of crappy 100-calorie snacks that will leave me wishing for another hundred.” However, after looking through the list, I’m intrigued. Many of the recipes actually look great… and in all honesty they also look filling.

Now, of course there are a few I can’t imagine myself every trying (Guacamole stuffed egg whites??) but I think Greatist did a great job of putting together a list that would satisfy a snack craving for just about anyone (foodies included).

Check it out. Then, sprinkle some nutritional yeast on your popcorn and pretend it tastes like cheese. Do it. I triple dog dare you!