Real life started back up today. J had an orthodontist appointment at 8:00 a.m. and then I had to go to a parent's only orientation at Michael's preschool at 10:00 a.m. Brig informed me that we were starting to run low on the "easy paleo food", which means the deli meat and nuts are running low. We still have plenty of food, it just requires actual preparation. Fortunately, I was able to make a quick stop at Kroger on the way home from the orthodontists and stock up on a little more deli meat.
So, here's the rundown for today.
Sleep: 2 pts.
8+ hours last night. As I said before, this is not an issue for me. I actually don't function well on anything less than 8.
Breakfast: 1 pt.
The rest of the chicken breast- about 4 oz.
1 nectarine.
A few almonds.
A handful of raspberries.
Lunch: 1 pt.
Leftovers from last night:
(Spaghetti Squash
Chicken Breast
Red Peppers
Mushrooms)
A Handful of Pecans.
Snack #1: 1 pt
A Banana
Some Almonds
A few slices of Deli Turkey
Crossfit WOD: 3 pts
Fran - 3 rounds 21/15/9 of Thrusters and Pull-ups.
I finished in 11:29 using a 45# bar for thrusters and a red band for the pull-ups.
Dinner: 1 pt
2 poached eggs
3 slices turkey bacon
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
Snack #2: 1 pt.
1 Nectarine
1/4 cup Walnuts
2 slices Deli Turkey
Total for today: 10 pts.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Paleo Challenge: Day #1
So, it's official today and what a wonderful day to start this whole endeavor. So, here are the official rules of the challenge.
5 pts each day for eating strict Paleo; 1 point for each meal you eat and 1 point for each snack you eat.
3 pts each day you work out at Crossfit - with a maximum of 12 pts a week.
2 pts each day for sleeping at least 8 hours at night.
The gym is closed today due to the Labor Day holiday, so I don't plan on doing a WOD today, but I do have plans to go four times this week. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday will be my workout days this week.
So, here's the rundown of today:
Last night I slept 8+ hours: 2 points
Breakfast: 1 point
3 oz Turkey Breast
1 cup Green Grapes
1/4 cup Red Raspberries
Water
Lunch: 1 point
Lunch consisted of a salad so yummy that it didn't need dressing. I started with a plate of romaine lesson and shredded carrots and then topped it with chicken breast, almonds, cherry tomatoes, sliced mushrooms and strawberries. It was truly beautiful and if I posted pictures on my blog, it would be worthy.
Snack #1: 1 point
1 large peach
A small handful of Almonds
Dinner: 1 point
About a cup of Spaghetti Squash topped with a stir fry. The stir fry consisted of a little olive oil, chicken breast, red peppers and sliced mushrooms.
1 cup Papaya
Snack #2: 1 point
Small handful of Pecans
Two slices Turkey Deli Meat
3/4 cup green grapes
Point total for today: 7 pts.
5 pts each day for eating strict Paleo; 1 point for each meal you eat and 1 point for each snack you eat.
3 pts each day you work out at Crossfit - with a maximum of 12 pts a week.
2 pts each day for sleeping at least 8 hours at night.
The gym is closed today due to the Labor Day holiday, so I don't plan on doing a WOD today, but I do have plans to go four times this week. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday will be my workout days this week.
So, here's the rundown of today:
Last night I slept 8+ hours: 2 points
Breakfast: 1 point
3 oz Turkey Breast
1 cup Green Grapes
1/4 cup Red Raspberries
Water
Lunch: 1 point
Lunch consisted of a salad so yummy that it didn't need dressing. I started with a plate of romaine lesson and shredded carrots and then topped it with chicken breast, almonds, cherry tomatoes, sliced mushrooms and strawberries. It was truly beautiful and if I posted pictures on my blog, it would be worthy.
Snack #1: 1 point
1 large peach
A small handful of Almonds
Dinner: 1 point
About a cup of Spaghetti Squash topped with a stir fry. The stir fry consisted of a little olive oil, chicken breast, red peppers and sliced mushrooms.
1 cup Papaya
Snack #2: 1 point
Small handful of Pecans
Two slices Turkey Deli Meat
3/4 cup green grapes
Point total for today: 7 pts.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Dry Run
The challenge doesn't officially start until tomorrow, but since we successfully ate up most of the junk in our house yesterday, I decided to try a dry run today.
Sleep: I'm not telling, but let's just say that it was well over 8 hours. My sweet husband let me sleep in :)
Exercise: None today, unless you count folding a pile of laundry the size of Seattle.
Breakfast:
1 Very Large Peach
2-3 slices Deli Turkey
Small handful of Raspberries
Snack:
Some Almonds
Half of the apple that I cut up for Michael
Lunch:
More Deli Turkey on a Salad
Raspberries
Six Cherry Tomatoes
Snack:
The rest of the pint of Raspberries
Dinner:
Grilled Pork Loin
Large Serving of Broccoli
About a cup of Papaya
After Dinner Snack:
Almonds
Small piece of Beef Jerky
I fully anticipate that I will have a before bed snack as well. Probably a nectarine or banana. I'm probably over doing the "some fruit" part of the saying. Oh well.
Sleep: I'm not telling, but let's just say that it was well over 8 hours. My sweet husband let me sleep in :)
Exercise: None today, unless you count folding a pile of laundry the size of Seattle.
Breakfast:
1 Very Large Peach
2-3 slices Deli Turkey
Small handful of Raspberries
Snack:
Some Almonds
Half of the apple that I cut up for Michael
Lunch:
More Deli Turkey on a Salad
Raspberries
Six Cherry Tomatoes
Snack:
The rest of the pint of Raspberries
Dinner:
Grilled Pork Loin
Large Serving of Broccoli
About a cup of Papaya
After Dinner Snack:
Almonds
Small piece of Beef Jerky
I fully anticipate that I will have a before bed snack as well. Probably a nectarine or banana. I'm probably over doing the "some fruit" part of the saying. Oh well.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The Paleo Challenge
So, my gym is doing a four week challenge complete with points and teams and a prize and everything. And, of course, since it is such an ideal time to add more to my life, I eagerly signed up along with my husband. So, for the next four weeks, we are to eat according to the following mantra: "Meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar." Along with the change in eating, we are expected to sleep at least eight hours a night (not a problem for me) and to do a gym workout-of-the-day (lovingly called the WOD) at least four times a week. We are also suppose to journal, which is where my all too handy blog is coming in. So, in the spirit of fair warning, the blog entries may be a little dry over the next four weeks. Unless, of course, you're really into the whole Paleo thing. Or, you find it humorous to watch me attempt these types of things.
The official challenge starts on Monday, so today has become a prep day of sorts for us. We went to the grocery store and filled up on fresh fruits and vegetables along with fish, lean meats and nuts. We are also sacrificially eating the last of the non-Paleo food in our house. The boys have been very helpful in this regard.
So, if you choose to actually read my blog over the next 4 weeks, expect to see the following:
What I ate that day - good or bad.
What exercise I did.
How long I slept.
I will try to add amusing anecdotes as time permits. Wish me luck.
The official challenge starts on Monday, so today has become a prep day of sorts for us. We went to the grocery store and filled up on fresh fruits and vegetables along with fish, lean meats and nuts. We are also sacrificially eating the last of the non-Paleo food in our house. The boys have been very helpful in this regard.
So, if you choose to actually read my blog over the next 4 weeks, expect to see the following:
What I ate that day - good or bad.
What exercise I did.
How long I slept.
I will try to add amusing anecdotes as time permits. Wish me luck.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Bloggity Blah Blah Blah
For the record, I have not completely abandoned my blogging endeavors. In fact, I regularly write posts in my head. The problem lies in actually typing them out and posting them. My life seems so full right now and my thoughts so scattered that I am afraid that by publishing my rantings, I will only confirm suspicions that I have indeed lost my mind.
But, the other day, my baby sister wrote me an email informing me that I had not updated my blog in a while and that she counts on the anecdotes from my life for her amusement. I wasn't exactly sure how to take that, so I guess I'll just try not to think about it too hard and do as she says.
So, summer came and went and the kids are back in school. Of course, since nothing can be easy in our life, our three boys are going to three different schools all in completely different directions. Scouts is on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I teach on Monday and Thursday nights. Piano is on Saturday afternoons plus practice every day with homework and exercise squeezed in there somewhere. Our schedule is packed down to the minute and I'm not entirely sure that it is healthy, but I'm not sure what to cut, so until one of us falls down in shear exhaustion and physically can't pull ourselves up, it will continue. I should probably be reading that book someone wrote about the "over-scheduled kid," but believe me, when and if I get some free time, I refuse to use it reading about something that will only serve in making me feel more guilty.
My job is going well. According to my student surveys, I am once again the most awesome math teacher ever. Of course, this amuses me on several levels. For instance, how can I manage to get in front of a group of 20 students for 3 hours and lecture on the finer points of the Pythagorean theorem, but when it comes to calling for a babysitter, I break out in a cold sweat and promise my husband all kinds of favors if he will just please do it for me? How is it that the world's biggest introvert chooses teaching as her career? Yet, I still go back quarter after quarter and for some reason, I don't think I'd really be happy anywhere else.
In conclusion, since I need to go meet a bus in a few minutes and I may never finish this if I don't just do it now, I will list some of the other great "accomplishments" of the Cook family.
* My almost three-year-old Michael is not the only kid in his preschool class that is not potty-trained and the preschool is okay with that meaning we don't have to put real underwear over a pull-up and fake it for three hours twice a week.
* J got his completely paid for braces off and is in a retainer for a few years until he gets completely new braces complete with new payments. Of course, in that same week, Spencer started with the whole hullabaloo, which means that the current payments will continue - just under a different child. In fact, one look at Michael's teeth and I'm pretty sure that we will be making some sort of payment to an orthodontic establishment for the next 14 years.
* In the first three weeks of school, J has managed to only pull one ticket and it wasn't even for a discipline issue. Apparently, he did the wrong math page as homework. I am aware that there is a honeymoon period going on right now with the new teacher and she may be overlooking a few of his tendencies towards behavior unbecoming of a student, but I have hope.
Now....off to the bus stop!
But, the other day, my baby sister wrote me an email informing me that I had not updated my blog in a while and that she counts on the anecdotes from my life for her amusement. I wasn't exactly sure how to take that, so I guess I'll just try not to think about it too hard and do as she says.
So, summer came and went and the kids are back in school. Of course, since nothing can be easy in our life, our three boys are going to three different schools all in completely different directions. Scouts is on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I teach on Monday and Thursday nights. Piano is on Saturday afternoons plus practice every day with homework and exercise squeezed in there somewhere. Our schedule is packed down to the minute and I'm not entirely sure that it is healthy, but I'm not sure what to cut, so until one of us falls down in shear exhaustion and physically can't pull ourselves up, it will continue. I should probably be reading that book someone wrote about the "over-scheduled kid," but believe me, when and if I get some free time, I refuse to use it reading about something that will only serve in making me feel more guilty.
My job is going well. According to my student surveys, I am once again the most awesome math teacher ever. Of course, this amuses me on several levels. For instance, how can I manage to get in front of a group of 20 students for 3 hours and lecture on the finer points of the Pythagorean theorem, but when it comes to calling for a babysitter, I break out in a cold sweat and promise my husband all kinds of favors if he will just please do it for me? How is it that the world's biggest introvert chooses teaching as her career? Yet, I still go back quarter after quarter and for some reason, I don't think I'd really be happy anywhere else.
In conclusion, since I need to go meet a bus in a few minutes and I may never finish this if I don't just do it now, I will list some of the other great "accomplishments" of the Cook family.
* My almost three-year-old Michael is not the only kid in his preschool class that is not potty-trained and the preschool is okay with that meaning we don't have to put real underwear over a pull-up and fake it for three hours twice a week.
* J got his completely paid for braces off and is in a retainer for a few years until he gets completely new braces complete with new payments. Of course, in that same week, Spencer started with the whole hullabaloo, which means that the current payments will continue - just under a different child. In fact, one look at Michael's teeth and I'm pretty sure that we will be making some sort of payment to an orthodontic establishment for the next 14 years.
* In the first three weeks of school, J has managed to only pull one ticket and it wasn't even for a discipline issue. Apparently, he did the wrong math page as homework. I am aware that there is a honeymoon period going on right now with the new teacher and she may be overlooking a few of his tendencies towards behavior unbecoming of a student, but I have hope.
Now....off to the bus stop!
Friday, June 12, 2009
The Perfect Storm
Whereas I teeter on the brink of insanity most of the time, I guard my routines closely. OCD me likes to keep things within a certain threshold of my established norm. Grocery shopping, laundry, teaching, and watching TV all have their places in my routine. If I decide to let something slip, the whole week seems wrong until I can pull back to where I was or establish a new routine.
Well, this last week, everything has been off. The kids are home from school for the first week of summer break, and I started back to teaching three new classes. Then I got sick. In fact, I was so sick that I went to bed on Wednesday night rather than staying up and watching "So You Think You Can Dance?" I was really that sick - which also meant that I haven't been to the gym since Monday. Then I taught last night in what has been one of the weirdest political weeks ever at work. Who knew that an adjunct Math instructor would ever have to deal with office-like politics? We are totally not equiped for that. On top of it all, it is that time of the month.
Really though, OCD as I am, I think I could have handled all of the disturbances to my life if I had not done one thing. I picked up a book. While my sister, Christina, was out visiting, we spent a night hanging out at bookstores. We were looking for a certain book in the half-priced bookstore, and happened to be in the aisle next to the True Crime section. I have some weird sort of fascination with how people think and so a lot of the true crime stories are interesting to me. As a side note, I considered going into Psychology when I was in college and spent several months volunteering on a crisis line, which was a little bit too much of a reality check and sent me spiraling in the other direction towards a life of integers and variables. But, anyway, back to the true crime aisle. My sister and I both rather randomly picked up a book and put them in our respective stacks. It wasn't until Monday of this week that I picked up this specific book again.
As an aside, my husband can pick up a book, read a few pages and then put it down. He can then pick it up the next day and read a few more pages and then put the book down again. In fact, he can happily be reading the same book for several weeks. He is somehow able to compartmentalize the book and symbolically put it on the shelf until he has a few minutes to come back to it. I am not so lucky. From the time that I open a book, I become obsessed with it. I dream the characters. I read during every waking moment. I neglect hygiene and basic physiological needs in the name of resolution. The book comes with me into the bathroom, into the tub, and even into the car. It is really pretty sad on several levels.
But, back to the book. I opened the book and I started to read. And I read. I was sick and I couldn't do much else anyway, so I read. I taught classes, but while I was preaching the cosine and sine, I was thinking about where deception would be revealed in the twisted plot. I slept, but I could never really steer my mind away. Finally, this morning, I finished the book. And then I assessed the damage.
It was almost noon and I lay on the couch unshowered. The laundry was piled. The dishes were stacked. My tower of ungraded papers in the family room was threatening to become drawing paper for Michael. I hadn't updated the budget in a week and my older sons were persistantly telling me that a grocery trip should soon be on the agenda. I was quite abruptly pulled from my true crime fantasy world back into my truly messy and not nearly as dramatic real world.
And, I should probably go back to the gym tomorrow.
Well, this last week, everything has been off. The kids are home from school for the first week of summer break, and I started back to teaching three new classes. Then I got sick. In fact, I was so sick that I went to bed on Wednesday night rather than staying up and watching "So You Think You Can Dance?" I was really that sick - which also meant that I haven't been to the gym since Monday. Then I taught last night in what has been one of the weirdest political weeks ever at work. Who knew that an adjunct Math instructor would ever have to deal with office-like politics? We are totally not equiped for that. On top of it all, it is that time of the month.
Really though, OCD as I am, I think I could have handled all of the disturbances to my life if I had not done one thing. I picked up a book. While my sister, Christina, was out visiting, we spent a night hanging out at bookstores. We were looking for a certain book in the half-priced bookstore, and happened to be in the aisle next to the True Crime section. I have some weird sort of fascination with how people think and so a lot of the true crime stories are interesting to me. As a side note, I considered going into Psychology when I was in college and spent several months volunteering on a crisis line, which was a little bit too much of a reality check and sent me spiraling in the other direction towards a life of integers and variables. But, anyway, back to the true crime aisle. My sister and I both rather randomly picked up a book and put them in our respective stacks. It wasn't until Monday of this week that I picked up this specific book again.
As an aside, my husband can pick up a book, read a few pages and then put it down. He can then pick it up the next day and read a few more pages and then put the book down again. In fact, he can happily be reading the same book for several weeks. He is somehow able to compartmentalize the book and symbolically put it on the shelf until he has a few minutes to come back to it. I am not so lucky. From the time that I open a book, I become obsessed with it. I dream the characters. I read during every waking moment. I neglect hygiene and basic physiological needs in the name of resolution. The book comes with me into the bathroom, into the tub, and even into the car. It is really pretty sad on several levels.
But, back to the book. I opened the book and I started to read. And I read. I was sick and I couldn't do much else anyway, so I read. I taught classes, but while I was preaching the cosine and sine, I was thinking about where deception would be revealed in the twisted plot. I slept, but I could never really steer my mind away. Finally, this morning, I finished the book. And then I assessed the damage.
It was almost noon and I lay on the couch unshowered. The laundry was piled. The dishes were stacked. My tower of ungraded papers in the family room was threatening to become drawing paper for Michael. I hadn't updated the budget in a week and my older sons were persistantly telling me that a grocery trip should soon be on the agenda. I was quite abruptly pulled from my true crime fantasy world back into my truly messy and not nearly as dramatic real world.
And, I should probably go back to the gym tomorrow.
Friday, June 5, 2009
So, I have a minute....
I have completely neglected to update my blog lately. I have plenty of excuses, but rather than waste my time on those, I'll try to make this entry a little more engaging and less apologetic in case any of my three regular readers bothers to check it anymore.
So, on the boys front: They are out of school as of yesterday. J managed his way through third grade Quest (our district gifted/talented program) and even cried on the way home on his last day of school because it "has been a really fun year and I'm kind of sad." I am taking this as a good sign and have decided to allow him to attend fourth grade in the program even though I am lazy and hate driving his carpool. I am such a good mom.
Spencer received the good citizenship award for his class, which makes all of the sense in the world, since every second child must go in a completely opposite direction from their oldest sibling counterpart. It is the way of things.
Michael is talking. Yes, it's true. In fact, he got tested today and he is pretty much on level for everything - even expressive, which has always been his Achilles' hill. This testing was done by his speech therapist, but she did warn me that there is a good chance that he won't qualify for the free district preschool when they test him. Luckily, I already put a deposit down on the ritzy preschool last year and so he is set. Didn't I tell you what a good mom I am?
I start teaching again next week. Somehow I roped myself into doing three classes over the summer. I love to teach, but negotiating daycare for all three of my boys is pretty much a nightmare - even if it just for 3 hours a week. I have to have someone come to my house - preferably someone responsible that can drive themselves and handle any fires that my boys may decide to start in my absence without getting the pesky fire department involved. They also need to recognize the merits of peanut butter lunches and my cluttered home. It's a tall order, but I think I've got someone lined up for at least most of the summer.
That's about it for now. I have a million other things that I could update on, but many of them deserve their own post. In case I never get to them, the following posts have already been composed in my head:
My Sister's visit to Kentucky
The Gym (again)
Thank you for reading.
So, on the boys front: They are out of school as of yesterday. J managed his way through third grade Quest (our district gifted/talented program) and even cried on the way home on his last day of school because it "has been a really fun year and I'm kind of sad." I am taking this as a good sign and have decided to allow him to attend fourth grade in the program even though I am lazy and hate driving his carpool. I am such a good mom.
Spencer received the good citizenship award for his class, which makes all of the sense in the world, since every second child must go in a completely opposite direction from their oldest sibling counterpart. It is the way of things.
Michael is talking. Yes, it's true. In fact, he got tested today and he is pretty much on level for everything - even expressive, which has always been his Achilles' hill. This testing was done by his speech therapist, but she did warn me that there is a good chance that he won't qualify for the free district preschool when they test him. Luckily, I already put a deposit down on the ritzy preschool last year and so he is set. Didn't I tell you what a good mom I am?
I start teaching again next week. Somehow I roped myself into doing three classes over the summer. I love to teach, but negotiating daycare for all three of my boys is pretty much a nightmare - even if it just for 3 hours a week. I have to have someone come to my house - preferably someone responsible that can drive themselves and handle any fires that my boys may decide to start in my absence without getting the pesky fire department involved. They also need to recognize the merits of peanut butter lunches and my cluttered home. It's a tall order, but I think I've got someone lined up for at least most of the summer.
That's about it for now. I have a million other things that I could update on, but many of them deserve their own post. In case I never get to them, the following posts have already been composed in my head:
My Sister's visit to Kentucky
The Gym (again)
Thank you for reading.
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