Life’s Lessons: A Detox Cleanse Just Isn’t For Me
Otherwise known as why I gave up on the cleanse. Or how I suck and have no willpower. But I swear that’s not all there is to it!
1. I decided to try a detoxifying spring cleanse diet for 10 days.
2. I thought this would jump-start weight loss that was stalled (or some days moving in the wrong direction!).
3. Keep in mind that I’m a bit of a picky eater. I eat more fruits and veggies than I did as a kid, but there are still several I don’t like.
4. I started the cleanse last Saturday. I’m actually glad that I started on the weekend because I had time to do the grocery shopping and prepare the foods I was supposed to be eating.
5. I didn’t feel great on Saturday, but not as bad as I expected. And when I stepped on the scale on Sunday morning and learned I lost 2 1/2 pounds, I felt motivated to stick with it.
6. I was modifying the recommended recipes and picking and choosing the ones that included ingredients I was willing to eat. I’m fine with apples, bananas, lots of fresh lemon juice, spinach. But I don’t like many nuts, except peanuts, which weren’t on the allowed list. And the biggest problem? I don’t like any beans. I think they’re all gross.
7. My modifications basically meant I was eating the same thing each day. But that was okay with me.
8. By the end of the third day (Monday – my first attempt at the diet on a work day), I was starting to think I just really needed to eat a bit more. I realized what I was missing in my modified version of the cleanse. Protein. I pretty much wasn’t getting any protein since I cut out the nuts and beans. And I was constantly thinking about food and cheating on the diet.
9. So Tuesday I decided to give up. Sort of. I’m trying to stick with some of the super-healthy cleanse foods for breakfast and lunch and then eat a small portion of whatever the family’s having for dinner because one of the things I didn’t like during the 3 1/2 days I managed it was eating a separate meal from my family. Taking the time to prepare a meal for them and then a separate meal for myself.
10. I wasn’t convinced that I really needed the detox for my body. I don’t drink or smoke. I don’t really do anything that terrible for my body, though I know some would argue that a lot of the processed foods I eat aren’t good for me. So I’m okay with the fact that I kind of quit since my main purpose was weight loss, and I’m still eating a modified diet which should result in the last bit of weight loss I want to achieve.
11. I’ve lost 4 pounds in 6 days, so I’m pretty pleased with my results. Now if I could manage to exercise, I might actually get rid of the baby belly that’s still hanging around.
Linking up with Rach for Life’s Lessons:
Life’s Lessons: Babies Get into Everything!
Or maybe I should say toddlers get into everything now that he’s really a toddler. Here are some of the things we’ve learned Brinky can do this week he’s been living as an only child:
1. He can now reach onto the edges of the high kitchen counters.
2. So he pulled down the pizza cutter that was out on the counter (and didn’t cut himself) and then a cup of coffee he poured all over himself (not hot fortunately).
3. We’ve been wedging a gate between the banisters at the bottom of the stairs to keep both Brinky and the dogs from going upstairs. He climbed that gate this week.
4. Oh yeah – he can climb the stairs with ease now.
5. He can and will climb on any and every piece of furniture in the family room – couches, chairs, tables.
6. And if we leave any pieces of furniture close together, he’ll use one to climb to another.
7. If we try to block something we don’t want him to touch or climb on with a box, he will try to eat that box.
8. He will stand up in his high chair as soon as he’s done eating.
9. He can reach doorknobs and wrap his hand around them, but hasn’t figured out how to turn them. Yet. So we’ve got that one still.
10. But he has a lot of fun while he’s getting into everything. And his smile’s awfully cute.
Linking up with Rach:
Life’s Lessons: Random Edition
I was trying to pick a theme for this week’s Life’s Lessons, but surprise! There isn’t one. So another random edition it is.
- I’ve learned a lot through the middle school selection process that hopefully I can apply again when the other two get ready to go to middle school. And when Jenny moves on to high school.
- Apparently there’s a lot to learn about and prepare early in the school year prior to middle school that I missed. There were meetings and open houses in the fall, particularly for the magnet schools. It may be that we should have attended some of those in order to make an informed decision.
- Who knew you could let your child shadow a student at a middle school in order to learn more about the school? I didn’t. Honestly this has felt like we’re picking her college or something.
- We grew up in small towns with basically no school choices – for me there was one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school. Easy to choose, right? I was reminded through this process that we now live in a city with several good choices for our kids, so we should learn about the choices.
- All that being said, we ended up making the decision that Jenny should attend her residential school, which is an excellent school, rather than attending one of the magnet schools. I think this school will be the right place for her, which is what matters most to us. And I’m definitely we can now say we’ve decided.
- Moving on from middle school talk…
- I learned something else this week. I mean, not really because I already knew this even though I rarely experience the feeling. It feels great to sleep until 6:15 because your baby sleeps all night! (I think it makes that baby feel great, too.)
- And it feels great to take a shower in the morning.
- And it feels great to prepare a casserole for dinner in the morning so that the evening will be easier. (I actually managed this kind of preparation twice this week – I got dinner started in the crockpot Monday morning. Take that, unorganized Katie.)
- It doesn’t feel as great to fall asleep in your work clothes because you had a plan that involved staying in uncomfortable clothes when you got in bed so that you wouldn’t fall asleep and would get back out of bed to take a shower and prepare a casserole for the next day. But I can’t say it prevented me from sleeping well, so maybe it was great.
Linking up with Rach for Life’s Lessons as usual this week:
Life’s Lessons from Reagan
I had a conversation with Reagan yesterday morning that I thought would be a perfect lesson for the week. Here’s how it went:
Reagan: You know, you and daddy aren’t like most other parents.
Me: You mean we’re cooler?
Reagan: Yeah. And also, you don’t do thinks like pack lunches for us or help us pack our backpacks like other parents do.
Me: So you mean we’re bad parents?
Reagan (horrified because she would never openly criticize her parents): No! I mean you teach us responsibility because you make us handle those things ourselves.
Initially I was a little upset by this conversation because sometimes I do think I should do more for my kids, but you know what? I think she’s right. I do want my kids to be responsible. Their teachers and school administration have emphasized over the years how important it is for them to learn to handle things themselves. And they should know what they have to pack in their backpacks every morning. I can give them a checklist (for them to ignore), but they can do it themselves. And I’m not a lunch packer. I give them money to buy a healthy lunch at school. If they for some reason feel a need to pack, they can do it themselves. Though I probably should try to prevent them from packing a lunch of a granola bar, a cereal bar, and some cookies.
So maybe she’s right that we’re not like some other parents (and they have a lot of friends with parents who do almost everything for them), but I’m okay with that. Today.
Linking up with Rach for Life’s Lessons:
Life’s Lessons: Only Child Weekend!
We’ve had an interesting couple weeks around here with all our awesome grade and gifted testing score and middle school decisions excitement. So we’re looking forward to our weekend.
1. I’m excited our kids are in a school system where we have lots of choices for their schooling.
2. And I’m happy and proud that both girls have tested gifted.
3. But I can tell I’m getting a little obsessed about what to do about middle school for Jenny next year, so I think I need to take a break from all that this weekend.
4. Sometimes I think it would be nicer if we didn’t have such great choices. But I know that it’s great to have choices.
5. And Jenny should take a break, too, and just have fun.
6. So it’s convenient that my dad’s picking up the girls today to take them down to Hilton Head for a long weekend.
7. We’ll be a single child household this weekend!
8. We can relax a bit and have fun together.
9. Maybe watch a movie.
10. It’s going to be an awesome weekend. But I still have to go to work today.
Linking up with Rach:
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