A Chip Off the Old Block

My 5 year old daughter is just like me.

But yet she's not.

Alright, so when it comes to running, she is just like I was when I was a kid - she hates it and she's going to let everybody around her know about it and make them miserable in the process. 

I asked her if she wanted to run the Lil' Pumpkins race with me again and she happily agreed.  I warned her that because she's older now she's going to have to run longer.  This year she'll be running 0.3 miles versus 100 yards.  She still wanted to do it so I registered her.  I promised her I'd take her out for a training run. 

After begging me all week to take her running, we finally made it out today, a day when Daddy could watch the baby. 

In the beginning, she was more than happy to get outside and run.

After a few short, warmups, really we are only running 0.3 of a mile, we headed to the road to run.

Reality set in at that point.

I don't think we ran 100 yards before she started complaining that she was itchy, she didn't want to run, that it was too hot.  She kept asking to stop. 

I told her we'd slow down but that we really needed to keep moving so she doesn't get knocked down by the other kids on race day.

With lots of encouraging, she finally made it to the "finish" line. 

She immediately asked if we could walk back and not run.

I compromised with her and we did intervals.  I told her we'd run to the stop sign and then walk and then run to the mailboxes and then walk.

By the time we made it home, she was running to the door to get away from mommy's crazy race training.

I'm MORE than HAPPY that a 12 mm was a comfortable, easy pace for me!

Now, my daughter has more energy than the Energizer bunny.  She's very active in dance and Girl Scouts.  Her favorite activity at school?  Playing outside.  She will run... when she wants to. 

But she's still a chip off the old block and hates running.  I wasn't nearly as active as she is at her age and now I'm paying for it. (I even wrote a blog post about it HERE.)  I'm fine with running not being her thing because she is so active.

What physical activities do you enjoy with your kids?  Leave me a comment below.  I want to know.  

How to Survive a Snow Day with Your Preschooler!

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Snow days!  Everyone loves them, right?

Well, if you have little ones at home and you've been stuck home with them for an extra day or two you might be running out of patience and ideas on what to do with them.

I taught preschool for nearly 20 years so I should have plenty of tricks up my sleeve when it comes to this sort of thing, right?  Yes and no.  Since I work on a pretty tight schedule in my classroom all week, the last thing I want to do on the weekends is be on a tight schedule. even though I have a 4 year old to take care of.

Usually, my daughter does an alright job of entertaining herself and doing more than watching a ton of TV, but when the whining became incessant and there were tears over everything I decided to take action and get her on the dreaded SCHEDULE.

Was she happy?

NO.

But it was time.  Was she better for it?  Oh, yeah.  The proof is in the (low carb) pudding as they say so here's what I did.

Wake - up to 9 AM

This is what we early childhood educators like to call "free time."  During this time, she can eat her breakfast, which she is usually good at helping herself to, and watching TV.  At 9 AM though, all electronics go off.  

9:30-11:00 AM 

Now is the time for some big body play or more formally called Gross/Large Motor Play.  I decided to bundle my daughter up and take her outside in the elements where she went sledding and climbed up snowbanks.  If the weather is too treacherous to get out then turn up the music for some dancing, break out your old copy of Twister (great for learning left from right and colors) or set up some fun indoor games like the ones below.

• 10 Ball Games for Kids
• Activity Cubes for Preshoolers
• Physical Activity Task Cards
• Balloon Tennis
• Line Walking and Other Gross Motor Games

11:30 - 12:30 PM 

Now it's time to clean up after all that fun and eat lunch!  Yay!  I've found that if I don't feed my daughter at specific times when we are home, she will eat all day and mostly snack foods.  She does so much better when we have a specific meal time, plus I feel like she doesn't drink enough during the day.  Instead, she starts chugging before bed and that never ends well.

12:30-1:10

Busy box time!  For 40 minutes I had my daughter sit down with various educational activities of my choosing.  Now, I am not huge on worksheets but with limited supplies at home, I do use them and I do believe they have their place in learning. I used the following books and she did quite well with them.

1:30-2:00

Now is a good time to clean up the mess from the busy box.  We also decided to do an easy cooking project before Scarlett moved on to the next activity.  We kept it really simple and made brownies from a box in our pantry.  She didn't care about the lack of creativity - she just loved being able to wear her apron and help her mama!

2:00-3:00 PM

After we tossed our brownies into the oven, I told Scarlett it was time for her to play by herself in her room.  For children that are having a hard time finding something to do, I recommend setting out a few items for them to choose from such as Legos or puzzles.  Scarlett wanted to do dress-up so she just played with what was out.  This blogger momma was happy to have an hour to herself to, well, blog, and get any other work done such as paying bills.  

3:00-4:00 PM

Since our brownies were ready, we ate them.  This would also be a good time to go out again to play in the snow, maybe take a short walk or play another game from the list above.

4:00 to Dinner Time

Now is a good time for any cleaning that your child needs to do before dinner.  If you have any age appropriate board games that don't require a ton of time, now's the time to take it out.  If your significant other is home, have them read your child a book.  

Whew!  That's it!  You've survived another snow day!  How did it go?  What would you do differently next time?  

"I'm a Runner too, Mommy!"

I grew up fat (you can read more about that HERE) and because of that I am very conscious of what I say and do around my daughter when it comes to my own struggles with weight and body image.  She has a healthy sense of self and I never want that to change.

That being said, I make sure she sees all of the hard work I put into taking care of myself.

She watches me run, sometimes cheering me on from the living room window.  When I do strength training and yoga, she does strength training and yoga.  I never force her to join me.  I rarely even ask, but she sees mommy doing it so it must be what women do and she joins in.

Now I just started running less than a year ago, my "runniversary" will be July 5, and it was a long time before I saw myself as a runner.  In fact, I'm not even sure at what point I had finally convinced myself that I was a runner.  Yes, I run several miles a week, trained and completed my first half marathon, PR'ed in a 5K and invested in all the fancy timing gadgets, but was I a runner yet?  Meh.

Back in March I signed her up for her first run a "Leprechaun Dash" which was held before the Shamrock Shuffle that I pushed her in the jogging stroller during.  She bubbled over with excitement about it and in the weeks leading up to the event she told everyone that she was going to run and get a medal just like mommy.

When the big day came she nearly backed out of it.  The main race was quite large with 3,000 runners and there were even more people milling about with the St. Patrick's Day parade being held right after (attendance for that was estimated to be 12,000).  All of the excitement, crowds, and noise got to her and she wanted nothing to do with it.  Well, until she found a friend from school who was also running it and then she was all in.  She happily took her position at the start line.  When I screamed, "Go!" after the announcer started the race she took off with the biggest grin on her face.  At the finish line I greeted her with her very own medal that I had purchased from a virtual race company.  She beamed.  Her little 3 year old life had been made.  She finally had her medal just like mommy.

The medal I purchased for her.

Now that the New England weather is warming up and the Spring runners are back out on the road, Scarlett is quick to point them out.  "Mommy!  He's running just like you!  Just like you, Mommy!"

The other day, however, I saw a runner first and said, "Scarlett, look!  She's running just like Mommy."

Her response?  "Just like me, Mommy.  I'm a runner too.  She's running like me."

She's 3 years old and already she sees what most women, including myself, can't - she sees herself as a runner.

I hope that never changes.

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Running On Empty

Tonight, I had a mini-meltdown a few minutes after walking through the door.

It's a beautiful, sunny, nearly 50 degree Spring afternoon and my training plan calls for an easy 5 miles. This is a no brainer.  I should go home, do what I need to do as quickly as I can so I can lace up my running shoes and just run. Duh.

But like an unruly toddler I can't. I won't. You can't make me. I'm tiiiiiirrrrreeed. 

Why?  Our little family had another non-stop busy weekend. One of those weekends where I had every detail planned down to the minute and if anything veered off course it would have derailed us and of course, led to complete disaster. OK, maybe I'm being dramatic but you get the point.

Toss in the fact that I work full time, have a three(nager) and I've been dealing with some medical issues lately (I was at the doctor's office 4 times in a week) plus I can't seem to sleep longer than 5 hours a night (hello, adrenal fatigue) I'm as one friend called me "a hot mess." 

5 easy miles ain't easy when you are this tired and just over it.

Am I going to beat myself up over this?  The perfectionist in me will a little. Sure. Did I give myself a pep talk into trying to go for a run?  Oh yeah, didn't work. Don't care either. I'm that beat.

I'm running on empty.  My body and my mind need a break and a rest.

I started this journey to be a better version of myself, but to be a better wife and mother too. I can't do that running on empty. If I had gone on that run tonight I guarantee I would have felt better at some point but I would have felt lousy to come home to see my overtired daughter who had a rough day at school sobbing for her mommy while my equally overtired husband, who works his butt off for this family every day, trying to console her.  That kind of situation isn't good for anyone.  By not running tonight I'm still putting myself first.

Tonight, I'm hanging up my running shoes and snuggling with my family because right now that's what I need more and I'm alright with that.

I'll run tomorrow. I'm OK with that even if I am changing The Plan. I might even run better.

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Let the Half Marathon Training Begin!

 I START HALF MARATHON TRAINING THIS MONTH! 

This means that now my family time will be even more limited although I did use some of my Fantasy Football winnings to purchase a training plan from Another Mother Runner which will help me stay on track but allow for some downtime too, if you count being a wife and mommy as "downtime".  If you haven't heard of them, you should really check them out.  They understand the challenges of being an athlete and a mother.  I recently ordered their book Tales from Another Mother Runner:  Triumphs, Trials, Tips and Tricks from the Road.  I can't wait to delve into it!

Week 1, Day 1

Monday, February 1 was Week 1 Day 1.  My first run was a circuit run which means I did a 5-10 minute warm-up, then alternated performing 4 different moves for at least a minute before jumping back on the treadmill for 5 minutes in between each one.  The moves were squats, planks, arm circles (forwards and backwards) and push ups.  I didn't think I would like this kind of run but I really did and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Week 1, Day 2

For day 2 I had to put in 4-5 easy miles.  I decided to run on my lunch break rather than wake up at 4:30am when my alarm went off.  I'm so glad I did!  It was a beautiful, warm and sunny day out!  If you look at my splits you can see that I have no idea how to pace myself. Granted, it didn't help that I was dodging beer bottles, sticks, ice, patches of snow, puddles and just random pieces of garbage floating around Manchester, but still I think those times are horrible even for me.

Day 3, today, was a rest day except for performing a Super Short Strength Training Circuit.   The circuit consisted of performing each of 4 moves for 1 minute.  The moves were:  Push ups, leg lifts, spider man walks and of course, squats!

Tomorrow I need to run some intervals so I'll be "runching" (running lunch) it again!

For the record I am running the Gate City Half Marathon in Nashua, NH on Sunday, May 15! 

How to Get Started on a Low Carb, High Fat, Gluten Free Lifestyle?

After posting my weight loss results yesterday I have fielded a TON of questions about how I did it.

I am more than happy to help, but I must be fair in warning everyone that this is NOT EASY.  You didn't put the weight on in a day so you are not going to lose it all in a day.

Being low carb in the United States where everything sugar and wheat reigns supreme is flipping HARD.  Temptation is everywhere!

It also doesn't help that we grew up being told that cereal and toast were ideal breakfast foods.  How many of us had PB&J sandwiches for lunch?  A roll every night with dinner and then we scarfed down a sweet dessert.  Wheat and sugar are the norm in our society.  Our government has drilled it into our brains that we NEED it.

Well, I've got news for you.  Nobody needs wheat or sugar.

But I digress.

You wanted to know how I got started.

First, I read the book The Metabolism Miracle by Diane Kress.  It was a game changer for me.  I fit what she called "Metabolism B" to a T!  I followed all of her steps and dropped 30 pounds in 3 months!  Then I got pregnant and gained 80 but thats another story....

How do you know if you have Metabolism B?  If you have a few of these characteristics (taken from her website) then this is most likely the diet plan for you.

Do you have Metabolism B?

____ You tire easily and frequently feel fatigued, even upon awaking.

____ You feel mildly depressed.

____ You feel an energy slump in the late afternoon.

____ You frequently feel anxious.

____ You crave carbohydrate foods, such as bread, chips, sweets, or pasta.

____ Your midsection has a roll of fat., lovehandles, muffin top, or back fat

____ You gain weight easily and find it difficult to lose weight.

____ You have racing thoughts.

____ Your sexual drive has declined or vanished

____ You find it difficult to focus and concentrate and are easily distracted.

____ You are irritable and have a "short fuse".

____ You feel slightly dizzy, flushed, or "weak in the knees" after even a little bit of alcohol.

After having my daughter I went back to The Metabolism Miracle, but I had a hard time sticking to it (re:  putting myself first) juggling a baby, breastfeeding, a full time job, a household to manage and a husband.  My saving grace after having my daughter was finding low - carb recipes on the internet.  Pinterest was a God send!

If you'd like to check out what I've got pinned on Pinterest follow me here:

https://www.pinterest.com/sabby12s/      

I have more to say about how I eat on a low carb, high fat, gluten free diet and yes I feed my family on this way of life too, but I'm going to save that for another day.  My daughter is dying for some cuddle time on the couch as we watch "The Penguin" movie for the millionth time.  

As always, do not hesitate to ask any questions about what I've outlined above.  I want everyone to be happy and healthy and to enjoy LIFE!