Phit-N-Phat...Making Fitness and Weightloss a Lifestyle

Is It REALLY For Your Family?

Just an observation and I'm sure some of you will totally disagree with me but here it goes.

I hear and read a lot about moms making cookies, sweet breads, and other goodies for the "family" and then end up eating more of it themselves than the family does. Often they are doing "clean up" duty. This is simply when everyone else quit eating your homemade goodies and you eat it up at a weak moment in the name of it "needing to be eaten."

It sort of drives me crazy, actually. 

Would it kill you to throw away a few servings that no one else WANTED?

Would it be so bad to just not make that stuff anymore unless it was a special occassion?

Honestly, so many of you tell me a host of excuses...

"My kids won't eat healthy."

"I gotta watch my kids or they are eating sweets instead of good snacks I have available."

"My family insists on having all these things I can't control myself around."

And so on.

Well, let me ask you this? Are you telling me that if YOU can't say no to the homemade baked goods, sugar cereals, cookies, and ice cream that your kids should be more enlightened that YOU??? Hmmm...I wonder where junior learned to mindlessly snack on junk? 

And, I would bet that when you were grabbing a cookie or two here and there you, too, had fresh fruits and vegetables just begging to be eaten.

Oh, as far as demanding spouses and kids, have you ever just tried to FORGET to get a few of the things they "need" each week since you probably do the bulk of the shopping? Start with that crap you can't handle. Maybe if they only have some better options to choose from you can get them on board over time.

I totally believe in a time and place for goodies.

• We made cookies this year for Christmas (TWICE!). I never bake anything but healthy stuff we can all eat but there are a few times a year I do it. You know what? Because it's special I don't have a problem controlling myself. The process becomes fun instead of the eating being a part of frustration or habit.
• I keep a bowl of Halloween Candy put away for when Logan wants a piece (nice and small pieces and I only keep the stuff I don't like). At Valentine's Day and Easter I throw out the old and put in the new. Yep, out of sight out of mind for him and we never eat all of our candy!
• We have treats here but they are REALLY limited because I've taught Logan that he needs to enjoy his healthy foods! Just like Graham Crackers...for special oatmeal I make his regular plain oats with berries, a little plain Kefir, tbsp of Chia Seeds, and then crunch up one sheet of Graham Cracker as a cookie type treat. He thinks that is awesome and calls it cookie breakfast. Guess what? We don't even do that daily!

I have friends who keep a cookie bowl and such and I think moderation is fine. But, unless your kids are eating healthy and you all can practice self-control, then evaluate your motivations to have those things so readily available. If the cookies are for the kids then they should be for the kids. If momma is still digging in a cookie jar and bitching about her self-control - get real.

Like anything, it won't happen overnight but each week when you are re-loading the kitchen think about something that tripped you up last week and don't make it or buy it. When you girls are complaining about stuff you "ate" that was "bad" I'm more shocked that you were willing to put it in your kids body. Not everything but sometimes I'm worried you get upset about the wrong thing!

And, just to give myself a little promo spot...Shakeology is a great way to avoid junk and kids like it! I have several clients whose kids do not eat very healthy and this fills a nutritional hole for them while giving them something treaty to have while weaning off the junk. Check it out!

How To Avoid Holiday Candy!

Here we go! Girls, pretty much on like Donkey Kong with candy and treats from now until EASTER! It never dawned on me how many candy focused holidays we have until someone in the PNP No Candy Challenge pointed it out to me.

Speaking of, I think they need to change the name to No Candy: One Holiday At a Time Challenge!

Here's briefly what I know you can do to minimize the damage.

1. Quit visiting the people or rooms at work that have candy bowls. Walk a different way! If you can't then tell the person you have given up candy for healthy reasons and if they catch you digging they are to slap your hand. Be SERIOUS about it. If they say something like why then tell them you break out into a horrible rash called fat that makes all your pants unable to be worn.

2. Bring a cooler each day and ice down your food if your breakroom is a candyland game gone wild. Pop some gum in your mouth right before going in for reheating of your food.

3. Have a treat you CAN have. I posted on Facebook to take DELICIOUS P90X Protein Bars and cut them into quarters during Sunday food prep. Wrap in aluminum foil and then you have your own, healthy, mini-"candy bars" for 65 calories each. I keep mine in the fridge to eat cold. It's also WONDERFUL chopped up and put into a Shakeology shake. It's like a Blizzard but doesn't leave your butt all insulated. :)

4. The GOLDEN RULE: Thou shall not buy candy for Halloween or any holiday until the NIGHT BEFORE the event. WHY OH WHY do people who can't control candy delusionally purchase a whole bag of candy they know they'll eat WEEKS before the holiday????? And don't tell me you need it in the house for you kids. Really? Your kids NEED candy in the house.

Good God y'all. I have people do it every year and I just want to scream and then make them workout until they puke.

The last thing I want to say...this is also just my opinion...but CANDY IF FOR KIDS and most of you shouldn't let your kids have half the doobage they put in their mouth! Candy is, excuse my language, mostly shit food. Most candy is full of high fructose corn syrup, food dye, transfats all wrapped up in plastic.

Just be careful, navigate the holdidays, and remember that all those little handfuls of treats could be one fine dessert enjoyed at a restaurant and remembered. I bet you don't remember how orgasmic those 10 Skilltes were you grabbed out of the dish last week.

My Planning and Why

I'm starting this with my plan for the week. Last week I said I needed to get back to my old behaviors so that's what I'm going to kick off with today. Some positive planning, structure, and accountability. You really can't beat any of that when you are living the lifestyle.

EXERCISE

Monday - finished a hard 4 mile tempo run on the treadmill
Tuesday - back/shoulders/abs and 30 min. of cardio (new routine learned at Phat Camp that is wicked)
Wednesday - Long Run of 7-8 miles
Thursday - chest/legs/arms hour circuit
Friday - 3 miles and ab circuit 20 min.
Saturday - EZ 5K in the morning with Logan and Warrior Dash in the afternoon
Sunday -

I'm using some routines from Phat Camp for the cardio and the strength is my own stuff this week. Today I ordered Chalene Extreme and I think I'm going to follow that program a bit to free up planning for myself.

FOOD

Went to the store yesterday after driving back from Dayton PC early in the morning. Here's what I planned for myself starting tomorrow because today I winged it and will be prepping tonight. I had to work, therapy, and lots of other things so tonight it is.

Breakfast - 3/4 cup of oats with cinnamon, truvia, and almond extract and 8 egg whites with ketchup OR 2 pcs of EZ toast with ICBINB and 8 egg whites.

Snack - Shakeology and 1/3 cup of pumpking seeds

Lunch - roughy cooked in coconut oil, mixed fajita style peppers and onions, and 4-6 oz of sweet potato (strength days I'll do 6)

Snack - apple with two carb master yogurts

Dinner - Skinny Chicken and Dumplings, Spag Sauce with Laura's Lean beef over a bag of steamer vegetables, OR chicken fajita mix (no rice for me) on top of big salad

Snack - 12 oz of red wine OR shakeology and an apple OR 100 cal bag of popcorn (wine or snack but not both this week)

On a high day that equals about 2100 calories and a lower day (choosing lower options) it's about 1800. I also have some baby carrots, celery, and bananas to add in case I'm hungry. It's filled with stuff I like and I should be able to maintain fine with this.

I also have plans to have go out to eat three times this week! I know two are Ruby Tuesday so that's easy. The other I will know ahead of time and make plans. My goal for this week is to stay off BLT's, stay on plan, and be aware of my hunger. Assess if I'm hungry or just stressed.

PERSONAL

This weekend I was at Phat Camp Dayton and it was great. I love the workouts because they scale them to fit everyone's level. Women who look just like I did six years ago show up to these camps and I hope when they see me they have hope it's possible. I respect them so much for showing up and giving it their all. When I weighed 250lbs I wouldn't have had the guts to do it, let alone, push myself to try working out in a new way.

The majority of the women at camp were just starting out or trying to figure out where to go with exercise and getting in shape. As we were in the seminar portion of the camp, so many of the women started asking questions that had plagued me back in the days of losing weight.

One woman was worried about loose skin on her tummy. I just couldn't help it but I had to comment that for some of us the skin is NOT going to bounce back. I was honest with them that once that elasticity goes it's gone. Some women do have great genes and no matter what kind of weight gain they have with pregnancy they'll get it back with hard work. But, A LOT of us with past battles with obesity WON'T.

Jen asked me to show my Tummy Tuck scar and she said, "Well, that's not so bad." I promptly said you haven't seen the REAL scars from the lower body lift. LOL. I pulled half my pants down and showed the women what I had to do to fix my past. I even took the time to explain what it has meant to me, personally.

I spent years trying everything to fix my skin issues. I still try! At four years of maintenance and work I knew it was time for surgery. Today, with the loose skin that is STILL left after six years I have learned I need to live with it. Y'all know everyday I work on self-acceptance, but what I was hoping they would see is a woman who can kick butt in workouts who used to sit on her butt letting life kick her.

That's the awesome thing about Jen Hendershott's Phat Camps and my own PNP Meet-ups at events; we all can work together towards a better lifestyle. Some of us are in the beginning. They need the help to get started on the right path and who better to give back than women who have been there.

And there are others there, too. We had a couple of figure girls, a few women who love endurance events, a mom of 8 kids who has no time and little money for clean food, girls with no kids just starting out in adult life and women who are hitting the boomer years. It's amazing when you attend events with me because I can promise you there will be women with all kinds of stories yet a lot of commonality in trying to find the balance while losing weight.

OK...so that was all about camp. I decided on Saturday that it was important for me to leave Sunday morning EARLY and miss the last day. Logan had his first cross-country match and I wanted to be there. Something told me I had to be there but not for the reasons I thought.

We went and the baby wasn't feeling too hot to begin with. He's got a little cold but seemed OK to go. He wanted to! We arrived and it was a MADHOUSE. 100's of kids and parents everywhere. It was like organized confusion.

Because he's a 3rd grader we waited for our turn in the hot sun for about 45 min. to an hour, I think. He stretched and seemed fine until we lined up. We had to wait 15 min. on the line and that's where his nerves kicked in. He said his legs shook. We hugged tight trying to get the adrenaline out.

When they sounded the horn he ran the field, hit the track then just started walking. I could see he was shutting down. It was too much. I ran to the side (coach's can be on the field) and tried to get him to run. When he started melting down I backed off hoping if he had no outlet (me) he would keep going. No. Some sweet kids and another mom ran to him and cheered him on. Nice as it was I could see his face was striken with too much stimulation.

At that point I walked with him and we ended up leaving. He started throwing a mild fit; my worst nightmare because I don't want this friends at school to see him THAT way.

Other things happened but I tried to keep my composure and help him learn from it. We processed the day 2-3 times. I wanted him to completely understand that I understood WHY he was frustrated and didn't like it, that I was proud of him for trying, that it was OK to not want to race, but throwing a fit and not using your words to express your emotions isn't acceptable. THAT was hard for me. I had to find a way for him to understand he was in time out for tantrums and not for his inability to process a big event. I was so worried he would think I was mad and punishing him for not running.

In the end he got it. I know he did. I've thought a lot about it, too. It may sound insane but God uses these times to help us. I remember blogging a long time ago that I had to go through years of being fat, bullied, and miserable to even have the ability to help my clients. Same thing with Logan. We have to believe that these tough moments are meant to be so that one day in the future when it REALLY matters he will succeed, try, not quit, or know how to leave something the right way.

It's so ironic that my phrase "Last place is the girl on the couch," the mantra of PNP, plays so well with my child. Being in last place means you were a part of something. It means you were brave enough to try. I have to give it to Logan. That boy might not like a lot of what we make him do but he shows up and attempts things.

I told him we weren't quitting Cross Country. He enjoys practice. I enjoy coaching the girls. We'll keep going and each meet we can decide if we want to race or if we want to cheer on our friends. Either way WE'RE a part of something. That was the goal and we CAN DO THAT.

I do admit that it's hard with the food and exercise to not just go crazy lately. I'm not always perfect but I'm doing the best I can. It's what I preach to my girls. If I'm not eating perfect you bet I'm tracking calories to keep it honest.

That's why I'm planning and posting, being honest and blogging. It's not always roses but I've learned to have a lifestyle means you gotta fight through the tough times and enjoy the good ones. I know what foods to not have around, I know some days I need to schedule a workout with someone so that it will get done, and I know there are times I have to ask my husband to question my food choices when I'm not willing to do it.

It's how I handle maintenance. When I'm strong I intuitively eat. When I'm worked up like a maniac it's time to go on a plan and turn off thy brain. These days a little silence in my head, an app to track my calories, and a piece of paper with a plan is a good thing.



Fueling Your Little Athletes Helps YOU LOSE WEIGHT

Moms, raise your hand if sports are in full swing or nearing! Now, how many of you are in a panic that your food and workouts are going to the toilet for the sake of the kids? I’ll tell you the same thing I tell my PNP clients:

Those who want it – do it. Those who don’t want it just found ANOTHER excuse.

I have a private member of the site who has three kids now playing soccer and baseball. She commented that from now until sometime in May every night of the week they will be at a ball field and because there are three kids she and her husband have to divide up the kids to get them everywhere!

Now, that’s a load. I have some girls with no kids complaining how little time they have and others (cough, cough ME) with one who feels overwhelmed! LOL. I can’t imagine raising a small wolf pack.

Her other worry is that while doing for her kids sports she’s being selfish taking time to exercise and eat right. I know it’s easy to feel this way but what’s selfish is ditching your health and in turn providing your kids with an example of someone who just can’t plan well enough to even take care of their own basic needs.

Since when did physical activity and healthy food in our body become luxury time??? If you blew off your kids to hit the spa a few times a week I would see it. But, I see plenty of women all the time who have no time for exercise or food prep well-versed on books, TV, manicured toes and nails, and made up every day. Hmmm….

My client worked out a plan where she shifted some workouts and plans to jog or walk during practices. She also is looking at how to make dinners after all the practices. I gave her some advice because so many of us with weight to lose have one thing we want differently for our kids: to grow up healthy eaters so they never need a site like PNP to help them lose weight. It might be bad for business for but I would love for the day to come where I had a hard time finding clients because we all eat so well!

Here’s what I said…

Sundays are YOUR day to spend a couple of hours in the day dedicated to getting all you need ready for lunches, snacks, and such. Bag up, cut up, wash up the foods you will eat this week and if you need to freeze some stuff to pop in the oven or crockpot do it.

Sounds like you have a house full of athletes. These kids DESERVE an athletes dinner after practices and games. You ain't going to get that with drive-thrus, restaurants, and crappy food at home. You are an athletes’ mom so look at this season as your chance to fuel these kids right along with yourself getting healthy.

It’s important to realize that kids playing sports is the foundation for a lifetime of being healthy. It isn’t enough to cart them to some games, hand your 15 year old a Gatorade, and then hit a drive-thru on the way home because you are BUSY.

Do you know what happens at 25? That same kid hits the drive-thru after work when they aren’t playing sports because they are tired and busy. They never saw YOU getting ready for a good week. They didn’t watch how important good food is to feeling good. Then at 35 they start the same crap with their own kids.

It’s not enough for you to want to lose weight, Mom. You gotta want this for you kid and set the example you expect them to live when they are on their own.

Rewind: When Life is HARD You Can't Give Up

I wrote this a few weeks after Logan was diagnosed in 2008. It was the beginning of training for my first figure competition and I my world had been flipped over and everything changed in a heartbeat. That time was the scariest and darkest I have known because I had no idea what was head of me other than I had no choice but to step up and deal. In that few weeks I made the choice that I couldn't give up me just because I was in the battle of my life and my child's life.

Thankfully, I made the right choice and I'm glad I'm not blogging today that I gained my weight back and trying to find the courage to lose it. Still got my health, a thriving child, a PNP business and Lisa still has my back no matter what. :)

April 2008

Life is hard right now. It just is and I have to get over it or drown in my own sorrows. When I started this blog today it was a total pity party for me and my woes. I then thought about why I do this blog each day and why I started PNP. It was to inspire others to lead a healthy LIFESTYLE. That includes your mental and emotional well being, too.

It's amazing I can be almost three years post losing over 110 lbs., exercised almost every day since I first started, created what I think is the best fitness community on the Internet (I dare you find one more supportive than the PNP girls), and actually have to MAKE myself workout these days and fight all day long not to clean out every peanut butter jar, gluten-free cookie, or anything else you can think of because I'm stressed. I literally want to emotional eat so bad. My moods are pathetic and make me want to stay home reading about Logan's illness versus taking time to ensure my own health.

Wow, I will never be able to say how hard it is right now. It's a minute-by-minute battle. I find myself starting projects and such with the sole purpose of staying away from food. The majority of my workouts I've ONLY done because I am training for a competition and have to report in to my trainers each week. Seriously! The Queen of PNP can't motivate herself right now. That shows you it happens to us all.

What is important, though, is that I haven't given up. I've punched the workout clock faithfully even when it meant working out when most of the world is asleep (day or night). Knowing support is important, I've tried to schedule workouts with a partner to make sure I'm working hard enough and not just coasting along (thanks Lisa). My eating has been spotty but I've been eating clean, prepping, and only having OOPS moments on something that will benefit my body. No ding-dongs or McDonalds but I have fell prey to the peanut butter a few times when the low carbs were killing me.

All in all I've done great keeping things going. I'm so glad I have a goal. This is me being real with you; if it weren't for the competition I would have checked out of all this last week. I don't know if right now is rock bottom, it might not be. What I do know is that I won't give up, I'll stand on stage with Lisa (probably crying because I'm hungry and proud I made it), and I'll do it knowing I refused to give up my dreams just because life got hard.

That's what I want each of you to think about today. Are you giving up your dreams and desires because life is hard? If you are, really question this. Are you giving up because you HAVE TO or because IT'S EASY? For me it would be EASY to give up everything right now and lose who I am. If I had to for Logan I would in a hot second, but I don't have to. Eating unhealthy, not being in shape, being ashamed of my body, and physically weak is a lot worse than the small sacrifices in sleep and emotional eating.

Weight Restrictions in Youth Football

I have several moms on my site and this topic has come up a bunch this fall. Honestly, I can understand several sides of the argument, but let me tell you what I know about it in case you haven't heard.

Teams set a weight limit and players "weigh in". If they are over the limit (and often the limit is high so that the largest players are involved) they are not allowed to play or they are not allowed to carry the ball, etc.

From what I understand they've put this rule into place to keep injury down in smaller players which has been de-bunked by a Mayo Clinic survey. Another reason is to "force" parents into getting their kids' weight into a healthier range.

I think the idea isn't a bad one but the implementation is almost always POOR. If the parents are doing a good job feeding their kids healthy foods with plenty of activity they may not have the weight problem to begin with. Some kids will still be larger regardless so this isn't a blanket accusation that big kid = poor parenting. Some of the healthiest clients I have carry a lot of extra weight. There are some of us that just have a little more battle on our hands than others genetically. It's not an excuse but it is a valid point that needs a plan.

In my opinion, I think we need more education at the parent and kid's level on what healthful nutrition looks like. We don't need to teach kids how to crash diet for an event, make them self-conscious because they weigh more, etc. I mean, if you read my blog you know how this all starts and now we are taking the same crappy ideas and putting it on the boys. Please don't let this original idea come from a woman! Oh it just stinks of stuff we do to our daughters and now we are doing it to our sons a different way.

I've spoke to the football players at my son's school about sports nutrition; not dieting but how to really fuel your body. Each time I've talked to YOUR kids I'm really saddened and PANICKED by the questions and comments they relay to me. The kids have no clue what healthy eating is in general. But why would I surprised when so many of you are paranoid and confused about food??? See yesterday's blog.

Here's a few things I've noticed:

1. 80% of the kids DON'T eat breakfast and if they do it's a bar. They say, "I don't have time." What 11 year old doesn't have time for breakfast? Ummmm...I think they've heard YOU say that and think it applies to them. I would also bet the kids that don't eat breakfast have MOMS and DADS who don't either.

2. Several have told me their parents don't offer vegetables because they don't like them. Holy crap are you kidding me? Again, some of you probably don't realize what you messages you send to your kids.

3. A lot of the kids are given so much easy, convenient foods that they really don't like real food anymore. They tell me it tastes funny in their mouth. That's the taste buds being dumb down over time. Kids tastes change as fast as their likes. You have to keep pushing.

I want to know what you think. There are loads of opinions. One thing I do know is that I love my son's school because they took the initiative to find a parent who knows food and asked them to donate some time to speak. You can't tell me that almost every school doesn't have one parent or a local trainer who is willing to speak to kids. It doesn't have to fall on teachers and it doesn't have to stop with our kids. ALL OF US need to focus more on how to be healthy and we will see the obesity epidemic come down.

More Prep Ideas!

Ok...if you haven't heard already, EVERY SUNDAY I DO A WEEK LONG FOOD PREP! Oh it's my favorite day of the week. I hit the floor early, sometimes I exercise and sometimes it's a well-deserved day of rest, eat a hearty breakfast and then hit the grocery store for our healthful eats all week.

This week I tried a couple of things new to or improved and thought I would share. I also found an awesome website filled with photos of kid's lunches (works for us adults looking to lose, too) and we have an AWESOME kid's lunch discussion going on at the new PNP site. Check it out in the Phit Eating Forum. Becoming a member of the general site is free so sign up and participate in some PNP talk!

First I made a recipe that is like a Green Chile Quiche. OMG it is sooooo stinking good. Today I ate two of them as leftovers at lunch and they were EXCELLENT cold. I think you could make up three days of breakfast with them and pair it with yogurt and berries or fruit and a piece of whole grain/whole wheat toast and a smear of healthy Smart Beat butter.

We had it for dinner last night. Here's mine!  You got your chili quiches (2 = 260 calories!), raw okra with a little spicy mustard and lite miracle whip mixed for dipping, spinach leaves with one packet of Splenda and balsamic vinegar tossed, and my treat of the day - 1 liter of Kroger's strawberry crystal clear sparkling water. Look at all that food for 375 calories! This kicks the ASS of a frozen meal and it took no time to throw in a bowl.

Today I had two of those pups with a piece of EZ bread toasted, some baby carrots with the same dip, and a handful of pumpkin seeds. If you don't eat pumpkin seeds you are missing out.

This is how Chris and Logan eat it. They like peas. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I made a chocolate version of the breakfast protein cake. You can see the discussion, recipe, video, and more at the PNP site. To see the video and comments you will need to register as a free member. Then you can use this link to see all about the yummy breakfast cake that Logan and I enjoy!

 

I also bought apples, cut up grapefruit, made a huge batch of marinara sauce (extra veggie style) with some Laura's Lean Beef mixed in for pasta I can cook up at night. If I don't want pasta, I just nuke my beef sauce and then put it on top of a huge bed of roasted broccoli and spinach leaves.

For lunch I grilled some tilapia with roasted broccoli and peppers. Chris got brown rice flavored with low sodium soy sauce and I like to have Ezekial Bread or a sweet potato.

For snacks and easy sides for all of us we have cut up fresh peppers, raw okra and baby carrots. Tomorrow night is steak night and I'll do some frozen okra sauteed with fresh onion, spinach leaves, and garlic. You just drizzle a dab of EVOO in a non-stick, heat to medium, throw in chunks of onion, the frozen okra, and then at the end throw in the spinach. That takes about as long as the steaks take to cook on the Foreman.

We also pre-bagged Logan's snacks for the week and we're TRYING to get him to take his lunch a day or two this week. Yes, my son loves to get hot lunch at school! We have let him because it makes him feel like other kids. The whole time he was in pre-school he had to bring his own with his special diet. I think he still feels like now that he can eat like other kids he wants to do that. It's OK. I win most of the time with anything I set my mind to and I am determined to convince him MY lunches can be fun and like other kids (without being a crap fest).

No excuses...EVER ladies. Each day is your day to make a better choice and every Sunday is your chance to get the next six days RIGHT!

 

A Child Sees Everything

I just saw this in an email from Sparkpeople.com (a site I recommend my girls use to track their food).

"According to a recent study by researchers at the University of Oxford, being overweight can take years off your life, and in some cases may be as dangerous as smoking.

Researchers determined those with a body-mass index (BMI) of more than 40 lost approximately 10 years off their life span—about the same amount of time you'll lose by smoking. Those with a BMI of 30 to 35 shaved about 3 years off their lives."

Wow. You know, for some reason, people know it's bad to smoke. I mean tell me the last person smoking said, "Hey, this ain't bad for me." Everyone knows it is and if you have kids you think, "I AM NOT going to smoke around my kids. It's bad enough I do it but they shouldn't." I'm sure most smokers also tell their kids they shouldn't smoke.

Think about how much smoking and obesity really have in common.

1. Both will kill you.

2. Both give you cancer.

3. Both are expensive. A dang coke is $1.25 these days and a value meal will set you back $5.

4. Both are filled with shame. Smokers are banned from society because their habit kills. Being overweight makes you so self-conscious as if you were lighting up in the middle of the room.

5. Both set a bad example for your kids. Think your kids don't notice you lay around instead of enjoy going outside to do things? Think their diet isn't going to be modeled right after your diet? Think your kids won't have a weight problem in their thirties? Let's say you were always thin as a kid and then as you got older you gained weight. Just because you children don't have a weight problem now doesn't mean that steady diet of Cocoa Puffs, Pop Tarts, and Nuggets won't catch up.

I want to share an inspirational story with you straight from one of my moderators. Dawn ran the Little Rock Marathon with me. Her story says it all in the type of message we should all be sending our friends, family, and especially our kids.

"...Also note that you DO NOT have to train and run a marathon to make an impact on your children or others around you.  Family and friends seeing you make good food choices and getting up off the couch and exercising is VERY POWERFUL!! They most likely don't comment to you on it BUT THEY SEE YOU DOING IT I PROMISE!

You won't believe this. 

On Monday after we got home Chloe said, "Mom, I made this for you." She handed me this thing she made out of paper. It has a strip up the side, across the top, and down the other side . In the center of it is a string connecting both sides.

She just handed it to me and didn't say anything more about it.  So, I put it on the fridge because I could tell she was really proud of it.

Well, yesterday on the ride home from my parents she said,

"Mom, how did you like your finish line?"

Tears came to my eyes immediately and I said, "That is what that was". She smiled and said, "I wanted you to remember your friends and your race".

WOW!!!!  I asked her if she had help with it at school and she said, "No". She said she remembered seeing what the finish line looked like so she made it out of some stuff the teachers had put out. 

WOW WOW WOW!! Can you believe this? 

I thought to myself it was already worth it but now it is REALLY WORTH IT!! Look at the impact I made on my daughter and how she was taking it all in and remembered it ALL.

THEN...(yes I have more to share).  My dearest Maggie (another PNP Moderator) sent me the sweetest note and the movie Sprit of the Marathon. YES, I started crying when I opened and read the note with that too.  This marathon is making me a cry baby. HA 

Anyway, Chloe asked what that movie was. I told her it was about people running a marathon. She said she wanted to watch it and it could show her what to do when she ran a race with Momma.

OH MY, this just makes my heart melt and makes those five months of training, mental blocks and breakthroughs truly worth it! I would do it all over again.

Dawn

Boys Learn Poor Eating Habits, Too

I am so proud to post this. One of my dear clients wrote this in our phit-n-phat.com forums and it touched my heart that she would share something this personal to help another girl in need. Her message is so important that I asked if I could send it out to the PNP world.

Please read this and examine the lessons you are teaching your boys and your girls. I remember feeling miserable and being so ashamed most of my life because I was overweight and didn't know what to do to change it. I would give anything if I had the opportunity to learn a solid foundation of eating and exercise rather than spending the majority of my life trying to "learn to like good food." It is unfair of us to raise our kids thinking that crappy food is OK but as soon as you grow up you have to learn to eat a whole new way. Suddenly the foods momma pumped us full of to make us feel good, reward us, or keep us busy is now toxic, probably going to cause heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and make us fat. Why did momma do this to me?

Look at yourselves. If you pretty much like to overeat, watch TV more than move, make most of your meals rich and fatty, do you find it easy to shift gears and get healthy? Hell no you don't or you wouldn't be looking for diet sites! Do you REALLY think your kids are going to get "enlightened" one day if you don't step up now and teach them? Nope. They are going to be JUST LIKE YOU. Which YOU do you want them to be?

Here's the post and thanks "you know who" for being so giving.

I'd like to tell you about my son.  When he was a year old we starting discovering that he has many food allergies.  All dairy, all nuts, all grains, turkey, some fruits, some veggies, some fish.  I truly didn't know what to feed my child.  Also around this time my husband and I were having serious struggles in our marriage.  I was in major depression.  The thought of cleaning a toilet would overwhelm me to the point of not being able to function.  All day, everyday, my son and I would watch TV and eat crap.  These formative years would prove to haunt my poor son to this day.  He's developed terrible eating habbits and has many of my food issues, all because of me.

My son is 11 yrs old now.  He's always been much taller than the other kids in his class.  He has a chubby tummy that he's very self-conscious about.  When he's at swimming lessons, he's always trying to hide it with his arms.  On a couple of occations, someone at school told him he was fat.  He was crushed.  He came home, fell into my arms, and cried like his world was coming to an end.  I cannot tell you the guilt and shame and sadness I felt, because I could blame no one but myself.  I'm the one who grocery shops.  I'm the one that prepares meals for my family.  I'm the one that caves when he wants a treat, and then another.  I'm the one the doctor tells my son needs to lose weight.  I'm the one my son asks if I think he's fat.    I'm the one.      PNP girls -- don't be the one.     It hurts too much.

So, my son stays active, his treats are limited and he sees me live my program, change my life, exercise, eat well, stay focused.  I'm not always that good at it, but right now I am and I'm hanging on for dear life........literally.

BTW...I am posting this on Friday for a REASON. Most of you grocery shop on the weekend. You have plenty of time to change next week's menu if this message touched you. I would also love for everyone to fill up the comments section on creative ways you have taught your kids a healthier lifestyle.

Kids and Fit Lunches

Since school has started up for Logan, I have been challenged with sending him lunches he will eat and that fit into his gluten-free/casein-free diet. When he was in pre-school I was very limited trying to keep his lunches as similar to the lunch all the other kids ate daily. Now, a whole world is opened up because everyone just about brings a lunch.

Today I was sent an article from Beachbody.com and it was very good. Use the link on my site (scroll to the bottom) to see creative ways to spice up a kids lunch while making it healthy. Good nutrition and healthy living isn't just for momma, you know. My mantra is this journey is about the whole family - not just Corinne getting in shape.

A few things Logan enjoys in his lunch box:

• He always gets a bag of fresh berries (his favorite types of fruit).
• GFCF Kinnickinik Flax Bread with Tofuttie Cream Cheese and raisen sandwich
• Ground Bison "soup" - ground bison, diced tomatoes with onions and peppers and black beans with a touch of cinnamon, cumin, cilantro, and salt - cook on stove for 40 min. or in crockpot
• Quinoa mixed with soy yogurt and chopped pecans

Right now we are having a tough time with veggies so I'm sneaking a lot of veggies in at night in his dinners :) . My main goal is to make sure he's eating, keeping healthy, and enjoying lunch with his new friends.

I hope you enjoy learning how to not only improve your health, but the health and food of your family.