Fit in 40 days: Day 4

It was Jack's last day of school and his WHOLE school (along with every OTHER school in Ohio), went to the zoo. This was the first time we have seen the new Africa exhibit and it seemed quite impressive. Hard to tell  though really bcz we couldn't get close enough to any exhibits to see anything. But I am sure we will go again. Those are giraffes in the background. You can feed them. If you like to wait in line. Jack does not.

This is Jack on a giant mushroom. Reminds him of all the Mario games he plays. I think if he could live in Habitat Hollow, he would. 

Then we paid the small fee to pet the sting rays. Don't think for a MINUTE that I didn't think about Steve Irwin and Jack falling into the tank. Was minorly relieved to know the big ones don't have barbs on their tails but the 5 baby ones still do. So please don't touch. Jack did a great job of listening and really, really enjoyed this experience. Another place he could have spent all day.

 I totally timed our trip wrong and we were both starving by the time we left. I did hit McD but I did not get him the full meal he usually gets. When we got home he ate some fruit and we drank tons of water. Needless to say, he needs a shower tonight. Must wash Zoo smell off of him!

I did have enough energy to make pan seared pork chops with home made mushroom gravy. Made some potatoes and Brussel sprouts. The kids tried a little of all of it and some liked some of it more than other parts, but I take it as a victory that they tried all of it. But really, home made gravy? Anything is good with that!!

I also had enough energy to get my 3 miles in this afternoon. Now it is time to do the dishes, hose off Jack and relax for the evening. It is Friday eve after all.

Thanks for reading!

Cat

Fit in 40 days: day 3

I am thankful I can laugh at myself and the things I do! Today was Jack's last day of 4th grade. He has had such a rotten year and has done so well at his new school, that when he asked for a Pizza Party to celebrate, I was not going to say no.

You know he's the baby in the family, right??

So they boys had pizza for dinner (I had a buy one get one free coupon, so at least a small victory there!) and I had this:

Salad with light ranch and 3 oz of crispy chicken. You can almost imagine how fantastic that tasted up against a nice, gooey, greasy pizza....so I may have had a couple pieces of pizza. But not many.

Got my run in today, too. Hitting Aldi tomorrow and Kroger on Friday. Busy weekend of friends and family coming to visit. Should be another good weekend to kick off Summer!

Speaking of grocery shopping: I watched the Rachael Ray show on Tues and they did a grocery budget swap with two families: One family used to be on food stamps and now sticks to a strict $60/week budget for a family of 4. The other family has no budget and can spend close to $600 (HUNDRED) a week in groceries. The guy is a chef and buys only the highest quality ingredients. So she had them swap. The $60/week gal didn't know what to spend her money on so she bought a lot of meat/poultry. She said that after just a couple days of eating such rich food, they felt horrible. She said they felt better when they had beans or rice or pasta a couple times a week. The $600/week family lasted about two days and then resorted to take out. The guy could not stand cooking just regular ground beef for a meal.

How much do you spend on groceries a week for your family? What will you splurge on? Our family of 5 spends about $110/week. That does NOT include the $100 we spend at our meat market every 6-8 weeks. I am pretty good at making the good stuff stretch but really want the kids to eat more meat/poultry/fish than processed stuff. So that meat bill will be going up this summer. And that's ok if it helps them develop better habits.

Would love your feedback on your grocery bills and where you scrimp and where you splurge.

Thanks for reading!

Cat

Fit in 40 days: Day 2

I am happy to report, so far so good. I managed to get my act together enough this morning to include apple slices with the kids waffles. They had carrots and orange pepper strips with their grilled cheese tonight (not a very adventurous meal for the kids but we have baseball tonight). I, however, made some delicious Chinese turkey meatballs.

Started with about a pound and a half of ground white meat turkey, grated in a couple carrots, some ginger and some onion. I love to grate the onion  bcz you get the juice and no big chunks of onion. Added some hoisin and siracha and lots of black pepper. Baked them at 375 degrees for about 35-40 minutes. They went great with the broccoli slaw I made yesterday. Always looking for ways to spruce up some ground turkey!!

I didn't add any salt and should have. But other than that, they are really moist and pretty tasty. I can eat them all week and not feel bad about it.

Got my run in today and though my time was pathetic, I was just glad I didn't die of heat stroke. 4pm on an 85 degree day may NOT have been the best time to run. But I am 2 for 2 so far in this challenge.

This was my official last day of work for the summer. YAY! I truly love my job and my co workers are the greatest group of people you could hope to work with. Just nice to take some time away from the kids and cooking for 6 hours and just relax.

Have a great Tuesday!!

Cat

Fit in 40 days: Day 1

I am often a hypocrite in that I talk a BIG game about nutrition and exercise and though I may follow my own advice, I do not do the same for my family. There have been lots of Donut parties of late as a way to keep Jack plugging thru school. On the weekends and during the week, there are often trips to the drive thru's because we are on the run constantly.

I hate what I am feeding my family. I hate that they don't know what portion control is. I hate that it can be DAYS in between having a fruit or veggie.

And that is too much hate to be carrying around.

My neighbor/friend invited me to join Runners World 40 miles in 40 days challenge which starts today and ends July 4th. I have just gotten back into running, am doing a 5k in the Fall with some friends, and I usually put on a good 7lbs over the summer. This is a terrific incentive for me to get off the couch/lounge chair and keep moving.

Then I thought: If I am going to endure this torture, er I mean, healthy lifestyle, my family should, too!!! More water, more fruits, more veggies, more fresh food. This doesn't mean there won't be a frozen pizza, mac and cheese, or grilled cheese days, it just means I am taking a very active role in getting my family to eat better in the next 40 days.

And to make sure I am accountable for it, I will blog about it every day. It is hard to not get sucked into the lure of the drive thru, but it is so expensive and just so bad for them. And knowing I would have to blog about it may be enough to keep me away!

So join me on this 40 days of lots of miles, healthy eating, and happier family members!!

Thanks for reading,

Cat