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Change Numero Three

2013 is grooving…can you feel it??? We talked about jobs, then friends, and now: environment. How’s your house and kitchen helping you or hurting you on your weight loss journey? We even talk kids and how to balance. We know, we know what you’re thinking! But, we’ve learned some great ideas from all of you MyFitspiration Moms about how to make it work for you AND your family. Let’s get to work and DO.

What are some the things you struggle with in your environment? What are some of the things that have worked for you? Let’s talk!!

10 replies on “Change Numero Three”

I became a vegetarian and stopped eating processed foods a year and a half ago. The first thing I did was clean out the pantry, and like your dad I hate wasting food, so I gave it away to a food collection. My pantry is neat and organized, everything is labeled and in mason jars and my fridge is stocked with virtually nothing but produce. I love the Farmer’s Market and it is such a treat to go to Findlay Market every Saturday during the spring, summer, and fall. Also, from the start, I attempted to find one new recipe every other week to cook, and this has allowed me to develop a rather expansive spice collection.

Wow, you guys hit it on the head! I don’t keep any junk food in my house (I wish I had more self control…but I know my limits), and I love to cook, plus I have a boyfriend who is completely on board, so life would be perfect and having a great balanced diet would be easy…if I never had to go to work!!
I know I’ve talked about my life losing weight while working as a nanny before, and WHOA BABY is it hard. Or, should I say, it WAS hard, until I talked to the kids parents about cutting processed crap out of their diets. I’m here 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, and I both cook and grocery shop for the family (and myself), so their food choices, just as well as mine, are entirely in my hands. We have cut out processed food and refined sugar entirely, and wow! It’s a huge change! In our lifestyle AND in the kiddos energy (and hyperactivity) levels.
Now that the bad stuff is not in the house, I feel so empowered. And not just about my own diet and my ability to stick to it (which has improved greatly), but about the kiddos food choices. They no longer eat “kid food.” Our lunches/dinners are generally made up of cooked whole grains (farro, barley, quinoa, etc), ezekiel bread, chicken breast cooked various ways, black or garbanzo beans, fruits, cheeses, veggies and more! Whole, real food! They love plain oatmeal with berries or a banana on the side for breakfast. They know that when they’re hungry for a snack, they won’t be getting a rice krispy treat or a granola bar or teddy grahams. They can have fruit, string cheese or a smoothie (frozen bananas, almond milk, spinach and their choice of berry). And you know what? They love it. They fought me for about a week, and now it’s just a part of our routine. They’re happy and I’m happy. Everyone wins! I only wish I had made this change earlier!
For so long I thought it would be SO hard to change up the way the kids ate, and I didn’t want them to be unhappy and not eat at all, and I didn’t want to make things harder on myself! But the fact of the matter is, that was just lazy. Kids are SO resilient, and their growing bodies NEED nourishing, vitamin-packed, real food! It’s a no-brainer.
I feel so proud as I see my weight dropping week by week on the scale. But I feel equally proud when my 2-year-old twins choose clementines and sliced cucumbers for a snack over the “fruit snacks” their friends on the playground are eating. My four-year-old prefers a chopped tomato and avocado salad to a bowl of mac-and-cheese. They love helping me make hummus. I could go on and on! They’re building healthy habits for life, training their bodies to do so, just as I am re-training mine to do the same.

(okay, off my soapbox now, sorry. i just get REALLY excited about this!!)

Getting rid of all the chemicals and toxins in my house…from my shampoos and deodorant to my cleaning supplies and laundry detergents! No more carcinogens please!!!

Today i watched this, and then later i had cravings. Guess what, i had no unhealthy snacks or anything and ended up cutting up some pineapple. It was goooood! And it feels good now to know i didnt eat anything unhealthy!

so my husband was recently laid off right before thanksgiving. Thankfully we were able to get help (EBT: aka-food stamps). im not gunna lie, it was a pretty stressful time so i did by myself a few bags of flaming hot cheetos with lime and i devoured those puppies! BUT….. with a little bit of time, i realized i could be feeding my family organic whole foods with this help. So, we went to costco and stocked up!! we are eating organic meat, eggs, even dairy & produce.. i straight up 2.3L container of high quality organic coconut oil and use it everyday! this has helped me so much even in a crunch for $$ to make that money from the government be a help and not a hurt to my little family.. thanks for the tips!! love that chair idea, i get it gurl, i get it!!! and the kitchen snooping that is me every night 😉 i think i need to make a set bedtime so im not tempted to catch up on tv and want to snack… theres something about eating and watching tv or a movie, am i right?? much love guys! thanks for these videos!

I totally agree with you that we need to change things in our environment in order to make it easier to stick with our plans. I wanted to share a little video my sister and her friends made. It’s shows that it doesn’t matter if you run like Pheobe from Friends, or you can’t jump rope, as long as you get started then greatness will come. Anyhow, I immediately thought of both of you and all your fantastic readers and their struggles when I saw this video. I hope it helps to inspire: http://youtu.be/EsRrPYYxfZw

This has probably been one of my favorite blog posts yet here on myfitspiration.com! One thing that I am going to do that will really help me is to organize my cabinets. We have food that needs to be thrown away and the cabinet with all my pyrex and serving dishes needs reorganizing almost as bad as our tupperware cabinet. Being able to find things easily makes cooking simpler and quicker for me and feels like less of a chore and more of a joy.

I’m a college student and in my apartment I always keep only healthy food and produce. My biggest challenge is when I come home for the weekend or for breaks to my parents’ house where food is always on the stove, on the countertops, etc. Not to mention the food is always so tasty compared to my diet at school! It’s rough, but I’m trying to get better, and even though food is a central part of our family bonding, I think they’re trying to get the crap out of the pantries!

Great post. Changing your environment makes a HUGE difference. I’ve done that for the most part, but lately I’ve been having cravings, and I’ve been nibbling on 70% dark baker’s chocolate squares. Not only am I having them at night when I shouldn’t be having anything, especially carbs, but these squares are 140 calories each!!! I’ve eaten them all up and I’m NOT bringing any more chocolate into the house. I can’t handle it.
I also agree with getting a treat while out of the house and not bringing it home. Why ‘treat’ yourself to a box of brownies at home when you can instead go out and pick out one delectable item at your favorite bakery and share it with a friend over a cup of coffee. Better quality item, nicer treat, and less calories since it is a single serving (or better, 1/2 serving from sharing).

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