Random Acts of Christmas Kindness

I am a creature that craves peace.

Despite the true meaning of Christmas, this season is not very peaceful. There is SO. MUCH. STUFF. Decorations, Christmas church clothes, family pictures, parties, shopping, wrapping, the ever constant anxiety that you have missed a great online sale for that one thing your teenage had to have because your toddlers stuck you to a chair for eight hours with the force of their clingy love and a giant helping of boogers...

Stuff like that.

Even if you know and understand and appreciate the reason for the season...it is so incredibly hard to carve out peace in the middle of all this STUFF.

So we started R.A.C.K. last year - Random Acts of Christmas Kindness. We put a giant, green, cardboard tree on our kitchen door with 24 'tags' and we did an act of kindness every day leading up to Christmas. Well, we did 24 acts. Some days were big-fat-zero days and some days were jolly-elves-on-a-mission days of multiple acts of kindness. We plotted on how to surprise people. We did secret acts and giggled between ourselves. We tried things that sounded corny and silly, but ended up being so sincere and heartfelt. We spent time as a family talking about those less fortunate and our role in our world to help them.

We gained perspective, we connected with people, and we found some peace.

We are doing it again. And we are ramping it up. Because that is how we roll. Bigger and better, onward and upward. How can we top ourselves from last year...we are a competitive folk.

We are asking for help from our friends and family with certain things that we want to collect and donate. Anyone that can help would be so appreciated. We plan on spending time running around as a family picking up donations so we will come get whatever you pull together or you can always drop items off on our front porch. I will try not to be overly obnoxious but plan on seeing this a lot in my Facebook feed. Not because we want the world to know, but because we hope you will join us. This year especially, our world needs a little peace.

These are a few of the Acts of Kindness we are preparing for and the items we need if you can help.

Filling Hope Totes for the homeless shelter:

Warm socks
Toothpaste/brushes
Body wash
Antibac liquid soap
Lip balm
Shaving cream/razors
Tampons
Shampoo and Conditioner
Brush/Comb
Deodorant
Tissues
Body Lotion
Antibacterial Wipes

Donating Food to the Food Pantry:

Any unperishable food items
Any paper products/personal hygiene items

Donating Winterwear:

Old coats, gloves, scarves, hats

Sending school supplies to the Homework House in Avalon Village, Detroit:

Unsharpened pencils, unused school supplies


THANK YOU.

Post Election Grief

I didn't post this the morning after the election. I didn't want to give in to my emotional, gut wrenching first reaction and end up in political war posts all over Facebook. I wanted to have my personal reaction without all of social media weighing in. With that said, my reaction hasn't changed much.

If you are my friend and you voted for Trump - you are still my friend. If you are my friend and didn't vote - you are still my friend. Being my friend is not contingent on your political strategy or opinion. If you are my friend and voted for Trump - I do NOT think you are a racist, sexist, entitled pussy grabber. I DO think you VOTED for a racist, sexist, entitled pussy grabber. And that is a pretty key difference.

However...

You CHOSE to put this man in office. For whatever reason. And now I have to explain this man and talk about this man for four more years to my children. And this makes me sad. I feel legitimate grief and frustration and bewilderment over this choice that you made. And I am not going to just 'get over it' or 'give Trump a chance' because of this choice you made. I am not going to change my opinion of this man just because he won an election. I still think he is a racist, sexist, entitled pussy grabber. All the Trump supporters jeering about us Hillary supporters being 'sore losers' is such nonsense. This was not a typical election. I am not having a typical let down because my candidate lost. I am heart sick for our country. And heart sick that people chose to reward the kind of man he is. And I am worried about all the racist, sexist, bullies that were just emboldened by your choice and now feel free to spew that kind of hatred across our country. That was, and is, the driving force behind my opinion. I have many political, experience, issue driven reasons why I voted for Hillary over Trump - but at the end of the day...

This man is a bully.

He mocked and slandered minorities, the disabled, and women.

Not once, or twice...but over and over and over again.

He repeatedly engages in behavior that I don't allow my toddlers to demonstrate.

That bears repeating...

I GIVE MY 4 YEAR OLD TIME OUT FOR BEHAVIOR THAT OUR PRESIDENT ELECT INDULGES IN ROUTINELY.

And how do I explain that to my older kids? My toddlers hopefully won't know anything about this man until he is no longer relevant. But my big kids? They know. They watched the debates, watched this man's abhorrent behavior. They have a foot in the Hispanic community and likely know people way more affected by this than our fairly safe, middle class, mostly white family. My girls? How do I talk about mean girl behavior and inclusion and doing the right thing with my high school daughters - and then they watch our country reward that behavior? How do I talk to them about deserving and demanding respect for themselves- and our President elect is on video talking about grabbing pussy? How much more difficult did this election make their coming of age? How do I explain that you shouldn't get ahead by putting other people down?

Tell them the old parent standby? Do as I say, not as I do?

Except...

Do as I say, not as our country just did.

Whole30 - Day 31!

I made it through my Whole30 without dying from lack of pepperoni! YAY!

My Whole30 adventure is complete. I have made it 30 days with no sugar, no pizza, no chocolate, no bread...no soooo many things. I didn't cheat even once and I am feeling pretty proud of myself. Jack also made it through and it was a great thing to do together as a couple. I am really glad we did it that way. This was a very eye opening experiment for us and showed us many, many things that we could do as parents to create a healthier household.

The journey really isn't quite done yet. I can't go all hog wild on the pizza place right now. There is a period of reintroducing food categories back in to see how they affect you. This lets you identify foods that trigger bad reactions. Today we begin with dairy, then add back in grains and soy and peanut and so on...all the groups that are prone to causing issues. I am interested to see how this plays out. Wouldn't it be funny if my love of peanut butter since I was about 3 is something that upsets me? Living with issues on a daily basis makes you less likely to notice the havoc they create - you think that is your normal. It should be an interesting experience.

We are also going to continue to incorporate many Whole30 ideas into our everyday diet. We plan to stick pretty close to it while eating at home, with a few exceptions like adding cheese back to things :) I am going to continue to make our sauces and dressings most of the time. I am also going to experiment a bit with making my own bread a few times a week to try and make my love of bread a little healthier. We shall see how that goes.

As for results, I lost 17.5 pounds in 30 days. My stomach upset and heartburn and all that general gut unease has been gone right from the beginning. I am sleeping easier and better - even with two toddlers intent on joining my bed every night. I don't have any sugar cravings or bouncing sugar levels at all. I found that I love cashews. On a slightly sad note, I did continue to have gallbladder pain across the middle of my back every time I ate even a healthy fat - which means it is likely that my gallbladder is just going to have to come out. However, I never had any attacks and the pain was tolerable with a few ibuprofen. It is much less than it was before Whole30.

All in all, I am very happy with the Whole30 experiment. Hopefully, things continue to go well as we navigate this reintroduction period and find a way to incorporate the old and new in a way that is sustainable on a daily basis. Thanks to all for the thoughts and motivation and atta girls...I really appreciated it all. Now someone pour me a glass of wine...

Whole30 - Day 23

Ok, so I missed a whole bunch of days blogging. Honestly, you didn't miss much. Just pretend there is a blog for every day saying "I ate chicken/turkey, apples/oranges, almonds/cashews, and I tried a new vegetable that I didn't really like." That has pretty much been the last week and a half. Actually, if we are being totally honest...I didn't try a veg every day because I am pretty discouraged on the veggie front. Some days I just roasted diced potatoes for a little home fries action with sea salt and garlic. I like those.

Despite my crushing loss in the battle of eating my vegetables...I am still cruising on and sitting pretty at Day 23. First, I am incredibly proud of myself. Not only for sticking to this (even when people aren't around) but for committing to this project in the way I did to begin with. I owe a giant thank you to Susan D. who was the most awesome motivator and sent me the book with I have cooked out of religiously for 23 days - You rock Susie, that gave me the push I needed to make this happen.

This week, I did make my return to the gym. I had avoided doing this for the first two weeks (and months prior...) because they talk about how exhausted you can feel in the beginning while your body adjusts to the change in diet. Also motivating this change, my sister in law just got a Fitbit so we are engaged in a VERY competitive fitbit war! You would think being home with kids all day would give me lots of walking opportunity but it is slow going getting steps in when we are home because we just walk around a few rooms...occasionally venturing up or down some stairs. So to get a really good chunk of steps in to meet my goal, I really need to leave - preferable on my own so I can go faster. Any of my friends with a fitbit that want to link up, just shoot me a message with your email and I can add you! (For some reason, Android has a bug that is keeping FB from linking with me right now - so I need to add through email.) So far, gym time has been good - I do feel a little more tired but I try to go in between meals so that I can eat when I come home and it seems to work out ok.

With only a week to go, I have been really thinking about the next step, which is slowly reintroducing foods back in and then finding a way to incorporate all that I have learned into our daily non-restrictive lives. At this moment, I think we are going to stay a pop free household. I am not going to be a pop ninja and prohibit the family but it will be a when-we-are-out treat, rather than a walk-five-steps-to-the-fridge daily habit. For me, I think I am going to restrict myself to Sunday lunch. I really don't miss it at all. Also, we are going to stick with many, many of the recipes we found - including all our homemade sugarfree sauces and dressings. They are not difficult to make and are full of vegetables and everyone likes them. I am also going to keep our grocery shopping full of produce like we have been doing. If we cut out all the processed food we normally bought, then it really isn't much more expensive if you plan right. For my personal meals, I am going to keep my breakfasts and our family dinners very much the same. I will probably stay similar for lunch, but if I want to splurge - this will be time. Hopefully this keeps me from returning to bad habits and gaining a bunch of weight back from reintroducing things. Pray for me :)

What I am most looking forward to at the end of this process is going out to eat with my husband. Date night always includes a stop out at a restaurant and with these restrictions, we haven't ventured out to eat. I miss this habit of ours. We have big plans to go out to our local bar for a meal and a drink and
spend some time relaxing together. I am keeping that picture in my head as I finish out another portion of white meat. Seven more days to go, my friends. Seven more days.

Whole30 - Day 14-16

The halfway point has been reached...running downhill from here on out.  And it feels...good.

I am still frustrated that my palate is not changing as rapidly as I would like.  I also still feel that my caloric intake is pretty low since I am eating white meat, fruits, and nuts primarily.   But overall, I feel better.  My energy levels are up.  I am happy with this adventure.

This week, since I no longer feel so tired, I started back up at the gym.  I haven't been in a few months and it felt great to get back in there and take care of myself.  I always feel so accomplished after the gym.  Also, I am running a 5K in mid March soooooo...should probably get some track time in.  Not so I can go fast...just so I don't collapse in a heap halfway through and have to watch Grandpas pass me by.

Something else I really like so far has been the recipes in the Whole30 book.  I have made many of the dinners and sauces, and they are all great!  Even my kids like them.  This is a big thing I will carry over after our 30 days.  We will be having homemade BBQ sauce and spaghetti sauce and ketchup and ranch.  These sauces are pretty much how I am eating my veggies.  Way better, no sugar...win win! 

So now we are just counting down to Ash Wednesday,  when I can start introducing things back in my diet.  Dairy is first, because I miss mozzarella.  Pray for me that my body still likes it! 

Whole30- Day 9-13

Toughest days by far.  According to the official timeline of what to expect, days 10 and 11 are usually the days when people quit.  I see how this would be true.

I am discouraged by how little vegetables I am liking.  I am trying them, but my palate is still not cooperating.  I know that without a high veggie intake, I am skewing my results a bit and making this more a fruit and white meat diet...which was not my intent.  But I also didn't intend on force feeding myself veg all day.  In hindsight, I should have spent some time leading up to this trying different veggie dishes every night until I found some I liked...and THEN started my 30 days.  It might have gone smoother in this mid section.

Even with that, I am still determined to finish it out strong.  We have discovered many useful things to take forward from this already and I am sure more will follow.  Another amazing benefit to this is the effect it has had on our kids.  They have not only eaten the whole30 dinners, but raved about them.  They loved the BBQ chicken and I will never tell them that BBQ sauce is made from sweet potato!  But I won't buy store bought anymore, I will make our own.  Same with mayo and ranch dressing.  Jack likes them both more than store bought.  This journey is definitely changing our family's kitchen habits for the better.

Something we are playing with this week is the food dehydrator that Jack got me for my birthday, such a perfectly timed present!  We are experimenting with fruits and veggies to make dried 'chips' to have with homemade salsa.  We also have some jerky marinading and waiting to go in...hope it turns out good! 

So, in short...rough few days...still don't like veggies, wish I did...carrying on and trying new things...almost halfway there!!

Whole30 - Day 8

Today was my birthday.  Whatever possessed me to do Whole30 on my birthday?  No cake, no ice cream, no adult beverages, no rich decadent...anything. 

Except...

I have a super smart, super sweet husband with skills.  Jack made me a huge turkey dinner with an organic whole turkey we finally found that did not have added sugar.  He also made roasted garlic  potatoes and hardboiled eggs.  Everyone sang happy birthday to me while a candle burned in the top of an egg!  And my gift was a dehydrator, so I can make more good for me things, and a giant bag of almonds.  Everything was so nice and totally in keeping with our healthy eating adventure.  I am the luckiest girl to have such a supportive partner in all of my adventures.    So even without cake, I am feeling very blessed and very resolute. 

Tomorrow, we dehydrate 100 things...

Whole30 - Day 6 & 7

Woohoo!  One week down!  Only 3 more to go...

Day 6 and 7 were harder than the first five all together.  It was our first weekend eating this way, and our weekends are waaaaaay less structured than our weekdays.   Cooking every meal just does not happen.  Next weekend I will need to have proteins stocked in the fridge ready to eat because Jack and I both felt run down by Sunday night from not getting enough filling food to eat. 

We also had our first Sunday lunch at McDonald's to get through.  My family has always gone there after church on Sundays.  The kids all play, adults catch up...it is a giant play date for all ages.  Not something we are willing to give up.  So Jack and I had water and apples from there, plus I brought cashews for myself and a Lara bar for Jack.  Then we ate more substantial food at home later.  It would have worked better if we ate a solid breakfast, but we had both grabbed fruit in the middle of getting all the kids ready for church.  I definitely see Sundays as being our most challenging days. 

We also had a birthday party at night - with cake AND ice cream AND pop AND pizza!!   Ugh.  Pizza and baked goods are my nemesis.   This was the only real moment where I felt like I was missing out so far.  But I am determined and held strong.  Jack and I are both heading into week two strong.

Healthwise, week one was more than I expected.  My guts felt better within 24 hours and have steadily improved since then.  I have entered a stage of whole30 where your healing guts start kicking out all the guck, so that has my stomach a little worked up - but that is a normal part of the whole30 timeline.  My energy is not awesome yet, but it is leveling out a bit.  I am falling asleep easier, which has always been a problem for me.  All in all, I am pretty happy with my results so far.

Bring on week 2!

Whole30- Day 5

If almonds and cashews are better for me than breadsticks and Milky Ways...then I am way healthier today compared to five days ago.  Also, on a related note, I am going to spend $100 on nuts this month.  No judgement.

Day 5 is the first day I ventured out into the world at mealtime.  I took a bag of cashews and a bottle of water with me and planned to have actual lunch at home around two.  This did work, but the temptation to cheat on Busia's M&Ms and cookies was - by far - the hardest time I have had sticking to my plan.  Every Friday, that is what the babies and I do...we go to Busia's and eat M&Ms and cookies while we visit.  Sitting on the couch with water and nuts did not feel the same.  However....

I survived.  I didn't cheat.  I came home and put my chicken breast in the oven and had lunch like a good girl.  And now I am pulling together my shopping list and heading to the store to hunt for ingredients for next week.  It feels good to be planning out week two, it feels like real progress.

I am still getting small headaches every day around two or so....right around the time I normally would eat all my junk food and sugar.  My brain is trying to trick me into sugar...not happening brain!  Too smart for you!  Unless there is sugar in ibuprofen...then you win.

Getting ready for day six.....

Whole30 - Day 4

Day 4...only 26 more to go. 

Oddly enough, I do not miss many things I thought I would.  Coke already doesn't sound good.  I am not missing fast food or pizza very much.  I don't miss dairy at all.  The only thing I really have craved is chocolate.

More than the food choices themselves, it is the food prep that is difficult.   It takes a ton of planning to keep enough compliant food prepped for Brent and I (and food for 5 kids) so that we don't reach for something we shouldn't.   Prepping fresh ingredients is more work and it holds for less time than store bought.  So every other day it seems like I am spending an afternoon in the kitchen planning and prepping.  And the day I don't spend in the kitchen, I am running to the grocery store.    BUT...I think this part will get easier.  I think my system will streamline as we figure out what works and what doesnt. 

It doesn't help that I am tired and don't feel like cooking.  Letting go off my precious carbs and Baby Girl teething all night have combined to create a very tired Mama.  I am anxiously awaiting the day where they say all your energy comes back - bring it on!

Whole30 - Day 3

I am not going to be a perfect Whole30-er.  I am eating way more fruits than vegetables.  I am drinking V8 juice instead of just using it to cook.  I am snacking on cashews and clementines.  All technically legal, but not quite as it is meant to go.

For me, this is how I get through this first week.  It is such an abrupt and different change in diet for me that it is unrealistic to expect that my taste buds are going to immediately love vegetables.   And juggling five kids schedules means meals are not always where I need them to be. 

Day 3 is all about recognizing that I can not overhaul my entire relationship with food overnight - this is a process.  Every day I will do the beat I can and we will see how that ends up 27 days from now!

Whole30 - Day 2

Today feels better.  At least it is starting off better.  Baby Girl is still in the throes of teething hell, but she was asleep by one a.m. last night and only woke up once between then and eight o'clock this morning. 

I had breakfast (that I liked) and feel much more capable of carrying on with my day.  Yesterday, that never happened.   Yesterday, I felt the most insane suck of energy.  I pretty much spent the day moving from one piece of furniture to the other.  Jack was great, he picked up most of my slack and ran that dishwasher like a champ.  I am so glad to have a partner in this.

Yup, Jack is doing Whole30 with me.  He had a better first day, I think mainly because he really likes almost all these foods.  With all the prep we did, he probably ate better yesterday than normal days.  Also, he slept the night before, soooo.... We both did notice snack cravings after dinner - that is our normal relax and snack time.  We will need to find a new after dinner routine, I think!

I have to say that I am surprised that I can notice changes after 24 hours.  There was a big difference in how I fell asleep and how I woke up compared to a day where I ate a bunch of sugar.  I also have really noticed the difference in how my guts felt.  I have a crabby gallbladder and random gut unease (thus my whole30 motivation); and in a normal day have many times where I feel bloated, vaguely nauseous, and uncomfortable.   Yesterday felt like an even keel...steady all day long.  I imagine the jumping sugar levels played havoc with me and I am pretty motivated that 24 hours on this has already improved on that.

The other thing that stands out is how important planning was in this adventure.   Yesterday did NOT go as planned.  If I would not have had options ready to go, I totally would've cheated.  I needed my back up plan and was so glad I had it.  So yes, Whole30 is completely reinforcing my theory that everything works better when I plan it ;) 

Thanks for all the messages and encouragement - it really helps to share and hear back from people.  Kinda feels like an extra person in my adventure.   Me, Jack, and all my social media cheerleaders!  Ok, time to tackle Day 2...and my laundry room...back tomorrow!

Whole30 - Day 1

Day one has not started well. 

It should have.  I read and studied and researched.  I read three hundred ingredients lists on the back of grocery store packages.  I shook my fist at the heavens and cursed at the grocery gods as I found meat after meat after meat labeled...sugar, sugar, dextrose, sugar.  No wonder we all love meat so much, it is laced with sugar so we think it tastes more like candy.  Somewhere there is a very rich, very smart...but very bad...man responsible for this.  I overcame this and found acceptable ground turkey, chicken breast, and prosciutto.

I gathered up my fruits and vegetables.   It took me forever to check out because nothing in my cart had bar codes, I had to look up everything.  I came home and organized my cupboards and my fridge, I made LABELS. 

Last night we ordered pizza and I only ate 2 pieces.  I patted myself on the back, drank a caffeine free Coke, and thought how ready I was.  I talked to Jack about how excited I was and how it felt good to be starting.  Then I went to bed.

Baby Girl...did not.

Baby Girl is teething.  Baby Girl wanted to be cuddled inside my skin.  Until she didn't.  She wanted nothing to do with Daddy.  Until he went downstairs.  Then she shrieked like he had taken one of her limbs with him.  She fell asleep in an exhausted heap, only to wake ten minutes later when I exhaled too loudly.  We played this fun game til about 3 am.  Then we switched to every hour until we were up for good at 8.

I felt exhausted.  And thankful that I had spent time yesterday making turkey breakfast patties for my kickoff meal this morning.  They smelled so good and I was so geeked and ready to take on the day...and they were NOT good.  Soooo disappointing.  But I choked one down, ate some fruit, took my multivitamin,  and drank a few ounces of my emergency back up V8 juice that I did not think I would need quite so fast.  

Meanwhile, Baby Boy cried that his milk was in the turtle cup...that he wanted real pants not jammie pants...that I could not produce his special firetruck shirt that he does not even own...and that sister touched his foot.  Baby Girl screamed over the dog lying on her blanket...not being allowed to use Mama's toothpaste...having a banana instead of my V8...and pretty much everything else. 

The universe is not with me but I will prevail...stay tuned...