Saturday, September 22, 2012

If I could do that, I can do anything

It's been about one week since Jeremy and I have started this health challenge and we're both doing pretty well and feeling alright.  Both of us have felt like we have some kind of flu and it is from the sugar withdrawal most likely.  I have also felt weak but I am able to keep up with all my running and enjoy it.  I'm noticing that I am cooking even more from scratch now.  Even something as simple as a soup recipe I have to adjust or make my own stock for.  There are no available bullion or store-bought soup stocks that do not have unnecessary chemical ingredients or sugars or corn syrups in them.  None!  I have checked a couple times and read every single label.  So if I want to make chicken soup or borscht soup, I have to make it with my own.  Chili is easier to make and it always turns out good :)

I was thinking last night about how we just plain coddle our bodies too much and don't push ourselves hard enough to do things that we could be doing - in exercising or anything athletic, or other activities in life.  That's just how it is in the west mainly.  In other cultures you don't see that as much.  I also notice that a lot of mommas with small babies are on the rise in joining crossfit gyms.  I know that for a lot of these mothers when they realize what their bodies are capable of - being in labor for 48 or more hours and delivering a beautiful baby, for example (my experience)... you realize that if you can do that you could do just about anything.  I would have to say that having a baby is way more of a challenge than racing a marathon.  Even after having a baby the physical work of carrying and breastfeeding for 1 or more years is quite demanding.  And now as 2 and 3 year olds mine have so much energy that I am on "active recovery" exercise nearly every minute of the day.  Having kiddos is one of the things that motivates me to push myself further each day.  I am so thankful to be a momma.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Family Update and Life Challenge

Jeremy and I are participating in a Whole Life Challenge at our crossfit gym today and it will last for 8 weeks.  It is a strict diet and fitness program and we will be eating a very healthy diet with no sugar, grains, or dairy items.  I am still trying to figure out how I will accomplish this being the sugar and dairy addict I am, and while running a 20 to 26 miler today in training for the Twin Cities marathon, which is now only 3 Sundays away.  I am writing this while my watch recharges and enjoying my coffee.  At least I can still drink my coffee and tea, and I am planning on drinking plain coconut water (unsweetened) and eating plain bits of fruit/oranges while on my long run.  We did pretty well with our diets up till this past week before the challenge started.  When the weather starts to turn cool I want to stay in the kitchen and bake things like homemade bread, cookies, etc., so we had plenty of that stuff to eat this week!  Now I am switching to cooking a paleo diet and when I get that cozy, warm feeling to bake bread in my kitchen I am going to have to make other cozy food items instead, such as chili, beef stews, baked sweet potatoes or butternut squash.  I'm going to include recipes as I go along.  I take my cooking pretty seriously.  The kiddos will have a few exceptions such as dairy, brown rice and pasta, but they actually eat plain meat and vegetables better than they eat grains.   And they love to eat burger patties with their hands and other finger foods.  It is much less mess to clean up after as well:)

Last week I was reading up on the ideas behind the paleo diet and how it is compatible with a Christian worldview of creationism and found a very well-written argument for how it is.  Most of the time these arguments say that even in the Bible grains were not necessarily recommended as the best food choice for human consumption, and this is grains from Bible times.  The grains grown these days are supposed to be far worse with genetic modification and cross-breeding.  (I really don't know much about agriculture, but I do believe it is safe to say that neither of those things are going to lead to a quality food choice for us).  This article also goes on to talk about cities and agriculture, and he somehow makes an assumption that agriculture and cities had a negative influence on people.  I am not sure how that can be justified, especially being a person who loves cities and large civilizations of people groups and architecture in one place.  There is a book written by a Harvard professor I'd like to read sometime about how great our world's cities are - Triumph of the City by Edward Glaeser - and maybe that will help me know more about where I stand on agriculture and how it relates to cities.  I love cities and I couldn't imagine living in the country or like a nomad.

All I know is that I imagine I will feel lots better and be lots stronger on this diet.  I always assumed that sugar was harmless and it doesn't really make me gain weight, but being strong is a whole different thing.  I don't care about losing weight, but I do want to be stronger and faster.  I am happy and proud to be married to a man who likes me the way I am now, who is also proud of having a wife who is strong and has some muscles!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Annalise's first cross-country race

My little 3-year old preschooler ran a 1-mile race yesterday with other homeschoolers and won 2nd place for the girls preschool age group.  I am so proud of her and squeel every time I see a picture of her running.  She looks so cute!  We didn't even know that she would enjoy running until Jeremy tried running around the block with her at 9:00/10:00 pm, out of desperation to get our kids tired out so they would stay in their beds and go to sleep at a decent time.  She easily ran a mile in 13 minutes and did not want to walk at all!  I hope she continues to enjoy running and thinks it's fun because it will benefit her so much later on in life.

  

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Artwork & Annalise






Annalise has been doing really well with drawing and coloring pictures.  The first one is of our family with Jasper included.  She also draws lots of scenery pictures, airplanes, and computers for some reason (Daddy's work is the computers, and the airplanes have to do with travelling of course).

I also took Annalise to her first gymnastics class last week.  We are going to try it out for a few weeks and see if she likes it :)

"Mommy, help-et"

One morning this week I stepped away from the kitchen for a minute, getting ready to scramble eggs, and came back to find more eggs added to the cracked ones and Hudson standing next to the counter saying, "Mommy, help-et" in his sweet little voice.  I had to take a picture :)


I also made some really good fish last week with some fresh herbs I happened to have on hand that I don't usually have and had to find something to do with them.  Here is the recipe:

I took some white fish (thawed) and mixed it around in a bowl of 1 egg (white), almond meal flour, salt and pepper to coat it, and then pan fried the fish with a little butter.  After they were done I added the fresh herbs - mint leaves and cilantro - and lemon juice (lime would be better).  It was like a mint mojito taste.  I liked putting the fresh herbs in my water glass with some lemon or lime juice too and it was so refreshing.  Hudson was really excited to dig in when I put it on the table.