Not a diet a new way of living

6 weeks ago my husband and I started a new health journey.  I have struggled with weight my entire life, I have been on one diet or another for 20 years.  When people say they have done every diet, I mean it literally I think I have done them all.  I've always lost weight and then put it back on for one reason or another.  The reality is that through all those diets I never dealt with the emotional side of eating.  You can learn to eat healthy and what a healthy portion looks like, or count points etc.  but if you don't deal with your emotional side of eating that will creep back in.

Before I got married I lost about 40 pounds with a nutritionist and regular visits to the gym.  I had more weight to lose but by my wedding day I was at a comfortable weight, I was happy in my wedding dress, I felt strong.  On our honeymoon I climbed to the top of the viewing roof of the Vatican and the leaning tower of Pisa - couldn't imagine doing that now without collapsing.

I kept the weight off but didn't lose anymore our first year of being married.  Then I got pregnant with Mia.  I tried to watch when I ate when I was pregnant but I did love myself some ice cream.  I gained about 35 pounds with that pregnancy.  After Mia was born i had a hard time with breast feeding and postpartum so the emotional eating kicked in and I didn't lose any of the weight I had gained.

My husband and I separated for 6 months when Mia was 9 months old.  More emotional eating and ended up gaining more weight.  So the 40 pounds I worked so hard to lose before I got married was back on and then some.  Thankfully we reconciled and we eat when we not only sad but happy too.  Then I got pregnant with Melody.  I knew I could not afford to gain a lot of weight during this pregnancy so I was very careful and thankfully only gained 10 pounds by the end of the pregnancy, i'm sure the first 3 months of constant morning sickness helped the weight stay off.

So here I was with both baby weights clinging to me and I was just uncomfortable, had no energy, wasn't happy with the way I looked or anything I wore, just miserable.  We watched the show Fit to Fat to Fit.  A personal trainer actually spends 4 months gaining weight and then takes it off with their client so they can really understand what it's like to try and lose weight and work out when you are overweight.  You saw the emotional and physical toll that eating all that crappy food and gaining weight did to them and it's exactly how I was feeling.

So my husband and I started the journey together.  I cut out things that I LOVED but I knew were weighing me down and my weaknesses.  No more pop, bread, pasta, rice and little to no dairy.  It hasn't been easy, I smell pizza in the grocery store and shed a tear but keep my eyes on the veggies and the prize, a healthier life and my self-confidence back.  We are also doing it for our kids, we want a long healthy life with them and we don't want this to be a struggle they deal with in their lives either so we get them eating healthy with us.

So as we come to an end on week 6 of this journey I have lost 23 pounds and my husband just passed 40 pounds.  The jeans that i could barely do up and were very uncomfortable are not lose.  My husband is adding more and more holes to his belt.  Our energy is up and our overall happiness is up. For me the main thing is changing my relationship with food and how I look at it.  I still enjoy what I eat but I can't let it be a crutch to turn to when i'm upset or celebrating with a treat.  That part of the journey is a work in progress but I'm getting better...on we go.

If I knew then what I know now.......

This is my advice to first time parents, things I wish I had known or are thankful I made the right decision along the way:

I'm sure house home is lovely, it won't be for long.  I would love a new coach or new kitchen table but what's the point.  Something will get spilled or there will be marker or crayon all over your table.  If your furniture is white buy couch covers now and you can take them off in 10 years, it will be like a new couch! I have come to terms with the fact that it will be a good 8 to 10 years before I can do anything nice to my house again.

Get rid of anything furniture that is glass.  We have a glass TV stand, I clean fingerprints daily!

With that said only buy your kids WASHABLE markers, paint and crayons - read the boxes carefully so you buy the right ones.

Do not buy the squeezable bath toys - they never really dry inside and mold grows so easy in there it's just gross!

The sales people at Babies R Us are nice, they are happy for you, they also want your money.  Take someone shopping with you that has kids and can help you be more realistic with your purchases.  I picked out, (with the help of the sales employee) a super nice and very expensive stroller.  Then when it came time to actually use it with kids both baby and toddler stage I started to see all the problems with this super expensive investment of mine.  No cup holder for me or the kid.  It drove really well but was big and bulky and when the baby started sitting in the actual stroller seat and not the car seat anymore they didn't look that comfortable.  When we went to Florida with Mia for the first time at 15 months old I knew there was no way I was taking the stroller on the airplane and have it all beat up from luggage.  I went and bought a Graco stroller on sale for $50 and it was perfect.  She fit perfect, she had a cup holder and space for snack, I had a cup holder and a nice spot to put my phone.  Seriously $50!!  Even better if you get one where the tray opens up so they can climb in themselves as they get older.  

I was at Target when Melody was a baby and this lady asked me to help her pick out a high chair.  She was about to be a first time grandmother and wanted a high chair for her house and she was intimidated but the huge selection.  Her daughter had picked out this chic fab high chair - there is nothing chic or fab about trying to clean off blueberries from the seat of your high chair.  This was where I actually made a good choice - I bought the Graco high chair with wheels because we have all tile and hard wood - and the seat cover is easy to wipe and even folded so we  could store it easier.

Another good choice was my baby swing.  Again thank you Graco - I got the 2 in one swing which plugs into the wall...save yourself the $ on batteries.  The seat of swing comes out and becomes your bouncy seat and vibrates.  The baby would be in the swing but I wanted to bring her to the kitchen - just pull out the seat and bring her with me.  Saves on $ and having even more baby stuff in your house.

Hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes :) 

Food Crawl

Earlier this week we spent some time in Toronto visiting a family member in the hospital.  We had to leave him for a couple hours so he could get some rest so we took the girls to go get lunch, but we just couldn't decide what to have or where to go so we did a mini food crawl.  This was a "pull up, run in get something, share what you got with everyone and eat in the car food crawl" because parking and getting everyone out at each stop was a bit much.  Our first stop was my choice, Wahlbugers.  I watch the reality show so I wanted to see what all the fuss was about and funny enough I had a feeling I would be disappointed going into it.  I ordered the "eh" burger, it's a burger with peameal bacon and a fried egg on it.  Nice idea however when the egg yoke breaks it makes it almost impossible to eat and super messy.  And in my opinion it was overpriced.  $12 for a burger by itself, they aren't huge and frankly I could have made that at home. Your paying for the name and the show in my opinion.

Our next stop was a Deli owned by a Jewish family, I can't remember the name and I'm not the person who takes pictures of all their food either.  It was a Deli we saw on Dragon's Den that has a store front and a food truck.  We had what they called, Jewish comfort food.  It was ground meat, potatoes, onions in a pastry and a gravy to dip it in.  It was really good, and a couple apply pastries for dessert.

Then we hit little Italy and I was in search of a Cannoli.  The best one I have ever had was in New Jersey at the Cake Boss bakery.  Nothing has come close since then until this trip.  I found a little corner bakery and everyone inside was speaking Italian so I knew this was legit.  The cannoli was fantastic, I was a happy girl.

Our last stop was another deli for some turkey dogs for the girls and an amazing roast beef sandwich, messy but so good.

I can't wait to do it again but next time I want to do food trucks, is there a food truck row or an area of Toronto that has several to pick from??

My family loves the snow...and I go along with it :)

My husband and my kids LOVE the snow.  It's hard to tell who's more excited when it snows my kids or my husband, they all get giddy and run around the house.  I go along with it because they all love it so much, but I could do without it :)  My husband loves to snowmobile and it's always been his thing to do with his friends.  Now that the girls are older we talked about getting a second snowmobile and a little snow coach that Phil could tow the girls in on the trails.  So my husband spent weeks on kijiji trying to find a good sled and coach.  Then we spent what felt like days at Royal Distributing getting all the gear we needed.  We tried to get everything ready for the beginning of December assuming we would get some snow.  Instead we waited and waited and waited for snow so we could get out there.  FINALLY this week there has been enough snow that we could get out on the trails.  I have not driven a snowmobile in years so I was a bit nervous and I did hit a couple bumps pretty fast which made for a good laugh but we had a great time as a family and my kids had a blast so for them I'll suit up and pretend I love the snow too :)