Isn't it funny...

Isn't it funny how when you become a parent things you wouldn't have given a second thought to are suddenly in the forefront of your mind. Here are a couple of things that I have been thinking about today...

1. Am I making my son fat? Is he eating the right foods? I was never obese when I was a child, in fact looking at pictures I was fairly thin. However, I am technically obese now. Do I feel obese-no, do people think I am obese-no. When I was a child, my mom was a stay at home mom. We lived about 10 miles from the nearest "city" of considerable size. Eating out and "going to town" were luxuries we got to do every now and then, it was a special treat. We had our own garden and my mom canned and froze fresh vegetables for us to enjoy in the COLD Minnesota winters. We raised cows (and by we I mean my parents) and would have someone butcher them for us and our freezer would be full of fresh meat. Trips to the grocery store were for things like milk and cheese, pasta, rice, cereal, bread-staples we did not make at home. The only time we had candy was at holidays, and any sweets we had were usually baked by mom or grandma. In fact the only sweet cereal we ate was when my Grandma Burt would bring it over. Now once my youngest sister started school, my mom went to work, and things around the house changed. Not for the bad of course, my mom still made sure we had healthy choices and we still made family dinners.

I say that my "battle" with weight started as soon as I got my license and a car. I went to work, and started earning the freedom of a paycheck. It was during these "independent " times where my weight started to increase. It wasn't a big deal for me to go to McDonald's or Taco Johns to get some lunch with friends, or to sit at Frontier Cake and Steak Restaurant for hours doing homework and eating chili fries, and drinking coffee loaded with sugar. My hours spent playing outside and running around our huge yard ended too. Now I am not even close to my heaviest weight which I would say was at my wedding, but I still need to lose about 80lbs to be at a healthy weight. While this has always been at the back of my mind, it is ever more important now that I have a child. Not only to I want to get healthy so I am there for him as he is growing up, but also because I want to set a healthy example for him. Now, I am not saying that he cannot have a Snickers bar if he wants, but everything in moderation. My biggest challenge is not the diet, but the exercise. I can lose weight on a diet, and if I am serious about it, stick with it. I lost all my pregnancy weight and am in a size smaller than I was before I had Xander (don't applaud), but I am still not there. My first goal in the next year is to lose 50 lbs in a healthy weigh through diet and exercise. My second goal is to ensure that I am setting a healthy example for my son, and to ensure that he gets healthy nutritious meals.

2. "Going Green" I never made a conscious effort to think about my impact on the world in which we live, until Xander was born. Of course, it also helps that every where you look nowadays you see or here about "Ways to Go Green" or "Save money and buy Green". Now, I never littered and at my parents we recycled, and I donate a lot to Goodwill and such, but recently I have been looking at both my spending habits, and other aspects of my everyday life. Now my husband would agree when I say I spend too much money on "things". ( I think I have some kind of addiction to shopping, and I am trying to fix the problem!) "Things" encompasses a lot of stuff, both needs and wants. While my spending on wants has dramatically decreased, my spending on needs has dramatically increased. Most of it is what I think are needs for Xander, I know that he perfectly content with the stuff he has, and really doesn't care whether he has 10 shirts and shorts outfits or 5. All of this stuff I buy will eventually end up in a landfill, and I want to limit my contribution to that, as well as teach my son the importance of saving the earth. I want my children's children to have the same kind of earth I enjoyed as a child, with clean air and clean water! So along with my healthy eating goal, I am making a healthy life goal. I have been making a conscious effort to curtail spending, and I am making progress, but it's one step at a time, and one day at a time. I feel better getting that out of my head and onto print. It makes me more accountable to myself, and makes me feel like I can make a difference in the world.

Things to do today (and everyday)...

1. Turn off lights--use the sunlight when possible
2. Do not let water run unnecessarily
3. Eat fruits and/or vegetables at every meal
4. Drink filtered water, rather than bottled water
5. Turn the tv off and explore the outside
6. Sing a silly song
7. Love yourself