Well...a few fine days. Didn't go over 1350 cals and exercised. But the weekend was craaaazy. The stress+PMS equaled ridiculous intakes and almost zero exercise. Just some walking/light hiking. I don't even want to remember all of the garbage I ate. Back on track today.


I've read several times that water first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, is extremely beneficial. I honestly don't know for sure if it's true, but it can't hurt!
Water on an empty stomach
Water early in the morning
Warm lemon water benefits
If you are going to use whole lemon and not just the juice, make sure it is organic and remember to wash thoroughly no matter if you buy conventional or organic. You don't want to absorb a bunch of pesticides!

BREAKFAST:
water x2
coffee (organic) 120-130 cals
mini granola bar- 60 cals
half yogurt- 40-45 cals

I'm going to try these this week. I'm not going to do all of them at once though. Every time I go overboard with any one muscle group, I always regret it! I know how to do them all already but this post was a good reminder on proper form. Abdominal Workout

LUNCH:
bun, deli chicken
spinach, mustard, cheese (organic)- 280-300 cals
small side salad (organic)- 40-50 cals

SNACKS:
small apple (organic)- 40-50 cals
2 homemade cookies (organic) 160-180 cals

DINNER:
pizza- 300 cals
pasta (organic)- 300 cals
medium salad (organic)- 80-90 cals

SNACKS:
2 small oranges- 80-100 cals
half yogurt- 50 cals
cheese puffs (organic)- 110-120 cals

EXERCISE:
biking 50mins-approx. 400 cals
absx40
armsx40
hiking 60mins- approx 250 cals
-650-700 cals burned

Wednesday

Awful. Awful awful awful intake day.

BREAKFAST:
coffee (organic)- 170 cals
banana (organic)- 90-110 cals

BRUNCH:
pita wrap, 3 turkey slices
mustard, field greens (organic)- 210-230 cals

LUNCH:
2 chicken strips
salad (organic) 310-330 cals

SNACK:
crackers- 160-180 cals
tomato soup, crackers, deli turkey slice- 330-350 cals
thin crust pizza- 330-350

DINNER:
leftover chicken, sweet potato, carrot, gravy, potato- 230-250 cals

EXERCISE:
walk 25 min
walk 40-45 min
-210-230? That seems like a lot...I always consult multiple calorie burn calculators, so I guess I can trust that estimate. Seems too good to be true though.

Oh. My. Goodness. Too many calories. I was hungry all day, so I kept snacking. There's a reason those savoury wheat squares are called CRACKers. The ones I bought don't even have MSG so I'm not sure why they're so addictive. All the names for MSG 
I was already stressed and tired enough, then I get the news that my man's boss is an ignorant moron who hasn't paid off the suppliers for the materials that were ordered. No materials, no work. Awesome. It's not like we have bills overdue or anything. It's not like we need groceries again. I'm trying to be thankful for what we have, and I am. But I'm really annoyed that I didn't take the evening job doing laundry at a hotel because he was too lazy to watch the little one for a few hours every night. I might see if it's still available and tell him to deal with it. I don't like feeling helpless. If we need the money, we need the money. Simple. Once the phone bill is caught up, I'm looking for someone to take over the contract. That would give us and extra $100 per month for food.

Rainy Tuesdays

BREAKFAST:
water
1 banana (organic)- 90-100 cals
coffee+cream+honey (organic)- 130-140 cals
I actually measured it all out to make sure I cut back on the sweetness factor. It was probably half of the calories of my normal cup. Small victories, people...small victories. They add up eventually!
I recently learned that bananas have a high glycemic index, so I've been eating way less of them. But they are the cheapest organic fruit at .88 per lb and I didn't feel like eating the last grapefruit with a coffee would be very tasty. Too much acidity at once. I'll have it for a snack later. http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/glycemicindlist_3.htm

Yesterday actually went really well. I was tempted to over eat my brown rice and veggie stir fry, but I saved some for today. I'm going to put it into a pita wrap. It sounds bizzare, but I had something similar at Starbucks once and it was delish.
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LUNCH:
pita wrap, purple cabbage, teryaki sauce
brown rice (non gmo)
soya sauce, carrot, peas, corn (organic)- 300-320 cals

SNACKS:
green+white+oolong tea (organic)- zero
Health benefits of oolong tea
grapefruit- 75-95 cals
fat free pudding cup- 90 cals
green+white+oolong tea (organic)- zero
2 slices deli turkey- 60 cals
lots of water- zero
5 ways to feel full while eating less

DINNER:
1/2 sweet potato, 1 small potato, 1 carrot 240 (organic)
1 medium chicken breast 160, gravy 40 (organic) - 430-450 cals total
Meat Portion Size Guide

EXERCISE:
bike- 33 min
wall pushups- 30 reps
350-400 cals burned

I'm savouring every organic morsel. Soon enough we won't be able to afford more than %20 of the groceries to be organic. It used to be 90-95%. Economic crash? Check. Dental bills? Check. Car payment and insurance? Check. Fortunately, organic jarred baby food and formula are relatively cheap. I might not be able to eat as healthy as I would like, but, for now, baby gets the best we can give.

Dear mom who can't afford organic food

Eat well on a budget

First Post!

I suppose I should introduce myself? I'm a 25 year old mom to a 10 month old (where does the time go?!) who wants to be healthier. Limited budget, limited time. Since I don't have the money or the time to hit the gym, my workouts consist of things I can do at home when the little guy decides it's time for a nap. I've been using our exercise bike, doing wall push ups, ab moves, squats, lunges and going for walks. I had been feeling guilty because sometimes he wakes up when I'm half way through my goal of 45min on the bike. But I really need to stop-15 minutes in the playpen isn't going to scar him for life. He's got his number book, his vegetable book, his animal book. I have so much mommy guilt all the time. There's always something I'm not doing right, something I've forgotten, something I don't even know I'm "supposed" to be doing. So if I need to take 45 minutes out of my day to feel better ay myself, to do one thing for myself...so be it! The house won't fall apart because I did something for me. It's been well over a year since I felt like I did something to better myself. Did something just for me. Exercising once a day, at least 5 days a week will be my "thing". God willing, I plan on being around to watch my son grow up. I can't do that if I'm not healthy!

I decided to take photos of my food today. Not because it was fancy, but to have a visual record of what I was putting into my body.

 BREAKFAST: Yes yes I know, coffee is controversial in crunchy circles. But I seriously would have been in even more of a post partum fog without it! I didn't have any caffeine during pregnancy or the first 2 months PP, but I began drinking it again in moderation after that. Since it never affected the little guy, I kept the habit. And yay for sale yogurt! Those suckers are normally $6, so I did a little dance inside when I saw the ever wonderful neon sale sticker. I bought 2 since little guy loves it. He only gets a small helping since there IS sugar in here. But at least it's an organic treat with ingredients I can actually pronounce/recognize.

yogurt (organic)- 170-190 cals
coffee (organic)- 200-220 cals
 I really need to cut down on the amount of honey I use in my coffee...black coffee makes my taste buds want to shrivel and recoil in horror. It's a goal for this month.

LUNCH: I made a ridiculous salad. Half for before my workout and half for after.

greens, carrot, dressing (organic)
2 cocktail tomatoes, 1/2 avocado, purple cabbage, 2 chicken strips- 250-270 cals

SNACKS: 

iced green+white tea (organic)- zero
medium orange- 35-45 cals
crackers+salami- 100-120 cals
yogurt (organic)+kiwi- 150-170 cals

EXERCISE:

bike 15 min+15 wall push ups+15 ab reps
bike 15 min
bike 15 min+15 wall push ups
20 min walk- 60 cals
bike 15 min+15 ab reps

I drink a ton of water (so much that I get up at night to pee!) so I'm not going to bother counting glasses per day. It's a lot.

According to the bike counter, that was equal to 18.7 miles! Yay! Better than nothing. According to the interwebs, that equaled between -450 to -490 calories. WHAT WHAAAT? Seems to good ot be true. I'll just over estimate on food and under estimate on exercise to make sure I'm actually going to lose some weight. Household duties apparently burn anywhere from 200-400 per day. Sweet! Extra motivation to vaccuum! You might find this helpful if you're curious about calories burned http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

Anyways...here's hoping I can control myself tonight. I find it hard to portion control my dinners for some reason. Another goal to reach!
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DINNER UPDATE:

red cabbage, teryaki sauce
brown rice (non gmo)
carrot, peas, corn, soya sauce (organic)- 440-460cals