Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband and closest friend! He wears a lot of different hats...



In his happy place, mountain biking in the birches.






Another happy place, behind the camera (not usually this one though).  He had a fantastic year photographically, having his first and second shows. 







That second show at Red Rooster also included the debut of his "Summerland Suites" composition. I was so proud I teared up. I'm allowed.








You wouldn't know it to look at the above pictures, but most of his non-work time goes into being a dad and husband.  We are all very thankful for his energy, love and playful spirit!


It's not easy to find many pictures of Jeremy since he takes them all, but here is a shot of all 3 kids beside the rink he's put a lot of hours into.  Technically the rink is a pool in this shot but you get the idea - it's a labour of love to get it going again after every thaw cycle.




Here's to another fantastic year!

Tim numbers

I've been doing a bit of research for the nutrition component of the bootcamp website and got curious about the actual stats for take out.  Summerland doesn't have a whole lot of fast food options, which I guess is a good thing.  I tend to choose Tim Hortons when I do partake so I looked up some of the food ideas and thought I'd share (and scare).   The fat & sugar  in a lot of these is astounding.  They have a calculator on their site to see other foods.

Coffee:

Black coffee: -
Large with cream:  70 cal, 6g fat
Large with milk:   20 cal, 1g fat

Hot Chocolate Supreme (med):  330cal, 10g fat, 49g sugar
Hot Chocolate (med): 240 cal, 6 g fat, 38 g sugar

Iced Capp (med, cream): 360 cal, 15 g fat, 47 g sugar
Iced Capp (med, milk): 220 cal, 2 g fat, 46g sugar

The difference between a large original iced capp with chocolate milk and a small original iced capp with white milk is 160 calories!


Breakfast:

Breakfast sandwich with bacon, egg and cheese on a biscuit: 430 cal, 24g fat
Same thing on an English muffin:                                        330 cal, 15g fat
Egg & cheese on English muffin:                                         280 cal, 11 g fat
Egg & cheese wrap:                                                           270 cal, 14g fat
( I like this one without the mayo, don't know what the stats are for that)

Low Fat Blueberry Muffin:  290 cal, 2.5 fat, 32g sugar
Wheat Carrot Muffin:  400 cal, 19 g fat,  26g sugar  yikes.

Oatmeal with mixed berries:                                           210 cal, 2.5 fat, 14g sugar
Low fat vanilla & berry yogurt:                                      160 cal, 1.5 fat, 25g sugar


Lunch:

BBQ  Chicken Wrap Snacker - 190 cal, 4.5 g fat
vs.          Turkey Bacon Club - 390 cal, 18g of fat

If you skip the sauce the BBQ would be even lower but they don't have stats for that.  A  sandwich bun alone is 200 calories!


Snacks:

Timbit, old fashioned glazed:  80 cal, 5g fat, 5 sugar
Chocolate dip donut:  260 cal, 10 fat, 20g sugar

That's a lot of junk in 2 bites!  I can't believe how often I've popped in that "little" snack without thinking.

New Territory

You know I'm a conservative eater, right?  Check out what the girls and I were up to this afternoon, it was quite something!  Pictures of the result to come....eventually.

Home Learning

It's been a quiet year in the home learning department. I kind of feel like we have this system figured out. There are always a few glitches but it's been a really relaxed year (so far). I love hanging out with my girls and not having to rush them off in the mornings. Ezra's been learning from them and is crazy about figuring out letters and numbers right now. I've sometimes wondered if he's getting ripped off because he doesn't get a lot of individual time but this seems to be working. The girls are old enough now that they're happy to stay home "alone" (Jeremy's home but working), while Ezra and I go on short outings together. 

It's a lot of togetherness and we have our days where we all think we're nuts, but for the most part, I just feel really lucky.  If and when the kids choose to go to school I think there will be advantages to that too, but I'm so thankful to have this extra time with them at home for as long as it lasts.

There are a few new posts on the reporting site (mostly for grandparents!).

Eating Journey

I'm part of a group of women over at The TysonMethod4Moms that has committed to eating as healthy as possible (and being accountable!) for at least 6 weeks. The goal is to change some habits to improve & maintain overall health. I am NOT in this to lose weight, in case anyone is concerned! Another priority is to figure out why we're eating when we're not hungry, and what our triggers are. I don't usually spend time reflecting on what/when I eat so it feels a bit obsessive at first, but it is helping me see patterns. I've been posting about it over on the members site but thought I'd re-post some of the ideas here (in reverse order of writing).
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Grocery Aisle Confusion: Marketing 101
By Tannis
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I live in a small town with two grocery stores and one bulk food store. Specialty health food items aren't necessarily easy to come by or super affordable so I headed over to the nearest city to shop. It was a disaster. I didn't realize how much of the processed/junk food aisles I tune out altogether in my usual routine. In a new place I had to wander around and walk past all kinds of tempting items I hadn't remembered really seeing in ages! It turned out fine but took longer and I felt pretty frustrated by the time I made it out. On the plus side, they had a good variety of Clif bars, turkey bacon, and low-fat cheese. I stuck to the list!


Jan 15th
Grumpy
By Tannis
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Yes, I'm grumpy and would love to blame it on my diet. I must be low in fat and salt!! Quick, emergency chips! Yes, I'm probably PMS'ing but it happens every month for a few days. There are no chips in the house for a reason. I keep focussing on all the things I DIDN'T manage to do perfectly this week. I feel down on myself for willfully not cutting out all caffeine, it's my favourite crutch. I thought I was feeling buffer a few days ago and then I must have fallen off the wagon big time, because today feels puffy.

Then I looked back over my diet for the week and said "holy crap I mostly ate really well, what is wrong with me?"! If you have the same tendency to look at the exceptions, mentally compare your week to the week before you started. Is it looking pretty good now? Thought so!! We've all made changes, so bravo! Next week will look even better, we'll gain strength as it becomes habit.


Jan 13th
People Pleaser
By Tannis
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I'm a people pleaser. I want everyone to like me. I understand the limitations of this and have figured some things out but I'm just learning that this even applies to eating! If someone has me over for dinner or makes me cookies, I will gladly eat what they lovingly prepare. Often it's not something on my healthy list. Yes, I try to control portions and fill up on the veggies but sometimes I cringe when I realize how easily it could have been made over. Then I feel ungrateful and guilty. I do like my treats too though and that's generally how I look at it, then I feel thankful and am able to enjoy it. I eat well most of the time so that I can afford to have those nights out. Can anyone else relate?

Kind of along the same lines, I realize that I take on other people's issues about food. I am okay with passing on a dessert most of the time, but get upset when other people make a big deal of it, like I must have an eating disorder. I need to get over the over-sensitivity. Ideas on how to handle that gracefully without preaching a sermon?



Jan 13th
Up and Down
By Tannis
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Today was seriously up and down. My schedule didn't go as planned and the meals I had in my mind didn't materialize. It made me grumpy and I had an extra cup of coffee in the afternoon. On the other hand, I did still eat pretty well other than the bite of cookie I caught myself sampling.

By 6:30 I was winding down and getting into relax mode. I was justifying not working out b/c I had a lot of exercise yesterday. I kicked my own booty out of the chair and turned it on. I technically had the 20 minutes. It turned out to be my best workout in a long time. I did the fit test and measurements afterwards and felt fantastic. I had new music on my mp3 and went hard (sorry Tami, wasn't listening, just watching!), it's amazing what a difference that can make. I snacked on a few frozen blueberries (one of my strange go-to snacks), had a cup of tea and am looking forward to my sleep!



Jan 10th
Shredder - Day 1
By Tannis
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It's 9:30pm and I'm hungry. The growling belly type, not just bored. Grr. I don't think I need a bigger dinner, nor do I want to eat it later (usually around 6). Normally I'd try to have a small bowl of yogurt or something around 8:30 but I thought I'd attempt to go without snacking after supper. Advice or ideas?

I did a program similar to this in spring and lost about 11 lbs, most of it fat. I've done pretty well with sticking to some of the bigger changes but realized I've been letting the little nibbles creep back in. I'll be doing a slightly different variation of the diet as we eat primarily vegetarian and I have quite a number of strange food sensitivities. I'm recording it all though and it will get posted!

I'm both a "grazer" and a "liquid lover" and I thought I'd share a couple things that have helped keep me on track.

- distraction. I'm not so different from my 3 year old sometimes. If I walk into the kitchen looking for a snack and then see my note beside the fridge about grazing I first try a drink of water. Sometimes that's enough and I wander away. Staying out of the kitchen unless I really need something is a way better idea.

- substitutions. I seem to have constant cycles of cutting down/ramping back up on coffee. I love it, but thank goodness I love it black. I'm weaning off the caffeine part again. I also enjoy tea so I'm substituting that when I want a hot drink after noon. Right now I'm drinking hot water. Sounds lame but it works for me. I crave cheese but find that cottage cheese totally takes the edge off, phew.

- patience. when I'm tempted by a fancy dessert in front of me I just try to buy a few minutes of time before I grab one. If I excuse myself briefly and come back to see everyone else half way through it doesn't look as tasty anymore. I know I'll feel better if I don't and the temptation won't last long. Alternatively, if it's something I really love, I try to take a small sample and eat sloooooowly to really appreciate it.

Next Round

Here we go! Always late with the new years post. My big focus right now is getting the bootcamps running again. This morning was the first class of the new year and it felt great to be back. I'd missed the social time and supportive friends. For reference here's the info - next time I'll try to get it up before the classes start. I'd love to post photos of us working out but the class is a bit shy (so far). I have a feeling that might be about to change...hello Amanda and Angella!

Jan 11-Feb 18 (12 classes)
Tues & Fri, either 6:30-7:20am or 9-10am.
IOOF Hall on Main St. in Summerland

Tami at TheTysonMethod4Moms has put together some extensive nutrition info on her website. Some is for all members but there's also a really detailed section for those who sign up for the "Fat Shredder Challenge". I'm not attempting to lose weight but am doing this one along with them to reinforce the better eating habits I learned in spring. It's disturbing how some things have crept back in.

I've found out that I am a "grazer" and "liquid lover" when you look at emotional reasons for eating. I nibble at anything in front of me. I don't binge, but grab little bits all day. I caught myself 11 times in one day eating something I hadn't been planning to and didn't necessarily even want that badly. Anyone who's spent any amount of time with me will probably picture me with coffee, wine or tea in my hand. No surprise there but luckily my drinks of choice aren't too laden with fat/sugar or I'd be a very different shape. The underlying reasons we develop the habits that we do are fascinating to me and essential to understand if we want lasting change.

sustain

I haven't enjoyed the title of this blog since...oh right after I picked it. The idea of starting over or changing the title but leaving the address didn't appeal to me though. Out of curiosity, I looked up synonyms for "sustain". I liked most of the words that came up, antonyms are in brackets. Being nourishing and supportive sounds good. Prolonged aid sounds less awesome.

sustain

maintain
continue
carry on
keep up
keep going
uphold
prolong
protract
(quit)

nourish

keep you going
support
feed
help
aid
assist
(sap)

Still no brilliant blog title ideas. I also need to do some serious maintenance on my links, as if anyone notices.