Healthy Eating

Healthy eating and weight loss were two of my top goals after Abby was born. They still are. At my six week post-natal check-up, I weighed 199.5 pounds. Better than the 226 pounds I weighed when Jonas was born, and I was relieved to be under 200 again but, ugh! A year later, I was down to 186. A few weeks ago, the scale had dropped to 171 pounds. I have to admit to being pleasantly surprise by that. I'm not very concerned about what the scale says. I'm more concerned with how I feel, and I feel like I'm on my way and moving in the right direction again.

I love to cook, but working full-time out of house and juggling family stuff makes meals a challenge around here. We've tried to make it a family affair, by involving all of us in menu planning and shopping,  to well as meal prep and clean-up. We've also re-engaged the good old crock pot to make meal prep more flexible, and less labour intensive.  I'm still the team leader, but my my teammates rock!

We've made it a regular weekly habit to visit our local farmers by fresh food. I'm a big fan of supporting the local economy, and we're trying to eat more whole, unprocessed foods, so it's a perfect solution for us. Farm fresh foods cost more, so we have to be more thoughtful about what we make, but it's been a wonderful experience getting Jonas involved in better understanding where our food comes from.

Even bigger than the challenge of economics and labour, is keeping our menus tasty and exciting. In other words, motivating everyone to eat healthy. I'm one of those people who could happily eat the same thing every day for a week, but the rest of the crew isn't. We need variety and flavor as well as good nutrition. I'm always on the hunt for new recipes, ingredients and cooking methods.

I'm blessed to be surrounded by amazing friends, who are facing down similar life challenges. I love that camaraderie we have in our little on-line community, and I'm hoping to share some of that in this blog. The winning recipes, the stories of kitchen disaster, keeping each other motivated and celebrating all of our victories together!

Thanks for helping me stay motivated!