Wine, Chocolate and Cheezies

Okay, seriously??  I'm supposed to be watching what I eat.  Well....technically, I am.  I'm watching the wine I pour in the glass, the Easter chocolate that my daughter hasn't eaten and the cheezies that I bought that no one else in the house really likes.  I am totally watching all of those things going down my pie hole (do people besides me even use that expression any more?).  I can use any excuse that I want; it's Friday, I've been good all week (no I haven't), I'm stressed, I just don't care.  My personal  favourite is that the food companies have made me addicted to their products. The latter, although I am sure there is some truth to it, doesn't account for the fact that I still go into the store, pull their product off the shelf, buy it, bring it home and eat it....there are several step where I have a choice to say no and not have it.  But really, I think I have discovered the perfect food combination.....wine, chocolate and cheezies.

What are your crazy food combinations??  Oh, my other favourite??  Peanut butter and chocolate chips....I try to avoid having both in my house at the same time :D

Is This How I'm Supposed to Feel??

So I have been attempting to reduce my consumption of animal products over the last week. In fact for the last 4 days, I have eaten a diet with no animal products whatsoever.  The 2 days prior to that, I only ate meat at dinner and otherwise had no meat, dairy or eggs.  I am very open about my life and love to share my successes and failures (hence, the blogging) because I know that other people go through them as well.  This photo was posted on Facebook and was kind of an antivegan statement.

I get what it is saying.  That animal products are everywhere, but in truth this picture just makes me feel better about my current food choices.  I can't imagine that anyone likes the idea that charred cows' bones are used to refine sugar or that their blood can sometimes be found in cake mixes.  It's reality, but it's also kind of gross.  I'm not saying that I am against farmers or the meat and dairy industries. It's quite the opposite.  I am amazed at the life farmers lead.  It's definitely not easy work, they work 7 days a week and have to be available at all hours of the day.  I don't claim to be an expert and I'm not even writing this to convince others to try a plant based diet.  I am just making myself into a guinea pig and am sharing my results with all of you.  My decision to attempt this is for one reason...to see how changing what I eat affects my health.

I'll be honest.  I knew that I would feel better eating less processed foods and more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.  And, I do. There are a couple of things that surprise me though.  One is how much clearer I feel mentally.  I am able to focus better than normal.  The other thing that I found really interesting is that at the end of the day I would usually be dragging and counting down until I could go to bed.  The last few days, I find that I'm not completely fatigued and falling asleep when I am supposed to be tucking the kids in bed.  I haven't even had coffee the last 2 days (but I did substitute it for green tea). 

By really paying attention to how I feel, I don't feel like I'm giving anything up.  I'll keep you posted on how I'm doing. 

P.S.  I apologize if there are spelling or grammatical errors......I'm attempting to write this while the kids are still awake!!

So it dawned on me today.  Most of the things that I have experienced in life are relatively common.  I was a full time working mom. Common.  I quit my job to be a stay at home mom.  Somewhat common.  I now run a home daycare to make ends meet.  Fairly common.  I have a husband, 2 kids and 2 dogs.  Pretty common.  I suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of my second child.  More common than people realize.  I am chubby.  I always have been (other than those short periods of time in my life when I lost weight only to gain it back eventually).  Very common.  So, I decided to start this blog to talk about my life and to hopefully hear from other (common) people about their experiences too.  So sit back and enjoy!