Monday, February 23, 2009

Boo to Me.....

After one week of not sticking to my not eating after 9, I have gotten nowhere. Ugh, my willpower is very sad. Oh well, I'll keep plugging along, cutting back here and there and see what happens. In the meantime I'm dragging those 10 pounds along every time I run. Our 7 mile did go very well, so we'll see...

On another note, a month ago I took a class at The Merc, a whole foods store. It was a class on natural options for children with ADHD and Autism. Even though it was an overwhelming amount of information, I learned many useful things. They gave us a list of the most and least contaminated fruits and vegetables and suggested buying the most contaminated ones organic. So I thought I'd share:

12 Most Contaminated Fruits & Vegetables (Buy Organic)

1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Sweet Bell Pepper
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Lettuce
9. Grapes-Imported
10. Pears
11. Spinach
12. Potatoes

12 Least Contaminated Fruits & Vegetables

1. Onions
2. Avocado
3. Sweet Corn-frozen
4. Pineapples
5. Mango
6. Sweet peas-frozen
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi
9. Bananas
10. Cabbage
11. Broccoli
12. Eggplant

Since this class, I have started giving my boys pure fish oil, magnesium, and B-6 vitamins. All of these promote brain function. Specifically, the magnesium acts as a calming agent. I must say in the last month I have noticed an increased focus/attention and calmness in both of my boys. Nolan will now sit through any book I read to him. He doesn't look at it the whole time, but he gets something out of every book I read to him. He will also sit and write for a longer amount of time. This is very exciting for us! The challenge has been getting them to take their "cocktails", as I refer to them. I have mixed the cod liver oil, magnesium powder and B-6 in smoothies, V-8 Fusion, and Sprite. Brendan prefers to take the cod liver oil in a chewable soft gel form. Nordic Naturals makes them in a strawberry flavor. I also give Alaina the gummy fish bites which aren't as natural. I will try every little bit I can to help, and would recommend a class like this one to anyone who has children who struggle.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Here We Go Again

This weekend I started the official training for a half marathon. It is in April, and this will be my 6th half marathon. Fortunately, I am training with two fun ladies which is so much more motivating than training on my own. I am excited to be working towards a goal. However, I have a slight problem. I'm dragging around a load of extra weight. I can handle the mileage I'm doing, I just feel like I'm running with my legs in cement. So, I'm officially committing to losing 10 pounds. I could definitely stand to lose atleast twice that amount, but you'd be surprised how much difference 10 less pounds can make when you're running. First thing on the agenda, no eating after 9:00. I am horrible about snacking on chips, crackers, cheese, and chocolate all hours into the night. Isn't that just awful?! So, I am going to snack on nuts while I'm doing my nightly reading instead. Wish me luck! So maybe I'll be carrying around a few less pounds next weekend when we do our next long run which will be 7 miles. I'll let you know....

Monday, February 2, 2009

He Has a Dream

As I'm on the phone with a friend this afternoon, I hear the oh so pleasant sound of Nolan's screeching coming from the backyard. I high-tailed it outside to find him frantically lining up some lawn chairs to give his "speech". Lately he has been just a little bit obsessed with Martin Luther King Jr. He says, "Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of peace." And he asks, "Is MLK Jr. in heaven?" and "Does MLK Jr. wear a watch?" The list of questions and comments goes on and on. So needless to say, he was upset that the neighborhood kids did not want to sit in the lawn chairs and listen to his "speech". He's been carrying this book around for 2 weeks and is extremely upset whenever it turns up missing. I even caught him the other day standing on top of a wooden table getting ready to give his "speech" on his "stage". All I have to say is what a wonderful role model for him to have right now! Nolan has a be Martin Luther King Jr.!