Do Some Kids Stand a Chance?

I saw something this weekend that really upset me and got me thinking (and my blood boiling). 

My husband and I decided to treat ourselves to some Dunkin Donuts coffee on Saturday afternoon since I was craving an iced coffe.  Nothing says warm weather like this bad boy

Anyway, while waiting on line there is a mother and her son behind us.  The mother herself is overweight, however what bothered me was her maybe 4 yr old son.  He, at such a young age, is already extremely overweight.  I don’t mean baby fat, I mean very overweight. 

To make matters worse, he is sucking on a push-pop (or something of the sorts)

(yes, I guess this is considered “food” now a days) and asks for a blueberry donut, to which his mother willingly buys him one.  No objection.  No offerring of something a little healthier.  Just a quick yes.

My husband has brought up a good point, saying that he doesn’t want our kids to be the ones that never has any sugar or treats.  I completely agree with this.  I don’t have kids yet.  I cannot claim I am a better parent than others b/c I’m not a parent at all.  

But does this poor boy even have a chance? 

He’s already probably considered obese at such a young age.  Being that I developed somewhat young and was very involved in gymnastics, I’m upset that I had to worry about my weight and body image at such a young age.  I wish that my childlike intuition regarding food and image could have lasted longer. 

I hope that by presenting my kids with healthy options and showing them how great “real” food is, that they’ll choose these for themselves.  I do not want to deprive them, but I want to teach them proper nutrition.

One of my favorite blogs, www.loveveggiesandyoga.com, talks about this often with her daughter.  Averie seems to have done an amazing job so far at raising a girl who actually chooses the fresh fruit over processed snacks.  I hope I have this kind of success when I have kids.

Has anyone else had success teaching their kids proper nutrition without being the “bad guy?”  I don’t want my kids to think that they HAVE to eat their fruit and veggies.  I hope that they want to b/c they’re delicious and good for us!

Does anyone else have opinions on how they hope to raise their imaginary kids of the future, as I do?

Where’s the Water???

In case you haven’t heard, just check out www.boston.com for the “fun” news.

Water ban in Boston resulting in shelves looking like this:

Even the fancy overpriced water aisle was bare.

 Time to boil and purify our own water.  Not much fun and makes you realize how much we take for granted modern conveniences.

 But atleast it’s been an absolutely gorgeous weekend here in Beantown.  Today might even break the record and hit as high as 92 degrees.

And on another fun note, I finally received a fun new product I’ve been dying to try. 

Anyone else use these babies?

They look something like this, but really come to life in oatmeal.

I guess you can’t see them that well, but they were in there, along with dried mango, and hit the spot after a morning yoga class. 

It’s truly amazing how you can be in the worst of moods, or feel completely down about yourself or life (whatever it may be), but yoga helps you to refocus.  It gives you time to reflect and just be in the moment, try to get rid of all that negative energy. 

I never believed in its powers and though people who did were kind of wacky.  I’m so happy to be wrong about this!

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Alright, enough of my yoga rant.  Onto dining al fresco and sunburns.

We decided to eat lunch outside at Devlin’s yesterday since they have a great patio.

Sam Summer time

We decided to keep lunch light since it was hot out.  I got the mixed green salad with salmon and goat cheese.

JP got the same with chicken.

And some yummy sweet potato fries to share!

T

Unfortunately since we’re both pale as can be, we got pretty fried after an hour long lunch.  Not happy about this and disappointed in ourselves for nothing SPFing it up.  Lesson learned!

We also had a fabulous sushi dinner last night, but more on that later.

Time to shower b/c I am disgusting after an awesome legs workout and some cardio.

Is anyone else out there as strong a believer in the power of yoga?  I guess I had always felt that way, in some respect, about running, but now with an injury I’ve been limited.  I’m so thankful for finding yoga and I’m thinking about incorporating it more into my week!

Southern Comfort

No, I don’t mean THIS

 (although there were many nights in college where I definitely would have meant the booze)

For some reason I had the urge last night to pull together a southern meal.  Perhaps I just wanted cornbread?  Either way, it hit the spot.

I picked up this Spelt Cornbread mix at Whole Foods. 

If I was feeling more adventurous, I might have tried to make it from scratch.  I hear that Babycakes Bakery in NYC has an amazing recipe. 

I think my version came out nice too.  The mix was a bit grainier 

I don’t think the husband was terribly crazy about it (after all it was Gluten Free), but definitely didn’t hate it either.  So, somewhat of a  success?

Next I made one of my favorite blog recipes I’ve come across: Flax Encrusted Sweet Potato Balls!  Scroll towards the bottom of Caitlin’s recipe page for these little miracles.  The only change I made was throwing in some garlic powder.

I tried out some Red Pepper & Garlic Frontier Salsa for the recipe

Loved it! 

They came out great.  Check out my balls!

And definitely serve these with dijon mustard.  It makes a huge difference! 

Now these the husband enjoyed.

I also made some bbq chicken

And sauteed green beans with bacon (the key to my husband’s heart), onion, and balsamic vinegar.

 I topped them off with slices almonds.

They came out so tasty!

His plate

And hers (the vegified version…I had some leftover brocolli from the other night too)

Perhaps I could have made some turkey last night???

Oh yes, a wild turkey outside our window.  We live on the brink of a golf course and a heavily popluated neighborhood, so we tend to get lots of interesting “wildlife.”  We have a recurring fox who likes to kill our poor backyard bunnies, and of course wild turkeys. 

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This morning I nearly didn’t make it to the gym.  The husband had to go in super early to work, but while he was getting ready I couldn’t get back to bed.  I’m the world’s lightest sleeper.

Anyone else find that if someone else is getting ready, they can’t sleep through it?  Grrr

It ended up working in my favor, b/c at 6am when I couldn’t get back to bed and the daylight is streaming in, I decided to do a quick cardio session at the gym.

As I walked outside I was greeted by my friend

That’s him ready to eat me.

Thank god I was practically in my car by the time I noticed “Thanksgiving Dinner” wandering around. 

(Can you tell I’m scared of wildlife?)  Yes, I’m a baby!

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The quick gym workout hit the spot.  I had half a pumpkin/ginger NRG bar beforehand (ala Whole Foods)

Not bad, tasted like a soft gingerbread cookie.

I bought it b/c it’s produced locally and figured I’d give it a shot. 

Breakfast was banana/blackberry oats

And lunch was a bbq chicken salad

And cornbread

And snack

Oh yes, and one more for my drive home

I love leftover night (especially when it involves sweet potatoes and cornbread…and no cooking)!

Tomorrow morning I’m doing a shoulder workout.  I love working out shoulders and have a normal routine I follow (created by the husband). 

Anyone have any favorite shoulder exercises?