5 on a Friday: Health goals revisited

 So! YOU GUYS! I lost weight and then immediately started eating sugar again because I am an addict. AND THEN (and really this will surprise NO ONE BUT ME), I started feeling crappy again. Anxious. Moody. Jumpy. Dehydrated. It was like I forgot that I was trying to lower my BP and cholesterol and offset the effects of perimenopausal hormonal fluctuations not just lose weight.

SO. 5 habits I want to drag (kicking and screaming?) into the holiday season.

1. (Almost) no sugar. I feel better when I go (nearly!) sugar-free. So. BACK IN THE SADDLE FOR ME. I absolutely feel better with less sugar, no question. (Just last night, I fell asleep on the couch with all the kids but Minnie watching DMV (funny) and woke up to help everyone go to bed and ATE THE REST OF A BAG OF PRETZEL M&MS and fell asleep without brushing my teeth. Yuck on so many levels).

2. WATCH the saturated fat-- I see this consumption creeping up as I dive back into cheese glorious cheese, so I need to rein it in.

3. Run every single day. So far, so good on this one, and it is a major change for me since I always worked out 5 days a week and was happy to skip a couple. I have started jogging every day for at least 30 minutes and I love this habit. It really helps me have reasonable weekends instead of hedonistic free-for-all days, which has really helped with weight loss maintenance even as I eat more food. Plus! Running FEELS GOOD. I  cut out all bed rotting, get up, and run in the dark every morning.

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4. Keep eating 30 grams of fiber (mostly from fruits and veggies) every single day, and keep my protein consumption over 70 grams. This is starting to be really easy to do as I develop better habits, stock healthier food options on the regular, and develop easy go-to meals and snacks.

5. Strength training for 20 minutes 4 days a week. YES YOU GUYS, I know I need to increase this portion of my work out, but! This is up from 10 minutes a day, so yay me! I am doing a trial of the Apple Fitness app for better workouts because I was just doing free stuff on YouTube and it was a pain to find stuff that met my specifications, etc. So far, this is great and very searchable-- we will see if I get bored with it before I have to pony up for the whole year.

I would also like to take a barre class, take a yoga class, and do the daily move in the Calm app on my long days at work.

Also thinking about Botox, so text me with your recs.

Hoco!

For as long as I have had a Blogger blog, I have dealt with pictures in picture-heavy posts uploading in a totally random order and making my write-up of family events even more disjointed than it would naturally be. AND TODAY IS NO EXCEPTION.

The tl;dr is that we went to Peoria for Bradley's homecoming and had an absolute blast.

Minnie cheered SO HARD at the Red and White basketball game

She also loved the lighting of the Bradley Hall B and the fireworks that went with it.

Here we are waiting for fireworks

Dorothy, posing with some river front Peoria art on our way to dinner. (She also fell in a bush of burrs and had to be de-burred at the table-- it was ridiculous. She was lagging behind us on the way to the restaurant, so Ben turned to see where she was and goes WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH DOROTHY. I turned to look, and she was, like, zombie walking with stiff legs and her arms stretched out-- she had burrs all over her feet and ankles and somehow also in the sleeves of her sweatshirt)

Big red chair on the quad

We used to smoke on this bench outside the comm building

Minnie has wanted to have her face painted forEVER, and she finally got the chance before the red and white game.
 

Did I mention that there were balloons?

LOL

So glad I got to hold this doll all day

The guy behind Cooper loved the hat

These pants were much cuter than pictured.

Twinning!

Getting pumped for the game

Oh! Look! We're back to Friday night fireworks on the quad

Minnie got to meet Kaboom!

And there was ice cream! How could things get any better?

We also saw a  women's volleyball game, and Minnie goes, "Wow! I didn't know volleyball was so aggressive."

We enjoyed adorable photo opps

And we got to see Ben in his professional home

Plus show off our silly college sweetheart Lydia shirts

And! Bonus! The kids and I got to see my mom at her office-- for probably the last time since she RETIRES on 12/31!! Woo-hoo! She has been working for the Department of Children and Family Services in IL since my little brother was in first grade, more than 35 years ago!

 

Fall "fashion"

 I did not have to buy ANY fall clothes because! I have lost weight and my old fall clothes look totally great again. BUT, I did need to buy a new jacket. (Also I have now bought THREE pairs of jeans--- none necessary).

HOW CUTE IS THIS?

I wanted something cropped at the waist and also fluffy and beige. Quince was sold out of the coat I really wanted, but I found a pretty good copy at Athleta. AND THEN I found one for EIGHTY DOLLARS CHEAPER at Athleta Girl. I am an xxl child, apparently. That tracks. In all the ways.

And! Because this a coat for a child, it has a little beaded fidget sewn into a pocket-- so awesome.

I immediately took it out for a latte

SPEAKING OF FASHION. LOOK AT ME WHEN I WALK MINNIE TO SCHOOL. AM I A DREAM OR WHAT? (def did not brush my hair).

Dorothy and Minnie, though, have their fall fashion on lock

That pic of Minnie is of her getting her pre-vaccine treat-- a surprise stuffed animal pet for her doll that she opened immediately after her shots, and the anticipation of the surprise stuffy (WHICH ONE WOULD IT BE?!) worked pretty well.

On a random day off school last week, all 4 kids got flu and covid shots. Then they got a post vaccine treat (Coop had a separate appointment because he had PLANS on vaccine day). (yes, Minnie had a pre and post shot treat **shrug**).

Minnie also came to my weekly meeting with me last week because Ben had a dentist appointment. She was DELIGHTFUL (and made a rare fashion miss in an old Easter dress that's not a shirt and non-matching leggings, but when you're five and dress yourself, you're always taking risks, you know?)

Speaking of delightful! Fall dog:

Room shuffle, part one million

 I have often joked that this house is like one big room of requirement, and this sentiment came true again over the weekend as we finally reshuffled bedrooms to give the boys their own. And! We did this for almost zero dollars.

We spent

$80 on paint

$60 on lamps and an end table

$75 on extra bedding

$80 on 2 twin beds from FB marketplace

(But then I sold a bunch of old clothes to Plato's Closet for $50 and we made $20 on Harry's old bunk bed).

Coop's room, boob light and all: (yes there are 2 TVs because what if you are doing a flight simulation over the ocean and need to also watch a show?) (I have already taken a Zoom call in there and can confirm it is perfect and very quiet).

Jack's room (the first time in his entire life that he has had his own room!!) (yes there is vinyl on the floor-- this was our playroom when we built the house) (yes there is tape on the floor-- Jack and Harry made a squash court a few years ago).

When Harry is home for the summer, I think Jack and Coop will move back in together, but we'll see. Maybe we will get a pull out sofa for the family room and someone can sleep out there? Keeping our options open for sure, and I have no doubt that the house will present a magically perfect solution when the time is right.