The Science Experiement

Ryan and I are conducting a little science experiment this month.

Hypothesis: If we eat healthier we will feel better. More specifically for me, if I can break my addiction to sugar I can cure some health issues that have been bothering me for a long, long time like back pain, insomnia, and acne.

The Diet: The Schwarzbien Principle
So, basically the gist of this diet is that you eat natural, unprocessed foods and a very limited amount of carbs. By so doing, you can heal your metabolism, get your insulin levels back to normal and therefore, restore all of your hormone levels to a healthy state.

Some of my most beloved foods I must give up: Anything with sugar in it. Anything. Like flavored yogurt and even ketchup and bbq sauce. And fake peanut butter. Fast food. Chocolate. Cafe Rio salads. Bread (most of the time). And (this one will possibly kill me) ice cream. Caffine and sugar substitutes...goodbye diet coke!

Some foods I can have that I am really enjoying: Good salads with lots and lots of veggies in them. Fruit. Real peanut butter. Avocados. Butter. (yes, this diet allows fats...healthy fats!)

My chiropractor introduced this diet to me a couple of years ago to help me with my back pain. I tried it for a few weeks and I always felt like I was STARVING. Then I found out I was pregnant with Sadie, so that would explain the starving. Anyhoo, being pregnant, I tossed restrictive diets out the window. So, I am back at it now and hoping what my chiropractor promised is true.

In the experiment, Ryan and I are the constants (of course, the change in nutrition being the variable), and so, in order to keep this as legit an experiment as possible I am limiting the number of other aspects of my life that I change. For example, I plan on exercising about the same amount as I did before as well as trying to get roughly the same hours of sleep per night.

So far, we are 3 days into our experiment and I have to say that it is not as terrible as I thought it might be. Sure, when I make Sadie a PB&J sandwich for lunch I wish I could sneak a taste and driving by Kneaders this afternoon really made me crave a chocolate chip cookie. But, I am in no way hungry. In fact, I feel satiated for longer than I used to. My sugar cravings are almost non existent. I feel less bloated and skinnier.

But then again, week 1 is always the easiest. I must survive the weekend and week #2.

I will keep you posted.

Fieldtrip Friday

In an effort to be a better mom I decided to institute Fieldtrip Friday, meaning, every Friday I will try to take Sadie on some type of educational outing. This last Friday we visited The Living Planet Aquarium. Much to my delight Sadie thought that it was awesome. We spent about an hour and half there and the whole time she was wide-eyed, pointing and ohhing and ahhing. It was very fun to see her enjoy it so much. We invited Grandma and Grandpa along and having them with us only made it that much better. I even enjoyed it quite a bit. For an aquarium that is located in a landlocked state it had some pretty cool displays. My favorite was getting up close and personal with the octopus.

The jellyfish were pretty impressive too.

The only downside of the whole experience was that the aquarium doesn't open until 11AM which is just about Sadie's naptime so she was kinda tired the whole time.

Here's the link in case you want to visit sometime: The Living Planet Aquarium
**********************

I want to make this Friday Fieldtrip a weekly occurrence so if you have any great ideas on places to visit send them my way. Also, we would love some company on our outings so if you are interested in joining us some day let me know!

My Birthday Bash

Well, it was my birthday last Saturday. I turned the ripe old age of 27. Honestly, I was expecting the jump in digits to be somewhat traumatizing (after all, I never actually admitted to being 26, only 25 again) but it wasn't bad at all. Really anticlimactic. My theory: When filling out paperwork, surveys, etc. you must mark an age group 18-24 or 25, 26-30, so on and so forth. Last year I jumped a WHOLE age bracket. This year I am just still late 20's. Nothing to freak out about until I hit the big 3-0. Whoo, scary. I don't really want to think about that.

Anyhoo, my parents gave us a super awesome present for Christmas: Reservations at Johnson's Mill on my birthday and taking Sadie for the night for us. Fabulous!!!!

Ryan and I had lots of fun. It was sooooo nice just to be able to enjoy each other and not worry about if a diaper needed to be changed or when a bath needed to be given or if anybody was hungry.

Ryan standing at the entrance to Johnson's Mill. It was totally blizzarding the night we got there. Very romantical.

After dinner we decided it would be super fun to play in the snow. The snow was thigh-high in places and accumulating quickly. We threw some snowballs, almost got eaten by a coyote, sat on a fence and talked and then built a snowman. Somewhere between the coyote and the snowman I realized that I was soaking wet, freezing and having a blast with my very best friend. I got lucky when Ryan decided he wanted to marry me. but, I ramble... back to the pics.

On Saturday we went to Soldier Hollow and went tubing. This is me chillin' on my tube as we ride the lift up the hill.

Overall, If I had to have a birthday, I couldn't have imagined a more fun day.

Going the Distance

My good friend Heidi is running a 1/2 marathon this coming Saturday. (GOOD LUCK HEIDI!!!) I was so impressed by her endeavours that I tagged along on her training run last weekend. I have never gone longer than 5.5 or 6 miles at one time, but she motivated me to finish all 10 miles with her. I think it made me crazy because 2 hours after I finished I went and played an indoor soccer game. Needless to say, my knees hurt so bad that night that I couldn't even walk. But I thought it was really, really fun. I got back on the horse today and did 5 miles by myself. Maybe the exercise endorphins are clouding my judgement, but I think this running thing is pretty fun. I might train to do my own half marathon this spring. Who wants to join me? (Please, please, please!) I really, really need a running partner!!

On a different note, Ryan has started his own blog. Check it out at http://walkthedogrockout.blogspot.com/

Peace.

What's For Dinner?

Dear Who-Ever-Is-Reading This,

I desperately need some inspiration. What are you making for dinner? If I don't get some help soon we will be eating soup from a can. yuck!

Gracias!

Most embarrassing moment EVER!

It was about 5 days into the new year when I had my most embarrassing moment of the year. My brother-in-law Tyler has long tauted the benefits of swimming for exercise so I decided I would give it a try. However, I am not a great swimmer. Or, more precise, I am bad at breathing while I swim. I get water up my nose or in my mouth and I choke and cough and see my life pass before my eyes while I have visions of drowning. Needless to say this hampers my pace in the pool. So I decided to save myself from drowning and bought a snorkel mask. Yes, that is right. I wore a snorkel mask in the lap pool at the gym!

Sadly, that is not the most embarrassing part of this story, although it is embarrassing enough.

So, I got into the pool with my mask and the stupid thing wouldn't work. It kept filling up with water and I was still choking and having visions of drowning. So randomly I would get out of the pool, adjust my mask, wipe my face off with the towel, etc. etc. etc.

At this point I think it is important to point out that at 10:30AM on a Monday morning at the gym there is always a handful of old men sitting in the hot tub and the sauna just staring at you while you swim. creepy.

Anyway, after I get back in the pool after venturing out as I mentioned before I began swimming my laps again. When I look down and I see a boob. "Wait a minute" I think to myself, "That IS MY BOOB!!! "

Yes, my swimming suit top came untied and I walked around the deck of the pool exposing myself to everybody at the gym...while wearing a snorkel mask.

All I can say is I hope that this is the most embarrassing thing that happens this year.

Nursery

So we let Sadie enter the dog-eat-dog world of nursery for the very first time yesterday. I have to say I was pretty proud of her. She held her own, even against the kids that were twice as tall and weighed 3 times more than her (yes, she still has not hit the 20lb mark yet). She stole toys right out of the other kids hands and made them cry. When they tried to take them from her she shrieked and pushed. At snack time, she defended her stash of goldfish while very stealthily stealing them off of her neighbors napkin. She climbed and jumped and fell down with the best of them. And, probably the most mature act of the day came when she successfully ignored the little girl who followed her around constantly, caressing her face and saying, "She is so nice. She loves me. She is so soft!" The only tears we had were when it was time to go. You really can't blame her though. They do have some pretty awesome toys in nursery!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We spent Christmas and New Years up in Seattle with Ryan's family. It was really great being up there and visiting with everybody. We had a lot of fun. It was really fun for Sadie to be there with her cousins. Here are the pics:

Christmas Morning

Opening Presents

Christmas Dress

Matchy, Matchy a.k.a. The Triplets

Happy New Year!! Poppers (at 8pm before bed)