Most of my stress is brought upon me by my own expectations. With my new job, I want to make sure I’m doing my best. Putting all of my energy into that makes everything else suffer. Finding balance is the key and at this point, I just don’t have it.

Like anyone with issues, realizing it is an issue is a good starting point. I’m not stress eating as I would have in the past, I’m just not putting my efforts into it like I want. One positive though is that I’ve got a pedometer now and it’s helping me get back on target. Another good positive is a goal of being down at least 30 pounds by the time we go on our spring break trip. For me, I think it’s all about keeping goals.

Now that I am in a new work environment, I’ve really got to pay attention to all of the good habits I set up in the summer. My water intake is not as good, nor is my fruit intake. Stress and a hectic schedule always does this to me. If I can be more reflective about it and watch for the patterns, I should be okay.

• Drugstore.com: Quick and easy to read
• BC Health Files: This is a link from the RealAge Encyclopedia

Like anything, there are conflicting suggestions on what kind of multivitamin to take, so I’m going to ask my doctor for advice as well. My main goal is to make sure we’re getting the nutrients we need that we don’t get in our normal food intake. Please feel free to comment with any suggestions you have.

I’m always so surprised at how much effort you have to put into getting back on track. You continue to make excuses about getting back on program and before you know it, two weeks have passed. No excuses now though can be made. School’s back in session, we’re back home for an extended period of time and I’m much more in control of what I eat.

Of course, the question now is, “What excuse am I going to make during Labor Day weekend?”

Next month’s goals will be to increase my cardio time up to 35 minutes. I’m doing cardio consistently for 6 days a week, so I’ll stick with that. My challenge for the upcoming month will be my eating habits, now that I’m back to work. The key will be to pack my food that I’ll need each day, so I’m not tempted to eat out. We’ll see how it goes.

That of course got me thinking about my own experiences and how I approach my life now. I think the first thing I notice is that I’m more laid back. I think back to my 20s and can’t even believe how I acted. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not claiming that I’m never impatient, but it’s definitely better.

I love being a mom. Having two boys is even better than I could’ve imagined. It’s hard work, but it’s worth every minute of it. They keep me on my toes and keep me honest. I really feel like I now get that family is first and everything else is second. If staying late at work is going to affect my boys, I’m more able to let it go for the next day.

Being married in my 30s is fabulous. It’s probably got more to do with the fact that I’ve been married for 10 years, instead of my age. Not letting little things get to me and knowing that we’re here to support each other is great. I like the feeling that I want to talk to my husband about everything and we don’t keep secrets from each other.

Finally, I am excited that I’m thinking about the bigger picture. I’m conscious of the decisions I make and how they impact others. My new thing is thinking about how our family can help the environment. We’ve started with little things, but I’m glad we’re doing something.

All in all, I feel more grounded and reflective in my 30s.

Here are just a few others that I’d like to share:

• Mootopia Skim Milk: This is HEB’s brand, but I’m sure there are others out there too. I like this because it’s only got 4g of sugar per serving. I was buying skim milk for the family and didn’t really think about looking at the label. When I looked at the sugar content, I was so surprised how much sugar was in it. This was a very easy way to reduce our sugar intake in something we drink on a regular basis.
• Nature’s Path Organic Corn Flakes: I’m a cereal eater and did not want to give that up, so I started looking for better alternatives. Then I remembered that one of the coaches when I was training for a triathlon suggested these. They do not have enriched bleach flour, in fact they only have 3 ingredients. Dr. Oz mentioned on Oprah the less ingredients listed, the better, that way they don’t “hide” ingredients. Anyway, they’re good, but an added bonus is the packaging. They’ve reduced their package size by 10% helping to save water, energy and paperboard.
• Smucker’s Low Sugar Jelly: In addition to my diet, I’m trying to slowly change products that the boys in my house eat too. This jelly has 5g of sugar per serving, a reasonable decrease and one they’ve yet to notice. It’s got 25 calories per serving and no sodium. I checked the label on the regular jelly and was shocked to see that the same serving size had 13g of sugar and double the calories.

As I continue to change more foods, I’ll make sure to post them.

First off, no gains in twenty-five days. I believe that’s a great step, because I’m not depriving myself of food, I’m just making better choices. For example, no more Blue Bell. Instead, we’ve stocked the freezer with Weight Watcher treats and Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. Check out my other entry for more food recommendations.

I’m keeping up with my daily exercise. Having the elliptical in my room has been a great motivator. Yes, it’s ugly, but I think the out of sight out of mind does a disservice to an exercise program. I really can’t lay in bed watching TV if I know I’ve haven’t been on the elliptical for the day.

I’m sure it’s no surprise, but it’s really easy to give up sodas if you don’t keep them in your house. We’re not ones to stop at the convenience store to pick up a soda, so thats good. We’ve also not been getting sodas when dining out, mostly to save on the money we budget for dining out each week, but it helps too.

At this point, slow and steady is working for me. I’m trying very hard to not be discouraged with the slow pace of my weight loss. One thing that’s got me excited is that if I keep up with this pace, I could have 60 lbs. off in about 10 months. When I look at it that way, I can see the goal. Not to mention my loss per month could be more. I could be to my goal by my next birthday. That would totally rock.

One thing I noticed is that its first ingredient was whole wheat flour, a good thing for sure. When I began to compare it to the mix we typically get, it really didn’t look all that much better. However, I forgot to check the serving size. Once adjusted to look at the same serving sizes, that really made a big difference. The total fat was considerably lower, carbs were 13g less and protein was higher.

That being said, it seems the sodium content is somewhat high at 620mg per serving (1/2 cup). Overall though, I believe this is a better choice than what we were normally purchasing. I was sure that the family would notice the difference, but everyone cleaned their plate as normal. I’m starting to realize that you have to look at labels carefully and if there’s a healthier substitution, I’m just going to get it and not tell the family.

On this site, you can look up foods in their databases and if you want to pay for more service that’s an option too. They’ve also got articles similar to the ones I’ve been reading on RealAge. I guess it should come to no surprise that I would find similar suggestions from many different places.

One suggestion that I’m going to work on is adding more fruit and vegetables to my diet. Way back when I did Weight Watchers, it was suggested that you eat 5 a day, so I’m going to start with that. I’m not so keen on the vegetable part, so I’ve begun taking a multivitamin. I’m also putting flaxseed in my smoothies, since I miss Omega-3 because I don’t eat fish.

Now that I’m going back to work, it will be very important for me to pack these snacks with me. As I’m sure others can attest to, the biggest challenge is not having these types of food available. It will take an extra effort on my part, but also has budget benefits as well since I won’t be tempted to purchase something frivolously.