Day One of Week One

Really, Day One was yesterday, so I don't feel to badly only being a day behind. Here's what the Wolfes are up to lately:

We're working as a family to be healthier. Three of the four of us (we still include him though) are in need of some help. We've got a few pounds to shed. As a family (really as a trio since this whole thing is a touchy subject between a sister and her skinny brother), we decided to start making a more conscious effort to increase our activity level, eat healthier and support eachother through this process.

We've weighed, taken measurements and have changed our morning routine to include family breakfasts that include protein to get us going in the morning and keeping us from unnecessary snacking.

I've never been one to count the days or the weeks when starting a new health program, but this time I thought it was important for us to be able to keep track of where we are and how far we've come.

The key here for us is that we're doing this as a family (for the first time ever!). In the past, I've focused on myself or Matt has focused on himself, but this time, Alie needs us - she needs us to encourage her, support her, and be "in the trenches" with her. The three of us are all in the same boat, so we'll sink or swim together.

Alie had a good cry yesterday when we weighed in, but after that, she was encouraged and motivated. I reminded her that we'd be with her every step of the way and that this whole experience would bring us closer as a family.

We started yesterday with Alie getting up at 5:00 a.m. to walk with us and then me, Colby and Alie playing (really playing!) outside for over an hour afterschool in the warm spring weather. Who knew that hopscotch and relay races could be this fun and that good of a workout?!?!

So, here we are. Making a more conscious effort to eat healthier, to move more and to slow things down a bit (more on that later).

Sneaking in Extra Exercise

The past few months I've really been concentrating on getting more exercise. I started playing on a Women's 30+ indoor soccer team and it's been great exercise! We have an hour practice on Monday evenings and games on Wednesdays. I have seen a huge difference in how my clothes fit (down 2 sizes in jeans!) and how I feel.

I've had a quad/leg injury that has just healed after 6 weeks! Talk about frustrating! Although the injury has hampered my running in a big way, I'm happy that the results I've seen from soccer has motivated me to get extra exercise whenever (and where ever) I can. Matt and I have been walking 5 mornings a week, doing soccer twice a week and (now that my leg is better), running at least twice a week.

In an effort to try to get the rest of the family to hop on the exercise bandwagon, Alie has been walking with us most mornings (the puppies are great motivation for her) and Alie and I have been using the Wii Active at least twice a week as well. Colby is getting in on the exercise action by lifting some weights (too cute to watch my skinny 8 yr old boy lifting 3 pound weights) and hitting the heavy bag we have hung in the basement.

My goal is to exercise twice a day 5 days a week and to get at least one (hopefully two) workouts in on the weekend.

I am also sneaking extra exercise in where I can. While my coffee is brewing (not a lot of brew time with Keurig), I'll do some pushups against the kitchen counter. The daily goal is to do 2 sets of 15 each, working up to 3 sets of 15 each. While I'm watching tv, I'll do some cruches or other ab exercises on the couch or in bed. Sneaking in these few exercises everyday is giving me results already - and I don't feel like I'm really working out!

Being more conscious of how often I'm exercising and how much extra movement I'm doing, is helping me get winter off to a great start!

Rate My Week! March 15-21 and Advice from the Wolfe Brothers

In an effort to improve my all-around health, at the beginning of each week I've decided to stop and take stock of how I've done the previous week. I'll use a scale of 1-10 to rate how healthy I think my week was.

It's Monday March 23, so I'm going to rate my week for March 15-21. I'll give last week a 7.5 (I couldn't go with an 8 - wouldn't leave me much room for improvement - and my week was better than a 7. How's that for reasoning? ;)

I did get in 4 good runs, I tried to increase my intake of veggies, and I had very little chocolate. I did consume too many Golden Oreos with Chocolate Cream Filling, but I did need to indulge somehow.

The scale slid just a bit - a good thing. Any decline is good for me.

Okay, so March 15-21 is a 7.5 on the Healthy Scale.

Now, some advice from my Brothers-in-law. Two very different conversations on two very diverse topics: running and religion.

First, the condensed version of my conversation with Brother Doug - who came up with a simplified view of mankind some 15 years ago during an evening of induldging in some spirits with friends. Doug's view revolves around being a "LCHB": Loving, Caring Human Being. Doug's views are that if everyone simply acted as a Loving, Caring Human Being, the world would be a better place in general. I agree. Enough said. (Sorry, I'm not going to go into how this came up during our conversation about organized religion. I don't want to debate religion, defend my views - or lack thereof - or attack anyone else's views on the subject).

On to Brother Steve's advice about running. First, a bit of background on Steve. He's a runner. Has been for many, many years. If it involves running, he's done it: Boston Marathon (more than once), Ultra Marathons, Ultra Relays, Triathalons, snowshoe racing, you get the idea.

Well, during a chat this weekend, it came up in conversation how much I'm running. Not how far, but for how long. Steve told me and Matt that if we're not running for at least 30 minutes (and that's the bottom of the barrel minimum), it's not worth our time to even go out. I agree, in theory, so long as it's not 15 degrees with snow, ice and wind. In good weather, I agree whole-heartedly.

So, I've taken Steve's advice as a personal challenge - no more 28 minute runs for me! Steve told me that 40-45 is good for me. I'll go with that. It'll be at least 40 minutes for me from now on. Thanks, Steve!

Okay, back to eating my baby carrots. Shooting for an "8" this week! ;)

I Need a Plan

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed these days. Although Alie's sports schedule has calmed down a bit now that basketball is over and my busiest time has passed at the office, I'm still feeling disorganized. The weather will get warmer (eventually), so we'll be outside more - running, kids' sports activities, yard work, etc. That means that the inside of my house will suffer more than it has already this winter. I can't keep up with everything that I need to - work, transporting kids to their activities, monitoring homework, exercising, cleaning, cooking, etc.. So, I've decided that I need a plan.

I love lists! I have checklists for nearly everything at the office. Even the most mundane tasks get put on a checklist - what a great feeling to make that check mark! So, I think I need to develop some checklists at home. Not too overly detailed because we'll all get bogged down in the minutia of it all if there's too much on it.

I think I need a daily/weekly checklist for at least myself and a chore and homework checklist for the kids. I hope this will help all of us get more accomplished in less time.

I've never had a formal "house keeping" plan (e.g. dust on Tuesdays, floors on Fridays, etc.) or an exercise plan, but I'm gonna start. I would like to have a formal exercise plan in place by the time spring arrives. Right now, it's hard to work around the weather, but in the Spring when Matt and I are back to running in the morning before work (i.e. 5:00 a.m.), I want to have a plan (e.g. Mondays will be intervals/speedwork, Wednesdays will be hills, etc.). In short, I need to exercise more. Running alone just isn't cutting it - I should be exercising every single day.

I would also like to get a better handle on the food we're consuming - adding more veggies, less junk food, etc. I don't feel like I've got this food thing under control (for any of us), so I would like to work on a plan for that, too.

My first charge will be to spend some real time cleaning this week. I haven't seen my dining room table completely free to "stuff" since Christmas. That's sad. I need to get the house in decent shape and then work on my checklists.

That's my goal for the weekend - cleaning, organizing and planning. Wish me luck . . .

Winter Isn't All Bad

I just downloaded a whole slew of pix onto the computer from our cameras and came across one that I took yesterday while we were out snow shoeing. This one is my favorite of all the pix I took yesterday. I love it because it's beautiful, and even moreso because until just now, I couldn't see the image I was shooting. I was staring into the sun and wanted a picture of the snow shoe tracks going up our field. Well, this is what I got.

Sometimes It's Warm Here

Earlier this week, my dear friend Sarah sent some wonderful pix of her daughter at a park. Her daughter looked beautiful, the park was so nice - green, warm, so colorful with flowers in bloom.

The problem: it was green, warm, so colorful with flowers in bloom. In February.

I just can't imagine that flowers could be blooming, people could be wearing shortsleeves and playing at a park this time of year.

So, instead of looking out my window at one of the snowiest winters on record, I decided to search my pc for some warm weather of my own.

So, I won't feel sad that it's winter (I'm not. I live in New England. We have winter every year at about this same time - funny how that works), I will enjoy this season and all it has to offer (skiing, snowshoeing, running, beautiful snowy scenery), but look forward to some green grass, flowers, warm sunshine and the joys of summer. It'll get here - probably in about 4 months.

Super Party

We aren't really social. The kids are, but we aren't (especially Matt). So, as a tease, we told the kids we were having a Super Bowl party and all our friends would be there. We joked about it throughout the week - we wouldn't have room for all the cars to park, we needed to bring all the folding chairs upstairs for people to sit, etc. I think the kids might have believed us for a while, but they caught on. Finally, during one of our conversations, the kids told us they didn't believe us.

Alie said that "Dad doesn't like people and all of mom's friends are pretend except for Lauren and Amanda." Colby said that "Dad doesn't have any friends except for Ray." I have smart kids. Well, Ray came over - for a drink even - but alas, there was no Super Bowl Party.

The kids were spot on. We're lame.