Multi-Task This!

I am apparently known for my ability to do multiple things at the same time.  Others seem to think this is a positive thing.  I know better.

Throughout the day, I'll stop and realize that I'm starving.  I am waiting too long to eat between meals, starving by the time I get around to eating, and then stuffing my face way past the point of full.  I know this is not good.  I don't need anyone to tell me this.  I am well aware that the best way to lose weight and maintain weight is to eat consistently throughout the day, five to six meals.  This keeps your metabolism cranking, your blood sugar levels even.  I know this!

So what's my problem?  My main problem is...multitasking!  When you're always doing more than one thing, no one thing is getting my full attention.  And that includes eating.  

Oh, I'll start getting breakfast together first thing in the morning, but it may be a few hours before the entire meal makes it in my tummy.  The baby wakes up, the dog needs let out.  The next thing I know, I forgot that I was fixing breakfast, I start folding laundry, then I have to feed a kid, then I remember the bill I forgot to pay online, then I remember the blog I wanted to post a week ago, and so on.

The French don't have this problem, in fact, a woman wrote a book about it.  Us Americans try to cram too much stuff into one day, and even eating becomes a task to accomplish.  We don't sit and savor our food.  We eat standing up, on the run, in the car, or, if you're like me, while surfing the net looking for ideas, answering emails, reading about how to be fit and health.  Oh, the friggin' irony!

OK.  So here's my self-imposed goal for the next week - sit down and eat.  Don't read, don't surf, don't clean the kitchen.  Fix my meal, sit down at the dining room table and enjoy my food.  I may even find I get more done with a fully nourished body!

My Tongue is Burning!

We deviated from the normal menu this evening, and ate a ham steak that my MIL brought to us this weekend.  I LOVE ham, though rarely eat it, given it's high fat, sodium, processed-ness.  But I made a veggie medley to go with it, and thought "Yeah, treat time!"  I also stupidly opted to cook an Uncle Ben's Country Inn Broccoli Rice Au Gratin rice mix.  I apparently had a lobotomy for an afternoon snack.  

So I proceeded to devour half the ham steak, plus a serving of the rice.  My tongue is actually burning a bit right now.  That can't be good.  I have naturally low blood pressure, but I'm starting to think I probably shouldn't have gone willy nilly on an overly-salted slab o' pig.  

Just out of curiosity, I decided to check out the Nutrition Facts label (it's your best friend, ya know!).  Holy Crap in handbasket.  A 3oz serving has 950mg of salt.  That's 40% of your total daily value.  In three ounces.  I would say I easily had 8oz, so two and a half times that.  Is A Lot Of Sodium.

The Rice?  One serving (which is about what I had) has 850mg of Sodium.  

I easily just consumed well over 3000mg of salt.  In about 20 minutes or so.  No wonder my tongue is burning.  I better go drink about a gallon of water to try to thin my blood of its sodium content.  

Oh, and in worse news?  There was 14 grams of fat (4.5 grams of Saturated Fat!), per 3 oz serving, in that ham steak.  That's just the ham steak.  So not only is my blood screaming, my ass ain't far behind it.  I hang my head in shame!

Who needs two guys and a truck?

Thanks to having kids and a dog, our carpet is awful.  Really, any health buff knows that the best way to do flooring in your home is to go bare - hardwood, laminate, tile, anything but carpet!  Carpet harbors the dirt, dust, mites, bacteria, etc. that can bring on a multitude of sickies for the family.  However, we're in the midst of a basement finishing project, so redoing our upstairs flooring will just have to wait.  Next year maybe?

However, we still have that dog and three kids.  So today, the carpet is getting cleaned!  I'm getting ready to put my favorite "Don't F*** With Mr. Zero" shirt on, and get moving on some furniture (anyone get that pop culture reference?  Anyone??).  So this is my workout of the day.  Hauling crap in and out of rooms.  Should be a good time.  I can hear my dad - Life with your legs!

To get ready, I'm now sitting down to my favorite breakfast - 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 5-6 sliced strawberries, and a ginormous cup of coffee.  Them's good stuff!

Two kids = Time suck

I'm slowly realizing that the addition of one more person in the house has an exponential affect on my time.  I find myself doing ten things at one time, never having the focus to finish any one item.  Lil Boo needs me, Piglet's crying, BoxerGirl needs outside, the laundry's buzzing, my stomach is growling.  All at the same time.

So the greater question is, then, what can I do about.  Well, nothing, right?  I mean, this is what I signed up for when I became a mom.  And it's intensified by my choice to stay home, as this is my life 24/7.  It's presumed that if you stay home, you have all the time in the world to clean, organize, grocery shop.  Instead, it feels like there's less time, because I'm constantly just behind the tornado, and I never get a solid break.  And I mean *break*!  A few hours block of time!  15 minutes here, 45 minutes there is not enough to truly accomplish some of the larger tasks.

So it goes without saying that I am still struggling to find dedicated blocks of time to work out.  I started back with STroller Aerobics, then the time change hit, and my kids are all over the place in the morning!  If Lil Boo doesn't wake up at 6am, it's 9am instead!  One day last week, it was 10:30!  Tough to make that 9am class when your little ones are still asleep - and it is not an option to wake them!  

And my blog is getting neglected, but I think that's because of my perfectionism.  I feel like if my posts aren't meaningful and thought out, they have no use being here.  That's something I need to get over.  

So here I am.  Monday.  Mid-March.  Still struggling to figure out our new routine with baby #2.  At least I am standing while typing this - doing squats along the way!