Still Sick...but not letting it stop me

So, I am still sick and there seems to be no end in sight for this nasty bug. Luckily the rest of the house is healthy and happy.

This week my water intake has been great and I have been very successful with the juice only breakfast plan. I have been drinking a green juice which consists of half fruit and and half veggies. It is pretty tasty and filling for the morning. My original idea was to do a juice fast for 10 days, but I am not sure I can make it that long on juice only. I am opting to ease into it. This seems to really work for me, I know for others going cold turkey is the way to get things done but not for me. I work so much better at a slower pace each day. I find that this makes it easier to get things into my routine permanently.

On another front I tackled the afternoon snack with my older son. I admit that I was giving him crap snacks after school. Chips, Candy, processed junk, gummies....yuck! I am a little embarrassed that I fed him this junk.I have switched to a piece of fruit, apples are a big hit, or fried fruit with nothing added. He has not seemed to miss the junk and even told me he was happy that I brought him healthy snacks. Win-Win! I also worked switched over to organic food for the little guy too! It is a little more pricey, but I can tell you that it smells and looks better and I feel better about giving it to him . I am using the Earth's Best baby brand of food and I am really impressed with all the options they have for dinners that don't include meat. Many of the flavors have lentils and rice as the base coupled with a fruit or veggie. So far so good!

Yesterday I attended a school filed trip with my older son. We visited the ENC in Newport Beach. I had not idea this place existed. They put on a great tour that including discussing various animal habitats and exploring them.They also have a butterfly enclosure, which is awesome! The kids also learned about recycling. There is so much to do there and the grounds are so beautiful, it would be a fun place to take kids of all ages. I especially loved the forest habitat, it was complete with redwood trees and a stream. I felt like I was in the PNW and that made my heart happy!

For the weekend, I plan on 2 jogs with the family and some good fun for Mother's Day.

Happy Friday!

xoxo,

Mrs. HT

Vegan Medicine

I am so sick....like stuck in bed, run down tired sick. It started a few days ago and has not let up. I thought I would use this as an opportunity to try something new for medicine. Normally when I get sick it is DayQuil and NyQuil until I feel better. This time I searched Google and happened across a number of blogs with all natural NyQuil recipes. I settles on this one:

1 Shot Brandy

1/2 Juice of Lemon

1 Tbl Honey

Mix and drink

The first night it helped me sleep, but the second night it had no effect at all. I also decided to try drinking caffeine free chamomile tea. I am not a tea drinker at all, but having a few cups a day really seemed to soothe my throat and ease the stuffiness in my head. By day 3 I really was not getting enough relief to manage my 2 kids and the house, so off Mr. HT went to the store for DayQuil and NyQuil.......ahh relief. I am not ready to give up on homeopathic remedies just yet. Instead I am hoping that my diet change will prevent me from getting sick in the first place. If I do get sick again I will give some other things a try.

As for my water intake I have been doing great, averaging about 6 a day. Yay!

This week my goal is to stick with a veggie/fruit juice for breakfast each day and have a healthy meat-free lunch as well. Wish me luck!

xoxo,

Mrs. HT

Water, Water, Water, and more Water

Well, now I am tackling my daily water intake. I am not a water drinker. The number one reason is that I am busy and most of the time I don't even think to fill my glass with water. This is particularly absurd because I work from home and I just need to walk to the kitchen and get it. Now, I know that I need to drink the water and I want to, I just need to make it part of my routine. Over the last few months I have successfully rid my home of all soda and jucie, with the exception of unfiltered apple juice. Mr. HT and I both suffer from stomach acid issues and a glass of apple juice a day seems to help so we will keep that. My plan to tackle my water intake is to at minimum add a glass of water to each meal. This will get me to 3 glasses a day which is better than the big fat zero I am at now and in my book is a vast improvement.Once I can say that I have integrated the 3 glasses into my routine I will up it until I get to 8 glasses a day. 

I started this program yesterday and so far so good!

Now, Friday is our eat out day. We take the family to the same little spot every Friday. We love the time together and getting out of the house. The only problem with this is that we eat crap! I mean it tastes great but it is full of cheese, meat, oils, and carbs with very little fresh veggies and fruit. Mr. HT and I scoured Google last night and found 2 vegan places within reasonable driving distance. We plan to give one of them a try tonight. I sure hope everyone likes it!

Happy Friday!

xoxo,

Mrs. HT

Let the Journey begin

Well, today is the day. The day I started a blog. It feels like the day I joined Facebook after avoiding it for so many years. I am excited and nervous about it all at the same time. Seems strange to be afraid of the internet and blogging when so many others are doing it these days. But yet here I am wondering if what I have to say is really worth reading.

What is my reason for starting a blog you might ask. Well, it really is simple. I wanted to keep track of my goal to go vegan, become healthy, and stay fit but I did not want to keep a note book with me all the time. The computer seemed like a natural fit and the blog, well it just works for this purpose.

I have committed to myself that I will log my progress and steps each day and post up what I am doing to get on track. This is going to be a very slow journey for me, but I will get there. If anyone actually happens upon this and has any suggestions or ideas for me I would love to hear them.

So, let's get started. Yesterday was the day that I realized I am overweight. I never thought of myself as overweight, I don't look overweight but I am. My BMI puts me in the overweight category and it freaked me out when I saw the number jumping off the page at me. I need to loose about 43 pounds and along with that I would also like to get rid of my aches, pains, and general low energy and depression. Food intake is the logical problem and solution so this is where I begin.

I have committed myself to getting rid of High Fructose Corn Syrup from my diet as of today. I have emptied out my pantry and fridge and anything with that ingredient got the boot. It was only a handful of items, but they are now gone and out of my diet. Small steps!

xo,

Mrs. HT