Global Stressors....not warming!

Hi everyone!

For some reason this week has been hard for me. I have not taken the time I need to sit down and really think things through. When I go to meditate, my kids pop in with a question. So, then if I do it at night, I fall asleep because I am exhausted! Let my body go "limp" and I am done for!
Reducing my stress level is a MUST. I get stressed out SO easily it is quite frankly, ridiculous! When I started to think of the stressors, the biggest one of them all is trying to play all my different roles in the house. My cousin once said to me, "In my next life, I hope I am a man." Now, not to sound sexist, but truly it is so different. As woman we take this responsibility (whether we are told to or not) to wear 100 different hats. The man does his responsibilities, but outside of taking their morning dump and getting themselves ready for work, the rest of the process is laid out for them on what they need to do at home. Now, don't get me wrong.....my husband is wonderful and is the love of my life. He is so helpful with our kids and is the best father I could ever ask for. I guess I just wish I could be like him and not see the dishes piled up, the toys all over, the laundry overflowing, the food running low, etc.....and be able to focus on what is in front of them at that moment. He is so laid back and non-confrontational and I am so envious of it. When I sit, go to bed, shower - all of those times and more my mind is constantly thinking of what I need to do next or what I forgot to do. Does anyone else feel this way? I know it is not the way to live, but this is what my brain does to me. I think many woman feel like this.
So when they asked us to write down things that make us happy....I love to go out and socialize. Problem is the stress of getting the sitter, getting everything ready, etc. to get to go out and socialize. Then it is the worry that the kids are o.k. Not as much fun when that all comes in to play. OK........so my kids make me happy...........oh but wait........they stress me out, too. My husband and I have fun together.........but wait.......now it is my time to have one on one time to tell him everything that stressed me out during the week! Does this make sense to anyone out there?????
The best option I can think of is to get this exercise thing going in a routine. My time, something I will feel good about. Now, I went to the personal trainer and he tested me on strength, flexibility, endurance (VO2), body fat. I was so excited to write up a plan with him and we put in all the numbers (my goal weight) compared to body fat and water percentage and then BAM! He hits me with the cost. For 48 sessions at 3x per week equals 4 months (plus coming in whenever for aerobic activity) puts us at $3,000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Are you kidding me? How am I going to convince my husband of this.........um......I am not. I would probably laugh at him if he tried to tell me he was going to pay that, so I don't even expect him to consider it. So, I started researching other opportunities and I may have found a better option with finances, too. I will keep you all posted.
Now, I see tomorrow they suggest to go outside..........If you live in Cleveland you are probably wondering as I am that global warming is an actual fact, because it is FREEZING HERE! Kind of like Al Gore giving his global warming speech yesterday in DC during an ice storm. I won't go there.........
OK - I am off to meditate.................don't forget to listen to me on Sirius tomorrow morning at 10:15am.
Happy De-Stressing!

Maria

Just Breathe!

Hi there!

It is Monday afternoon and I have a few minutes to blog before going to pick up Jimmy and then to gymnastics practice. I am excited to concentrate on the stresses in my life (so is my husband). He probably thinks I need a huge notebook to fill up for the week rather than a journal! Poor guy. He gets all my frustration let out on him. Not fair. Will work on. :)

I went to see a personal trainer today at a place near work. I LOVED the information I received and LOVE the concept. Just wondering now if I can afford it............quite expensive! What I learned is I am FAT. I was shocked to see the percentage of body fat and my weight. I did not think I was overweight, but I guess according to those calculations, I sure look like it!!!! AHHHH!!!

Well, I need to run.......maybe I will be able to get some more time later to write. Hope everyone is well!

Happy De-Stressing!
Maria

Nashville or bust!

Hi ya' all!

I am working on my southern belle accent since I decided with my friends Heather, Kim and Wendi, to attempt a 1/2 marathon in Nashville at the end of April with them!!! I made an appointment tonight to meet with a personal trainer and hope to get moving towards this goal!

To be honest, I hate running....I have never been good at it....but maybe it is time for a change. Even if I end up walking half of the half marathon (or all of it), it still would be something I have never done!

This week, I continue to journal what I am eating and watching what goes into my body. Still no soda or caffeine. Jillian Michael's advice is really sticking in my head and I have been really working at making TIME to workout. I am hoping this new place I am going to on Monday will be the motivation I need. It is right on my way from work to pick up the boys. Not out of the way, therefore, no excuses!!!!! (Jillian would be so proud :) )

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend the Cleveland Sports Award Show with Jim Nantz as the emcee! Wow, did he have a fantastic speech! He had the best stories about his experience as a commentator and awesome events he has attended (such as a white tie dinner at the White House when the Queen was in town.......and he sat at her table!) I would of never of known him to be so "worldly". There were a bunch of Cleveland stars in attendance, as well as, Scott Hamilton. We were invited to attend with two of our senior gymnasts since we won the state title last year. We sit upstairs in what I call the "peanut gallery", but hey its free and you can look over the balcony and spot all the stars trying to be discreet! The waiters felt bad for us eating a pasta dish while the others had filet and chicken stuffed with spinach, so they brought us up that dinner and replaced our kids pasta! Thank goodness! The asparagus was so yummy and the chicken was scrumptious!

Today is the year anniversary of my Grandpa Jim Puzder's death. I miss him so much. He loved my children so deeply and passionately. They miss their "papa", too. If he saw the boys today he would shake his head and giggle with excitement watching them. I am sure he is watching in heaven, though.

Well, good night ya' all! I will be on the Sirius radio station at 10:15am tomorrow. Tune in if you can.

Maria

OMG!

OMG everyone!

I got to talk to Jillian Michaels of the Biggest Loser today on the Sirius radio station 112! I am so excited that I was able to call in and get on the radio to talk to her! If anyone heard it, I probably sounded like a little kid seeing presents on Christmas morning! She gave me some great advice for setting time aside to workout! She asked some pretty valid questions about my day........if I have time to watch a TV show, I have time to workout! No excuses! I LOVE IT!!!! She also said women are afraid "to ask for help" - such as, we should ask someone to watch the kids for 30 minutes so we can work out. Or plan with a neighbor to share in kid watching, or ask parents or in-laws. She said the ultimate goal is to carve out 4 hours a week for exercise. She also said 4, 1/2 hour sessions if you have time restraints will work, too.

Actually, for my first day of cardio, I did her fitness ultimatum on the Wii Fit! I got a great workout - especially for just getting started! Love it....love her! I did not have school today so my kids and I stayed in all day. It is so miserably cold here that I don't want to step outside if I don't have to!

So, the weekend brought on some challenges. As I stated in the last blog I was nervous about what I would eat on the trip to Columbus and I would like to thank the few that responded with some good on the go meals. I did get in my breakfast before I left at 5:40am......I was miserable on our bus because we had NO HEAT the entire 2 hour trip! It was -12 when we left at 6:00am. That was fun...........NOT! During the meet, I had an apple, banana, raw almonds as snacks. For lunch, they offered cold cuts, but with white sub rolls and mayo. I ate as minimal of the bread as I could and a small amount of mayo, but that was my best option there. I also had some raw veggies with it. They had these wonderful smelling brownies that Kirstin and I tried to resist. We lost that battle. We savored 4 bites of a brownie by "sucking" on them instead of chewing them right down! We are such dorks! That night we went to BW3's and I ate a chicken taquito with corn chips and a beer........oops! It was so good going down though!

As Sunday rolled around I was miserable. I am not sure if it was because of the change of my food, but I was SO tired I could not even get out of bed. My husband seriously thought something was wrong with me. I can't even explain how tired I was..........it was horrible. No headache, bellyache, nothing...........just pure exhaustion. I ended up sleeping the afternoon away (thank goodness for my husband). I do feel much better today, but I am still tired. Maybe it is the lack of sunshine in this part of the state! I need Florida!

Well, I need to go get the kiddies to bed. I made a delicious meal tonight that my whole family ate (although it took my 5 year old an hour to eat it). It was on Rachel Ray's website. As she would say it was, Delish! It was a chili mac pasta bake - whole wheat pasta, 90% lean ground beef. We also had a salad. Not the healthiest meal, but good for the whole family. I am just impressed that in these two weeks I have eaten out once! That is a new record for me!

Happy Exercising!

Maria

Salutations!

Salutations everyone!

One of my former gymnasts always greeted us at practice with this and I would for some reason always giggle. It must have been how she delivered it. I am so upset, because this is the second time writing this entry. I was finished with it the first time and went to hit save and the whole page erased. Oiy vai! I hope I remember everything I said the first time!

So, a big day for me today! I was on Sirius radio, whole living again! It is fun to just chat back and forth with the three of us. The other was my television debut! OK so it was not actually me in person, but it was my voice and picture! Martha Stewart herself and I had a phone conversation on air! It was a great experience! Before you know it I am going to be traveling all over the country doing an interview with Ellen! (hahaha - in my dreams!)

My healthy eating continues and it seems to be getting much easier! We had no school today because it is freakin' the North Pole here in Cleveland, so I got to sleep in! By 9:30am by body was starving for food so I made an egg with feta and then a bowl of my favorite new cereal - Cascadia Farms Cinnamon Raisin Granola with fresh blueberries. I have been eating for lunch a whole wheat wrap with hummus and tabbouleh wrapped in it for lunch. It is delicious! For dinner, I had some delicious eggplant (breaded with whole wheat flour) and some whole wheat pasta and marinara sauce. Yummy! Almost like eating in a nice Italian restaurant....but with my 2 year old tossing applesauce across the table and spilling his water.......relaxing, as always! :)

Tomorrow I have a gymnastics meet in Columbus. The bus leaves at 6am. I am so nervous about how I am going to eat healthy tomorrow. It is a slim to none possibility that I will eat at 5:30 in the morning, and when I do get hungry I will be on a bus! Then during the meet I will have to bypass the concession stand as best as I can and on the way home the bus stops at fast food. UGH! I will let you all know how it turns out.

So, my "inside sources" (I sound so cool....) tell me that Jillian Michaels will be on the whole living show on Sirius radio Monday morning at 10:30 am! I am so excited! I am going to call in to the show. If I talk to her I might pee my pants! She is so amazing! I love the Biggest Loser! What she has done to transform people's lives is just so inspiring. If I could inspire just ONE of my students to live a healthy active lifestyle I would be pleased.

OK, I really have to go to sleep. 4:30am will come way too soon......and LeBron just got hurt. I must go make sure he is OK! Go CAVS!

Healthy Eating!

Maria

"Nazdravie"

Hello!

I try to pull you in with my titles.........hope its working! haha. Anyway, as mentioned earlier I am half Lebanese, but the other half of my roots come from my mother's side which is Slovak and Czech. "Nazdravie" means, "to health". I have a memory of my grandfather (RIP) and Uncle Rudy saying this on Christmas Eve dinners after we had said our prayers. It will be a year on January 22nd that my grandfather, Jim passed away, so I thought I would tie a little of his roots to this post. My grandmother, Martha will be proud.

Hope everyone is feeling well and making changes in their eating habits. I think the hardest part of the challenge for me thus far is that I have to actually THINK about what I am putting in my body for fuel and energy! Being a mother (and all of you mom's know what I am talking about), the last person we think about is ourselves - especially what we are eating! I have been so used to just picking at whatever throughout the day or grabbing whatever I could that was fast.

I am STILL working on that. It for sure does not change over night! In fact, last night I just could not think! I did not want to deal with what I should make for dinner, especially since my husband ate a late lunch, so I just ate a salad with cucumbers and goat cheese - YUMMY! My youngest son loved it.......forget the 5 year old......I did not even ask him. Actually, he will eat salad and cucumbers but NO dressing......how weird is that?!?! Most people, like myself, eat the salad b/c of the dressing!

I am keeping my food journal. I like that. It really is good to look at your day and see what you put into your body! I also make some notes about what I may have had too much of or not enough of so that maybe the next day I can work on it? Reinforce by writing! The way I had to study for exams in college......now I am doing it to reinforce eating right!

Today I had my first "cheat". I have been CRAVING chocolate, so I ate 3 small pieces of almond crunch chocolate by a local store in this area. I savored every bite, but I was so proud that I cut myself off!

So, yesterday was quite busy......hence not writing last night........I spent the afternoon sitting by a phone (with a dish full of my favorite chocolates close by that I did NOT eat.....so proud of myself)......anyway, I sat by a phone waiting to talk to Martha Stewart herself while she was taping a show! It was SO cool! She shared a recipe with myself and her audience that sounds absolutely delicious! Tune into her Friday show on TV to hear my voice and get the recipe! If you live in Cleveland area the show is on at 10am on local channel 6 or 7 on my cable. I think a pic of the kids and myself will be up while she is talking to me! All in all, it was a REALLY neat experience and I hope I get to do it again! Maybe next time I can meet her in person!?!?!?

Well, I need to go get dinner prepared for myself and the boys. Bill is at work late for a meeting and is eating there, so it is me and the kiddies!

Nazdravie!

Maria
PS - on a side note: when I asked my students at school this year what their heritage was, only 1/3 raised their hands. I was shocked that only 1/3 knew! I am so proud of where my family roots are from and they should be to. It makes us who we are today. So, not trying to say you have not discussed, but if you do have children teach them their roots. Have them be proud of who they are and where they come from! Ok - teacher in me, signing out!

ABC's, 123's and Do Re Mi's

"Lets start at the very beginning...."

My title to the blog is kind of how I feel about learning to eat right now. Back to the basics and starting anew. Just like "Do Re Mi" from my favorite musical and movie of all time, The Sound of Music.

I hope those participating in the challenge are enjoying the savory taste of the delicious foods we can add back into our diet. I know I am! The one item I have not gone back to is diet Pepsi! I am so proud of this, you don't even understand! It is not that I will never have it again, but one of my goals is at the end of the 5 weeks to limit myself to 1 caffeinated beverage a day (forever), so if I start on DP again this battle would be over! I can't say I won't fall off the wagon, but for now, I need to pat myself on the back! Still no alcohol or sweets, either! Not any huge temptations, except a craving of chocolate here and there. I wonder if the fiber one bars or granola bars are o.k. to eat? I need to look at the ingredients. I used to eat those at breakfast or to satisfy the sweet tooth (obviously there were chocolate morsels in there!)

So with the positive, there is some negative. I think I am overdoing the hummus - I have fallen in love with it all over again, but seem to be eating it with everything! Then I took a look at the fat and realized, maybe not such a good idea. Also, for some reason I thought if I had a Lean Cuisine that said no additives or preservatives that it was not processed! So, two whole grain pasta and veggies in peanut sauce lean cuisines later, I learned...........If someone wants to tell me its OK to have them, please do b/c they are delicious and convenient..........and I am all about convenience!

Speaking of convenience.........I am getting a phone call from Martha herself tomorrow!!! She is going to give me a delicious recipe that I can make on Sunday and eat through the week! The show will air THIS Friday, January 16th so please tune in! I can't wait to hear what the recipe is! Set your DVR's, TIVOS, VCR's............I know in Cleveland her show airs at 10am.

So, I am quite excited about the dinner I made tonight! My first time ever using a WOK, I made a chicken stir fry! It was so delicious! The real taste tester (my husband) will be home late from work so I will know for sure if this is true! The point is, I tried, right?!?! I cut up fresh red and green bell peppers and celery, added water chestnuts and pineapple. After I cooked that up in some soy sauce (1tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil) and put that to the side and added the chicken with one more tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. I cooked that up with a little soy and then put the veggies and whole grain noodles (cooked prior to) in with the chicken and added some sesame ginger marinade I had in the refrigerator.

For being completely stressed out on what I could make for dinner that was different, I am glad I figured something out! Well, my youngest just threw a play sword at me.......I better get going and get them both to baths and bed!

Learning to eat right,

Maria