Life as We know it! Part 1....

* kinda using a post I saw on Desiree's blog but doing it my own way ;)

The past few weeks into months our lifestyle has changed and I just want to remember when this happened so I wanted to post.
And to anyone who thinks they can't, trust me YOU CAN!!

We have changed our way of eating around my place, I have posted bits and pieces here and there on some posts but I want to tell all the deets ;)
About a 6ish weeks ago I got the idea to take the majority of "fake" sugar from Luke's diet, I thought it would help him settle down at night and around the same time Brent said he wanted to drop some major pounds, he still had most of weight he gained when I was pregnant with Lucas. I also got to thinking I should really get back to eating like I used to, I am talking about portion size. I too wanted to get some pounds off my stomach to help with my baby pooch. I could loose 10 pounds and get back to about where I was when I got pregnant. That I would be over the moon about I don't need a perfect body anymore I have perfect baby instead, great trade off if you ask me.

So that's how we came about to changing our eating ways. I will say before "the change" we were a junk food family. We ate out a lot, fast food at least twice a week, candy for all of us almost daily, ice cream after dinner every night unless we had cake, stick of butter to make every meal, no fresh veggies- ever, and I could go on and on. We were living off junk!!

I knew I wanted to change but didn't know how so when Brent went on a "diet" we all kinda did. But I don't want it to be a diet I want it to be lifestyle change of eating better, for the long run so we just dove into it and I can say it has been so good for us, for Lucas, for our future! We are learning as we go that's for sure but every week it has gotten easier for me to fix meals and find snacks, I feel like a changed woman.

First things first, we had stopped buying pop to drink at home a while back and only drinking some maybe if we go out to eat and we had started using ground turkey instead of hamburger about a year ago so I will say those were the first things. Next thing was a big one for Brent not eating out everyday at lunch time, taking his lunch -a turkey sandwich on wheat bread. Or when he does go out for lunch he has been getting a grilled chicken salad. I have been eating better and smaller at lunch too. And I've had to learn about alternative snacks and dinners and learning that everything is not going to taste the same. I have learned to look at labels and buy fresh and I am learning recipes that will become our new family favorites instead of my 1000 calorie serving of "Mexican Surprise". We have totally cut out deserts and on Sunday's we have been going and getting frozen yogurt for our treat, and we have survived! Another big one for Brent is not adding salt to things and I have cut out adding salt while cooking.
Lucas has done very well with this change also, no he isn't going to bed any earlier but I see him eating a lot better and enjoying it! He is only getting 4 ounces of juice a day and around 16 ounces of milk but after school he only gets water, and no sugary snacks at all anymore. His snacks now are fresh apples, fresh peaches, pretzels, popcorn, cheese and wheat thins, peanut butter crackers, and yogurt; and he loves it! I'm been giving him a fig newton for using his potty instead of m&ms or fruit snacks and he is just as excited! No I am not going to turn into the parent that never lets my kids have candy or sweets or go to McDonald's but I think I want those to be treat instead of the every day.
Brent is down 13 pounds and I am down 5 and I honestly don't even feel like I have been deprived of anything it's just portion control and smarter choices.
Some of the things we have enjoyed thus far:

Green beans, onions and mushrooms sauteed in olive oil and soy sauce.
We do the same thing with asparagus, Lucas eats it too!
Baked sweet potato fries with honey to dip them in.
Pork roast in the crock pot with pickled banana peppers, cook for 6 hours. (almost no calories and gluten free!)
Then the next night have pulled pork sandwiches on wheat buns and Dijon mustard instead of BBQ sauce (this is a hard one for me but Brent eats his this way)
Hamburger Helper made with ground turkey and almond milk.
We have also been drinking un-sweet tea with sweet n low and crystal light.
A snack I am loving is rosemary and olive oil Triscuts with salsa on top (I get the salsa at Sam's, its fresh and so so yummy and 5 calories a tablespoon full)
A few pretzels dipped in Nutella for my chocolate craving.

Another very useful tip I have found is buying a few snacks you would normally eat and separating them out into 100 calorie baggies. I have done this with vanilla wafers, chocolate stripe cookies, and pretzel m&ms. Because lets face it some days are harder than others but if you just eat what's in the baggie you won't have the guilt.

We have had some complete dinner fails but we are learning and I am convinced we are on the right track! I want us all to have a happy and healthy future!


Part 2 tomorrow will be about coupon-ing!