Happy Hump Day!!! For some reason, weeks have been flying by lately. Maybe it's because I have had very little downtime. Today has been just as non-stop as you saw on Monday. I would say tomorrow will be a bit more relaxing. Ha! I'm hosting playgroup. I have a feeling having 5+ toddlers in your home won't help calm things down.

Despite my busy schedule of errands and caring for Makenzie, I did have time to get in a little bit of blog reading today. Certain posts related to children's relationship with food and body image coupled with a visit to the pediatrician for Makenzie's checkup really got me thinking about the fine line of parenthood. More specifically the fine line of being a good example in health and not overbearing.

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I am very thankful for the fact that my parents fed me healthy meals growing up and never complained about dieting, needing to lose weight, etc. My mom always told me how beautiful I was and I never really felt the need to lose weight, feel down on my body, etc. I learned all of that on my own. I know I have struggled with my relationship with food in the past. I know I have days that are tough on me emotionally solely because of how I perceive my body. And I really want to limit Makenzie's experience of that. I know she won't be completely free from it, but it is very important to me to instill values of healthy eating and physical activity for personal wellness versus a "perfect" appearance. I want her to grow up feeling confident, strong, energetic, beautiful, and proud of who she is.

So far in her life, she has only eaten at a fast food restaurant once...and only wanted the fruit. She eats fruits, veggies, tofu, oatmeal, natural products, etc. But I also don't mind her having some cake at a party, a few pieces of candy from her Easter basket, or Goldfish crackers for a regular snack. I desire to not have any foods off limits to her. I will strive to have the healthiest things that she enjoys available in my home and give her those options for her typical meals, but still expose her to treats in situations that may call for them. The whole balanced, moderate plate philosophy...

Like this past weekend's birthday party, for example. She ate celery, strawberries, grapes, and crackers. But also had some cake. I mentioned earlier in this post on The Biggest Loser, that I despise the all or nothing mentality. I succumbed to it for years and I will do anything in my power for Makenzie to know that is an unnecessary way of thinking.  However, it is such a balance already, even at her ripe age of 18 months.

I want to expose her to healthy foods and always offer them to her. I want her to find wholesome options she likes and promote her to choose those out of pleasure. However, exposing some things to her (like turkey dogs, Gerber raviolis,  or a piece of Easter candy) she will naturally enjoy them and then ask for them over and over. I don't want her to think she "can't" have specific things. I don't want her to be older and go to friends' houses to eat and eat whatever they may have there because she "can't" have it at our house for the fact we don't have it in our cupboards.

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A lot of these issues are farther off, but the lessons can already be taught now. And the sooner they are ingrained in her, the more likely she will accept them as her own and live by them. I know I will find the balance along the way, day by day. And every day I will be sure to be active with my daughter, set an example by choosing wholesome foods for myself and my family, not acting guilty when I do eat a cookie (or two), and telling her she is beautiful and how much I love her 1000000x every day. We'll see if that is enough. But the media, fat talk, and negativity from others better watch out. I am a momma that will put up a fight. My daughter deserves that. We all do. Fight the battles to win the war on negative self image, poor food relationships, disordered eating, and the value of skinniness over health. We can do it! As, Holly said to me recently, perhaps we can swing our society to focus more on health than size? Do you think we have what it takes? I think we do. And it starts with each one of us.

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This week has been incredibly busy, more so than the usual go go go of chasing after a toddler.Earlier in the week it was Easter Egg Hunts & Santa Claus time. And the hustle and bustle all started again yesterday afternoon at around 2:00. My parents showed up to watch the baby girl and visit with their beloved grandbaby so I could go have fun. If this is your idea of fun....

Stirrups!!!

Oh, the glorious visits to the girly doc. I mainly went to this one to check out a practice that delivers at the new women's center that opened up five minutes from my house versus the baby megacenter version in downtown Atlanta where I delivered Makenzie. I really did like the practice I delivered with the first time, but there were some things that I thought would be a better fit at the new one and I had to try it out. I am very glad I did because I LOVED them! Everyone was so nice! And since it is a smaller practice, they really took time to visit with me and discuss things. They reassured me that the steps I had taken to get my cycle back to normal and the additional weight were most likely in my best interest since it put me at an optimal level of bodyfat for conceiving and that I was doing good. Plus, it was comfortable. Is that even possible? That is the sign of a good girly doctor right there. And they even said they hope to see me again soon. I hope so too. 🙂

Yesterday also included tutoring my last session until after Spring Break. As easy as tutoring is, it will be nice to get a week off. Of course, last night we also went to our church's annual prayer path, that I talked about here. It really was a special occasion and worth the added hours to our already busy afternoon schedule. It was so moving, that we ended up spending over an hour longer there than we anticipated. Between really soaking in the prayer time, chatting with some friends who were there at the same time, and letting Makenzie have a little playground time...

...we were going to be getting home quite late for us. On the way home, I started trying to think about dinner and what to make. We knew we didn't want to take more than 15 min to whip something up since we were at that ugly hungry stage. But I also knew I still wanted a healthy dinner. I realized that's not so hard to do in a short time! Heck, we had been doing that all week.

Pasta, Roasted Veggies, & Chicken Sausage

Taco Night!

Brussels, Cheetahs, & Morningstar Buffalo "Wings"

And Wednesday night's winner was...

Eggs on Toast

(Source) <--- Need one because I was too hungry to get my own picture. But you get the gist. Except my plate was on whole wheat toast and x2. 😀 This was so quick and easy and still a healthy dinner. Yes, it may not have been the most balanced and it lacked some greens, BUT it is much better than our quickie dinners in the past. Things like a bowl of Peter's Frosted Mini Wheats cereal or stopping at whatever we could find on the way home came up, but were quickly passed over because who needs those options when you can turn to other simple dinners. Here are some things I do when looking for a quickie at dinner time. You will have to figure out other quickies on your own. 😉

• When planning your weekly meals, always plan in a couple quick fix recipes to whip up on nights you are suddenly out of time for dinner. It never fails that at least one night per week I either won't want to cook or will suddenly realize I don't have the time to cook what I intended. Such a stress relief to already have back up options available.
• Intentionally make leftovers. We always make leftovers of roasted veggies to use for lunches or in another dinner. Things like our pasta dishes always have a ton of leftovers because we use less pasta and more additional ingredients in our dish. Other great options for saving leftovers for a quick fix are casserole type dishes, soups, meats cooked in the crockpot so you can easily shred/chop them to toss in other meals, etc.
• Don't feel bad for using frozen. Sure, fresh foods are better. We all know that. But sometimes there is a need for frozen products like Kashi pizzas, Morningstar/Boca/Quorn products, Amy's Organics burritos and meals, etc. I do say try to choose the option with the best stats and shortest ingredient lists (you know 20 listed instead of 30 ;)), but there is a time and place for these things in our lives. And sometimes they are a dinner saver.
• Use quick cooking methods. If none of the above suit you, just cook things fast. Eat your veggies either raw or slightly steamed. And go ahead and use the microwave for quick cooking. If eating meat, cook up ground beef or turkey or thinly slice your chicken breast before cooking. Or eggs! You can cook breakfast for dinner, since those meals tend to be less time consuming. Make a "kitchen sink" salad where you just toss together things you have at the ready in your fridge or pantry. If you know it will be a busy night, prep the crockpot for a ready to eat meal in the morning.
• And sometimes, a bowl of cereal or a stop at Subway is just fine too. 🙂

How often do you resort to quickie meals? Any suggestions you can share?