Clueless Wife: getting that cholesterol down

So we found out recently that my husband has high cholesterol. Real high. It's been kindof scary for me, because I immediately start thinking of heart attacks and being a widow..ha yeah I have an AtoZ kind of thought process. But also, I just want him to be healthy, I want him to feel healthy and be his very best.

So over the past four months we have made some extreme--or us-- diet modifications. I did not want any medications pumping through him if we could do it naturally. My dad describes LDL as the dirt in the carpet, and HDL as the vacuum cleaner. Increase HDL (diet&exercise) and we can start decreasing the LDL hopefully! So over the past four months we've changed diet, and invested in an exercise he loves, And would you know it--it's working!

Here's what we did in detail:

1) Cut down, Fiber Up:

---Every morning, hubby eats a bowl of whole oats with honey. Now, this is hard folks. My husband is a foodie. He was really dreading this. But would you know it, he loves this meal! I keep it out on the counter so he can snack on some homemade granola too before dinner, Which. He. Loves. Who knew?!

For lunch, almost every day Justin has a smoothie, which I make in bulk on Sunday or Monday (he mostly eats monster smoothies but also sometimes fruit smoothies with peanut butter and whey protein added) Also, we're eating fish 1x/week. I know we're supposed to have two...but Honeybear always eats our leftovers and I don't want him having too much mercury (probably 2times/week would be fine...). We were already eating only whole wheat bread and staying away from sugar (I only make desserts once or twice per month). We also cut down our red meat to *only* when we go out to eat. (or pizza every other week--if my hub is cycling). Lastly, we added fish oil tablets 3x/day to hub's diet.

In summary:
-Fish once/week
-Whole oats&honey for breakfast, sometimes granola
-Only snacking on fruits/granola
-Smoothie lunches
-Cut down desserts
-Fish oil tablets 3x/day


lastly,
2) Investing in an Activity He Loves.

This was another hard one. I was really determined to get him exercising more, but it has always ended up with me--sometimes forcefully--shoving him out of bed and telling him he has to get up and go running. Not his favorite way to wake up. Or forcing him into the car with me to go swimming (which was easier when my brother was living with us, aka free childcare!). My husband is actually very athletically-gifted, but never has been able to maintain a sport consistently (other than rock-climbing in college). Then...he met a friend who was all into cycling.
We invested in a nice bike and gear (part of his 30th birthday gift)
And now I can barely keep him home! He rides 20-30 miles twice a week and 50miles once a week. That's around 80 miles a week!! He's training for the Lance Armstrong Livestrong 90mile race next month :D
I'm not saying every man will do this...but the reason this worked for him was because
a) He had someone to do it with
b) He loved the toys accompanying it (my husband loves toys, not to mention the engineering of putting bike parts together)
c) He really enjoyed the speed and feel of the activity.

The cost of this hobby wasn't cheap at the outset. But, it is a one-time cost that will save us in cholesterol medications in the future! Plus he gets to wear spandex! Ha

Clueless Mom: Who am I

Perusing the $1 isle at Target today (one of my favorite places to feel legit spending $$).  Feeling like I hit the jackpot, because I had already found a) a teal shoe organizer for baby and b) Cute flower magnets. I scan the toy section with low expectation, when-what do I see--an ELMO book for $1!
"ELMO!!!" I scream as I reach down to pick up this treasure.
As I squat there, grasping this elmo book, it occurs to me I am in a public place. I look up at the adults around me and there are like four women in the aisle with me, staring at me.
 "....It's for my son" I say, a feeble attempt at legitamizing....legitamizing....


They must have thought I was insane. Who, above the age of 5, gets excited about Elmo? What is happening to me???

Oh well.
Guess I'm one of those crazies.

Sharing this....it touched my heart....maybe I'm just sentimental lately. Almost brings a tear. Once I find time--I plan to paint it on a canvas for the playroom. My son is just so worth it all.

Mom of the Year Award

i am so loving this writer lately! she is too funny and so spot on.

speaking of surprises, i never knew how hard it would be to keep a human being in one piece.

all this has happened this past week and half alone:

(busted lip)


this is all on top of a broken collar bone that took place a month ago. If that isn't enough to put me in the running for mom of the year award.....
how can something so small be so feisty??

Clueless Runner: Attempting a Triathlon

Fish. Out. Of. Water.

I should probably stick to running! I see why sometimes 'pure-ist' runners don't mesh with with triathlons/triathletes. The mentality/experience is a whole different ball game.

How did my triathlon go? Well, it was hard, but fine.
After the race was over, I felt way more exhausted--and beat up--than I did after 26.2 miles of running. And I did the short version of the sport.

Here are some pics:

Everything about my experience=awkward.

Mentally?
Huge difference between runners and triathletes. I see that now.

Also, triathletes I feel are more about crossing it off the list, whereas running is a release. As a list-crosser-off-er, I enjoyed the training! I had so much fun swimming and it even turned into another love of mine. Training for the swim/run of this race was actually a blast, and it was fun to switch it up. I also gained a ton of muscle and thus gained some weight in the process, which is again another awkward for me who is used to the opposite happening in running.


Training Summary.
Cindy's Bicycle: 1 Cindy: 0.
Well, I definitely did train. For the swimming. Alone.  I focused my energy on swimming--assuming it was the hardest part. Well, I ended up being able to swim a mile in 45-50minutes after a month of training. However, my Awkward Race went something like this.....

PANIC--okay--Swim, swim, swim--Lost nose clip PANIC--Swim, swim, swim. Where am I--Right, Out of pool, PANIC,  Run, run, run. Find bicycle, put on gear, What the heck am I supposed to do now, Right, Bike, bike bike. Still on bike, it's been 25freakin minutes are you serious, Bike, bike, bike. Am I still on this thing,  What's that,  I have to do TWO loops, why did I sign up for this, Another hill, no way. Getting off bike, running with bike up hill, now I'm making some progress. Other cyclist sees me, gets of his bike, does the same, We're all running with our bikes this is ridiculous. Get back on bike, finish loop, find bike rack, Get off bike, What the **** happened to my legs, Oh my gosh My legs are gone,  Knees hurt, Keep going, run, run, run......Finish.

Collapse.

And I came out alive but minus one buttock. Whatever, I'll do it again I know. Even though nothing about triathlons feel 'natural' or 'normal' to me, it was a fun and challenging experience I wouldn't mind doing again before baby #2.

Haha I love this couple. I don't even know them but I want to be friends with them. 
(My favorite part is when he wipes the dresser with his finger....)

Expectations // Illustration from Cross Point Church on Vimeo.

This is a marriage promo video that was shown at Cross Point Church in TN.
This is the pastor and his wife, and Yes, they showed this video in HIS congregation before the service. love love love

Clueless Wife: Spending Time Together

Since me and my husband have struggled to find a consistent date night, we are trying to do other little things together. We decided a fun thing to do together would be to read a book together

I highly recommend reading a series together. It's so fun to discuss what you think is going to happen, and characters you love!

Last night, we sat on the couch and finished the last chapters. We cried together as we read (Justin first, since he was further along) and we talked about the book, the author, the plots, for 2 hours while we cleaned the kitchen. Best date I've had in a long time!

Now we're going to do a movie marathon which will end with date night at the movies to see the new one. So excited!

Clueless mom: While he was away...

Last week I meant to post. I had time to post. But, last week my little son went on his first vacation without mommy and daddy. He went to his grandparents. Oh my. No doubt he had a blast.

I, of course, cried for about 45min after he left (I hadn't been apart from him for longer than 24hours except for one other occassion). And then Justin and I sat on our bed in complete bewilderment.....we were alone.


So what was I up to for 2 whole days??:

(been meaning to make a sign for our door. Apparently, the sticky-note we had above the doorbell was too confusing for the delivery people ;) )

I also made some essentials to keep our home green

(wipe cloths for HoneyBear's highchair shennanigans) (Just cut up some towels and sewed--too easy--I keep them in a container on the bar)

Homemade Insect-Repellent. I almost paid $20 for a teeny-tiny tube of organic repellent, then found this recipe and made my own. It's been working great so far! (heavy on the lemon&mint is most effective I hear--not to mention DEET-free!!!)

 And lastly I started a painting for the baby room. Did you hear that?? I said 'baby room'!

No, I'm not pregnant. Haha. But I decided that we are going to keep honeybear's room a nursery for the next baby (again, not pregnant) and move him into the craft room. That way I can keep the crib bedding I love, and HoneyBear can have a new decor theme! (I'm thinking either surf-themed, or Keep Austin Weird-themed (it'll be cute, don't worry)