My Litter: Do it

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10/09/2009

Do it with me week 6, how to eat healthy and use coupons!

So you want to eat better and you clip coupons, can you possible do both of these things?

Very easily. With a large family we try to not eat out very much. It is a hassle and expensive, most of the time I just feel guilty for taking so long to eat when I could have a made a meal and cleaned up by the time we were done in a restaurant, not to mention the bill. The food that you prepare at home is more healthy than the food you buy anywhere else.

Now if you eat completely vegan, macrobiotic, or prepare every single thing from scratch, I am talking about grinding your own wheat and have your own cows etc. then you are the exception and sure, couponing for food isn't for you. Although I am jealous of those lifestyles it isn't practical for us right now. But for the other 95% of the population, we can all work coupons into our food plans.

Breakfast: During the summer and weekends we drink a lot of smoothies for breakfast. This is a great way for me to throw in spinach and other vegetables and have the kids drink it up. The only thing in the smoothies that I don't get on sale is the protein powder. Cold cereal is usually free for me. I refuse to pay for it. But, I am selective when it comes to what the kids eat. I stay mostly with Cheerios, Kix, Kashi, Fiber One, and the occasional frosted mini wheats and for special occasions the sugar stuff. But they don't eat it everyday. We also eat a TON of fruit for breakfast, although there are not a lot of coupons for fruit I almost always buy my fruit at Walmart and price match it to other stores. Milk can be found on sale and I often have coupons for it, we buy stuff that is marked down for the expiration because we drink it so fast I usually don't worry about it going bad.

Lunch: I prepare the kids lunches, summer and school year. I purchase every single item with either coupons or price matching. School lunch for us would cost $52.50 a week for just my 4 kids in public school. I spend about $20 for all 6 kids making lunch at home, this saves me $130 a month alone. Last week I was able to get 18 boxes of Juicy Juice at Kroger for $.75 cents a box (8 count) I don't like Capri Suns, too much sugar. If you don't like granola bars and fruit roll ups because of the sugar content, don't buy them.

Dinner: This needs to be a post alone. I think I will do it next week! My husband won't let me skimp on dinner! I do price match my meat and vegetables. I buy whole grain rice and pasta, and we always have salad. I have not bought bagged salad in the past 2 years with out a coupon. They are out there! I usually find them in the store by the salad as either a tear pad or a little blinkie box.

If there is a specific brand of food you like, go to their website and look for coupons. I have even written a company asking for coupons. I once wrote a company telling them how much my kids loved their organic milk and wondered if they sold it in little boxes. The company not only sent me coupons but an entire box of the product! This is a list of organic and whole foods sites that I check regularly for deals and coupons.

I have found Mambo Sprouts site to be very helpful. They have a ton of coupons and they will send you out coupon books if you ask! Go HERE to check them out!

Brown Cow Farm

Print a coupon from the website.

Cascadian Farm

Get $5 in Cascadian Farm coupons when you sign up for their newsletter.

Dreamfields Pasta

Earthbound Farm

Take a quiz about organic farming, and get a coupon for $1 off when you answer all of the questions correctly.

Earth's Best

Choose from two printable coupons: $1 off of two Earth's Best Sesame Street products or $1 off of 10 jars of Earth's Best baby food.

Eden Foods

Hain

Check the "Special Offers" page regularly for the latest offers from Hain.

Horizon Organic

Click on the "coupons" link at the top of the screen, and enter your name and e-mail address to access several printable coupons.

Imagine Foods

Knudsen Juice

Print coupons from the website. Current offer: $1 off an 8-pack of Sensible Sippers juice boxes.

Organic Valley

Choose one coupon to print from several listed on the site.

Mambo Sprouts

Print organic coupons directly from the site, or sign up to receive a coupon book by mail. Includes Seventh Generation, Ecover, Santa Cruz juice and more.

Mrs. Meyer's

Muir Glen

Get a coupon for $1 off a Muir Glen tomato product.

Pearl Soy

Seventh Generation

Print coupons directly from the website.

Simply Organic

Click on the "Save" link in the left-hand column, and choose the coupons that you'd like to print.

Stonyfield Farms

Print coupons directly from the website.

How are you successful eating healthy and couponing? In what other ways do you save money?

10/02/2009

Let's do it together, week 5, loose the guilt.

Loose the guilt...

As Women we are professionals when it comes to guilt. As soon as we are born we feel guilty for making our Mothers labor so long and guilty the nurse had to clean up. Growing up and older it only gets worse, we have children and now we are roped in for life, chained to the guilt machine.

Every night when I go to bed I lay there and make myself promise that the next day will be different. I will spend more time with each child and make a little time for my husband, fit in exercise and make a healthier dinner, but each night I go to bed beating myself up for falling short again, another day.

I just can't get it all in. The more I berate myself the further I slide into this hole of quicksand that I can't get out of. Is it possible to be the perfect Mother, wife, friend, neighbor, blogger :), sister, daughter etc. all at one time. Rationally, I know that I just can't do it. But why do we push ourselves so hard, and feel like failures when we set our expectations so high that they can't possibly be reached?

So I had pizza and a mozzarella stick (o.k. maybe two...) for dinner. So what? Have your normal cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast and eat better the next day. Easy to say here, and easy to tell someone else. Oh no, not in my head, I will be hating myself for the next 12 hours. Why do we do this? Why did I eat that knowing I would be mad at myself also? The answers I believe are different for everyone, simply because we are all in different places in our lives.

On Lance Armstrongs site, Livestrong they talk about guilt and explain that most guilty feelings are irrational. I have heard this before other places as well. I also know that we associate the word "should" with guilt. "I really should go exercise", "You should have known better than to eat that pizza". The following is a conversation a therapist had with a patient;

I suggested she practice becoming aware of each time the uses ( the word should) it and practice changing her language to avoid using "should." For example, when she started to say "I should call my daughter tonight," she changed it to "I want to call my daughter tonight." She changed, "I have a heavy day tomorrow so I should go to bed early," to "…so I’m going to bed early."

In her case the process was transformative. Two weeks later she looked brighter and happier. She reported how there was no more guilt when she couldn’t get to something she wanted to do. She said she felt a weight had been lifted from her shoulders and she was free to just be herself and get on with her busy life.

For some of us it may be as easy as paying attention to the words we say, so that we don't put any added pressure on ourselves. Changing our mindset to "I want to go exercise" instead of "I have/should go exercise" can make a difference. When we start to see ourselves succeed we start dropping some of the guilt. I need to change my mindset that "I don't want the pizza" instead of "I really shouldn't have any" because I always end up doing it.

I didn't mean to be all serious and a funhater :) this week, but I can't ever remember a time in my life when I have been busier. The guilt is overwhelming. So, I have to take a little at a time and start first with changing my mindset, get rid of the should's, and focus on the end goal. The house is going to be a mess again tomorrow, I might have pizza this weekend, and I might not run a 7 min. mile by next week. But, I can toss the sugar cereal, take a walk with my husband and read the kids as many bed time books as I can before I fall asleep on their floor!

Those are the things that I want to do.

What about you?

9/25/2009

Lets do it together week 4

I am so glad some of noticed I missed posting the Let's do it together section last week. I thought no one cared! I am really sorry and it will be here EVERY Friday morning for you to check in.

If you missed the original post you can go HERE. We are committing to work together and get healthier whatever that means for you. Please jump in and leave a comment that you want to join! For me I was really motivated to start jogging again, we have had nothing but rain for the past week. All good intentions have gone out the door. Even packing my work out clothes and bringing them to work has fallen thorough either with getting rained out or being asked to stay late. BUT, I have managed to loose 2.5 pounds this past week by really paying attention to what I am eating. So I feel a little sense of accomplishment instead of getting frustrated and quitting because my exercise plans have had to change.

I have to be flexible! That is something that I have had to learn. In the past if my plans would have to change I would just give up, throw my hands in the air and say it is impossible, I just can't do it. I don't know if it is a little more maturity on my part but I have really finally put my mind in a place where I can make changes and see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Here are a few great tips to think about this week.

1. Be Consistent

2. Follow an Effective Exercise Routine

3. Set Realistic Goals

4. Use the Buddy System

5. Make Your Plan Fit Your Life

6. Be Happy

7. Watch the Clock

8. Call In the Pros

9. Get Inspired

10. Be Patient

I thought #7 was interesting,

Your body clock, that is. Try to work out at the time you have the most energy, suggests Jason Theodosakis, MD, assistant professor and exercise physiologist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. If you're a morning person, schedule your fitness activities early in the day; if you perk up as the day goes along, plan your activities in the afternoon or evening.

"Working out while you have the most energy will yield the best results," says Theodosakis.

Are you guys still with me? Please make a comment if you feel like it.

Tonia

Anna

JenJ22

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