So Easy?

Why is it so hard to stay healthy and to eat well? Why is it so easy to gain weight? Do you ever ask yourselves these questions? I do. All. The. Time. I wish it wasn't so easy to gain weight that it was just something that happened to stay the same weight and never gain no matter what we ate. But it is easy. And it is so hard to take off the weight!

I look at my now 5 month old. He isn't active, well he is for 5 months, but he doesn't run around like his crazy older brother. Collin has rolls for days. And it is ok for him to be pudgy and have rolls and heaven knows that I love those rolls. But he is a prime example to what happens to us. In the 5 months he has bulked up to be the Michelin Man of babies, (there are babies out there that have way more rolls by the way.)

Or the Wall-e effect. At the end of the movie you see what happens to the humans. They are all in the floating chairs and no one walks. They lose muscle mass, and fat overtakes their bodies. And it takes strong hard work to get their bodies healthy again.

This is what happens to our bodies. If we just gorge on food we will gain weight. Our bodies need activity in general. That is why we have 2 legs to move us around and strong arms to lift things. Our bodies crave to move. As hard as it is to be active our bodies actually really like it.

So why is it so hard to stay healthy and eat well? Well, cause it just is. This is just one of those things that we face on this earth is to learn how to take care of our bodies so that they function to the best of their ability. It is sad but true. It takes daily work to eat healthy and to stay healthy. Time to stop making excuses and just deal with it. It is hard work. But the benefits to being healthy are ENDLESS! I want to be here for my kids! I want to be able to travel the world after my kids leave the house and explore this amazing world. Go off the beaten path as it were and enjoy life as long as I can. I want to be an example for my kids that being healthy is a way of life. I don't want them to have to work as hard as I have had to do or deal with the lower self confidence that you have as a kid with being overweight. I want to enjoy life!

~This post was my mental kick in the face I need to keep eating right and not falling off the wagon and eat things I want to eat!~

Halloween 2014

Happy Halloween from the Allen Family! I hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween and that all your kids made out like bandits in the candy department! We had a fun evening of frolic and tantrums, as I am sure that most parents experienced during the evening.

We started the evening with a visit from one of my students. His family took our family pictures which turned out pretty good. PS Don't stare too long at my WHITE legs, they might BLIND YOU! HAHA! (The draw back to being a fair skinned red head!)

Then we went around the neighborhood to trick or treat with our neighbors across the street. Mason made out pretty well.

We ended up stopping to chat with our newest neighbors. She happens to be a red head, blogger, mommy of 2 and a Team Beachbody coach too! That was pretty cool. I really look forward to getting to know her more.

Mason went to play at his friends house for about 45 min while Matt passed our candy and I went to chat. Collin had passed out in his costume and was napping inside.

Then Mason came back and wanted to help pass out Halloween candy. It was a fun and long night. I love halloween. It is pretty cool to see it from my son's perspective too. He learned that he had to say "trick or treat" to get candy so he was running around yelling "TRICK OR TREAT!" and when he was helping hand out handfuls of candy and as the other kids left he yelled at them, "WE HAVE MORE CANDY!" It was really cute! That was our night.

~I rounded up to 60 squats. Not as many as I thought I would do, that is for sure.~

 ~My little parrot at our church's trunk or treat~

Tips & Tricks: Healthy Halloween

7 TIPS AND TRICKS TO A HEALTHIER HALLOWEEN: 
1) Talk to your kids first and foremost about how much candy is enough. Kids like the idea of candy but do they really need all that candy? Talk to them first and say, we are only going to this one neighborhood this year. Also tell them that they can not empty their bag and start over. It is one bag only and explain how much they will get.

2) Find a smaller neighborhood and just go there. Or just go trick or treating at a local church. When you get home have them help pass out some candy or only go and see their friends house in the neighborhood.

~2013~

3) Line their trick or treating bag with batting or decorations. (Trick I do with our pass out candy!) (Pictured at top)

4) Fill the bottom of their bag with fruit, or make arrangements with a neighbor to give them fruit (you provide the fruit) Make that your first stop so that their bag is weighted down and so the fruit (apples and oranges) take up more room.

5) Make a "fill to this line only" line on their bag or bucket. Once the candy reaches that line, they are done.

6) Buy a smaller trick or treating bag. Invest in a customized one that just doesn't hold as much candy as the buckets do.

~Masson's Personalized Creations bag. Only about as big as his head!~

7) Talk about what you are going to do with all the candy. Make a pre-planned schedule as to when they will get their candy. Reward for doing chores? Or a sticker system?

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Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving

Did you know that the average american gains 7-12 pounds during the holidays? I don't want to be like that this year. Do you? I still want to enjoy what I eat but be healthy about it.

Join me for just 21 days BEFORE Thanksgiving to help you lose weight and get on the right track before Turkey Day! Sign up below and I will add you to the PRIVATE Facebook group and we can work together!

5 Month Old Collin

Collin, Collin, my sweet baby boy Collin is growing up WAY too quickly! I miss the tiny little baby and how small he was. But I do love how much personality he has. He loves to watch his big brother run around the room pushing his big trucks around. He loves to watch Archer trot around him, and if Collin spits up, Archer is right there in his face making sure Collin is ok and to sniff out the mess he made.

~Hey there, good looking!~

Collin is moving. We put him one place on the floor and in a few minutes he is in a whole new place. He just moves backwards, and and he can turn himself from one direction to another. He can also flip from tummy to back, not always on purpose but can't do the opposite.

~Perfect flat back!!!~

~Superbaby!~

This past month he moved from our room to his new bed in the nursery and seems to be doing well. He did spend some nights back in our room in his bassinet and in our bed. Thanks so some sickness he got. Sadly he is no longer sleeping through the entire night like he was. He is now waking up 2-3 times a night. 1 for comfort and 2 for feeding. He is pretty consistent. Goes to bed around 7:30-8 wakes up around 11 for comfort more than anything. Then 2am for food and 5am for food. Then back to sleep till 8am. Thankfully he doesn't do super long feeding like Mason did. Collin is done in 20-25 min tops. But the lack of sleep is really getting to me. I have not been able to keep up with my chores around my house, like cleaning, laundry or making homemade bread. (doing laundry is BAD for me right now. I just hate doing it!) Dinners have been hit or miss too. I often don't get a nap during the day and thankfully Shakeology helps out in the "giving me energy" bit but I am just worn out. So glad that Matt is around too, to help clean and pick up my slack.

This past month has been full of such beautiful sounds of laughter and cooing. He loves to giggle at us, or when I tickle him. He is super ticklish on his sides, back and upper legs. And he loves to coo at Matt. He just tells Matt all about his day. He does not do that to me! AT ALL! Matt misses a lot during the day and Collin likes to give him a play by play. It is really cute.

~I had to "reset" him back in the middle of the quilt. But here is where he ended up at the end of the pictures!~

Collin lights up and kicks and squirms when Matt or I enter a room. He just goes bonkers and gives us a super happy grin. Often at night he doesn't want to cuddle he just wants to go straight into his bed but before we close the door he props himself up and gives us a toothless grin to say goodnight and he is out! He is such an impressive little dude!