My Baby is THREE!!!!

Today we had one of several parties for Nick's birthday. I can't believe that he's THREE! No more babies in the house. Booooo! Ah well, they do have to grow up, don't they?

Craig and I decided that we would have a "Clean" party, meaning that all the foods we were serving were part of our new healthy diet. We had chicken fingers (in rolled oats, flax seed and wheat germ), sweet potato fries, ground turkey baked ziti, and more. I was surprised at how much our guests enjoyed the food. OH!! Craig was sick, and I started to prepare the food on my own...I didn't get very far, and made Hannah get him out of bed. I just got stressed, and I couldn't figure out how to make the hummus in my Magic Bullet! LOL.

Anyhow, Craig powered through his yucky tummy, and we pulled of a lovely "clean" party. We didn't have time to make the clean cupcakes, so we did have a cake purchased at our grocery store. I didn't have any, and Craig stuffed two pieces into his mouth. The cake was meant for 5-6 people, and I bought it that way to serve small than normal portions, keeping with our clean theme.

Nicholas was given two pieces (equalling one piece) and went on a sugar rampage, and passed out at 6 p.m. He had lots of fun.

Nicholas enjoying his trains on his new train table!

Tim, Kathryn and Gerald enjoying some cake....mmmm cake. I DID NOT have any!!

We had another party for Nick's birthday, but a small one for just the grandparents. We had turkey breast, sweet potatos, roast potatos, asparagus, carrots and pumpkin loaf for dessert. Very yummy, and we have lots of left over turkey breast. Oh yes, and we started it off with Roast Vegetable Soup!! The leftovers from that soup are going fast, and, I am addicted to it!!!

With Nick's birthday celebrations over, i'm left with wondering what to do about Halloween. We have a tradition to go Trick or Treating in East York with Hannah's godparents, and their daughter (Hannah's BFF). The kids look forward to it every year, and have been talking about it non-stop for the past couple of weeks. I don't think it would be fair to get rid of all their candy....decisions decisions!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The much-anticipated day came and went, without any tears from me. HA! I didn't do too badly, but my meal was not totally clean. My mother made it, and isn't exactly against what i'm doing, but she feels that on big occasions we should be allowed what ever we want. Luckily it was being filmed, or else I might have given in to more temptation!! LOL

Here's what my Thanksgiving meal consisted of:

Turkey
1 tablespoon cranberry sauce (jarred, full of sugar)
1 tablespoon of dressing (white bread)
1 tablespoon of garlic mashed potatoes (skim milk, no butter)
4 sweet potato fries (from Tosca's book)
corn
turnip
1 slice of apple pie that my daughter and DH made with whole wheat crust, and filling made with Sucanut (sp?) instead of sugar

AVOIDED: gravy, salt, ice cream, pumpkin pie, bread and butter.

It was amazing to see parts of my plate that are normally covered (read: my plate is usually piled high on Thanksgiving).

Photoshoot - Oh What to Wear

Well, today was our family photoshoot day, and, as usual, I couldn't decide what to wear. I did try a few things on that didn't fit before, but they fit now, and that was very nice indeed. However, it was very nerve-wracking, as I absolutely loathe my reflection in the mirror. Perhaps if I installed one of those mirrors they have in the clothing shops that are angled just so, that any madam who looks at herself, sees a much thinner, and slightly taller reflection looking back.

Anyhow, Helen Tansey was very nice, and made us all feel welcome. She brought out some good smiles on our faces, and I gritted my teeth through it all. Someday I really do hope that I'll be able to smile at a camera, and mean it inside and out.

Newsflash! Today is weigh in day, and i'm down 8 pounds! Hooray! Only a billion more to go...oops, there goes that negative talk again. Try to say something positive. I lost 8 pounds....think of what that looks like....wow, that's a lot! Things are fitting better...more good news!

Hannah is still grudgingly following the Eat Clean way, but is missing her comfort food. But she was very happy to have had pizza today for lunch. It was made with low-fat mozza, rice flour crust, no sugar added sauce, and the crust was nice and thin. It was delicious, and almost felt like we were cheating, and yet all the ingredients are good ones. Yay! What I don't know is what kind of oil was used, but i'm going to guess that it was Olive, or some other good for you oil....it was that kind of place.

Craig made us some yummy veggie egg white omelettes (with one egg yolk to I think 4 eggs), and we had the pizza. Not sure what is on the menu for tonight though. Hannah is very excited, as she will be Little Chef and helping Big Chef (Daddy) make the apple pie for Thanksgiving.

Off to see what Old Mother Hubbard has in her cupboard for dinner. xo

30 Pounds of Apples Makes a LOT of Applesauce!

Wow! What a busy busy time of year it is!

Saturday we always start our day with getting ready for Hannah's dance class. She is slowly embracing the clean eating way, and decided on her own to have fruit for breakfast. While Hannah is in class, we go out for breakfast with our friend Gerald. It's become a bit of a tradition, so it was our first time trying to eat clean, while at a restaurant.


I ordered a Spanish omelette, and asked for it to be made with egg whites only. It came with whole wheat toast and home fries. Nick at the home fries and toast (I had one triangle). Nick had fruit before we left as well, so I wasn't too worried about the few home fries he did have.


Craig had a regular omelette with cheese and mushrooms. Craig is not a fan of eggs at all, so getting him to eat some is good. The cheese wasn't the best idea, but it's still a change from pancakes and syrup with ham (also loaded with syrup) and toast.


After dance class, Hannah was still feeling energetic, and wanted to do something outside. Nick was fast asleep in the car (he got up waaay too early), and we knew that he would stay asleep for a few hours. So Hannah thought it would be fun if she and Craig...oops, I mean, Daddy, went for a bike ride. They got out the bikes, and tuned them up and rode for about 15 minutes. Then Hannah came back in the house, and Craig went for a ride on his own!!! First time in months....and it was well over a year before that one time! He felt great!


I knew that I would be getting some exercising dancing at our community theatre fundraiser, so I wasn't worried that I stayed behind with Nick. And Nick...well, he finds ways throughout the day to be active. He constantly runs!


Below are pics of Craig and Hannah getting ready to go for their bike ride;






On Sunday we did our first Clean grocery shopping. It was great to figure out what to buy and how it will improve our health and weight loss. Craig and I could have spent all day there (and we almost did), but we had a date to go apple picking in the afternoon with the kids. The kids LOVED picking apples, and Hannah was very excited to go home and make applesauce with Daddy.



Here are some pics from apple picking;

Hannah loved the wagon ride!

Hmmmm! Should I make pie or applesauce with this one?

See my apple mommy?

Finding apples, and hiding from Mommy!

After we went apple picking, we headed home, and we were all tuckered out from running around the orchard. Craig, Nick and Hannah made applesauce, and we had a yummy dinner made by Craig of whole wheat rotini, chicken breast over baby spinach leaves covered in home made pasta sauce with lots of veggies. Hannah opted to not have the pasta sauce, but came back for seconds for chicken and baby spinach. A very fun day!

Monday was pretty low key. Craig wasn't feeling well. We had leftovers for dinner, and Nick, Hannah and I went out for a walk. We were gone for about 45 minutes, and a lot of the walk was actual running, as we were playing "tag" on the way back. Tonnes of fun! Later on in the evening Craig was violently ill, and passed out. He hit his head on the way down, and woke up to me screaming for him to open the bedroom door (he was blocking it). It was very scary, but all is good. Telehealth called an ambulance, and they checked his vitals and spoke to him. Since he was coherent, and able to relay everything that happened, we decided not to go to the hospital. We think he had food poisining, and that it was possibly from grapes that he ate and didn't wash beforehand. No one else has been sick (today is Wednesday), and hopefully it will stay that way!

Yesterday was another low key day. I had a meeting in the evening, and Hannah (who is being weaned off naps) fell asleep at 6:30. Craig was just getting back on solids, so he had bits of food here and there. Nick ate whatever clean food he fancied.

And that brings us to today!

This morning I had oatmeal with bee pollen and applesauce (homemade, of course). I loved it. Adding the applesauce to it, is sooo much nicer! It was also my first time with bee pollen. The texture was something I have to get used to, but doing the research on bee pollen, I can't believe the wonders it does! What an amazing supplement! I am hoping that it helps with my PMS, and migraines. But hey, to aide weight loss is another bonus!

I did 30 minutes on the Wii fit today, and broke out into a nice sweat. That Advanced Boxing is HARD! It's raining today, so i'm not sure what activity the family will do tonight! Tune in!

The changes are coming!

Well, Miss Hannah has NOT been happy with the changes we are making to better our lives. She actually cried this morning when I told her what her choices for breakfast were. She was so sad, and it broke my heart, but she needs this change as much as we do. Obesity in children is very scary, and I want her to outlive me!

Hannah enjoyed some hummus and carrots today, and is drinking more water than she normally would. When she was on the phone with her grandmother today she said that, "We aren't having any sugar stuff anymore, because it's not healthy. So, no buns with dinner please and no dessert." I just have to teach her that there are other desserts out there that are yummy, not just ice cream. LOL

Hannah and Craig went for a bike ride together. Hannah didn't last more than 10 minutes, but she did have dance class this morning, so i'm happy with that. Nick and I didn't participate, as Nick fell asleep early today, and I stayed home with him. I will be movin' and groovin' tonight at an event for our theatre group. Now I must plan our food for the rest of the day!

My name is Kelly Newell, and the point of this blog is to track my new, healthy lifestyle, which will help me lose weight and live longer. My husband Craig, who is also 35, along with our daughter Hannah (almost 6) and Nicholas (almost 3), and I live just east of Toronto, and we're in this together.

I recently found out that I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesteral. I'm only 35, and i'm now taking more pills than I ever thought possible.

About a month ago, I heard that there was a production company looking for a family with young children who would like to better their eating habits, get more active, and generally change their lives for the better. I thought that this was an excellent opportunity for our family, and emailed right away a description of our family. I described that we are a family of four with very poor eating habits, and very little activity done as a family.

We went for an audition, and they chose us!! The show will be called "Tosca", and it is based on her Eat Clean Diet. Tosca's written many books about eating clean, and we, as a family, are up for the task. We met Tosca today, and filmed our first meeting where she went through our kitchen and threw out our "unclean" foods (filling one HUGE garbage bag), and she went over what we will be doing, what kinds of food we will eat etc. She also listened to our stories of our childhood through to adulthood, and how far back our weight problems went.

Mine started during puberty. I went through puberty at an early age, and I believe I used food to deal with my emotions of being teased by the other kids (boys always tease girls, but it was the teasing from other girls that hurt the most). I promptly learned to put on a happy face, even if I wasn't feeling it on the inside. I knew that food was always there for me, and thus, my pattern of binge eating started.

I have tried many diets, from Weight Watchers to the Cabbage Soup Diet. Weight Watchers did work, but it was combined with doing intense spinning classes 5 days a week. Now, with two small children, life is pretty hectic to head off to the gym to hop on a bike. So Tosca said to start slow, with a half an hour of exercise per day. Not too much to ask. AND the whole family must be involved. So, after Tosca left, we went for a walk and played in the park. We did get a nice workout in, and the best part of it all was Hannah saying it was the BEST day ever! As much as i'm doing this for me, i'm also doing this for my children. Hannah is quickly following in our poor eating footsteps, and she is now considered overweight. I CANNOT let her be unhealthy...it leads to being unhappy. Already she has mentioned that she would like to be skinny like her brother. That just breaks my heart.

So, with that all said, we start our clean eating today.....leading to our new, healthy, happier life!