An Organized Life- September's Challenge

Oh how I wish I were an organized person.  I have to work really hard to be organized and it usually doesn't last long.  Something I've realized since getting serious about being healthy is that organization is SO important.

1.  FOOD:  Organizing your meals for the week, your pantry, your prepped food (snacks) for the week. Healthy meals don't just happen, they take some preparation and planning.

2. HOUSE: It may sound weird, but I've come to realize that the more organized and clean my house is,the healthier we are. We have more time to spend on working out, planning meals and cooking.  We are a somewhat messy family, not gross messy, but cluttered, not picking up after ourselves messy.  I literally spend half of my day picking up after everyone in our family.  Imagine if I had just half of that time free, oh the things I could do.

3.  SCHEDULE:  Not the best in this area either.  My husband has never been one to stick to a schedule or be on time for anything and I can't say I'm much better.  Since my daughter has started preschool and other activities we are becoming more scheduled.  I've learned that I am going to have to get more of routine down, especially for the kids.  I never realized how much they need it until lately.  The days that I do stick to a schedule I notice that things are more peaceful and everyone seems so much happier at the end of the day, especially my husband.  You may be wondering what this has to do with being healthy, well I'll tell you.  If we are sticking to a schedule that means eating at the right times (very healthy for you), I have more time to fix healthy meals (obviously good), no excuses not to make it to the gym or get your workout in (it's already scheduled) and on and on.

4.  BUDGET:  When a budget is not set, it's easy to spend too much and not have much left to put towards healthy options, like organic or a gym membership.

My challenge for the month of September is to get organized. Here's the plan:

A) Organize each room of the house.  I found a 31 day organization plan on pinterest. I always see these organizing blogs and articles and think "oh, that's nice for them".  But I found one that I think is doable for me.  Each day you tackle a different area of the house and clean it out and put anything you don't need or want into bags.  Those bags go into the trash or goodwill.  It's a way of simplifying your house.  We have too much junk that we don't need, it's time to clean it out and get closer to just the basics.  The less stuff we have, the less messy the house can get, leaving less for me to do when it comes to cleaning.

B) We are going to make a schedule and stick to it as closely as possible.  It will be posted in the kitchen and followed everyday.  We need to set a routine and start new habits. I thought this would be a great way to work on that.

C) We are going to set a budget and stick to it.  Here is a tricky one for us.  With as much traveling as we do and as many home remodels that we always have going on, all of our extra money gets spent pretty quickly.  So it's budget time whether we like it or not!

D) Going along with the budget and schedule we will be going back to eating out 2 or 3 times a month.  And I will be planning healthy meals for the week.

So, by the end of the month, my house should be cleaned out, we should be on a routine, we will have stuck to a budget and paid off some debt and we will have only eaten out a few times.  That's the goal, wish us luck! Be watching for updates.  If I can get organized then anyone can!

Update 9/27:

The month is almost over and it feels so good.  I feel like a huge weight is lifted off of my shoulders.  Here is what I've done so far.
A) 
Day 1: Clean out my clothes, shoes, closet 
Day 2: Clean out husbands clothes, shoes, closet
Day 3: Clean out daughter's clothes, shoes and closet
Day 4: Clean out son's clothes, shoes and closet
Day 5: Clean out linen closet
Day 6: Clean out kids bathroom drawers and closet
Day 7: Clean out playroom
Day 8: Clean out coat closet
Day 9: Clean out entertainment center drawers and cabinets
Day 10:  Clean out desk drawers and shelves
Day 11:  Organize kids books
Day 12:  Clean out pantry and refrigerator
Day 13:  Straighten up basement
Day 14:  Clean out papers (file cabinet, stacks of magazines and paperwork, etc.)
Day 15:  Clean out laundry room
Day 16:  Clean out garage

There were a few days of rest and just basic cleaning in between some days.  When I clean something out, I filled some garbage bags with things to throw away and the others with things to give away.  With the kids clothes, I used tupperware boxes to pack their clothes away in the basement.  

B) The scheduling is not perfect yet, but it is a large improvement.  I bought a calendar (I hardly ever hang calendars, that should show you how unorganized I've been in the past) and started filling it in immediately.  I also made an organization station in the kitchen right next to the refrigerator where I will see it everyday.  It has helped so much not wondering "was there something I was supposed to do tomorrow." I also have started more of a cleaning schedule. Thursdays are laundry days, do the dishes every night before bed, Wednesday's are grocery days, etc.  Between all of the organization and the cleaning schedule, our house has stayed so much cleaner on a daily basis.  I actually wouldn't be THAT embarrassed if someone dropped by. 

C) The budget, let's just say was a really good effort.  It also was not perfect, but a huge improvement.  I went to cash for everything except bills and gas.  It's a lot harder to spend cash when you can physically see how much you have left for the month.  I was more conscience of the price of food and not buying extras at the store.  I also stayed away from Target, my weakness. 

D) Eating out was kept to a minimum.  I planned meals for the week, allowing one night for eating out or leftovers.  I cooked 6 days a week, which really wasn't that hard.  Each meal doesn't have to be gourmet, just a simple healthy meal.  Maybe splurge once a week on a more elaborate meal.  I also post the menu for the week on the fridge, so there was never the conversation "what do you want for dinner, I don't care, what do you want?, I don't know, what are my choices?" or "What's for dinner tonight?"  It's really not that hard to plan the meals. Something I have started doing is when I find a recipe online, I print it off. If I find one in a book, either copy it or write it down on letter paper.  Get a binder and some plastic covers and start putting the recipes in the binder as you make them.  Write notes on the recipe, like "we loved this one" or "left out the onions and added peppers".  Keep filling that binder until you have about 30 recipes in it.  Now you have a month's worth of recipes in one book.  I will talk more about this in next month's challenge.

I would definitely recommend everyone having an organization month.  Just one month of working hard, will make a big difference in your day to day life.  I know I am much happier and more relaxed now.  

Thought for the day

Besse Cooper just became the world's oldest person by turning 116 years old.  When asked what her secret is, she replies,

"I mind my own business," she told the Guinness World Records. "And I don't eat junk food."

Just something to keep in mind.  Smart woman.

Apps for Your Health

Way back when I was running cross country, a long time ago, we didn't have all of this technology stuff.  We wore sports watches that told you your time and if you had a nice one it told you your lap times.  We had to get in our cars, set the tripometer and drive our route to find out how far it was.  If you wanted to listen to music, ha ha, strap your walkman to your waist and hope it doesn't jiggle off and break.  These days all you have to do is take your phone with you and you'll have music made from your own playlist, a gps to tell you where you are and how far you have gone, it will tell you your pace, calories burned, and if you need to call someone to come pick you up because you were over ambitious and don't have the strength to get back, just call someone, your phone is right there with you.  Isn't technology wonderful... mostly anyways.  Well, another advantage we have these days is apps.  I've found some awesome apps that can be very useful when trying to change our lifestyles.  Just like anything out there, none of these are 100% error proof, but they are still a very big help.

Running apps:
 MapMyRun and RunKeeper are two great running apps.  They have GPS, keep up with your mile pace, you can play your music and it will cut in and update you every mile.  At the end, they give you all of the stats from your run, including elevation, time, pace, etc.  You can also be friends with other people using this app and compare your times on the same routes or post your run to Facebook.

Want to try the Couch to 5K program?  The app 5K Runner:0 to 5K run training seems to be a good one.  I haven't used it yet, but it has great reviews and it's another one that you can listen to music and they will cut in and coach you as you run.  I'm going to try it this week, I'll take this off if it's not a good one.  

ZombiesRun is an app for the nerds out there, including myself.  It's just something different then just listening to music the entire run.  You are a runner in a story where you are being chased by zombies every once and a while and have to out run them.  It's good interval training and you get to listen to your own playlist while running. They just cut in with the story line every few minutes.  Pretty cheesy, but fun and it makes you sprint in the middle of your runs.

Food apps:
 ShopWell is an app to help you at the grocery store.  You can either scan the item and it will give you the nutritional info and better options to look for, or you can look up what would be like the best chips to buy.  You enter in your information, like health concerns and diet restrictions and this app will help you find the right choice for you.  I've only had it about a week, but it has already come in handy.  I think I'm going to really like it. Fooducate is another tool to help you in the grocery store. It's along the same lines, scan the item and find out all of the info on it or search by category or name.

Looking for healthy recipes? Whole Foods Recipes is a good app.   Select a course like dinner or dessert, pick a category, like on a budget or make ahead.  Then choose any diet restrictions you may have.  It will pull up any recipes they have that fit those categories.  Two down side, it randomly closes out and you have to get back into the app and no pictures for those of you who like pictures with your recipes.

What are your favorite health apps?

It's The Little Things...

As I have said before, you can't change your habits overnight.  Even if you did, the likelihood of that sticking is pretty small.  You need time to train yourself.  Most likely you (and I) are never going to become all out vegans who recycle everything and use ALL all-natural, organic ingredients and only eat out at those hippie restaurants eating tofu and bean sprouts.  Probably not going to happen.  But we can make smarter decisions everyday, even on the small stuff.  I know in this family we love ice cream and are not willing to give it up.  So, for our dessert night, I buy a "healthy" ice cream.  Meaning it's not filled with artificial ingredients or colors, it's not loaded with 3 or 4 different types of sugars, and it doesn't have a list of ingredients a mile long that I can't understand.   You should know what every ingredient is and there should only be about 5 or 6.

You don't have to give everything up to be healthy.  You just need to make healthier choices about those little treats.
*If you are really craving chocolate,  eat some of an all-natural dark chocolate bar instead of a whole candy bar.  
*If you are wanting a hamburger, cook your own all-natural or grass-fed beef burger on wheat bun instead of running to a fast food joint. 
*Really wanting a coke?  Most likely you are either needing the caffeine or want that carbonated, fizzy kick in a drink.  If it's caffeine then choose coffee or tea, that's lightly sweetened tea, not southern sweet tea.  If it's that kick that you need, choose an all-natural fruit soda, like an Izze drink or italian soda.  Don't drink diet coke, it is not any better for you!
*You can still eat breads, just choose whole grain or whole wheat breads.  Again, make sure it's not enriched flour.  It has to say whole wheat flour or whole grain flour as the main ingredient.  
*You can still have pizza, just make your own.  Use whole wheat flour, thin crust dough.  A natural and if possible, organic marinara sauce.  Choose healthy toppings and don't over load it with cheese.  
*For example, tonight the kids wanted hot dogs.  So, I bought Trader Joe's whole wheat buns.  First two ingredients are whole wheat flour and stone ground whole wheat flour.  Then I also bought all-natural, organic, grass-feed beef hot dogs.  No preservatives or nitrites and all natural casing.  Used organic ketchup (no high fructose corn syrup) and mustard. And served it with carrots and ranch dip made from greek yogurt.  Kids, happy. Me, happy. Grant it, it's not the healthiest meal in the world, but it could be a whole lot worse!

You not only need to make better choices with ingredients, but also with portion sizes.  Our portion sizes are entirely too big!  And this is something that really takes time to change.  Our stomaches are stretched from over eating and it takes time to shrink them back up. We are still working on this in our housed, that's for sure! Ways to help with this:
*each time you sit down for a meal eat a little bit less of the least healthy food on your plate than what you would normally eat
*eat more filling foods.  Did you know that fruits, vegetables and whole grains are some of the most filling foods you can eat.  According to Livestrong.com:

Fruits and Vegetables

Fresh, frozen or canned, nearly all fruits and vegetables are low in calories, significantly lower than most other foods, even starchy and protein-rich vegetables, such as potatoes, winter squash and green peas. Yet, because these foods have a high water content and are rich in dietary fiber, they are quite filling. One cup of nearly all fruits and vegetables provides less than 200 calories. The possibilities are endless; other examples of low-calorie, filling fruit and vegetable options include melon, berries, summer squash, carrots, beets, leafy greens, apples and pears, yellow corn, cucumbers and green beans.

Whole Grains

Whole grains, such as cereals, are filling food options. Regardless of whether you choose hot old-fashioned oatmeal or ready-to-eat bran flakes with skim milk, 1.5 cups, even topped with fruit, provide fewer than 300 calories. Whole grains, like fruits and vegetables, are high in dietary fiber, so they expand in your body, encouraging satiety. According to the Healthy Vegan Weight Loss website, certain chewy whole grains have a low calorie density but are incredibly filling. Examples include brown rice, millet, buckwheat groats or "kasha" and/or quinoa. Each option provides less than 300 calories per cup, cooked. Don't forget another low-calorie whole grain that offers maximum volume and is high in fiber: air-popped popcorn.

*Snack in between meals. I'm sure we've all heard this, but how many of us actually do it? Preparing your snacks ahead of time will really make a difference during the week.  Pre-package dry foods in portion sized bags.  Pre-wash and cut refrigerated foods and store in air tight containers that are easy to get to. If you are truly snacking between meals (ON HEALTHY FOODS), you will not be as hungry when meal time comes around.  Especially for dinner.  I'm not sure why dinner has become our biggest meal of the day and breakfast virtually doesn't exist.  It seems like it should be the opposite.  When need our energy from food at the beginning of the day, not at the end when all we are going to do is sleep. 

Trust me. Everything I've said here is stuff that we as a family are working on.  We DO NOT have it down completely and still require a lot of training.  But we continue to work on it daily and have seen and feel an improvement physically.  I highly encourage you to do the same.  It will be worth it. Just take it one step and one day at a time.  

Olympic Inspiration

I don't know about you, but sitting on my couch watching these amazing athletes has made me want to get up and do something.  Apparently I'm not the only one. During my run this morning I saw more people out walking, running and biking than I have since we moved here.  Awesome! My workout today consisted of a 4 mile run, then a trip to the gym with my husband and kids, doing arms and abs.  Which I probably wouldn't have done if I hadn't been watching these athletes all week.  Loving the olympics.  To see what people are capable of doing is just amazing.  I watched the 10k race the other day and the woman that won, sprinted that last lap like she just walked onto the track.  These women were running 5 minute miles, talk about motivating.  I know I will never come close to these times, but why not push myself a little harder?  Why not try to improve my times and speed?  A lot of these people are my age.  We can do more than what we think we are capable of doing.  Once again, we just need to get healthy and not let our heads get in the way.  I'm talking to myself here:  I am able to get up and go running in the morning.  I don't need to eat something sweet after dinner.  I do have time to make it to the gym at least 3 times a week.  I don't NEED a coke.  I can learn to eat new, healthy foods.   I've accomplished so much already and I'm so happy with that, but there are so many things that I still want to change.  Thanks Olympics, you inspire me.