Whole Foods in about $30- Trip 1

So... I shop at Whole Foods almost daily. Why? Because I can walk there from home, I love the friendly faces, and I like my ingredients super fresh. I like to think of my local Whole Foods as my nearby European outdoor market and I shop for my fresh ingredients for dinner each day.  Is this more time consuming than one big shop every week? I don't know, but I certainly enjoy it more and find I waste MUCH less food.

I have found a lot of my shopping trips come to about $30.  Some days I may spend only $7!

I decided to start documenting my shops, because I feel I get a good deal for the price of organic, fresh, natural items. (I include toiletries in these shops).  It is important to me to "pay the farmer, not the doctor" so cheaper isn't usually better in my opinion.

I will also mention what I plan to do with the groceries, but because I keep a lot of staples around, I usually never have to shop for every ingredient.

Here is my blog post about staples to keep on hand-- buy them when Whole Foods have sales.  Disclaimer- I'm in Florida, but my best friends live in Brooklyn and Los Angeles and the prices seem to be the same for the most part.  Other disclaimer- our family is vegetarian... I have no idea about shopping for meat or fish. (And that saves a lot!)

So... First shop... This was kind of a lunch shop.  I send 3 people off with packed lunches (one day a week it is 4 people).  They all love and ask for Luna bars for treats (they are very filling, too) but I don't like to spend more than $1 per bar. These were all on sale.  I also will make that pizza for my toddler,s lunch and then might send a cold piece with the kids the next day in tin foil.  That pizza was $3.99.  I send the 365 (Whole foods brand) burritos with my husband for lunch. They are $1.69.

Tonight I'm making a huge crock of Mexican Dip for dinner.  Refried black beans, Greek yogurt, avocado, tomatoes, purple onion... And we eat it with tortilla chips.  We are always stuffed by the time dinner is over! Sounds like an appetizer but it makes a great easy Friday night meal.  Also... I needed deodorant.  ;) I like natural deodorant, and WF usually has the best bargains.

Whole Foods Trip #1 totaled $35.87

Book Club pays off!

My oldest daughter and I were invited to a book club.

The book club is based on the book Her Next Chapter.  From the website for the book:

 Her Next Chapter shows mothers how to form mother-daughter book clubs that provide a vehicle for teaching media literacy to girls so that they learn to think critically about their lives as females.Our book is about more than issues—it is about solutions! It outlines precisely how mothers can work both together and individually to build girls’ confidence and lessen the negative impact of media on self-image. Mothers and other important adults in the lives of girls will learn to identify and understand eight of the biggest challenges facing girls and women in the US and around the world, and how to use carefully chosen female-centric books, movies, videos and activities as side doors into crucial conversations about growing up female.

So, we talked about Hannah in the book and how she is told math isn't for girls and there's no need for her to continue studying it--even though she is a math prodigy.  It was an awesome night and I am so happy to be part of the club.

But--here is the first payoff:

2 weeks later, we were visiting family a few hours away.  My 2 year old son was drinking out of a pink Minnie Mouse cup.  His 7 yr old cousins asked me, "Why is he drinking out of a girl cup?"  I said, "Well, it's just a cup, it's for anyone who is thristy."  And my husband, ever the feminist said, "It's not a girl's cup-- it's for anyone who likes Minnie Mouse."  To which the hostess replied, "Well, it's pink and girly--it's a girl's cup."  And we let it fizzle.

But on the way home, I turned to my 8 year old daughter and asked her, "Based on what we talk about at book club... I mean.. what do you think of what Aunt X said about the Minnie Mouse cup?"

She got a twinkle in her eye, puffed up, and said, "Well, I think Aunt X was making a gender stereotype!"

SCORE.

How Do you want to be remembered?

So this is a question a lot of older people get asked when they are being interviewed.

I don't fully know how I'd answer that, but today a piece of it came to me...

"I'd like to be remembered as someone people felt they could be their real selves with, whether they knew me 5 minutes or 5 years".

Being Uncomfortable

I heard last week on NPR that the primary feeling associated with the act of compassion is... discomfort.

It was an epiphany for me.

Since becoming a parent 8+ years ago, I recognize that my biggest weakness is probably compassion.  I like to keep things moving, I can't stand constant whining and crying... I'm constantly reminding myself to take a breath and dig deep for compassion.

But this revelation makes so much sense... the act of compassion usually triggers discomfort.

I hate being uncomfortable.  Okay, I mean, everyone does, sure.  But... I can't seem to do a plank for 60 seconds not because it's painful but I just don't like the feeling, so I stop.   I actively avoid discomfort where I can.  That's not a life well lived.  A good life includes discomfort which is almost always a side effect of growth.  I certainly don't want to stop growing.

So, here's to a little discomfort going a long way.

Learning my Daughter

I realized today... my oldest child (8 yrs) hates authority. Like-- yes, no kids enjoy authority, but she naturally hates it. There are very few teachers she likes, which is surprising because she is a good student, creative, avid reader, puts forth lots of effort.

And I wonder if this is because she is not seen for who she is inside versus on the outside. She identifies as an introvert. Maybe it's just some instinct--maybe she just she craves exploring things on her own.

I asked her today, "If you could have any type of lesson: dance, gymnastics, flute, piano, karate, anything... what would you pick?"

"Nothing." she said, "I'd pick going home and doing my own thing alone. I hate teachers telling me what to do."

I said, "But this would be a new teacher and different group of kids."

"I don't want ANOTHER teacher telling me what to do."

Very interesting conversation, wanted to get it all down.

Lucky Girl (me)

9 months up, 9 YEARS down.

I'm always torn about celebrating weight loss.  Yes, yes, yes, we want people to be healthy.
But is that really what most people are celebrating?  It seems to me most people are celebrating how someone LOOKS.  And I don't want to contribute to that celebration when there so much hard stuff we not only don't celebrate, but want women to shut up about.  (Birth is hard, nursing is hard, we like to talk about it!)
That said, losing weight can be tough work.  And for me, it was tough... and slow... and frustrating.  But certainly not even in the top 3-5 hardest obstacles I've overcome in the almost 9 years since I became a mom.

I found out I was pregnant in November 2006.  Now it's November 2015.

You know what they say... 9 months up... 9... years?... down.  Ah, well!

As I told my kids, I finally decided it was time for me to lose all the extra weight I  put on during 3 pregnancies because I couldn't swing all the fun physical tricks I used to do in my performing days.  I wanted to feel agile again.  It took knowing I was done having babies, and being done breastfeeding to finally feel motivated enough.

What did I do? Honestly?  I just ate less.  A lot less. About half of what I was eating.  I haven't been exercising nearly as much as I'd like, but I tracked my eating on My Fitness Pal every day from Dec 1- July 1 and then I just mentally tracked.  I didn't restrict any type of food.  (Though I have been a vegetarian since 2008).  Stopped eating 3-5 hrs before bed each night.  That's all.  Easier aid than done, but nothing complicated on paper.

I've lost 39 pounds in 11 months.

Here is me last year on my 35th birthday and today on my 36th... I'm about 75% of the way to my goal):

Here's to hard work and strength and joy!