100 push up challenge - so tough!

A few months ago, I posted about starting the 100 push up challenge. I unsuccessfully ended it about a month ago so I thought I would post my results and thoughts.  You can see my results on the side bar.  I did 9 weeks of the 6 week challenge and in the end I went from being able to 20 push ups (yes on my toes)  to 55 push ups.  The program says that if you are unable to complete a week to repeat it (hence 9 weeks). During the first 3 weeks it was really fun to challenge myself and I could see and feel my strength increasing.  The last month I literally made myself do it as the workouts got longer and harder.  I feel like I hit a plateau about 35 push ups.  After 35 each push up was arm shaking agony!
This program is a great way to increase your strength.  
I just think it was too much too fast.  It is fun to have a goal like this for the short term but it is nothing that I can keep up.

Organic

It is  more expensive! I had to increase my food budget.  It's worth it though.  I have been trying to buy organic whenever I can.  There is a really neat website called What's on my food .  There you can type in your favorite food and it will tell you what toxins can be found on it.  I typed in blueberries and found that there are 52 pesticide residues.  Some of these toxins include known carcinogens (cancer causing) and growth and reproductive toxins.  (seriously horrible for pregnant/nursing moms and children)

Top 10 to buy organic:  
1. Apples
2. Strawberries
3.  Celery
4. Peaches
5. Spinach
6. raisins/grapes
7.  bell peppers
8. potatoes
9. blueberries
10. Milk products

Ways to get organic milk and produce cheaper:

1.  Grow your own garden
2. Co-ops:  try bountifulbaskets.org or Utahbaskets.com.  There are a bunch.  I like to get an organic produce box from bountiful baskets for $35/week.
3.  Coupons- there are some coupons that you can get: check out earthbound farms, whole foods and stoneyfield farms websites.  There is a website called www.healthylifedeals.com that list all of the organic coupons that are online along with the Whole Foods matchups
4.   Farm shares :  go to http://www.localharvest.org/ to find a farm near you.  Sometimes you can buy a farm share for the summer for $300-$500 and get fresh local produce every week.
5. Local food stands or farmer's markets:  have a price point

Sugar

Easter Weekend. I remember last Easter Weekend Christian ate his entire basket of Easter candy in about one minute. I think he may have eaten some of the foil off of the candy too because he couldn't get it opened fast enough. I also remember that on the way home he was coughing uncontrollably and his nose started running.

I really don't want to be a scrooge. I love getting together and celebrating. and, I really love yummy food.

I think everyone should watch this video on 60 minutes:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7403942n&tag=cbsnewsMainColumnArea.10

We know that ADDED sugar is really bad for our bodies; this is nothing new. It stimulates our brain just like a illegal drugs. I thought it was interesting that the one doctor said that he thinks that it should be regulated like alcohol. It causes high cholesterol which can lead to heart disease.
natural sugars like those found in fruits and vegetables are fine for us as we are eating them in the right proportions with fiber and other nutrients. Our bodies know exactly what to do with natural sugars.

Christian is still young enough that I can regulate his consumption (to an extent) For Halloween last year, I let Christian eat 5 pieces of candy and then I took his bag and hid it. I have given him some of it for going potty and for good behavior. That way he doesn't eat it all in one night and get sick like Easter last year. I plan on doing the same for Easter this year.

Now I just have to figure out how to regulate my consumption. I am not the type of person that can just eat one of anything sugary, (Seriously I can eat the whole bag) so I am not going to have any. I'll let you know on Monday if I was able to do it or not (accountability) . I am going to make my yummy Asian noodle salad.

Asian Noodle Salad

I love this Salad! I shared it with my mom and she ate it for 3 meals! We both love this salad! I am going to bring this to our Easter Lunch! My friend, Shelly gave me this recipe. I love how every ingredient is extremely healthy and how all the flavors mesh together perfectly. Make sure you use an extra big bowl because it makes a ton. You can always half the recipe too. If you want to impress people, make this salad!

1 package whole wheat linguine noodles, cooked, rinsed, and cooled
1/2 head sliced napa cabbage
1/2 head sliced purple cabbage
1/2 bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thinly
1 bag bean sprouts ( I made my own)
Chopped cilantro up to one bunch to taste
3 whole scallions
3 whole cucumbers, peeled and sliced
1 can whole cashews about 10 oz
Grated carrots
1/2 package frozen chicken strips (1/2 lb)

Dressing:
1 whole lime, juiced
1/2 C olive oil
1/2 C soy sauce
2-3 TBSP coconut oil
1/3 C Agave or brown sugar
3 TBSP ground or grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
chopped cilantro to taste

Mix salad ingredients together. Whisk dressing ingredients together and pour over salad before serving. Dressing will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge. Serves 12.

What Baby Parker eats

Parker is 9 months old. People have been asking me what Parker eats. I feel like my life is centered around feeding him. I made all Christian's baby food (even yogurt) using the book, "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. I would definetley recommend this book! I do make a lot of baby food for Parker too, but not all. I still use the principles from the book in planning his meals. I think that it is important to buy or make organic food for our babies. Their bodies are so little. I still nurse on demand so this is a loose schedule, he has 3 meals a day. He eats about 1/4 Cup of food at each meal, sometimes more, sometimes less. This is what I TRY to do.
Here is a day of food:
7-8 Wake up and nurse
10:30 nurse and eat breakfast plain yogurt, pureed fruit, water. Stonyfield Farm is a good brand of organic yogurt, I feed him plain with nothing in it but milk and cultures. For fruit I mash up a banana, or a pear, or I give him some organic store bought puree. One day I'll give him an egg yolk and the next I'll give him a little bit of kale powder.
1-2 nurse and lunch. I give him a vitamin A vegetable and a baby grain (think beta carotene, then think carrot, then think orange)Vitamin A veggies are carrots, sweet potatoes,pumpkin spinach, broccoli, kale, ect. The baby grains are millet, brown rice, barley, and oats. There is instructions for mixing them together in the book.
3-5 nurse again
5-7 nurse and dinner. Super green veggie and baby grain, water. For veggie I do peas, green beans, or sometimes a mixture of things that are put together in his store bought puree.
He was getting constipated, so I now make sure that I give him as much water as I can after every meal. (which is only about 2 ounces). He is doing better now.
9-10 I let him nurse as much as he wants and then he goes to bed. He still wakes up about every other night and I just nurse him and he goes right back to sleep.

Pink Slime

I saw this news article of abc4 yesterday about "pink slime". Pink Slime is animal carcass that is being ground up and added into our ground beef as a filler. In order to make it edible they have to add lots of ammonia NH3 to the pink slime. This stuff is not good for consumption, and this amount of ammonia is toxic for our bodies. If you eat ground beef, I would suggest buying organic or having the butcher grind it for you. (you can buy the beef at the meat counter and they will grind it for you).
http://www.abc4.com/mostpopular/story/Pink-Slime-The-Inside-Story/vm2n3PWs60uax36dzhsNGQ.cspx

Banana Berry Smoothie

Breakfast today!
1 ripe banana (I use frozen)
1 C Orange Juice
1 C frozen berries (I use organic, berries are the worst offenders!)
1 C plain yogurt (stonyfield brand)
1/4 C rolled oats (not instant)
1/4 C honey
1 swig of kale (can't even taste it)
blend until smooth