Thank Goodness it's Friday! Tips, Tricks and Inspiration

I lost 5 lbs. this week. Normally that would be cause for celebration but it was the 5 pounds I gained the week before due to my weigh in falling in the few hours I had between two hospital stays. That said, I could honestly say that I was in my points range for the whole 3 weeks so far and I stayed on plan, even in the hospital. I will stay the course and see how I do this week.

Thank goodness it's Friday. I went back to work yesterday and while I did okay, I was beat when I got home. So I only have today and tomorrow morning and then some time to rest.

I have a simple tip for this week: Eat more watermelon! I read these fun facts about watermelon on Fooducate and realized my over-the-top love for this fruit is actually justified. I'ts a good source of Lycopene, and Vitamin C and it's a "filling food." The article offers some alternate serving suggestions at the end but to me using watermelon as an ingredient is akin to grinding up steak and using it as an ingredient. It's already perfect the way it is! I'm not too much of a purist though, a fat slice with a little cayenne and salt is the perfect snack.

You've tried logic, so now you want to know how to trick your teens into giving up sugary sodas. A new study had a surprising finding: If you label the soft drink cooler with the amount of exercise it will take to burn the calories from the soda, a lot fewer teens will choose the drink. Who knew teens were logical? Read the details in this brief article by The Salt on NPR.

While looking for something else, I stumbled across this government publication on the benefits of losing weight. If you have a metabolism like mine and weight loss comes slowly, it's helpful to have a little inspiration to keep working at it. Take a look at it and see which of the many benefits would mean the most to you right now.

I am focusing on small changes now. For instance, I am committed to journaling  my food, no matter what I eat. Knowing I will be logging it later helps me make a good choice in the moment. What small changes are impacting you right now? I want to hear from you!

Stop Giving Kids Juice!

Note:  This is a dual post to Bright Weight Loss and Bright Love


Back in the 90's, when I first became "Mama," we all gave our kids juice.  We watered it down, of course.  Pepper didn't have full-strength juice until she got her first juice-box at a party when she was 3.  Kids got their 3 cups of milk and the rest of their beverages were juice.  It was an improvement over Kool-Aid or Soda, right?


Things have changed.  Now we realize that although juice has lots of vitamins and good stuff, it's also mostly sugar, even if it has "no added sugar."  Kids also need the fiber and chewing action of real fruit -- so that's the way to go. 

The Littles consider juice a real treat.  We give them juice on the rare occasions others would give kids soda; birthday parties, holidays, etc.  They get so excited about it!  I almost feel guilty.  Almost.

It turns out that kids who don't know better don't miss it.  Who'd have thought?  The Littles drink lots of water.  Lots.  It's inspirational.

Now I have one more reason to be the mean-juice-withholding-mama.  Turns out most of our apple juice -- my personal favorite in the 90s --  is imported from China.  Their laws regarding pesticide and safe food practices are far less stringent than ours.   It just seems like a bad idea. 

Please stop giving your kids juice.  They don't need it.  In 3 weeks, they'll stop asking.  Just, water, people, please.