I went to the gym yesterday and struck up a conversation with a fellow treadmill-er.  I learned that she’s a 40-something mom of four, working full-time from home.  She is working with a personal trainer twice a week and is frustrated.

Her trainer is (in my opinion) one of the stereotypical personal trainers that scare people from ever considering this as an option.  Based on what I’ve seen of this trainer, she’s hardcore.  I mean, eating only chicken and rice, working out like it’s going out of style, at the gym all hours of the day.  She expects her trainees to be the same way.

Well, with four kids, working full-time (and not at a gym!), this kind of lifestyle isn’t something that people can jump into easily.  Trying to make such sweeping changes often results in a feeling of failure and disappointment, leading them back to eating ice cream while sitting on the couch watching the latest episode of “Biggest Loser.”  I know — this was me.

While I appreciate that there are very specific ideals and goals that a person should have around what they put into their body, how they train their body, etc., oftentimes this doesn’t jibe with their current lifestyle.  If you’ve spent the last 20 years making all of your food choices from restaurants, it’s going to be nearly impossible for you to jump into a whole food, limited regiment of food choices.  Change of this magnitude can’t happen overnight, expecting your people to do this isn’t helping anyone, least of all the people that need it.  Scolding them when they are already feeling guilty makes them feel worse.  ”Why should I continue if she’s only going to yell at me?”

I’ve tried that “I’ll change everything all at once” mentality.  I failed.  Each and every time.  Why?  Because I’m real, and I make mistakes.  They key for me is that now, I have someone who understands that the mistakes and the missteps are just as important as the successes and achievements.  Those mistakes allow us to learn and to grow.  If we don’t know how to eat right to fuel our bodies, yelling at us isn’t going to give us the tools we need to hit those goals.  It’s going to ensure that we never hit those goals.

Here’s what I’ve learned:  taking small, baby steps will allow you to make healthier choices without adversely affecting your lifestyle.  Take, for example, bread.  I made the conscious decision to stop purchasing white bread and instead, purchase and eat only 100% whole grain bread.  Is it more expensive?  Sure — by about $1.00 a loaf.  Even in my family, where we go through 2-3 loaves of bread in a week (we do a lot of brown bag lunches for school here), it’s costing me an additional $10/month.  That’s worth it, to me.  My kids don’t even like the taste of white bread anymore.

I’ve made very small choices; several of them, over the course of the past couple of years.  And, I’ve found that when I’m only changing one thing at a time, everyone has an easier time of accepting it.  As mom to two picky eaters and wife to a farm boy, I could choose the easy way out and go to McD’s every day.  But I would weigh a bazillion pounds, my kids would be sluggish, and my husband … well, honestly, he’d probably love it.  :)

My very long point?  If you’re looking to make changes, make them slowly.  Set a goal to workout three times this week … and, do it.  If you don’t — that’s okay.  Set the same goal for next week.  Do what you think is fun — working out doesn’t necessarily mean going to the gym.  Take the kids for a walk.  Play a game of basketball.  Do some yoga.  Play Wii Fitness.  If you’re goal is food-related, make small changes.  Switch to whole wheat bread.  Eat more chicken and less red meat.  Vow to make one meal a week vegetarian.

So, what’s your goal for the week?  Mine: stop eating after 8 p.m.  I tend to snack once the kids are down and I’m finally winding down from the day.  This happens more when my husband travels for work, and it’s so easy (and tasty) to munch.  We’ll see if I can stick to it.

I saw a pin last week that you could take green onions that have had the green cut off, plunk them in some water, and they re-grow.

I had some green onions and thought I’d give it a try.  In less than a week, this is what we have:

That long stalk was the length of the one next to it. Crazy, no?

Do you know any other little gardening tips?

I don’t really have a lot going on right now. Today is my 53rd day of mile a day. I haven’t been running. I had to back off to keep myself from getting so discouraged that I just gave up. I’ve been spending a lot of time on the stationary bike. And it’s been fantastic. Just me, free weights for my arms, the bike, and my iPad filled with a good book. It’s been a nice change of pace. I plan on getting back to the running by the end of this week, but it’s going to be a slow reintroduction.

And my Sunday mile was done on skates. So fun. I have to do more miles like that…

But as for now, I have to get back to studying. Midterm time!!

See you all next week.

I made almond milk a couple of different ways but haven’t gotten it to a taste and texture that I like.

I made cookies from the almond meal left over after making the milk and they were about as bland as cookies could be. (They’re now dog treats; he doesn’t care!)

I made chai from whole ingredients and from teabags/powdered ingredients, and dumped all of it down the sink.

I did make a birthday dessert for a friend that seems to have turned out pretty well. Not posting it today, as I haven’t given it to her yet and I don’t want her inadvertently to find out what it is here. If she likes it, I’ll post it next week.

I have quite a few more new recipes on the list to try. Hopefully, I’ll have one (or more!) to share with you soon!

That’s a dwarf lemon tree. In the first bed are a few types of tomatoes. Will add scallions and garlic this weekend. In the second bed, we have lettuce, broccoli, kale, green beans, peas, sweet onions. In the third bed are blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries.

I forgot that I have some seeds for butternut squash, so I’m going to plant a couple of those in a pot and see what happens.

If all goes well, I’d like to add in spinach, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes. Yum!

I’m hoping to do well maintaining my new gardens and get some good produce! I’m also growing some herbs in pots on the back porch.

The longer-term plan, assuming I can keep these things alive and fruit-bearing, is to surround the beds with concrete blocks (on their sides) and grow the marigolds and the herbs in the holes in the blocks.

And so the new gardening adventure begins!

Now to figure out how to keep the dog out of the beds…

Oy. Am I struggling this month. I’m still dedicated to my daily mile (you are reading this on day 45 – 321 to do), but I have had the hardest time getting into an actual run. I’ve changed locations, I’ve tried intervals, stretch before, stretch after… I just can’t seem to get my run on and it’s becoming a burden.

See, I have a problem. When I set a goal for myself, I expect it to be complete light-years before my goal. But the more I run (or struggle to run) the more frustrated I get.

It’s a vicious cycle.

I also rescind my declaration of love for the elliptical. I hate the elliptical.

New plan for this week is to walk and walk a lot. On Saturday, I walked to Sprouts, which is a little over two miles there and back. It was really nice. So my February goal is modified. I will spend this week walking at least two miles every other day and then run a mile.

Here’s the best picture of the week. I didn’t say most flattering, I said best.

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(How many weeks’ worth of setback is today worth?)

The Merriam-Webster definition of addict is:

to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively

Typically, we refer to addiction in the context of alcohol, gambling, nicotine and other drugs. Sometimes sex. Maybe coffee/caffeine.

Can you stop eating sweet/sugary foods? If there’s a plate of cookies, can you leave it alone? Or — harder for some — take just one?

Every now and then, I see an article pop up about the addictive properties of sugar.

This is Not Good, especially given how bad sugar is for you and how ubiquitous it is.

Many people indulge in sweets because they “earned it” or “deserve it.”

In my experience, if I can make a clean break from sugary foods (not including fruits here) and maintain it for a few weeks or a month, I don’t crave them any more. I can walk through the break room at work when it’s piled high with garbage from a pot luck and not even be tempted by it. It doesn’t take willpower by that point, because I don’t want it. (Getting to that point does take some willpower.)

One of the best things you could do for your health is to break your addictive relationship with sugar. Cut the artificial sweeteners, too! Real foods that are sweet (such as fruits) will taste so much better and will satisfy your sweet cravings once you can train your body to remember that it doesn’t really want the White Death.

How are you with sugar and sweet foods?

HA! I did it. I didn’t cheat, I didn’t fun my runs, I freaking did 31 days of (at least) one mile goodness.

I think that for the most part I have gotten into a good rhythm and have been able to read body well enough to know when I should take a one mile cool down day (I do a mile, but it’s usually a nice walk around the complex or down a street lugging a 400-lb infant). I’m counting calories again, which I have been doing since the first of January as well.

I’m down about 10 pounds and I started circuit training again. Only this time I’m doing Social Circuit with my roomie every other week.

On Tuesday night, I was not feeling well. I still need to do my mile and I considered walking to CVS for about thirty seconds to buy soup. But roomie and I also needed milk and I did not want to lug a gallon of milk that far. I opted for a quick walk to Circle K. Totally forgot to get soup…

On that note, I leave you with the photo of the week. This is me, supported by Bosu after a mile run and then 30-minute circuit training. Photography courtesy of your blog hostess, Heat.