Friday, November 30, 2007

Tidying up Makes a Difference

Sleep
I think I slept 7 hr. last night. Zoe woke up at 2:45, but I got her quickly and we both drifted back to sleep easily.

Water
The weather has been really dry the past couple days, so I've been trying really hard to drink lots of water.

Eating
Nick cooked us a great breakfast: scrambled eggs with ham, cheese and bell peppers; 1/2 whole wheat bagel, coffee/milk (for the girls). Hmm, I guess we forgot to have fruit, but we usually do have fruit with breakfast. Trying to get all those food groups in! Had a tuna melt on whole wheat with an apple for lunch. . .

Exercise
Took a long walk with a friend this morning. We are running a 5k race tomorrow, so we took it easy today.

Tranquility
The girls napped well after a busy morning, so I had time to tidy up a bit, check email, blog, etc. I'm relaxed.

How do I feel?
I feel better when my house is tidy, which I've done the past couple days. I really should spend 15 min. every day tidying up, but it doesn't always happen. I'm looking forward to this weekend, which will be busy with fun plans, starting tonight.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Sleepless Night

Sleep
I felt surprisingly awake yesterday evening, so I stayed up a bit later than I should have. However, the killer was Zoe waking up at 4:30 and crying so much that she woke up Maya. Suddenly there were 4 of us in our bed, which is too crowded. So I took Zoe with me into Maya's bed, but I couldn't fall back asleep. I almost got up at 5:30, figuring I might as well make good use of being awake, but then I drifted off to sleep. But that doesn't make for 7-8 hr sleep!

Water
I drank a tall glass of water with each meal, plus a few cups in between, so I'm good on water today.

Eating
I am more conscientious about making balanced meals, including as many food groups as possible. That's good, and it makes the meals more colorful!

Exercise
I got up and ran with a friend this morning. It really helps get me up and moving if there is someone I have to meet at a specific time. I wish I had a regular running partner.

Tranquility
The girls fell right to sleep at naptime, so I got some free time to get a few things done.

How do I feel?
I feel good. I don't feel tired, despite my lack of sleep last night.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Exercise Burn-Out

Sleep
I'm a bit fuzzy on how much sleep I got last night. I just remember feeling very sleepy last night after coming home from work at 9:30 and having a beer with my late dinner. Because of that I think I went to bed early, but I don't remember the time. Zoe, as usual, woke up screaming her pretty little head off in the middle of the night because she was cold. I brought her into my bed and she kicked around for a bit before falling asleep. This morning, I was too tired to get up and exercise (same thing yesterday), and we all slept in until about 7:30. It seems to me I must have gotten 7-8 hr sleep out of all that.

Water
I tried harder today to pay attention to how much water I drank. I hadn't been very good about keeping track for the past few days.

Eating
I'm also paying more attention and using the SWEET Life Plan to track my food intake these days because I hadn't been very consistent about doing that.

Exercise
Once again I was both too tired to get up and exercise, and I'm feeling a bit burned out on my workout. Both yesterday and today I found time during my girls' naps to exercise, fortunately. But that won't be a consistent, stable situation. If I'm burned out, then maybe I should change my workouts. It's getting really hard to get up in the cold, dark mornings. Last winter I had a couple friends whom I worked out with, so we motivated each other to get up. The winter before, I was pregnant and on bed rest. The winter before that I had a very portable baby who took a lot of jogs and walks with me during the daytime. Hmm, I'll have to think more about what will get me out of a nice, warm bed on a cold, dark morning to exercise. . .

Tranquility
I'm very motivated to get my website (livingthesweetlife.net) up and running. I spent 2 hours of my "free time" transferring info from documents to a website creator. It felt good to get 6 pages done, at least in rough draft form.

How do I feel?
I have a lot of little things to do to keep up with life, but I also need some time to think about how to revise my exercise plan so that I'll keep doing it.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Post-Thanksgiving

Sleep

I love 4-day weekends! I've been sleeping well because I can sleep in, even if I'm awoken during the night.



Water

I don't think I drank enough water on Thanksgiving, but I've been trying to be more conscientious about it since.



Eating

On Thanksgiving day, I made sure to eat small, healthy meals throughout the day. For the big dinner, I did eat a lot, but I tried to just take a few bites-worth of each dish so that I didn't totally over-indulge. The day after, I made sure to eat small, healthy meals. However, today, I didn't eat very healthy: a burger for lunch, pizza for dinner; boy, were they good! But not very healthy. The other snacks and meals were healthy, at least.



Exercise

I ran for an hour the day after Thanksgiving to burn off some of the extra calories I'd consumed. Today, I did my morning toning exercises (because I'd skipped Thanksgiving morning), and my family went biking with some friends. Participating in a fun, family & friends activity is definitely a funner way to get exercise than just exercising for the sake of exercise.



Tranquility

Thanksgiving ran really smoothly because of all my advanced planning . I had a great day and was not a frazzled hostess. The past few days it's been great to hang out with friends and family.



How Do I Feel?

I feel that now that Thanksgiving is over, I can get back to focusing on other things in life. I don't usually think much about Christmas until after Thanksgiving, and now my family is asking me for Wish Lists, so I need to think about that. I look forward to getting back on track with other things in life.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The Holiday Stress is Building . . .

Sleep
I slept well the past couple nights. It always helps when the rest of the family sleeps through the night, too.

Water
I've been drinking enough water.

Eating
I've been trying to keep track of my eating on the SWEET Life Plan. Sometimes I'm impressed with how well I fill in the amounts for each food category, but sometimes I'm surprised at the holes in my eating, especially veggies.

Exercise
I woke up and did my toning exercises yesterday morning, as usual on Tuesdays, and I ran down the beach and back, as usual on Monday and Wednesday. This morning was particularly cold. That's when I really appreciate having good quality winter workout clothes.

Tranquility
I started cooking for Thanksgiving, yesterday, and I enjoyed it. I enjoy coordinating all the elements of a big family party: planning, cleaning, shopping, cooking, decorating, etc.

How do I feel?
I feel stressed. Last night I came up with a list of 11 things to do after I got home from work at 9 p.m. and before bed. Some were just daily things to do; some were leftover from previous days; some were special Thanksgiving things. My Thanksgiving things are taking longer than I had anticipated, so I've fallen behind on my schedule. Now, it's the day before, so I may be up late tonight getting stuff done.

It's really hard for me to accomplish things while raising my 2 daughters. I don't know how other parents manage to maintain a train of thought while being constantly interrupted by toddlers, and I don't know how other parents manage to ignore the constant noise and pleas for attention. Somehow, around my husband, my kids play quietly by themselves, but not around me. The minute I try to do anything, they need my undivided attention. Sometimes I try to involve them in what I'm doing, but it typically takes twice as long with them "helping" me. At the same time, it's also fun to do things together.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Finding Tranquility in House Cleaning?

Sleep
I slept in luxuriously late this morning, as did both my girls. It was nice to lay around in bed and not have to go anywhere right away.

Water
I drank 2 qt. although my pitcher still has a quart left in it. Sometimes I drink from elsewhere; for instance, if I'm thirsty while I'm in the bathroom anyway, I'll drink from a cup in there. That confuses me on my quantities, so I just guess if I've come out right.

Eating
I think I ate well today, although I've been a bit lazy about keeping track of my food intake on the SWEET Life Plan. I should because I'll make sure to eat a better balanced combination of foods if I do.

Exercise
Today is a day off of exercise; however, I did spend hours cleaning the house in preparation for Thanksgiving. Does that count? My feeling about exercise is that if it tires you out, it's exercise. Surprisingly, despite the number of hours I spent cleaning, it didn't tire me out.

Tranquility
I find it amazing that women can find tranquility in house cleaning. There are so many women I know who are so happy when they send their husbands off to the park with the kids, so they can stay home alone and clean. If the situation were reversed (the mom taking the kids to the park), the husbands would never spend their alone-time cleaning, or even, more traditionally, doing yardwork. They'd probably watch football.

Why are women contented by a clean house? For me, it just feels right and hygenic to be in a clean house. We are between housekeepers right now, so I'm not used to cleaning my house. There are good and bad things about cleaning my own house: I do a more thorough job because I know what we dirty the most. I put away things that a housekeeper wouldn't know to put away. I get distracted by extra dirty spots and take the time to clean them because I'll notice them every day if I don't. However, because of all this, I take longer than a housekeeper would. But now I'm content to be in my clean, guest-ready house. I just have to enforce cleanliness with my family for the next few days until Thanksgiving!

How do I feel?
I feel better today, health-wise; I'd been feeling low energy, nauseous and headachy for the previous few days. I made my Thanksgiving plan a week ago, and today I started implementing it. The first steps were to clean the house and clean out the fridge to accommodate all the food. I'm happy to have my plan in motion, and anticipate smooth sailing for the next few days.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Feeling Under Par

Sleep
After a few nights of very poor sleep at the beginning of the week, I've slept better the past few nights. I even slept in Friday, instead of going running, and ran, instead, this morning (Sat.) after sleeping in again. Well, it's not quite "sleeping in;" it's more like waking without an alarm, but it's still within the six o'clock hour. However, even after sleeping well, I've felt tired all week.

Water
I've been filling my 2 qt. pitcher and focusing on drinking a lot of water because I haven't been feeling well the past few days, and I don't want dehydration to be a contributing factor.

Eating
Because I had planned out my dinners and shopped last weekend, we've eaten good dinners this week. I've also been trying to eat nutritiously because I haven't been feeling well the past few days.

Exercise
I've been doing my usual exercise this week: running down the beach and back (4 mi.) Monday, Wednesday and today, and toning exercises Tuesday and Thursday. I'm concerned about my shoulders getting too muscular; my shirts are feeling too tight in the shoulders. Everyone in my family is very broad-shouldered, so it's in my genes. Because of that, I've decided to cut out the weights in my shoulder exercises. I'm still doing the motions to stay toned, but without weight.

Tranquility
I've gotten a lot of tranquility the past few days in the form of catching up on TV shows I like, online. ABC.com allows you to watch full episodes of their shows online, which is great because I always miss the shows I like. I hope, someday, that they will allow users to follow one character's story-line, rather than watching the episode as edited.

How do I feel?
I haven't been feeling well this week, which is part of why I haven't blogged for a few days. I've had low energy, felt nauseous, and had headaches. I don't know why I'm not feeling well, but it's led me to be rather unproductive the past few days. When I start to feel under the weather, I focus more on the SWEET Life in the hopes of nipping any illness in the bud. I really don't want to be sick just before Thanksgiving! I'm hoping a restful weekend will help me feel better.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

New Workout Clothes

Sleep
I got enough sleep last night, finally, but Zoe woke up early on (12:30) and slept with us the rest of the night. I've got to break that cycle for her (i.e., let her cry it out), but I lose a lot of sleep and feel a lot of stress doing that. On the other hand, losing a little sleep and having a little stress, with her waking up then sleeping with us, is easier.

Water
I drank enough water today.

Eating
I kept better track today and ate better because of it. I always seem to need to catch up on veggie intake by the evening. I wish I could get my girls to eat more veggies too.

Exercise
I did my usual Wednesday run along the beach, but today I had a new, winter white sweat suit. I felt great because I looked great, and it's very warm! As much as any old sweats/t-shirt will do for a workout, it's good to buy workout clothes because you'll feel better about yourself if you look good when you work out. Also, high tech fabrics make a huge difference! They'll keep you much more comfortable (warm, dry, cool, wind-proof, etc.) than old cotton sweats. Also, if you workout often, you really will get a lot more use out of them than those other clothes you spend a lot of money on! The more you workout, the more worthwhile it is to spend money on good quality workout clothes.

Tranquility
I got two new personal training clients! I'm looking forward to working with these two new clients and teaching them the benefits of living the SWEET Life!

How do I feel?
The day ended with a bang: the two new clients, so that leaves a good impression of the day.

Monday, November 12, 2007

By Planning Ahead I Eat Better All Week

Sleep
Sleep continues to elude me, despite my best efforts. I went to bed at 10:00, but didn't fall asleep until after 11:00. Zoe woke me up at 3:30 and I didn't get back to sleep until 4:00. It was hard to get up at 6:00, even though I'd given myself 8 full hours to sleep! It's very frustrating because it's out of my control.

Water
I'm back to the 2 qt. pitcher of water. It helps me to have a physical reminder of how much I need to drink. Then, I'm more certain to drink it all.

Eating
For the first time in a couple weeks, I made up weekly dinner menus, and it really makes a positive difference. I feel less stress about what we are going to eat all week. I don't have to ask myself, every late afternoon, what we are going to have for dinner. I just look at the schedule. I just need to remember to defrost things, if necessary. Last night, because of my planning, I used up old produce before it went bad, and today, I went to the store to buy fresh stuff to eat the rest of the week (along with some Thanksgiving non-perishables). Cooking Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday works the best for me. I cook enough so that my family can have leftovers on the nights that I work (Monday & Wednesday), and I just plan to have quick, heat & eat meals the other couple days, which might end up getting replaced by eating out or with friends at the last minute.

Exercise
I ran my usual trek down the beach and back, 4 miles, and I did my ab exercises.

Tranquility
I experimented with a Thanksgiving idea today: I wanted to make individual, edible cornucopias. I tried to make them out of breadstick dough, wrapped around a cone of aluminum foil. It was really fun and ended up being a success! I’ll repeat them on Turkey Day, filled with a colorful, fall salad.

How do I feel?
I feel happy about my menu planning, grocery shopping ahead of time for some Thanksgiving staples, and cornucopia experimentation. However, I’m tired of not sleeping well.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Ah, the Weekend!

Sleep

Since I get up at 6 a.m. all week, I really look forward to staying up late and sleeping in on the weekends. So, yes, I got 8 hr sleep last night. Of course, it wasn't without interruptions. Zoe woke up screaming, so Nick brought her into bed with us. Later, Maya came into our room and wanted to join us, but the bed just isn't big enough for all four of us. It's better if I take her back to her room and sleep with her in her bed.

Water

Yes, I drank enough water today.

Eating

I definitely didn't eat enough vegies today, but I did eat a good variety of grains, protein, dairy and fruit. Hmm, almost makes me want to go eat some salad right now . . .

Exercise

My goal is to exercise every week day. If I do, then I look forward to not exercising on the weekends. So, no, I did not exercise today. It was rainy and I hardly left the house.

Tranquility

My tranquility came today in the form of planning for Thanksgiving. We are hosting the family, and I enjoyed pouring over recipes, and figuring out some technicalities of the preparation process: Which recipes can I prepare ahead of time? How long does each recipe take to cook? What method of cooking does each require (i.e., oven, stove, etc.)? How much involvement is there (for example, a turkey takes a long time, but there's little involvement from me)? What type of serving dish/utensil will I need? I also figured out the shopping/preparation/cooking timeline for the few days leading up to and including Thanksgiving. Now, I'm really looking forward to it!

How do I feel?

I feel good having gotten Thanksgiving planned. I still have to make my grocery list, but I have to do that anyway for next week's meals, tomorrow.

Reviewing the past week's SWEET Life Cycle, my results are:
  • Sleep - 4 out of 7 days
  • Water - 6 out of 7 days
  • Eating - 4 out of 7 days (if I do go and eat some salad right now)
  • Exercise - 5 out of 7 days
  • Tranquility - 7 out of 7 days
My goal is 5-6 days per week, so it's disappointing to see that I only slept and ate well 4 days in the past week. Those 2 categories are always the hardest for me. I'll need to focus on them more next week. Tomorrow, I'll definitely plan for next week's dinners, make a grocery list and shop, which will help me eat better all week. Gotta get to bed earlier during the week in order to get enough sleep.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Reactive vs. Proactive

Sleep
I stayed up too late last night, knowing I'd get up at 6 a.m., to get enough sleep. I got about 6 1/2 hr.

Water
Nick found my pitcher and was kind enough to fill it to 2 quarts for me today. I still have 3 cups to go at 11 p.m., but I drank a few glasses of wine tonight with friends. It would be in my best interest to finish it off before going to bed even though I might have to get up in the middle of the night for a potty run.

Eating
I hate keeping food journals, like everyone does, which is why the SWEET Life has a SWEET Life Plan which charts everything you need in a day to live the SWEET Life. All you have to do is to mark off the quantities that you complete for each aspect of the SWEET Life; i.e., not much to write down. Today, I didn't really keep track of what I ate, but I know that I generally ate healthy foods. I only ate 1-2 Halloween candies; I didn't eat much junk food (only chips with guacamole come to mind). I did have dessert after a healthy dinner with friends. But generally, I'd say I ate pretty well, even though I didn't keep track of the details.

Exercise
This morning I ran with my friend Maureen, whom I hadn't run with in a long time. It was nice to catch up with her. I got home and had time to do my ab exercises before the girls woke up.

Tranquility
The girls took a long nap today, >3 hr! I decided I need to set my timer before doing anything, and sure enough, I got a lot done this afternoon! It's such a good feeling! I just set my timer for either the amount of time I thought something would take or the amount of time I wanted to spend on a project and off I went, rushing to finish before the timer went off. I'm so much more productive when I do that, but I need to do that more often. (Right now I have 10 minutes to finish this blog.)

How do I feel?
I feel very accomplished today. It's good to cross a lot of things off my To Do List, and many of them don't take very long. It's just a matter of doing it! I tend to spend too much time checking and responding to email and yahoo groups that I belong to. What I mean is, I tend to spend too much time being reactive instead of being proactive; I I respond to other people's inquiries rather than completing what I want to complete. I wrote myself a big note on my computer, that I might make into my computer desktop. It says, "1. Set the timer. 2. Check To Do List." I might decide that I'm going to spend 5 min. checking my To Do List, but the tick-tick-tick of the timer helps me remember to stay focused and not spend too much time on it. It works well with my kids too. I'll set the timer for 5 min. and say we are going to put away all the books and toys. Then, I'll give specific tasks to Maya, like putting all the books in the book shelf, while I do something else to tidy up. It works well; we usually finish within 5 minutes. Then we'll move on to another room that needs tidying.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Sleep Makes Me a New Woman

Sleep
I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. What happened? I hadn't felt that good in the morning in a long time. Ah! There were no children in my bed! The girls didn't wake up at all during the night! Maya didn't crawl into our bed at 3 a.m.! All four of us woke up happy and rested. How wonderful!

Water
I drank at least 8 cups of water throughout the day.

Eating
Despite Nick going to the grocery store last night, I didn't eat well today. I started off well enough with oatmeal with raisins and coffee. Lunch was at La Pinata: half a big, chicken burrito. Not bad, but it lacked fruit. The problem was that I also finished of Maya & Zoe's quesadilla, a large tortilla with cheese, folded in half, and I ate half of it! Then I was stuffed. Despite that, later in the afternoon, I finished off my burrito and was stuffed again! Then I had dinner, chicken-mozarella raviolis with sauce and a big spinach salad with raisins, almonds and dressing and a beer. After that I was once again stuffed and uncomfortable! Looking at my SWEET Life chart, I crossed out the amounts pretty well, just a bit lacking in dairy products, but I over-ate, and I've felt uncomfortably stuffed for much of the day.

Exercise
Thursday is my quick and dirty strength training day, so I did my exercises for each major muscle group while watching the news. Maya came in near the end and asked what I was doing with her soccer ball. Since it's a new month, I was trying some new ab exercises (I try to change them every month), which involved a medicine ball, which I don't have, so I used her soccer ball instead. One was to balance on your butt and pass the ball over and under each leg. You get so involved in passing the ball that you forget how much it's working your abs! The other one was to balance on your butt, hold the ball with both hands, and tap it to one side and the other to work your obliques. They are good ones!

Tranquility
After a very busy morning, my girls and I finally had our "quiet time" at 2:30. Surprisingly, I fell asleep, despite having slept so well last night, but after my little nap, I had my tranquility time to get a few things done for myself.

How do I feel?
I feel bloated and uncomfortable. I'm surprisingly awake for 10:30 p.m. on a Thursday, but I need to get to bed.

Time is of the Essence

Yesterday, Wednesday, I forgot to blog, and I would skip it except that I did live the SWEET Life! I slept; I drank water; I ate well; I exercised; and I got some tranquility. No interesting details, but I did it!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Preschool's Effect on the SWEET Life

I only lived three of the five aspects of the SWEET Life today, so I'll need to focus on the other two more tomorrow.

Sleep
Monday nights it's really hard for me to get enough sleep because my sleep is squeezed at both ends. I work until 9 p.m. Monday nights and come home and do as much as I can to prepare for Tuesday mornings. Tuesdays we all have to be up, ready and out of the house by 8:30, which is new for us. So, no, I didn't sleep enough, again, but I napped today with Maya and will try harder to go to bed earlier tonight.

Water
I forgot to drink a tall glass with each meal, but made up for it, so I'm on track.

Eating
Because of the morning rush, we typically have cold cereal, fruit and coffee on Tuesdays. After dropping the girls off at daycare and preschool, I felt I needed some protein and I was at a cafe. What do cafes have with protein? Ham and cheese croissant, mmm! But not so healthy. Maya and I went out to lunch at a new cafe (the Little House Cafe at the corner of Blanding and Oak St.), which was delicious! We shared a croque monsieur (grilled cheese with ham) and some of the best fruit salad I've ever had. It also came with a green salad, and I had a natural grape soda. We each had a delicious, fudgey cookie as a reward for eating well. Unfortunately, the sandwich was sadly small, about half the size of a regular sandwich because of the bread used, so I was still hungry. At home, I snacked on a small handful of peanuts (all we had), and since I still haven't gone to the grocery store, the only other thing I could find to eat was . . . Halloween candy. Ooohhh, too much candy. I was better at dinner. We were invited over to my mother-in-law's house where we had chicken, potatoes, couscous and persimmons. A bit lacking in vegies, but I was a guest, so the food choices were not mine.

Exercise
Tuesday & Thursday are my quick and dirty strength training days. This started a couple months ago when Maya started preschool, which meant that I didn't have much time to exercise in the morning. However, early morning is still the best time for me to get it done. So I throw on some clothes, go to the family room and do toning exercises, one minute per muscle group. It took about 40 minutes when I started, but now that I'm used to it, it takes less than 30 minutes. I was afraid that 30 minutes only twice a week wouldn't be enough to make a difference; however, I've noticed that in the past two months I've gotten stronger and my muscles look more toned. In the end, I'm really happy that such a short workout can create a noticeable improvement.

Tranquility
Again, Maya napped, so I got my tranquility. However, there were things I should have been doing around my house, rather than sitting at the computer.

How do I feel?
Strangely, my shins feel tight, in front, just above the ankles. I think it was the plie squats with a calf raise, although I hadn't really thought of that as working the shin muscles. I keep straightening my feet down to try to stretch them out. Otherwise, today was not a stellar day sleep-wise or food-wise. Fortunately, we're all tired and going to bed early. Tomorrow I'll try to eat healthier.

Monday, November 5, 2007

After a Weekend Away

I decided to start a blog as an example of one person living the SWEET Life and to keep me honest about practicing what I preach. I'll cover each aspect of the SWEET Life and any conclusions I come to about living the SWEET Life each day.

Sleep
I went to bed at 10:30 but didn't go to sleep until 11:30. My alarm went off at 6:00 but I didn't get up until 6:15. So that makes 7 1/2 hr. attempted sleep, but only 6 3/4 hr. actual sleep. Bummer, I didn't quite make my sleep goal of 7-8 hr.

Water
I had been filling a pitcher with 2 quarts water and drinking from it all day, but I haven't been consistent. So this month, I decided tdo try drinking a tall glass of water with each meal, plus a couple others throughout the day. So far, so good. I reached my goal of 8-10 cups today.

Eating
After a wonderful weekend away, filled with restaurant and party foods and drinks, it was nice to be home and eat basic foods from my fridge and pantry. Unfortunately, because we were away, the fridge is looking pretty bare. For breaky I mustered up a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter and Nutella (I know, not so healthy, but boy is it good!), grapes and coffee.

By lunch I was really hungry. I ate a whole wheat tortilla wrap with turkey and corned beef, cheese and hummus; some fiesta bean salad; baby carrots & broccoli florets dipped in hummus; and yogurt. My daughters and I had Halloween candy for dessert as a reward for eating a good lunch. Again, not healthy but I'd rather my girls eat 3 baby carrots and one piece of Halloween andy than 0 carrots and 0 candy. As for my candy-eating, read about my Exercise below.

Before work, I ate a handful or two of peanuts. I work 5-9:00 p.m. as a Personal Trainer at a health club, so I always snack beforehand and bring an energy bar. I always make sure to eat it so that I'm not ravenously hungry when I get home. When I got home at 9:15, I could smell a delicious dinner, so I was really disappointed to find out it had all been eaten! Bummer! I was hungry and just wanted to eat and do the fifteen things I needed to do before bed. I already mentioned that our fridge was empty, so what to do? . . . Unfortunately, in this situation I succumbed to the temptation of the 5-minute, frozen mac & cheese. Mmm, it's good, but a lot of calories, fat and sodium! I sort of made up for that by eating some more baby carrots and broccoli florets. Overall, I actually ate pretty well today, although it would have been better to have traded in the candy for vegetables. Gotta go to the store first; that's the key to eating well!

Exercise
I typically run down Alameda beach and back on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Today was a bit different because I felt "polluted" after my vacation/party weekend. I also happened to read this great article on post-party exercising, so I took the article's advice: I did interval training. I ran about 10 min. as a warm up; then I ran as hard as possible for one min., then jogged slowly to recover for one min., repeating that 8 times. I'd never done interval training before, and it was hard! After a few intervals, I could feel that my legs were moving much slower (during the fast intervals) but my heart was racing! What a way to burn extra calories and challenge my cardio. system! The last 10 min. I ran my regular pace home, where I did a little stretching and some new ab exercises. I've come to realize that I always need to do abs, and I like to change exercises every month for interest and a challenge.

Tranquility
This basically always depends on whether my toddlers nap. They did, so I got some alone time. It's not that I did anything very interesting: email, web surfing, organizing my day, but I really need some time to relax and think.

How do I feel?
I felt back on track after my intense run to burn off the weekend's "pollutants" and getting back to my usual eating/drinking/kid-rearing schedule. However, the late night mac & cheese is sitting in a mass in my stomach.

Overall, this was a pretty SWEET day. I was a bit shy on sleep, and probably consumed more fat than I should have, but it's a pretty good example of how the SWEET Life can work in real life.