What IS the WHOLE30??

I realize that I didn't go in to any detail about what exactly the whole30 is. I thought I'd take a minute to give you a quick rundown of the program in case you're interested and haven't looked into it at all. Of course I do recommend just heading over to the whole30 website and read about it all over there.

I have to laugh that I said "quick rundown"....nothing I do is quick! :)

So whole30 is a program designed to "reset" your system and help you determine what food groups have an effect on your body. I can't stress enough how awesome the book, "It Starts With Food" is. This book goes into so much detail and covers all the science behind what happens in your brain and body when you ingest certain things. It explains it in a way that even I could understand and although I may not be able to recite it to you, it made sense to me while I read it. So the program says to completely eliminate certain food groups that can potentially be having a negative impact on your life. Here are the rules of the program according to the website and the book:

Yes: Eat real food.Eat meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from fruits, oils, nuts and seeds. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they’re totally natural and unprocessed. Don’t worry… these guidelines are outlined in extensive detail in our free shopping list.
No: Avoid for 30 days.More importantly, here’s what NOT to eat during the duration of your Whole30 program. Omitting all of these foods and beverages will help you regain your healthy metabolism, reduce systemic inflammation, and help you discover how these foods are truly impacting your health, fitness and quality of life.

• Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, coconut sugar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize.

• Do not consume alcohol in any form, not even for cooking. (And it should go without saying, but no tobacco products of any sort, either.)

• Do not eat grains. This includes (but is not limited to) wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains and all of those gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa. This also includes all the ways we add wheat, corn and rice into our foods in the form of bran, germ, starch and so on. Again, read your labels.

• Do not eat legumes. This includes beans of all kinds (black, red, pinto, navy, white, kidney, lima, fava, etc.), peas, chickpeas, lentils, and peanuts. No peanut butter, either. This also includes all forms of soy – soy sauce, miso, tofu, tempeh, edamame, and all the ways we sneak soy into foods (like lecithin).

• Do not eat dairy. This includes cow, goat or sheep’s milk products such as cream, cheese (hard or soft), kefir, yogurt (even Greek), and sour cream… with the exception of clarified butter or ghee. (See below for details.)

• Do not eat white potatoes. This is somewhat arbitrary, but if we are trying to change your habits (chips and fries) and improve the hormonal impact of your food choices, it’s best to leave white, red, purple, Yukon gold, and fingerling potatoes off your plate.

• Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30.

• No Paleo-ifying baked goods, desserts, or junk foods. Trying to shove your old, unhealthy diet into a shiny new Whole30 mold will ruin your program faster than you can say “Paleo Pop-Tarts.” This means no desserts or junk food made with “approved” ingredients—no banana-egg pancakes, almond-flour muffins, flourless brownies, or coconut milk ice cream. Don’t try to replicate junk food during your 30 days! That misses the point of the Whole30 entirely.

One last and final rule: You are not allowed to step on the scale or take any body measurements for the duration of the program. This is about so much more than just weight loss, and to focus on your body composition means you’ll miss out on the most dramatic and lifelong benefits this plan has to offer. So, no weighing yourself, analyzing body fat or taking comparative measurements during your Whole30. (We do encourage you to weigh yourself before and after, however, so you can see one of the more tangible results of your efforts when your program is over.)
- See more at: http://www.whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/#sthash.B71U9pTH.dpuf

So that's it in a nutshell.

Challenging? Yes.
Impossible? Not at all.

The book goes in to a lot of detail about how eating certain processed, less than healthy foods has interrupted the communication between your brain and your body. Interestingly, the chiropractor that I went to see was saying the same type of thing. He was saying that there is no reason to count calories when you're eating real food because your body knows how much it needs. And, when you eat whole, real, food you get the nutrients you need so your body tells your brain when it has had enough. When you're eating crap (like really bad stuff - fast food, processed food, etc), you may be eating lots and lots of calories, but since your body isn't getting the nutrients it needs it keeps sending signals to the brain that it needs more food. And, because you just get the message of more food, you eat more crappy food. Hence the idea of "empty calories".

A couple of the things I really like about the program are 1) they even say in the book that they don't expect people to be whole365. Meaning, they don't think anyone is going to eliminate all of these things for a lifestyle change. They do say that these 30 days will "change your life" and change the way you see food, etc. I'm hoping that it will help with my unhealthy relationship with food. I'm thinking it may not change for me in 30 days, but I'm also willing and prepared to do more than one whole30 to eventually get to where I want to be. My hope is then I will follow a less strict, whole foods diet. Only time will tell.... 2) The program is actually NOT about losing weight. They (and when I say "they" I mean Dallas and Melissa Hartwig who wrote the book and came up with the program) say they don't really care if we lose weight. As you can see above, one of the rules is to not get on a scale for the full 30 days. But they do recommend before and after pictures so you can see the difference. The program is supposed to focus on resetting your body and therefore if you need to lose weight you will lose, if you need to gain you will gain and if you don't need either you'll maintain. We're testing this in our household. My husband and I both need to lose weight (me, more than him) and our children absolutely do not need to lose weight. We all got on the scale on day 0 (actually I think Robbie may not have) and we will weigh in again on day 31.

So there you have it. That's what we're doing. If nothing else, it should be an interesting 30 days!

My Whole30 Journey - Day 1

Here it is...Day 1 of my Whole30 challenge. But first, I feel like I need to put a disclaimer in here. So here it goes:

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with Whole9 (the company who came up with Whole30). When I claim that something is "Whole30 compliant" it is because I have read the book, "It Starts With Food", and believe from what I read that I know what I'm doing. However, I could always be wrong so please check it out for yourself if you plan to complete your own Whole30. This is my account of my personal Whole30 journey.

OK. Now that we got that out of the way.....

According to the whole30 website, the first day is the "So what's the big deal?" day. They basically say that during the first day you're feeling empowered by making good choices and are wondering why anyone would say this is hard. The next part cracks me up. It goes on to say, 

"This delusion is somewhat akin to the first episode of any given reality show on which the contestants are herded together and forced to live in one house." - (See more here)

So, just as they predicted; I'm feeling pretty good today. Here's what today looked like:

Breakfast 
Today's breakfast may not have been 100% compliant because I actually went out to breakfast. But, I tried my best. I got a scramble that had 2 eggs, ham, onions and green pepper. Instead of the toast and home fries that came with it, I got fruit. The ham most likely had added sugar and they may have cooked the eggs in butter. But, it's day 1 and I actually think I'll do this for longer than 30 days so I'm not stressing about it.

The kids and my husband had a scrambler that I made with eggs, onions, green peppers and chicken sausage. Now, I will say that I don't think the chicken sausage is actually compliant but we used it last time and my husband still had really good results so I think I'm not going to worry about it. It has less than 2% of sugar - the sugar would make it non compliant, but I made the choice that for us it is close enough.

Lunch
Breakfast actually kept me satisfied for about 3 to 3.5 hours. Which actually tells me that I should have a bigger breakfast. According to the book, you should eat 3 meals a day and avoid snacks. Your meals are supposed to be satisfying enough to last 4-5 hours. But, it is definitely a learning process so they say it's OK to snack if necessary.

Lunch was canned tuna (this is the tuna I used and it is SO good, but pricey) mixed with homemade mayo (this recipe is amazing and really so easy) and put on top of some lettuce. I then had carrots and sugar snap peas with homemade ranch dressing and grapes.

I did not love the ranch dressing. The recipe used the homemade mayo as a base, but added coconut milk (and other seasonings) to it so it has an obvious coconut flavor. I'm not a huge coconut fan so I didn't care for it. If you like coconut, you would probably love it! Mary (who doesn't like store bought ranch at all) said it was WAY better than store bought, but still just OK. I plan to try another ranch recipe that basically just uses the mayo and then adds seasonings to it to make it "ranch". I think I might like that better. I'll let you know! :)

I packed my husband's lunch to take to work this morning. He had a salad with chicken, pecans and oil/vinegar to dress it. I gave him some raw veggies with cashew butter as well. The kids helped me pack their lunches and were so excited (we'll see how long this lasts). They each had 3 deviled eggs (made with the homemade mayo), carrots and/or sugar snap peas (Mary had both, Robbie only had carrots), ranch (Robbie) or cashew butter (Mary) and grapes. Perhaps tomorrow I'll try to take a picture of their lunch.

Mary came home from school saying that she needs 4 deviled eggs tomorrow. However, it turns out that she only ate 2 little carrot sticks, 2 sugar snap peas and didn't finish her grapes. I knew the transition to eating lots of veggies would be a tough one for her. Robbie also said he needs 4 deviled eggs, but he ate all of his veggies (he also didn't like the ranch, but just ate the veggies plain) and all of his grapes. So I'll tweak their lunches tomorrow.

Snack
I did get hungry between lunch and dinner so I cut up an apple and had it with some cashew butter (in my Scooby Doo bowl).

The kids are very used to having a snack when they get off the bus. They were also hungry today since we're learning how much we really need to eat to keep us satisfied between meals. Robbie ate an apple and then tried a larabar and ended up only eating half. Mary tried the larabar and didn't like it, she had an apple and a deviled egg since she was still hungry.

Dinner
I found a recipe for meatballs and was eager to try it knowing that there's no way it could compete with my mom's meatballs! I also made spaghetti squash for the first time for a meatballs and spaghetti dinner. The consensus of dinner was YUMMO! The kids and the husband all had 5 meatballs (I had 4). The kids were not crazy about the squash (and to be completely honest neither am I), but they ate it. They made sure to take each bite of meatball with squash on it. There were no complaints of being hungry between dinner and bed (and dinner was early - before 5:30). But the kids don't usually eat after dinner so this isn't a huge adjustment.

The Lowdown of Day 1
All in all we had a very successful day 1. Mary told me that it was her friends birthday at school and doughnuts were brought in and she didn't even have one! She also said that all of her friends had Easter candy in their lunches and were teasing her (jealous, Mary?!?!) and she was still compliant! I LOVE it!

The biggest hurdle today was what to drink at dinner. The kids wanted something other than water, but there really isn't much you can drink during the whole30. I would like to try flavoring water with some fruits, but I just haven't done it yet. I also think I ate a little more fruit than they recommend (and I know the kids did, but I don't care about that). They recommend something like 1-2 servings of fruit a day and I think I had about 3 - so really not bad.

It's a good thing that day 1 was such a success because looking at the timeline, things are going to get a little rocky from  here until about day 16!

A Tough Choice

Well, I guess I lied! My last post (WAY back in January) talked about how I thought my new approach to eating and exercising was working. Yea, we all know how this goes with me. It didn't last long. I probably jinxed it right after I wrote the blog post.

I suppose the good news is that I "only" weigh 3 pounds more than I did on January 6th. This is actually a very big deal and I'm going to be quite happy about that...considering. Clearly, I have struggled with getting back on track. Considering how off track I've been, I'm amazed and happy that I've only done 3 more pounds worth of damage. And it ends NOW!

Back in March I decided to meet with a chiropractor who apparently does a lot with nutrition and how food affects your overall health (including things like Crohn's disease). I have always been hesitant about any "holistic" medicine. I don't necessarily have a good reason for being hesitant about it other than;  it could be expensive since insurance won't pay for it, and then what if it doesn't work anyway.

My mom said that when she was talking to this doctor about me he was so excited to work with me because working with "cases" like me are his passion. I was impressed when I met with him and he spent an hour and twenty minutes talking to me. He said that he believes he can help me if I'm willing to do what is necessary. He went through all the science behind what happens to your body when you eat certain foods like refined carbohydrates and other processed food. He basically told me that he thinks he could help me, but only if I'm willing to do what is necessary. He said that we could take baby steps, but that I would likely have to give up certain things (like refined carbs and processed foods).

I don't know if I blogged about it at all (I don't think I did), but back in August 2013, my husband and I tried the Whole30. He did it for almost the entire 30 days, but I wasn't able to last because I was too sick to eat anything, let alone a bunch of veggies and meat. I was also overly stressed because of how sick I was feeling and just couldn't deal with it. However, my husband had wonderful results. He would have kept going, but I stopped cooking for him after his doctor's appointment. In just 24 days he lost 17lbs (and losing that weight probably put him within 10lbs of his goal weight) and all of his numbers (cholesterol, blood pressure, etc) were within normal range.

So, the tough choice was to embark on another Whole30 journey. Starting tomorrow, my entire family is going to start a Whole30 challenge. I plan to blog my experience daily so anyone who is interested can read and learn more about it. This way of eating tends to be a little controversial because you're eliminating basically everything but lean proteins (meat, seafood, chicken, turkey, etc), veggies, fruit, healthy fats (olive oil, avocado's, coconut oil, etc) and nuts and seeds. I am sure it will be challenging, but we are actually all looking forward to it. The website has a lot of great information and even gives a timeline of things you can expect to experience while your body goes through withdrawal of things like sugar.

The hope is that through this I'll re-start my journey to a healthier me and work on everything from my Crohn's disease to my weight problems to my unhealthy relationship with food. Wish me luck!

It might be working....

One of the things I did want to do this year was to blog more. As you can see, I haven't really succeeded in that endeavor. I can't seem to get past the feeling that no one wants to read my ramblings. But, I suppose if they don't want to, they don't have to and I can just write for myself...and anyone who does want to read about my journey of life!

So I left you in December bidding farewell to 2013 and welcoming 2014 with open arms. I set some pretty specific and small (but important) goals for 2014.

My first goal was to work on being accountable, but not too hard on myself and the second goal was to lose 50lbs between Jan 1st and Dec. 31st. Well, I didn't really "start" until Jan. 6th. And I decided that as long as the scale is moving down each week I will be happy. I also decided to track my food and it will be what it is; there will be some days that I eat within my calorie range and they'll be days I go over it.

It's only been a little over 3 weeks, but I almost think this might be working. This might be the trick for me to not get totally crazy about losing weight. The first week wasn't great. I tracked my food and stayed within my calorie range for about 3 days. But, I weighed myself the next week and was down .8lbs. It was what it was. I honestly felt pretty indifferent about it. I was happy that the number was down and was determined to just keep going. I recorded my weight and moved on. I was hoping to have a better week than the previous one, but I wasn't stressing myself about it.

Week 2 starts and again I do well for about 3.5 days. My hubby found out on Thursday that he passed a big test he had taken in December so we went out to dinner to celebrate. I thought about staying within my calorie range, but decided that I really wanted the steak and loaded baked potato that I usually get at Longhorn so I made the conscious decision and, again, was fine with it. I didn't really track the rest of the week, but when Monday rolled around I still weighed in and recorded my weight (gain or loss) for the week. I was down .6lbs this time. Again, I did not let this bother me (amazing!) and just kept trucking along. I was happy that the scale was down and not up and decided that I would simply continue to try to do better.

Last week was week 3. This time I tracked all 7 days. I stayed within my calorie range 4 days and went over by about 200 calories each day for 3 days (the weekend...ugh). But what is so great about this is that from that first week up until last week, the way I have FELT hasn't really changed. It is what it is and I'm OK with that. When I got on the scale on Monday I was down 3.4lbs, for a total of 4.8lbs in 3 weeks. I would usually be overly excited about the 3.4lb loss, especially on a week that I went over my calories for 3 days; BUT, I was pretty indifferent. Happy? Yes. Overly excited? No. Over analyzing about how many calories my body must actually need or can handle and still lose weight?? Nope. Just re-started a new week with the same thoughts as the previous 3 - keep going. Track my food, try my best to stay within my calories and move on.

The other goal was to exercise at least 3 days a week. I'm killing this goal! Again, nothing really started until January 6th, but since then I've exercised 16 days. That amounts to 4 days the first and second weeks, 6 days last week and already 2 for 2 this week! The exercising is coming so easily because I'm putting no pressure on myself. Last week I just kept getting on the treadmill or my bike trainer every day because I decided I could burn some calories while watching an episode of Lost on Netflix instead of just sitting on my butt watching it. I even did my first brick workout of the year! I rode on my bike trainer for 30 minutes and then decided to walk on the treadmill for another 30 minutes.

I DO find myself getting a little insane about how many calories I'm burning. There are SO many different calorie burning calculators out there that it's impossible to know what's "right". However, I try to stop myself from over analyzing and I choose a number in between that I think seems "reasonable". I must not be too far off since I AM losing some weight. However, it does tempt me to indulge in something like the Fitbit Flex so "I'll know", but then I realize that it's just another thing and if I don't like the number that gives me perhaps I'll question it too.

Now come on, you didn't really think I could change THAT much in 3 weeks, did you?? But, the good news is that I'm not (yet) totally driving myself crazy over this weight loss. I'm tracking, eating mostly good but still what I want and exercising almost daily.

And the best news of all?? My Crohn's continues to stay at bay. I feel really good and am hopeful it will only continue to get better as I lose this weight and regain my fitness!

2014 Hopes and Dreams

Hopes and Dreams….I thought that was better than goals or resolutions.

I've said it before; I don't like to make "resolutions". But I do like to set goals for the year. Funny though, how just a change in the word makes a difference. I never used to set resolutions because it was always just that I needed and wanted to lose weight. I would; and would just as quickly gain it back plus some. I soon decided I enjoy having goals to strive for in addition to losing weight. It gives me a better sense of focus (sometimes). But really, call them what you want; goals, resolutions, hopes, dreams - it's all the same.

A goal..like finish an Olympic Triathlon

I don't know that I've ever been quite as happy as I am this year to see a year come to an end. I am more than ready to bid farewell to 2013 and celebrate the fresh start of 2014. 

However, coming up with a list of goals for 2014 is much more challenging than in years' past. 2012 was such a great year. I had only a few goals (4 to be exact) and met all but 1 of them. I would have met the 4th, but that is when I was really starting to get sick and just couldn't muster up the energy to complete the 2 more races I needed to meet that goal. 2013, on the other hand, has been a much more difficult year. But we've already discussed this at length (here, here, and here - to name a few). 

I have a feeling my 2014 goals need to be significantly smaller than ones that I am used to making. There probably will not be any Olympic Triathlons (or perhaps even sprint ones), marathons (maybe not even half marathons), multiple races, etc. I need to think smaller in order to stay healthy (Crohn's-wise) and get healthier. That's really the ONLY goal that matters in 2014. But, I think I can break this down to smaller goals so that I can really focus on being the healthiest me I can be. 

Goal #1: Figure out how to be accountable (i.e. stay on track) without being too hard on myself. Heck, figure out how to not be so hard on myself in general. Two of my friends suggested that I make this my first goal for 2014. I've heard countless people tell me I'm too hard on myself, so perhaps it's time to focus on this. Honestly, I am not sure how to do this. I think this is going to be one of the most difficult goals I have, but I also think it will do a lot for my overall health. 

Goal #2: Lose at least 50lbs between Jan. 1st and Dec. 31st. Wow…this one is REALLY specific, but totally doable. This would amount to less than 1lb per week overall, which is not unreasonable. I have significantly more weight than that to lose, but this will be a great start. I usually set weight loss goals to lose 2lbs per week and although I may have been able to lose 10lbs in 5 weeks before; it usually ends after that. I really want to see if I can meet this goal once and for all. If I can consistently lose weight (slowly, but steady) for the course of a year it will be an enormous accomplishment. 

Goal #3: Exercise at least 3 days per week. This will be much different than the last few years as well. This "exercise" can be anything that I can do at the moment. Right now, that may be just walking and that has got to be OK. This is where those small steps come in to play.  I need to be careful in regards to stressing my body so that my Crohn's can stay at bay. I am sure being physically active and losing weight will only help me in the long run (duh), but doing it too fast can tax my body too much and quickly put me in another flare.  

And that's it. I think those are the three most important things to focus on this year. Would I like to get back to doing races? Absolutely. However, I have no idea if that's realistic for me this year or not. However, if I can meet these goals AND stay healthy this year it will set the table for some lofty goals in 2015 and beyond. 

Farewell 2013. You beat the hell out of me, but you didn't break me. I hope that you all have a wonderful end to your 2013. And here's to an amazing 2014!

2013 Goals Revisited….part 2

In case you missed the first part for some reason you can find it here.

I left you with Goal #7 in the last post. So, let's continue….

Goal #8: Volunteer at the kids school more.
I have ABSOLUTELY met this goal! Not only have I started volunteering on a bi-monthly basis in the office at the elementary school; I have since gotten myself added to the substitute secretary list for the school district.

Goal #9 - Learn to chill. 
This is a tough one. Kind of like the eating out less and spending less goal, I think I've made some significant progress with this one. I actually think not working and spending more time being a mom has made me more patient with the kids. They still have the ability to get on my last nerve, but not like before and certainly not as quickly as before. Still a work in progress, but I'm definitely in a better place regarding my anxiety.

Goal #10 - Don't fall off the wagon the last 1-3 months of the year (or the first 1-3 for that matter)! 
Didn't do too well with this one. I fell off after being in the hospital in January (duh!)…and really haven't gotten back on yet.

Goal #11 - Find a new distance race for another instant PR. 
Didn't do it. But, I would like to do a 15k for my new distance once I get back there….

Goal #12 - Lose enough weight to do another marathon.
Clearly….no. This will continue to be a goal in my mind though.

Goal #13 - Consistently improve my running (and fitness in general) and keep improving until Jan. 1st 2014 (and then continue to improve after that).  
Broken record….didn't do this.

So there you have it. Clearly 2013 was a tough year and not many goals were met. I think I'll agree with my mom who said it's time to bid a farewell to 2013 and start with a clean slate for 2014. I will be coming up with my 2014 goals soon. I'm not going to be nearly as ambitious for next year. I won't be picking 14 goals for 2014 or anything like that. It's going to be hard, but I'm going to try to start small and work my way up. We'll see what I come up with…..

2013 Goals Revisited….part 1

So last year I wrote a post about my 2012 goals revisited. However, if you follow my blog at all or know me in real life, you know that 2013 was a rough year for me. Needless to say this post may not be quite as positive as last year's. Last year I also thought it would be fun to come up with 13 goals for 2013. Yea, that might not have been such a grand idea! I don't really know what I was thinking. When I composed that post I was feeling like crap and was getting worse every day. I think I was in complete denial and thought that if I could just snap out of it, I'd be able to meet lots of goals. Anyway, I'm going to divide this into two blog posts since it's 13 goals and I tend to get wordy anyway. You can thank me later!

So, without further ado let's recap my 13 goals for 2013 and see how I faired.

Goal #1: Take care of myself. 
Although it seems that I have successfully found the medication that seems to be working to put my Crohn's back into remission (knocking on wood); I let emotional eating and feeling sick get the best of me. In the process of going through my worst flare yet, I gained back all the weight I had lost and found an additional 6+ pounds. So, I met this goal because I actually stopped to take care of myself in regards to the Crohn's flare (even if I was completely forced to). But, I did not meet this goal because I did not take care of my health in any other way. I stopped exercising (for a while because I was too sick to exercise, but then because I was just lazy); and I ate like crap pretty much all year (well, when I could eat without feeling sick).

Goal #2: Lose some weight
See explanation above. I have no real excuse for this. I can blame some of the weight gain on the steroids that I had to be on for about 9 months of this calendar year. But, I can't blame the entire 35+ pounds that I've gained on that. I can blame the fact that I couldn't exercise at all from about January to March/April on the disease. But I can't blame the fact that I can't seem to get re-motivated to consistently workout currently on the disease.

Goal #3: Work towards a 2:30 half marathon and PR in the half marathon in 2013. 
With the way my 2013 started, there was pretty much no way I was going to meet this goal this year. I began my year with a week long hospital stay and didn't get better until almost April (and then got really sick again in August). I don't know that many people would recover from that to PR in a race. So, this is what it is and I will continue to put this on my "to-do" list!

Goals 4 & 5: Complete at least one sprint (4) and one Olympic (5) triathlon in 2013. 
Obviously that didn't happen either. This is going to be a trend throughout these posts because a LOT of my 2013 goals were fitness related. I couldn't do that this year. I did not complete a single race in 2013.

Goal 6: Eat out less. 
I'm not sure where I am on this goal. I think that overall I probably have eaten out less this year. Still not as little as we need to be so this will be something to continue to work on.

Goal #7: Spend less money.
Hmmm…I think that we really did meet this one (in some ways). I quit my job back in January when I was so sick, but I had actually planned to quit it in May anyways. I put this on my goal list in anticipation of leaving my job. Then, January happened and I decided I really couldn't stay until May. Given that we cut a significant amount of money off our income and are still surviving, I would say we've met this goal. But again, not as much as I would like. We need to continue to work on this as a family. Goes hand in hand with the eating out!

To be continued……..