I would imagine that every elite athlete, movie star, or singer has at one point had a dream that led them to their ultimate goal.  Now, while I did at one point dream of fame and fortune, I have resigned myself to the fact that I will be best known as a pretty good reading teacher, a wife to an amazing husband, and mother to the most incredible gifts I have ever been given, my three children.

        My goal is not nearly so lofty as the aforementioned superstars.  I just want to lead a happy, healthy lifestyle with a slightly more (or is it less?) flabulous body.  I just need a plan to keep me going in the right direction.

            In our school district, Robert Marzano is an educational guru.  He and his colleagues have identified some of the most effective teaching practices that can be used with students.  One strategy is setting goals and providing feedback.  I have decided that what is good for education must be good for real life, right? I am hoping this could be a powerful strategy for me to improve my life as well.

            In a little less than two weeks, I will be celebrating birthday number forty-something.  One month ago, I decided that as a birthday present to myself, I would set the goal of finally breaking my plateau and bringing my weight under the 170s.  From experience, I know that it is not enough to just set a goal--you need to identify steps to help you meet that goal.  So here we go:

    **Step #1: Bump up my exercise.  Despite running 3 days a week, which has enabled me to maintain my current weight, I need to do more in order to move forward on my journey. 

    **Step #2: Track my food. I have gotten lazy on my portions and snacking and need to find a better way to hold myself accountable…enter the dreaded tracking.

    **Step #3: Drink my water.  In addition to keeping me hydrated, the extra water will fill me up so I don’t overeat when I am not really hungry.

        So for the last few weeks, I have added an extra stationary bike workout or two, and I religiously consumed enough water to keep me running in desperation to every restroom I happen to pass.  The tracking has not been as easy.  With a busy lifestyle as a teacher, mother, wife, etc., I find this to be the most challenging step.  Despite this, I am almost there.  I am at 171 with just under two weeks until the big day, but I have to say, no matter what the outcome, I am a winner.  I set a goal, identified some steps, and worked hard to make moves in the right direction.  I am almost there, but I have to remember, life is not a race, it’s a journey.  If I have to revise my goal, oh well…I will keep moving forward.

        Having a partner in crime can be a good thing—think Ben and Jerry or Jobs and Wozniak—or a bad thing—think Bonnie and Clyde or Thelma and Louise.  My partner in crime for life is my husband Sean. Now, we have many amazing collaborations together, our children Niall, Siobhan, and Eoin to name just a few, but not all our collaborations have been positive.  Before Sean and I were married, we were actually fit and healthy people.  Fast forward 20 plus years and you can see what our marriage has done for our figures.  Lots of love and happy times, but lots of weight and unhealthy eating habits as well.

            We have had many amazing adventures in our life, which unfortunately are usually connected with food of some kind.  There are our trips to San Francisco that must include crab, sourdough bread, and a trip to Ghiradelli’s for a hot fudge sundae.  Our vacations to Pismo Beach would not be complete without a stop at The Cracked Crab where they throw crab, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn right on your tabletop…no plates necessary.  Our car trip to New Orleans would not have been complete without beignets, po’ boys, bananas foster, and the all you can eat jazz brunch at the Court of the Two Sisters.  For anniversaries and birthdays, our celebrations usually include a meal at a restaurant with family and friends. 

            Lately, Sean and I have embarked on a new partnership.  First, I conned him into training and running our first half marathon at Disneyland.  I think he may still be cursing me for this one.  I dragged him out of bed three times a week at five in the morning to train with me, and despite not being a morning person, he came without much of a fight.  We finished our first race together, crossing the finish line just a few minutes apart from each other.

            Despite the fact that Sean has embarked on a new journey, biking, he continues to keep me company by riding laps back and forth so it still feels like we are in this together.  The other day we traveled together over the back roads of Murrieta, Sean on his bike and me in my new Asics running shoes.  At the end of this 6 mile trek, we met at a local eatery for a well deserved breakfast.  The difference is that this time, instead of stuffing our faces, we shared a couple of pancakes, some sausage, and a side of fresh fruit.  We will always enjoy our food. Heck, why else would anyone exercise?  But now we realize that moderation is the key.  We can have our cake, and eat it, too.  Only now, we will be tackling one piece…together.

       My journey has had many bumps along the way and I’ve also had my share of detours.  No matter how successful I am, I continue to revert back to my old habits when the road gets tough.  This has been one of those times. 

        As I shared in my last blog, I have all the tools, the know-how, and at times even the will to do what is right.  Despite all this, I continue to let stress dictate the foods I eat.  I equate my food addiction to what an alcoholic or drug addict goes through when they fall off the wagon.  Now I know that seems a bit extreme as, for the most part, my food addition doesn’t hurt my family, doesn’t lead to rehab, and will never, hopefully, lead to jail time.  The one thing that food addicts deal with like no other addiction is that we need food just to survive.  A drug addict and alcoholic can, theoretically, go cold turkey.  If I do that, I will have reverted back to an old problem…eating disorder.

        So here I am, unwilling to go back, and needing to do something to continue my journey.  This is when I realize I need to go back to what worked in the beginning, tracking my food.  Now I do not like tracking, in fact, just threatening myself with tracking usually improves my food choices in no time, but it is time to put the pencil to the paper and take a closer look at what I am eating.

        Starting today, I will be writing down every morsel of food that I put in my mouth from the time I get up with the sun to the time my head hits the pillow at night.  Why does this work?  First, it makes you think about your food choices.  Who wants to write down and calculate a spoonful of ice cream, a handful of tortilla chips, or a leftover bite taken from a child’s plate.  Secondly, you will start to see patterns in your eating that will guide you to what is causing your weight to go in the wrong direction.  You may need to get rid of some tempting food, have better food choices available, or be more mindful of the portions that are going on your plate.  Finally, tracking your food enables you to have a written record of healthy meals that can be referred to during weeks when you are too busy to think about your food.

        I also want to share a very timely email I received this week from Hungry Girl, Lisa Lillien. In addition to tracking my meals, I will be living by her Top 5 Food-Related Rules:

1.     Don’t Drink Your Calories

2.     The 80/20 rule--80 percent of the time eat what you know you should be eating, and 20 percent of the time, allow yourself to stray a bit.

3.     Don't turn a bad meal into a bad week.

4.     Identify and avoid your trigger foods.

5.     Don't make excuses -- it's all about being prepared.

So this Mother’s Day weekend I will be prepared and tracking so that this little detour does not stand in the way of the more flabulous me that is just waiting to break out.