Fool-Proof Diet

I haven’t been sleeping much at night. It isn’t my twins fault. They sleep 11-12 hours a night, lucky babies! Ever since I was pregnant, I have had trouble sleeping. When I was pregnant, I chalked it up to hormones and just dealt with it, knowing the babies were worth the exhaustion. Now, the twins are 10 months old and I still cannot sleep. In the past 5 days I have had trouble sleeping at least 3 nights.

So naturally I wanted to nap today when the babies went down for their nap.  But, lo and behold, I could not fall asleep. It seemed like 5 minutes had passed before my son woke up crying. I stumbled across the hall, bleary eyed, with legs like a newborn giraffe, to the nursery. Of course my daughter decided to wake up just then also. Once I was safe to carry passengers down the staircase I took the kids downstairs and just sat there trying to wake up. It was at this moment that I had the brilliant thought “I should go eat some Oreos for the sugar rush…I need the energy.” Brilliant right? Ugh. I am disgusted with myself.

Thankfully, I never got around to eating those Oreos; the twins had other plans. By the time I made it into the kitchen it was time to prepare the kiddo’s 3:00 meal. I grabbed a ripe pear to mash for them, and man did it smell good! By the time I peeled the thing, I couldn’t resist eating it! Yes, I ate my kid’s 3:00 snack. And it was delicious. Now before you get all judge-y, know that I peeled another pear and mashed it up with a banana for the babies. And they loved it.

As I pondered my near run in with a sugar crash, I discovered a fool proof way to cut junk-food eating out of your diet. Don’t buy it. Plain and simple. Don’t bring it home. We were doing so well, eating so healthy. Then one night, I got the urge and the words popped out of my mouth, “I wish I had some Oreos.” And my husband, being the great man that he is, volunteered to go out at 9:00pm to buy me some. What a great guy. Oreos were just the gateway drug. Once we had the Oreos in the house it was all too easy to buy cheese puffs, combos, chips, soda, chocolate…and then some lovely ladies had a brunch at my house and so kindly left all the goodies with us. So then we were also eating cinnamon pecan rolls and pumpkin muffins, oh and more chocolate.

So as I found myself eating Oreos dunked in milk, followed by handfuls of cheese puffs…I was disgusted with myself. Partly for the fat and calories (empty ones might I add) but also for the chemical crap that is in them. I always feel gross after eating that kind of stuff, yet I can’t stop myself if it is in the house. Thankfully I wear yoga pants most of the day (not that I do yoga in them) so I don’t know if my waist size has increased any.

So here are my tips for not eating junk:

1.  Don’t buy it!

2.  Don’t go to the grocery store hungry.

3.  If someone offers you junk, start barking at them, or just say no.

4.  Tell your loved ones to step on your toes if you ever again say you want Wendy’s, followed by chicken McNuggets at McDonalds. Or any something like that.

5.  Stock up on healthy snacks you will actually enjoy, not what you think you should have because Dr. Oz said so. It will just mold on your counters.

Most importantly, Remember to slow down and enjoy the fruits of your labor and love on a daily basis and you will start to see life as a Mama on the Bright Side.