The Power of Food

It's amazing to me the difference that the food I eat makes on my mood and ability to get things done around the house. For the past few days, I have really made an effort to eat healthily and think about what I'm putting into my mouth. I limited sweets, ate more vegetables (mainly salads, but I jazzed up the lettuce with shredded cabbage & carrots, etc), more fruit, and drank more water. We are out of soda, which is a good thing--when we have soda, we drink it. And however much the Coca-Cola™ company might wish to persuade me that their Diet Coke Plus® is a healthy option now that it has added vitamins, I'm pretty sure its nutritional defects are still far outweighed by the pluses of plain water or milk. I haven't even been drinking coffee. I've been alternating blueberry-banana yogurt smoothies with flaxseed and oatmeal for breakfast on alternate days...and I mean real steel-cut oatmeal, not the instant pre-sweetened stuff. I've even foregone desserts a few nights after dinner. And I have felt GOOD!

Over the past few days, I have also been incredibly productive. I've cleaned out brambles from flower beds outside (a job I have been putting off because I was dreading it, and I just felt like doing it on Tuesday and went to town while DS was napping and DD entertained herself with the flowers in the yard). I folded 13 loads of laundry and put it all away. I re-installed the bit of cabinet face on the underside of the kitchen cabinet with the new floor, so it looks tidy again. I fixed the two broken towel racks in the kids' bathroom. I hand weeded around all the tomato plants and onions. I tidied away all the kids' toys in the living room, re-organized DS' room, vacuumed & cleaned his floor, then vacuumed and cleaned the living room, dining room, kitchen, and den. The floor cleaning was this morning, however...then I got pooped.

What did I have for breakfast today? Multigrain Cheerios with vanilla soymilk. Okay, but I didn't feel as full or jazzy...probably why I pooped out and didn't clean the birdcage or the hallway floors. Enter lunch--Costco pizza & a mix of Sprite and zero-juice lemonade. Erg, I did NOTHING except put the kids down for their naps, and then be incredibly cranky with DD because she wasn't going to sleep. I even napped myself for about twenty minutes. I just didn't want to do anything. Go outside into the garden & pull a few weeds? Nah. When the kids got up, I just couldn't deal with their energy! A somewhat interesting errand, finding a few more summer clothes for DD, suddenly got bumped up the priority list so I could occupy myself & them for an hour or two. When we got home, we all had some Cool Ranch Doritos for a snack (a food item that is verboten around here for the very good reason that they contain MSG, which gives me headaches...but I gave in to myself reminiscing about their good taste & bought a bag the other day). Sure enough, I could feel a few twinges later from the handful I consumed.

What is really striking is the difference in the kids. Still full of energy, sure, but DD was so naughty!! Was it just the naptime, or did the food make a difference? She has been SO GOOD the past few days, it really makes me think that junk food really is JUNK when it comes to bringing out the best in kids. And boy, it does make a huge difference for me!

Tomorrow I am back on the oatmeal wagon, and salad for lunch. I like feeling better, and I like being more productive. Junk food might taste good, but from what I experienced today, it is too high a price to pay. No thanks!