How did I become the 'scrap-eating' dog?

Every morning, I am awakened by a very cute, inquisitive, thumb-sucking audience member who doesn't say a word to wake me, just simply stares. In the beginning, it was a bit freaky. Now I feel a little off if I wake before her. I then scoop my pretty little blonde into bed to talk about our dreams and the day ahead of us. What a beautiful beginning to a day, right? Sure. I eventually have to get out of bed and walk by the scale on my way to the sink.  I’m not sure why I keep it there since it instantly alters my mood as I find myself shooting it the stink eye. It has a funny little way of reminding me that I suck at portion control and that I sold my treadmill to make room for pack n’ plays, baby bouncers and infant swings. Where did all of my young-youthful energy go? How did I wake up one day sporting mom jeans, a messy ponytail, driving a mini-van?

For the past 2 years, I couldn't figure out why I wasn’t losing any weight when I was constantly chasing children around. I run a daycare out of my home, so I often have 4 or 5 toddlers I am chasing after. Once I started a new routine of “clean-eating”, I soon realized what I had been doing to myself all of this time. I first started noticing when I’d go to make the kids a meal. I typically would have tested it by taking a bite to make sure it wasn’t too hot. If it was too hot, I found myself taking more bites until it was cool enough to serve. Part of my new diet plan obviously didn’t include dino-nuggets, macaroni and cheese, or mini pizzas. Why was I even eating these things to begin with? It’s because busy moms are starving! We often don’t have time to make ourselves something and find ourselves grabbing a handful of whatever the kids are eating . I then had to teach the kids to test and blow on their own food. I also find myself buying them healthier food choices so that we can all eat together. Another thing I quickly discovered by the amount of Tupperware I was now washing and Ziplocs I was going through, was that I had been eating crazy amounts of leftovers so that they wouldn’t go to waste. How did I become the scrap-eating dog??? It was quite the wake-up call that I needed and it suddenly all made sense.

I decided to make a change. No more fear of the scale or the number looking back at me. It was time for my reality check and I surely got one. That was 3 weeks ago. I’m down 6 lbs and that’s a step in the right direction. I hope this helps some of you who also battle with trying to find the time, energy and self-discipline to face the scale and figure out what may be going wrong in your kitchens, too. Remember to smile. It’s more important to be happy and true to yourself. You are a kick ass mom.  Just remember to cut back on the dino-nuggets!