Three Things Thursday ...

1. I am a food journalist. As in, I keep a food journal and have pretty much everyday for the last decade. I feel like it has been a crucial part to my weight loss and maintenance. Over the past few months though, I have become lazy in my food journaling. I didn't monitor my calories as closely as I usually do. Instead, I attempted (rather poorly, I might add) to keep track in my head. As a result, I ended up carrying around an extra six pounds. After stepping off the scale, I immediately decided to go back to hardcore food journaling. And this time, I was going high tech.

I did a little research of online food tracking sites and decided to go with SparkPeople. And now, I am mildly obsessed. This site is fantastic. It's super easy to set up and customize to your preferences. And it does everything for you. You just type in what and how much you ate and it calculates all the nutritional data. After two weeks, I have already dropped two of those unwanted six pounds. And the best part is that there is a SparkPeople app for iPhone and BlackBerry. I am in love ...

2. And speaking of food, I have made a big change in what I am eating. Over the past four weeks, I have transitioned to a pescatarian diet (a vegetarian who eats fish and eggs.) I really wanted to improve the quality of my diet and I've never been a big fan of red meat (I have a take it or leave it attitude towards poultry), so the choice seemed kind of obvious. Plus, as a family, we were already eating several vegetarian meals a week. I'm not sure that I will ever get J to be a total convert, but that doesn't mean I won't try.

3. And on the topic of brainwashing, I'm in the process of converting my children into hardcore runners. Both Dizzle and Doodle have run races before, but they've been on a bit of a hiatus due to the freakishly cold weather. Yesterday, I asked Dizzle if she wanted to go on a run on the TREADMILL to which she replied, "Yes, but can we watch our TV shows like you?"

It seemed like a simple request. So, I dressed the girls in their running skirts, turned on the TV and sent them to run in place.

Each of them logged a half mile and were begging for more. I think I just figured out what to do with them when we are all going a little stir-crazy ...

runner vs. thrower ...

In case you missed it, I wasn't always a runner. In fact, I was the opposite of a runner. I was a thrower (yes, I was beefcake like a thrower too). J was also a thrower. And we have always said that our children would be throwers. Anyway, both J and I competed at Division I colleges (me - shot put and discus, J - hammer). It's how we met. And I am super thankful for that.

I loved being a thrower. But I love being a runner more. And that is why now I REALLY want my children to be multis (track talk for those who do it all, run/throw/jump), instead of strictly throwers. A good multi is hard to come by. Which means that if you are decent, you can usually get some sort of scholarship.

But that is not the point of this post. Instead, the point is to highlight how my children are already weighing in on the runner vs. thrower debate. Yesterday, while driving home from G's, the girls got in a little fight that went something like this ...

Me: "Are you guys going to race with me?"
Dizzle: "No! Doodle is going to be a thrower when she grows up. Daddy said so."
Doodle: "NO! I'm going to be a runner. Not a thrower!"
Dizzle: "Nope! Daddy said you are going to be a thrower!"
Doodle (now crying and screaming): "I AM GOING TO BE A THROWER AND A RUNNER."
Dizzle (in a snarky tone): "Hmph. Well, I am going to be ONLY a runner."

Really, girls? Since when is being ONLY a runner, the superior way to be? And while we're at it, what kind of 3 and 5 year olds fight about this stuff? Oh, wait. I know. The kind who have parents who peg you as an athlete before you are even born ...