No run today, but have some thoughts to share on exercise, eating and habits

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

No Run Today

Sadly the snow came in wet and heavy last night. And even sadder I run too heavy for that kind of snow, it just cakes on like mud, making my footing just too treacherous. So I slept in. But I still got in a workout as I spent a good 30 minutes shoveling snow and clearing snow off cars. So the storm wasn't a total loss.

But I have a few thoughts on health matters that I will share here today.

1. Faced with a quandary this week. I have a night out to myself, which I choose to take for sanity reasons. But the question is what to do? Normally I would go out to eat and then maybe go see a movie. Or just go see a movie. But there is no movie that really interests me. And one of my points of emphasis is not to focus on eating as an end to itself, especially not a dinner. If I want to stick to the spirit of the Skinny Rules when I eat a dinner it should be light and/or small, and there are not a lot of dining options that meet that criteria. I will probably pick a movie to go to, and stick with my practice of having a good lunch and then something light for dinner.
2. Just made a personal commitment on the dining out front. No Fast food burgers & fries until I come under 190. And no Western Omelette (favorite breakfast) out until I crack 200. The first one is what I want to focus on. I have done real well on the fast food front since January. I haven't had any burgers or fries from fast food since the beginning of the year. And only a couple of light meals from Taco Bell over all. That's not ideal, ideal would be no fast food at all, but that's not feasible with 3 kids in the house. Of course the extended ideal would be to not go back to the Wendy's, McDonalds, Carls Jr diet at all. And that really is more what I want. But I do crave the stuff from time to time and I think the best approach is to set a goal/requirement before I can eat it.
3. James has been under the weather this week (again.) This time it's a stomach issue. But if there is one upside to my having gone through all of my own digestive issues is I know what is good and what isn't. So I talked with him a little this morning and stressed that this is a sign that it might be time to start making some changes. Not big ones, because he is really our best eater. But just a few simple changes. Getting away from the bland marshmallow white bread and switching to more wheat bread, and decent wheat bread. Finding better quick meal solutions for the kids in general than chicken nuggets, corn dogs and ramen noodles. It sure would be a hell of a lot easier for Kim and I to eat better if we could get the kids to join with us to a greater extent.