September 07, 2016

Back to school

Yesterday was the first day of school for my boys. Noah is now in 7th grade, and Eli is now in 5th grade. They are both at the same school this year, which makes things so convenient. They start and end school at the same time (last year, it was an hour apart), so I can drop them both off and pick them both up together.

As I establish a routine for this fall, I decided to establish a bedtime for myself in order to get more sleep. Since I get up at 6:00 with the kids, I'm going to go to bed at 10:00. And instead of watching TV before bed, I'm going to read for 30 minutes. Last night, I did just that--and this morning, I woke up without an alarm at 5:45.

The kids first day of school went really well yesterday. Eli was super excited, and Noah was super nervous, but they both had a great day. When I went to the school to pick up Eli (Noah had cross country practice after school), Noah was out there, too. He told me that he wants to quit cross country.

At first, I thought he was just being dramatic because it was so hot and humid outside, and he didn't want to run. But we talked a lot about it, and I learned that he really doesn't enjoy it. If he doesn't want to do it, I'm not going to make him do it--but I'm so sad that he doesn't like it! Noah and I don't have a lot of interests in common, and running was one thing that was relatable.

He did say that he'll continue to run three days a week, for about two miles each time, for some exercise. He said he enjoyed running when it wasn't for cross country; but running for the team made it less enjoyable (it doesn't help that practice is during the hottest time of day! Today, there was even a heat advisory from 12-8). He also said he likes racing, so I'll make sure to sign him up for a 5K every month or two. That way, he can still race, but train on his own.

I'd like him to choose another sport for school, so he's thinking about wrestling or soccer. I really hope he picks soccer! ;)

As part of my morning routine, I am getting dressed in my running clothes right when I wake up in the morning, and then run after I drop the kids off at school--before I have breakfast or do anything else. Yesterday, I came home and went for a short run (2.1 miles) outside. It was so humid and felt so difficult (it was my first run in a week) that I decided not to do the three miles I'd planned to.

Today, I dropped off the kids and went right to the rec center to run on the indoor track. At 7:00 am, it was already 74 degrees with 93% humidity! I really can't wait for fall weather. When I got to the rec center, I discovered that it felt just as hot and humid inside the building as it was outside, which was a bummer. But, since I was there, I did my run on the indoor track.

I listened to Another Mother Runner while I ran. At around mile 1.8, my knee started to hurt, which was odd. I haven't had any knee problems in a long time! The indoor track is so small (1/12 of a mile) that the constant turning to the left may have irritated my knee. So, once again, I cut the run short at two miles instead of three. I don't mind the short runs, though, as long as I am running 3+ days per week. When the weather gets more fall-like, I'll be more motivated to run more, too.

For the past couple of days, I've eaten breakfast while sitting on the front porch. We don't have a big porch (my dream house would have a huge wrap-around front porch!), so I just sat on the steps while eating my oatmeal. I have finally gotten off my Larabar kick (I was eating one for breakfast every day for about a year!) and decided to bring back oatmeal. For now, I'll eat it cold, but once it gets cold outside, maybe I'll do hot oats again.

Anyway, for my cold oats, I combined 40 grams of dry old-fashioned oats, 1/2 cup whole milk, 10 grams of chia seeds (to thicken), 1 Tbsp. brown sugar, and then a couple of add-ins. Yesterday, I added dried cranberries and coconut. (You can mix it the night before and refrigerate it, or just put it together about 10-15 minutes beforehand and let the chia seeds thicken it.)



It may not look that appealing, but it tastes really good! Today, I added raisins and cinnamon, which I liked even better. I used to do a peanut butter and chocolate version, so I'll have to try that again soon. I wrote a whole post about the different ways I eat oatmeal, which you can find here. The only change is really that I use regular milk now instead of almond milk. I also sweetened it with brown sugar, because I don't have any maple syrup right now, but you can use anything to sweeten it.

Well, I got a lot done yesterday (including a TON of vacation laundry), but I'm still super far behind on email. I'm sorry if you've written and have yet to get a response. Now that the kiddos are back in school, hopefully I can catch up on everything! :)

11 comments:

  1. MY son tried every "ball" sport possible and after he finally said he wanted to do something that didn't involve a ball. (ha!) He started swimming and loves it....Good luck!

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  2. That oatmeal looks so good!

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  3. I'm a new reader to your blog.. I ran across it on Pintrest and boy am I glad I did. You have really movtivated me to get my life back. I myself have struggle with my weight my entire life. I became a runner in 2013 and lost 40 pounds but fell off the wagon and gain it all back plus more. I started reading your blog Saturday Sept. 3, 2016 and today Wednesday Sept 7, 2016 is my 2nd day on track with my eating and walking/jogging. I hope to be back to my running soon. I have around 100 pounds to lose too. I would appreciate any feed back or words of wisdom you have. Thanks, Cindy from Lucedale, Mississippi my

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    1. We've all been there (I've been running since 2011 and went from 225 to 175 but now I'm back to around 190) -- It's so great to see you continuing to try!!!

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  4. Hello Katie, maybe you have mentioned it before, but why were your boys in two different schools?

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    1. Elementary school and middle school... same district, just different buildings that were kind of far apart.

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  5. It's smart not to force Noah to run on the Cross Country team. He would just resent it if you MADE him do it. My oldest son embraced running as a young boy. He LOVED it, even though I had never pushed running (we made sure he joined all the other sports teams, (YMCA softball, soccer, flag football, but never any running teams), since I was so overweight and definitely NOT a runner in any way. Once he told us he wanted to run however, we found some track teams for kids and he loved it. He was on both the track team (running long distances) and the cross country team all through high school, and to this day (he just turned 44), he still runs quite a bit. it helps him control his weight, and stay healthy. I have nothing but admiration for people who run, it's all I can do to walk a little bit.

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  6. Does anyone have any secrets to manage email? I feel like as soon as I'm caught up, I hit refresh and my poor inbox is immediately full again!

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  7. Love overnight oats (or "day-of" oats, as you made them!)

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  8. Why whole milk over almond milk? Just curious.

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    1. I just like the taste and texture better. I used to use almond milk on Weight Watchers because it was very low in Points. But when calorie counting, I prefer the whole milk :)

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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