Day 20 - Zone Defense

Oh, is there a basketball game going on Molly?

This weekend has been packed full of basketball tournaments for our 3rd grade and 4th grade boys.  I love going to their games. It is one of my favorite things to do.  I love to watch the boys play and I love to hang out with the parents.  Today we had games in two different cities starting at 9am.  The final game was at 4:15pm.  Throughout the day we drove back and forth between games to watch.  Cal had 2 games.  Daniel had 3. 

We have a system in place on the days that both boys have games.  Jake plays man to man (as he is Cal's coach (love) - so he is in charge of Calvin).  I play zone because I take Daniel to his games, but I also have my trustworthy assistant Molly (age 5) with me at all times.  Molly could care less about the game itself and is more interested in things like what she wears to the game, if she can play with my phone and if I have gum in my purse.

Again, I love to watch the boys play ball, but today was a challenge.  Two games at two different locations means two different concession stands.  When you have Molly tailing behind you, sitting and watching the games (not really watching at all, but begging for treats the ENTIRE game)..you spend quite a bit of time thinking about the concession stand.  5 games means the pressure of snacks at 5 concession stands. 

Here's where I went wrong.  We all had to be out the door at 8am this morning.  I didn't have anything ready to go, so we just got ready and hurried out the door.  I usually pack snacks, which saves us money and sort of keeps us away from the concession stand.  I pack apples, raisins, Wheat Thins or Cheez-Its and other treats.  By not being prepared today and keeping Molly happy with her usual go to treats, the concession stand pressure was completely on.

For the most part, we held off until lunch time and headed straight to Subway and pigged out.  My kids were somewhat embarrassed and amused at the amount of vegetables I had on my Veggie D'lite on whole wheat.  It was basically a big leafy salad on 6 delicious inches of whole wheat bread.

Healthy eating is SO much easier when you are organized, plan ahead and have healthy options.  I truly believe that if I stay on top of that part of our life, I think we will continue down the road to healthy eating with success!

But, it was definitely another opportunity to figure out what works best.  Had this crazy, on-the-fly day happened before the 24 Day Challenge started, I would not have thought twice about spending money all day on concession stand options.  Once again, I would have thought "I will start eating healthy tomorrow" and indulged in Diet Cokes and popcorn all day. 

I truly am thankful that I have something to stick to.  24 Days.  Every time I think about just giving in and saddling up in the candy aisle at Super Target, I remember my commitment.  Only 24 Days.  I know that in 4 days this will be over and I can go back to whatever I want, but as I read back through the days I know that I am learning so many things about myself, my habits and learning new habits.  I know that pushing off healthy eating won't be as easy as it used to be.  I know that eating healthy 90% of the time with a 10% party works.  Who knew that 90% + 10% equals balance.

If you are interested in information on Advocare or my friend and Nutrition Coach Liz Blom, please visit and "Like" her Facebook page at  https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/lizblom.nutritionandwellness.  Liz recently shared information on carbs.  I was in desperate need of healthy carb ideas.

BTW, my 3rd grader Calvin got 2nd place and my 4th grader Daniel got 1st place.  It was a very good day.