Fast Food Free: Week 1

-- September 22, 2018 --

On our way home from a weekend spent with family, we tried to stop at Qdoba for some burritos. But, upon our arrival, we found a note taped to the door; "Management didn't show up, so we couldn't open, sorry!" So, we drove 500 feet to Arby's and went through the drive-thru.

Even with me ordering off the "value" menu, our meal still came to just under $20.

I don't know what it was about this particular day, or this particular order, but all of a sudden, IT hit me. This was the 4th "convenience meal" we had gotten this week. At around $20 a pop, that was $80 extra that we spent this past week.

Do I go grocery shopping every week?
YES.

Do we have plenty of food at home?
Also, YES.

Do you end up having to throw away food that goes bad in the fridge?
.... Also, yes.

Kim, don't you like to cook?
YES. I love cooking!

But aren't these convenience meals great? They're filling and easy!
No.. actually. Yes, they're easy, but most of the time I'm hungry in a few hours because I know there are a ton of calories and fat in these meals...so, I always feel guilty ordering enough food to fill me up, like I'm cheating myself, sabotaging myself from losing the extra 15 pounds I'm still carrying from my pregnancy. Also, how "easy" is it really, when you spend an extra 5 minutes driving around asking "what do you want to eat?" "I literally don't care just pick something".

WHAT. ARE. WE. DOING?!

I did a little (ok, pretty minimal) research on the fat grams alone. From what I can tell, most of the sources I looked at recommend the average adult on a 2,000 calorie a day diet gets around 60 grams of fat a day. Which translates to roughly 420 grams per week.

The average fast food meal (sandwich & medium fries) can contain anywhere from 50-80 grams of fat, alone! I even read that two Burger King Whoppers and a large fry meal has a whopping 103 grams of fat!

Don't even get me started on the sugar intake of these meals. Fast food has sugar in EVERYTHING. Those fries you got? Those aren't just fried potatoes and salt. Many fast food restaurants coat their fries in a sugar liquid so that they have a more uniform "golden" color when fried.

So ok, let's say that my fast food meals last week erred on the low end at 50 grams of fat, with those 4 meals alone, I've eaten over half of my fat intake for the week. (Over half because I don't have a 2,000 calorie diet. Mine is usually around 1500-1600).

That's.....ridiculous. I'm ashamed of myself. 

Growing up, fast food wasn't a "normal routine" in our house. I had breakfast at home in the mornings, ate lunch at school, and mom always made dinner. For us to go out and eat, it was a special occasion, like a birthday or an entire family event (when aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. would come to visit). It wasn't ever a "it's Tuesday and I'm too lazy to cook" event.

• I keep wondering why I can exercise and never lose any weight. 
• I keep wondering how to break this "funk" I've been in.
• I keep wondering why I'm tired and sluggish all the time. 

(Ok, that one can be several things- mostly that my child hates sleep)

So, I decided, last Saturday, that I was done. Not necessarily done with fast food forever, just... done with this whole "convenience meal mindset".

If we want to go out and eat at a fast food restaurant, I want it to be because we actually WANT that snack wrap from Wendy's, or that breakfast burrito from McDonald's. I don't want to just drive thru somewhere out of habit, or because we can't think of anything that sounds good at the moment, so just pick up something and eat it real quick. We take food for granted. I want to change my mindset so that I appreciate what I am eating. I want to take time and make more nutritious meals for my family.

This week has been.... amazing.

1. I have cooked 4 new recipes (2 of which, I'll make again!)
2. I feel physically and mentally better (seriously? after one week? it really affected me THAT much? Holy cow.)
3. I have had more energy and gotten things done around the house and personal goal-wise that I hadn't wanted to work on, or work through
4. I haven't craved a fast food meal ONE SINGLE time
5. I'm finally planning some of our meals out (like I've said I was going to do for quite some time now, then I start it and don't follow thru)
6. I've lost 2 pounds! YAAAY!!!
7. Thatcher and Micah have both tried new foods this week and LIKED them! 
8. I'm actually excited for next week, instead of my usual indifference
9. My anxiety level is lower 
10. My fridge and my freezer are full, and I'm determined not to throw away any spoiled food this time. Wish me luck!

I'm looking forward to all the new recipes I've got set up to try this coming week! 

Petroglyph, Painted Dessert, & Petrified Forest National Parks: The Ilberys go West, Part 3

The great thing about the west: there is never a shortage of National Parks to visit! We did 3 of them, on day 3 of vacation!

We started our morning with a short 20 minute drive to Petroglyph National Park. I wasn't sure what to expect about this park, I had just found it was along our route and it was close to Albuquerque. We wanted to make sure we actually stopped and DID something in each of the states we were visiting, and Petroglyph seemed like a good candidate.

May the photo overload begin!

Naturally, the boys decided they wanted to touch the cactus.

Uncle Dude being the favorite :)

I don't know what I expected, but... it was hot in the middle of the dessert.

If finding the actual Petroglyphs on the rocks was a game, we would win!

 Myself, Mike, Noah, and Kourtney decided to make the trek up to the top of the mound. Naturally, I was in flip-flops.. but I was first up to the top as well!

Our car's the farthest one to the left :)

 The view up top!

See the hands in the air? That's us!


A few hours down the road and into Arizona, our next stop was the Petrified Forest/ Painted Dessert!

We were out of the car, so Uncle Dude was in charge of Thatcher :)

Taking in the views (from a safe distance..)

 Newspaper Rock

My favorite part about this tour was that it was a drive-thru tour. Which meant air conditioning! (Until we got out to see the various areas)

 A petrified log

The boys smelling and tasting the petrified log...

I'm definitely glad we got to see these places!

Texas & New Mexico: The Ilberys go West, Part 2

 I would like to tell you that I didn't sing George Strait in my head most of the way to Amarillo, but I'd be lying... I mean, our goal was Amarillo by (the end of) morning- it would have been rude NOT to. The rest of the car should just be grateful I kept it to myself.

 We made a pit-stop to see a building that inspired 'Cars'. This was the best I got since I didn't get out of the car. I thought that getting Thatcher out of his seat for just a few minutes would make him more mad than us just sitting in the car for 5 minutes.

We stopped for lunch just inside the Texas state line at a place I don't remember the name of- but I DO remember it taking the better part of an hour for us to get our food, and then it being sub-par. It was "edible. Not much else." in the review of my husband.

We finally made it to Amarillo in the early afternoon and Thatcher was SO happy to get out of the car! We tried conditioning Thatcher to make Aunt Lady and Uncle Dude his favorites by giving him to them when we get out of the car, so he would associate them as being fun and mommy being the mean one that puts him in his car seat.

The gardens were pretty, but they weren't very big. But then again, it only cost $5 to get in and the kids were free.

 I loved how well maintained they kept gardens. I also loved that we were one of two families visiting at the time, so it was like we had the entire place to ourselves.

After spending about an hour here, we got out of the 100 degree Texas heat and back into the car. Today's end goal was Albuquerque, New Mexico, and we still had several hours left in our drive. 

Just inside New Mexico's border, we stopped at a gas station for gas and restrooms. Inside the station was a free car museum, so we walked around in there for a few minutes before getting back on the road.

 The rest of the day was spent with me trying to take pictures out the window of the new landscapes. We made it to Albuquerque late, and walked to Cracker Barrel for a 9 pm dinner.

Missouri & Oklahoma: The Ilberys go West, Part 1

Who takes a small child on a cross-country road trip?

We do.

Who packs activities in Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada all into one week?

We do.

Who has a 1 year old who has been to:

The Painted Desert
The Petrified Forest
The Grand Canyon
Petroglyph National Park
The Hoover Dam
Las Vegas
The Oklahoma Aquarium
The Amarillo Botanical Gardens
 AND
A meteor crater?

We do.

This year, we did vacation, and we did it BIG.

I'm going to take a minute to brag on my little guy- it was a 20+ hour drive from our house to our cabin in Flagstaff, Arizona. We took the drive over the course of 3 days, trying to drive 8 hours each of the first two days then 4 hours the last day.

All things considered, this little guy took being in his car seat like a ROCKSTAR.

I'm going to try and keep this as short and sweet as I can, but it will probably be a little bit long regardless. 

*EDIT: I actually decided to break this trip into sections, because I would like to talk just a little bit about each spot we stopped and visited*

We started our adventure Saturday July 28th, with the goal of reaching Oklahoma City, OK to spend our first night. Our first stop was at Uranus Fudge Factory in Uranus Missouri. 

It's...your average side-of-the-interstate "tourist trap".

 

 Complete with photo of cutouts, playgrounds, concession stand style eatery, and the Fudge Factory was just a general store with a counter that sold fudge. Nothing factory about it. Which disappointed me a bit, since I was hoping to see how they made their fudge.

We spent about an hour letting the "kids" play, and right before leaving, Thatcher peed through his diaper and all over Papa, so Papa had to buy a Uranus t-shirt to wear for the rest of the day ;)

We stopped for lunch and gas, but other than that we didn't stop again until Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we paid the Oklahoma Aquarium a visit. 

The only aquarium I've ever been to was the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, and that's been....at least 10 years, so I was excited for this stop. 

I think Thatcher enjoyed looking at everything. He loves colors and things that move, and fish do both!

Our "state picture" for Oklahoma :)

Blessing the rains down in Africa. 🙄

 Probably my favorite part was the shark viewing tank. They had a tunnel you could walk into the shark area and watch them swim all around you and above you. A little disorienting, but very very neat. We stayed in here for almost 20 minutes.

After a quick dinner we were back on the (toll) road, and made it to Oklahoma City, where we stayed for the night.

After breakfast (and some Little Baby Bum) we headed for Amarillo, Texas.