Baseline...

I've been doing a lot more research on proper eating plans.  As everyone who knows me knows, I don't do "diets". They never work. But being in a rather ugly depression for a couple of years, I've been coasting and not eating healthy.  And I've not been there to ensure my family eats healthy.

Fortunately, I've been able to gather enough information and build a new database to track our caloric and macronutrient intakes to see where we are. Our baselines. And, we're not doing too badly. We started eating more healthy foods in the past few months and it's paying off. For the most part.

The family's habits/intakes are good, but need a bit of tweaking. Should be challenging with a picky eater/Asperger child. Hub just needs less fats and more protein/carbs. Me, I've managed to put myself in starvation mode with an average of half my minimum caloric requirements. Not a healthy thing, especially with my recent activity levels.

So, now on to the tweak. Hub and kid are easy. I've been adding protein and carb options to his lunches for work, and helping the teen replace some of the not so healthy choices with her favorite fruits and veg. Me, I have to get myself eating more and drinking a lot more water, as I find myself dehydrated. I just forget to eat, I think, and drink. When one is eating healthy foods, one can eat a bit more than with junk foods, and I've not up'd my intake when I started eating more healthy.

Another good thing - we found a gym relatively close by! Only 15 miles away. All the free weights, machines, and cardio equipment we could want. Which means I don't have to buy a load of equipment for the home gym. It was a great find as they have no (read NO) high pressured sales bunnies on the floor, and they're open 24/7.  I've managed to get some good training plans for all of us. Kid's goals are "free running", so she hits the mats and the treadmill. Hub's is recovering from his accident, so the machines serve him best. Me, my love is the free weights and elliptical machine. Something for everyone.

And, come May  - WARRIOR DASH!  I've tweaked my training to make sure I get in the endurance and strength needed to do the whole run and do it well.  I am so looking forward to it, finally!

We've also been helping out at our local food bank with logistics, stocking, and carryout twice a week.  It's great volunteer work for the kid (almost 16) and she loves it. We love being able to help as well and have met some great people. It does make gym time a bit of a challenge, but we manage.

Kid and I are also going back to contra dance on Fridays. It's great cardio and the people are wonderful.

So, in spite of the numbers on the baseline charts, all is well.