Princess Penelope woke up at 1:30 this morning and decreed today “The Day of No Sleep”. I wasn’t too happy about it and every time I grabbed the snot sucker to help her breathe Sir Scout, her humble servant, would hover to make sure I didn’t get too crazy with that thing and accidentally suck her brains out.

This lack of sleep had made me super grumpy during the beginning of the day so I did what millions of moms in America do. I went to Target. I got a coffee from Starbucks (tall non-fat caramel macchiato) and strolled through the cute Valentine’s Day stuff in hopes of raising my spirits.

It worked. I don’t know if it’s the colors or the glitter but Valentine stuff just makes me giddy.

I then came home and attempted to make Iowa Girl Eats roasted artichoke recipe. I’m not as good at it as she is because I somehow managed to prick my finger.

Heh… this picture makes me think of E.T.

Anyway, now that I’m fully caffeinated and Penelope is off quietly chewing on something she probably shouldn’t, I am ready to share with you guys a few items, tips and tricks that I have used over the past few weeks to keep me on track.

1.  I call this the Baby Treadmill. If you want to get sh*t done with an infant on hand this is the way!

 If you’re lucky it may even come with a shadow which doubles the fun.

2. Food Scale. If you are counting calories or following weight watchers this thing is invaluable. Instead of dirtying teaspoons or measuring cups when you are just simply trying to keep track of what you eat, use this thing.

For instance, I will slice my apple put it on a plate and then push the zero button to cancel out the weight of the apples and plate. Then, I will dollop the peanut butter on top and measure the grams of peanut butter I’ve put on the apples. The nutrition label will tell you how many grams or ounces a single serving is. Also, if you want to put some cheese in your soup you can simply put the bowl of soup on the scale zero it out add the cheese and record how many grams you added and then go to calorie king to look up the calorie content. (I find calorie king simpler to use than Spark People) This leads to my next suggestion…

3. Make a food journal. You don’t have to count calories to lose weight but being aware of what you’re putting in your mouth is vital. Many people prefer the apps that are available for your phone but I’m super tactile and like to write things out.

You’ll have to excuse me… I’m a doodler.

4. Don’t eat diet food… it’s just gross. There are new studies that suggest it’s the “diet” food that we are eating that is jacking us up. If you are on a diet and you feel like you need to go to Starbucks, don’t order the Skinny drinks. Order a tall non-fat without whip… or indulge and have the whip as a special treat. Then, sit down, relax and enjoy it. It’s better to have a little bit of real sugar than to have a ton of fake crap.

Why, yes I do happen to have a picture of a Starbucks drink sitting around… We are that in love.

5. Become a Foodie.  You rarely see a foodie go through the drive through at McDonald’s. They want real flavorful food that not only tastes good but is beautiful. Not only should the food you put into your mouth be real, clean food, but you should enjoy it. If you don’t like oatmeal, don’t eat it. It’s simple.

Aren’t these potatoes beautiful?

6. Eat Lots of Veggies. If you don’t like vegetables roast them, you would be amazed at what a little bit of olive oil and salt can do to vegetables that have been roasted.

7. Cheat. If you are craving something so bad that you just want to throw in the towel and give up, eat the dang thing! Just be sure that you don’t go overboard and don’t give up on your efforts for the rest of the day. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Eat it and enjoy it.

8. If you don’t have a gym, workout at home. There are a lot of resources on pinterest for at home workouts. If you are like me and hate workout videos, pump up your favorite music and bust out a tabata workout in your living room. You can go to this webpage for at home crossfit workouts. Or if you need someone to ask you a million times if you feel the burn, you can watch videos here. The resources online are limitless. So, there are no excuses.

9. Lift Heavy Weights. It won’t make you bulky, I swear. Weights are the difference between toned hotties and skinny fat girls.

10. Watch “Hungry for Change”.

I’m not much of a documentary watcher but more of a Downton Abbey Vampire Diaries fan. However, I stumbled upon this on Netflix the other day and it really cleared up a lot of things for me. It didn’t come across like David Koresh on a nutrition crusade so it won’t creep you out.

That will be the end of this segment of Nina is a Bossy Pants, hope you guys are ready for the weigh-in tomorrow. I know I am 🙂