I have approximately 30 minutes before I wake my son up and sprint out the door for our morning walk. It was in the upper 90s this entire month in South Carolina. I refuse to miss our morning walk, so we get out early before it’s unbearable. I also bring Leo; I don’t want it to be too hot for him.
A week and a half ago, I set some goals for myself. Running a bakery business means sugar, sugar, and more sugar. I have always walked and tried my best to eat healthy, but I found myself skipping meals and trading them in for dessert. Instead of lunch, I’d have a cup of coffee and pull a chocolate chip cookie from the freezer. My brain fog was bad, and I was feeling tired all the time. I’m sure working late hours and early mornings didn’t help, but I just felt so unhealthy. I didn’t feel as strong as I needed to be.
My goals were to wake up early in the morning and stick to four miles, eat three healthy meals a day with healthy snacks, and avoid desserts instead of eating them as meals. My dessert now is fresh fruit or rice cakes and peanut butter. I’m proud to say that I am on day ten of the follow-through and feeling good. I’m proud of myself for making it this far (I’ve attempted to be healthier for a while and kept making up excuses), and I’m glad I’m finally on a working routine. Ten days is a short period, but when you’re trying to eat better and work out, it feels like an accomplishment. There’s no turning back now!
This blog post will include many of the meals I ate throughout the week, as well as our morning walks. Maybe you need some motivation to get out and walk or eat a better meal, so hopefully, this can help! I have a lot of trips scheduled in the coming months, so we’ll see how well I can stay on this healthy path.
I’m lucky my son wakes up begging to go on morning walks. He first says it when I walk into his room to wake him up: “Mama, eat, walk!” I make him breakfast, which usually consists of toast or waffles, a muffin, half a banana, and fruit/veggie pouches.
Having him eat breakfast on the walk buys a bunch of entertainment time. I love that he’s getting so much fresh air and being in nature for the first few hours of the day. I stash random objects like painted rocks, cars, flashcards, straws, or random items under the stroller to pull out when he gets antsy. I also play music for him if he seems bored, which, luckily, I don’t have to do much. He loves yelling the colors of the cars that drive by, pointing at signs, and waving at any worker truck. This is such a good time in the morning for us to talk and for me to ask him many questions.
All of my meals have had a ton of protein in them! I’ve been sticking to toast with avocado and eggs, and I recently replaced that Greek yogurt with grilled chicken because that yogurt hurt my stomach. There’s something about the Oikos Pro that my body can’t handle.
When it’s really hot outside, I’ll make my son and me a smoothie with water, ice, berries, kale, spinach, and banana. 
I’ve been having a wrap almost every day for lunch. The Flatout Spinach wraps are my favorite! I stuff them with caesar kale, avocado, turkey, and yellow mustard. I’ll have fruit and veggies on the side.
Last Wednesday, I did a super hot yoga session at Anne Springs in the evening. It was relaxing as the sun peaked through the trees, and the horses were right by the fence.
During nap time, I do fifteen minutes of a little strength workout. This is a workout I made up over ten years ago, and now I’m back doing it again! It can be done mainly on a yoga mat. The garage is so hot in the middle of the day, so I may need to start doing this in the living room!
One afternoon, I took my son to the children’s playground at Anne Springs. This place is amazing for little explorers, especially ones who love being in the mud and nature! It’s a great place to let them use their imagination, play in the outdoor mud kitchen, and go on little adventures.
He made acorn soup!
I keep his stained closed in a specific drawer in his room and always put those on when he’s heading out to muddy parks or playing in the yard. I figured I should note if you’re wondering why I put my child in all beige to play in the mud.
The kind and talented owner of Olives Mud Puddle painted this mural! My son loves it. He’ll stand there pointing to all the animals and naming them. I’m not a talented painter, but it makes me want to do something fun like this in the playroom. Should I?…
We still love spending our afternoons in the blowup pool! Sometimes, I’m the fun mom, letting him jump around with popsicles.
Morning park dates:)
We met a friend at The Improper Pig for lunch. I want to eat this salad every day! It’s the Cobb salad with a basil dressing. It’s amazing!
And I guess dipping chicken fingers in applesauce is the toddler thing to do.
I went a few days without my phone last week. I had the screen of death and had to go to the Apple Store to have it fixed. That meant five hours of walking around Southpark Mall while they fixed my phone with a toddler. Thank goodness my mom tagged along with us. We did the Lego store (they had Legos to play with) and the outdoor playground (even though it was so hot!), and he scarfed down some Five Guys french fries.
I was finished at the mall with him at 6 pm.
At 6 p.m., I had to head to the kitchen and start baking for the farmer’s market the next day. I almost called to cancel it because I had nothing prepared, but I stuck with it and made a bunch of cookie dough, lemon cake, and sourdough cinnamon roll dough for the next morning. I get up at three on farmer’s market mornings to bake everything fresh. After only a few hours, I managed to do pretty well with the preparation!
I love doing my farmer’s market display. It’s fun to pick fresh flowers from the garden and make everything look pretty and presentable. I’m still working on my farmer’s market blog post with your questions, so there’s still time if you want to ask me anything, and I’ll include those answers!
After the market on Saturday, I met up with Becca for lunch at the Improper Pig (I had that same salad!) and a warm cup of coffee at Olives Mud Puddle. We relaxed while playing a little Christmas music on the piano and just sitting in the comfy chairs talking. We had plans to bring our books there next time because it was so quiet and cozy. I love Olives so much!
After our coffee hour, we walked through a few downtown spots. It was almost 100 degrees out!
I picked up this Arctic savory seasoning at the farmer’s market on Saturday, which has changed all my meals. I’ve been putting it on eggs, vegetables, salads, and chicken, and I would drink it from the bottle if it were a liquid. It’s amazing, mixed with olive oil and drizzled over tomatoes and cucumbers. You can purchase it online, but it’s better than any seasoning! I plan on buying many of these on Saturday and using them as stocking stuffers this year.
One of my favorite purchases this week has been my reading light. I was using my cell phone flashlight to read my book in bed at night, and it was terrible. I saw this on TikTok shop, and it changed my entire reading routine!
Sunday morning walk with my little man! He loves bringing his flag on all his walks. I have a jar of them in the garage, and he runs to grab one before I put him in the stroller. I love watching him wave it at people.
We decided to head out to the Charlotte Regional Farmer’s Market on Sunday. I hadn’t been in over ten years. I don’t know why I waited so long. I cannot wait to return this weekend and grab more produce. They had the best heirloom tomatoes I’ve ever had. They tasted like candy! And with my new seasoning, I was in healthy food heaven.
We picked up fresh juice, croissants for my son, fresh flowers, veggies, garlic bread, and rocks for my rock-loving toddler.
The peaches were so good!
My son ate about three croissants for dinner that night!
Lately, I’ve been cutting up russet potatoes, tossing them in olive oil, and throwing them into our air fryer. They are so yummy! Oh, and you bet I’m putting the Arctic seasoning on them.
On Sunday, I made some delicious toddler muffins with hidden vegetables. We’re on day four of them, and they are going strong! He ate two of them on Monday morning’s walk.
I also made homemade gummy bears since he’s obsessed with them, but he said, “Yuck!” I guess I’ll need to fix that recipe before sharing it. I probably used way too much lemon juice.
We picked up Almond Chocolate Chip protein bites at Costco, and WOW!!! These are so good—another toddler snack win. If you have a Costco membership, add them to your list!
Another week of more sunrise walks!
I bought this cup for him at the mall since he always steals mine, and they look the same! I thought it was so cute! I love Tullabee Boutique!
On Monday, we went in for our final doctor’s appointment before his little toddler school starts in September. Usually, he cries the entire time, but this time, he is so grown up and has real conversations with the doctor. I think the Trash Truck episode of The Doctor helped his fear!
Every night, I eat a salad and turkey spaghetti squash. It’s funny how after eating better for a few days, food tastes better, and you crave more healthy food over junk. I prep a massive batch of sqaghttie squash on Sunday and eat it all week with a kale salad. After dinner, I have peanut butter on a rice cake and then a ton of water!
Adding the Costco roasted vegetable to the spaghetti squash is yummy, too.
Day ten and feeling good!!
I’m such a grandma for obsessing over everyone’s crepe myrtles, but it’s our favorite time of year to walk because of them. They make up for the nasty heat wave.
Can this corner house get any more perfect?
After our walk yesterday, we headed to Grandma’s house for a pool day.
We threw together a plate of farmer’s market finds to snack on by the pool!
Wednesday 6:30 am walk!
It was so nice this morning that we decided to do five miles. I didn’t bring Leo with me because I wanted him to take a break after all the walking so we could go a few extra miles.
I know this blog post was just filled with repetitive walking and food, but it’s been what I’ve been focussing on this past week and a half. I’m motivated to feel better, and I think it’s working so far! I’ll have some fun recipes and trips coming up soon! I have a glamping trip coming up with Becca, I’m going home to Iowa with my mom and the Iowa state fair, traveling to the beach at the end of the month, and in September, I’m going to Europe! I can’t wait to share everything with you! Glad to be back in the groove of blogging, too! 🙂
Questions for you!
- Do you have any trips coming up?
- Should I paint a fun mural in the playroom?
- What blogs do you want to see from me soon?