Operation Back to Basics

13 Sep 2012

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Food for Thought
Carla
by

back to school- back to basics

September didn’t used to mean all that much to me.

When I lived on the East Coast, it meant colder days ahead and a shift from summer’s simple foods to healthy food of a heartier sort.

When I relocated toTexas, pretty much nothing in my life shifted come September.

Light, healthy eating remained since it’s hot through October in the ATX.

My routine—work and play—didn’t change with the advent of summer so there was nothing to return to.  And, with no little ones gearing up for school to start, July and September were pretty much entirely interchangeable.

Even with the addition of our daughter nothing really shifted with the arrival of fall- until last year when she started school.

That was when I finally grasped what other friends, moms and bloggers talked about when they lamented the mayhem of the fall.

Even though we adult types don’t get a summer vacation (I erroneously thought since I’d be working through the summer months my family wouldn’t veer off track…), I quickly realized our entire family would be impacted by my daughter’s sweet, sweet summer freedom.

We stayed up late.

We got up early (which might make it seem as though we kept to our school-routine.  We did not. We were always very tired.).

We watched lots of movies.

We ate many less than, uh, healthy snacks during said movie viewing.

Yet, all that said, we frolicked like the crazy people we are.  We climbed, swam, did gymnastics, hula-hooped, SKIPped IT!, and generally moved all.day.long.

All done in the name of fun.

And, to our collective chagrin, it feels as though with the start of school some of the fun draws to a close.

And, unbeknownst to the other members of my family, with the start of school comes Operation Back to Basics with regards to food, sleep, and exercise.

Allow me to elaborate.

Food
For my family the benefits of eating healthy extend far beyond how we look.  When we eat good, clean foods, we feel better, sleep more soundly and have far more energy.  I chatted a little last month about our snacking run amok.  Our meals remained (pretty) okay throughout the summer, but I had the luxury of zipping to the grocery with the child right before making lunch or dinner.  As part of our Back to Basics, I’m going to do more meal planning and food preparation in advance.

Exercise
My daughter does some ‘formal’ exercise (I’m thinking afterschool stuff.  The state of our school’s PE classes is a blog for another day), but in getting Back to Basics we’re adding in extra movement.  We’re returning to our bus stop PLAYouts.  We’ll be taking homework breaks and stretching.  She’s accustomed to active play with me and, now that we’re back to school, I need to be sure to fit in the fun during the time we have together.

Sleep
It’s definitely time to get Back to Basics here, too.  Back to our wind-down routines.  Yep, I said our.  Even we adults have been shown to sleep better when we have a planned, specific routine at night which signals to our brains “it’s time to stop for the day.”  Over time we’ve discovered what routine works best for our family.  We need to get back to that routine as it sets us all up for success.

  • Did you need to return to basics this fall along with me?
  • Did you find—children or not—summertime derailed your slumber, movement, and food-plan?
  • Have any menu planning tips to send my way?

Carla photo Be well!

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Carla

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