As you may know already I like to read and write about Weight Loss, so here is another post to help you on your way to losing some weight if you want to.

I think choosing the actual program to lose the weight is the hardest thing any of us can do, we always have so many questions

- which one is good value?

- am I going to be able to follow it easily?

-  and of course, am I going to lose the weight?, which is probably the most asked question.

Well here are a few programs that I have followed and lost weight with.

Strip That Fat

This is the most recent program that I have followed and I found it worked really well. I have more will power these days and I also had the will to lose the weight, I was sick of not fitting into my clothes after having children. The picture is of me after I lost the weight, I felt fantastic.

This diet has easy food options and a diet generator with foods that you can make for the whole family, without them complaining too much. It can also generate your shopping list, so that you know exactly what you need to buy that week.

You are allowed to eat 5 smaller meals and of course drink lots of water, while on this diet I didn’t really feel hungry for anything else. Of course we all have our off days and need a treat.

Its documentation is easy to read and follow. It is not a monthly subscription you just pay a one off $57 and you have all the documentation and a log in for the internet, to use if you need to later on.

Best of all I reached my goal weight in 11 weeks losing 12 kilos/ 26 pounds using this program. My Mum also lost 5 kilos following this diet, I highly recommend it.

Weight Watchers

I am sure that most of you have heard of Weight Watchers, as they have been around for a long time. They have a point system that you have to follow.

Unfortunately at the time when I followed this program I didn’t have the will power. I remember driving home from a gym session eating a bar of chocolate, I think that I would have gone way over the points for that day.

I did follow it for a couple of weeks and it really did work, it is just a matter of working out how many points you are allowed each day and sticking to it.

This will set you back about $17 per month.

Sure Slim (Only Available in Australia)

This diet worked really well and the kilos just dropped off me, I wouldn’t however recommend this for anyone with children or a family to feed, as it is very limited to what you are allowed to eat. It is also quite expensive to join, I can’t recall exactly how much but I remember it wasn’t cheap.

This diet is worked out for your very own metabolism, you have to give a blood sample and they work your diet out using this, however my mother in-law followed  sure slim and her diet wasn’t that much different to mine.

I didn’t feel hungry but at the same time I didn’t really feel satisfied.  I think evenings after dinner were the hardest as you are not allowed to eat after 9pm, only drink water, which is of course important in any diet, we need to drink lots of water.

I don’t like to call it a diet, it is a healthy eating plan, a change of lifestyle. As I have followed all of these programs please do not hesitate to ask any questions that you may have.

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Have you ever found yourself at the end of the day, when the children have all gone to bed, look around your house and think, oh my what happened to this house, it looks like a bomb has hit it. There are only two of them, surely they can’t make that much mess.

I have this feeling most days, I just take a deep breath and start at one end of the house and work my way through to the other end, toys from one end to the other. It is pointless cleaning them all up during the day, as they just get them all back out again 10 mins later. I try to tidy up as we go, but sometimes it just gets a bit much, certainly when you are trying to cook dinner.

At least most of the time it is clean mess, and can be resolved by putting the toys in the boxes or bedrooms and all done.

I got these great storage cupboards from Ikea, all I do is throw all the toys in the boxes at the end of the day, all sorted. I know that they are all going to be emptied again the next day so I don’t sort them or anything, I did try sorting them all out once, I sorted into size toys, blocks, trains, trucks etc, but it drove me crazy so now they all go in together.  These ones are in the kitchen/dining room.

Of course the day that I write this the house doesn’t look to bad. Picture for you of the storage boxes in the Living Room, very tidy really, I should have done better than this, I will update if room messy tomorrow.

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Sugary Foods and Childrens Behavior

The Little Man seems to have a bit of an issue with behavior changes, especially when he is either bored, hungry or tired.  There are things that you notice and that you can do to help the situation.

Being his Mum I am able to see these changes instantly and have now worked out which one is the problem. Sometimes I am able to fix it, but sometimes when it goes to far it is much harder.

Some things that I notice with the different situations

Bored

Symptom
Seems to always be getting in trouble - don’t do this, don’t do that, He is just trying to get your attention, and he will do anything to get it, trying to get you to do something with him.

Solution
Obviously this is an easy one to fix, as you just have to play or find him something to do. Not always that easy when you are busy cooking dinner or on the phone.  The hardest days I find when this occurs is on rainy days, as you are stuck inside all day. The Little Man likes to do craft or play with the play doh, these are things that I can steer him towards doing, and once he has something to occupy his mind he is fine. Then you have to find a different thing for Little Miss to do or you end up with arguments anyway.

Tired

Symptom
Gets very frustrated and cranky. He has this face that he makes, it is such a cranky face, I really don’t like it at all.  The trouble with this is that he just seems to take his frustration out on us, he will hit you as you walk past, or push Little Miss over, or squash her to the ground and he will have that cranky face while he is doing it.

Solution
As mentioned in Just one of those days, when I can see he is frustrated, I say to him that it is ok to be frustrated, but you mustn’t take it out on anyone. You need to move away, find something else to do, draw, play with your playdoh. You don’t need to hit or push, it doesn’t make it any better.  You just end up hurting someone.

Since he cut out his day sleep this has been a difficult one to stop happening. You can usually guarantee about 3.30-4pm it will start. Sometimes I am able to get him to sleep in the car if we are going anywhere, other wise there is not much I can do, I have started to put him to bed a bit earlier to compensate for it, but it doesn’t make the afternoons any better. Lots of distraction helps, and deep breathing :).

Hungry

Symptom
This is a strange one, he seems to go really hyperactive when he is hungry, he just runs around like a crazy thing. He doesn’t seem to be able to stop himself, I am sure that it must have something to do with the drop in sugar levels, he just needs the food to boost him back up and calm him down.

Solution
Easy to fix this one, fortunately. A piece of fruit or a savory biscuit helps, bananas are the best choice. If it has gone a bit to far and needs fixing quickly a fruit bar or dried fruit fixes it faster. It has a higher natural sugar content than the real thing.  I try not to give him to much to close to dinner though or he just won’t eat it.

See so you are not alone, you just thought that your child was the only one that did crazy things when they were bored, tired or hungry. But alas this is not true, there are others of us out there who are dealing with the same things. I feel for you all of you that do.

How do you deal with the situation?

Tomorrow I will post about Sugary foods changing childrens behavior, so stay tuned.

The Little Man will start Preschool next year, he has been accepted into the preschool that I chose, but this was not with out searching and trying to find a good one in the area, not to far from home.

This is a big step in all of our lives, so it isn’t an easy thing to decide on, I still don’t really know if I am going to cope. But I will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Some tips that I found helpful

Here are a few tips that I found helpful when looking for a preschool, and trying to find the right one. (Well we hope that it is the right one).

- Firstly finding out what days they will attend, I have found that it is 2 days for over 3’s and then the next year they do 3 days. So finding which 2 or 3 days they will go, so that it fits in with your days.

- Wait lists and how much it will cost for you to wait list your child. I found this varied quite a bit, ranging between $20 and $30, be aware that you don’t get this back if your child is not accepted or you choose not to accept a position at that preschool.  I put the Little Mans name down at 2 schools, I thought any more than that was over kill.

- Word of mouth is always a good one, other mothers that have already put their children though preschools and which ones, if they sent their second child to the same one. If they didn’t then find out why, was it just there wasn’t a spot for them or was there another reason.

- One of my key tips, I read in a magazine once and it was a great idea. Arrive at the preschool with out an appointment. You are then able to have a quick look around and know that they haven’t prepared for you to arrive. Then you can always make an appointment to see more if you wish.

When you visit the preschool, either with an appointment or without
- Did the children look happy
- Did they look like they were enjoying themselves
- What were the teachers like, were they welcoming
- Did they just let you in to have a look around, or were they on edge

When I went to have a look at one of the pre schools for the Little Man, I went in with out an appointment, the teachers were all very helpful and showed me around.  They weren’t at all worried that I just arrived un announced.

The thing that caught my eye, and made me want him to get a place at this school, was that the children looked like they were having a great time. They were building a giant robot and painting it silver, I could just see the little man happy joining in and having a wonderful time.

At this young age it is not all about being the best at counting or reading, it is about having fun and enjoying themselves. They will have plenty of time to learn when they go to big school.  This is just a stepping stone for them to get used to going to school, and being without Mum.

I hope that you had a good experience with placing your first child in preschool.

Driving during the night

- An ideal thing to do when the children are reasonably young, is to try to travel of a night while the children are sleeping. I work it so that I feed them, put them in their pj’s and put them in the car, even if they are awake for about an hour of the journey, at least you have peace for the rest of the journey.

- You could also travel so far until dinner time, then have something to eat and put them in the pj’s at the restaurant or stop, then put them in the car to sleep the rest of the trip.

- Pack a flask so that you can have a cup of tea or coffee on the way and some snacks without waking the children or leaving them in the car alone.

The only thing that I recommend with driving at night, is please don’t do it if you are tired and driving alone, with no one to share the driving. Still stop regularly to have a rest yourself.

If you are driving during the day

- There is a space between the two car seats, I place a bag of toys and books in the middle of the two of them so they can just reach in and grab something. By the end of the trip all the toys and books are all over the back of the car and not in the bag, but if it kept them quiet for a short period of time, then all is good.

- A selection of good childrens music, that you can all sing along to. You really need to choose music that YOU like to sing to, as you will more than likely get to listen to it more than once. If you enjoy singing like I do then this is not an issue, I find the hubby doesn’t enjoy it as much, but they learn to suffer in silence.

- Water, now this is an important one, you need to make sure that you have enough water for all of you. I have been guilty of remembering the children but forgetting myself, and then getting very thirsty on the way.

- Snacks that are not going to make to much mess. I don’t recommend to much sweet stuff, as they might start to feel sick, and no one enjoys a sick child in the car.

- Stopping on the way. This is good for all just to get out and stretch your legs and let your bum un numb. Good time for a wee stop also.

The moto in Australia is “Stop, Revive, Survive”

Most of all you just need to enjoy your trip, and get to the other end in one piece.

You can get some other great ideas and tips at Works for Me Wednesday.