Happy Friday! It’s almost time to do tons of laundry and chores! Woo hoo!!!! OMG it’s the weekend!

Okay, actually… I get to run a half marathon this weekend too. And then come home to do laundry and chores.

Time to share random things!

That Sugar Film

A new documentary being released today: That Sugar Film is kind of like Super Size Me, in that a person uses their own body to document how unhealthy a certain thing is while also going around talking to a bunch of people about their experiences with said unhealthy thing. This time the unhealthy thing is the hidden sugars in so much of the world’s food supply.

So in this movie, Damon (our human guinea pig) embarks on a journey to consume 40 teaspoons of sugar a day that is hidden in foods that we may consider to be healthy. Films like this always take it to an extreme for the shock value, but it was kind of gross to see the kid who had to get all of his rotted out teeth removed because he drank Mountain Dew since he was a baby. And when Damon illustrated how he could put the teriyaki sauce on his chicken, or put 4 teaspoons of sugar right on his chicken? Gross. But also, HOW MUCH TERIYAKI SAUCE DO YOU NEED? The pouch that he held up was huge. That chicken would be drowning in sauce. Kind of a “have a little chicken with your sauce” situation. Again, back to the shock value.

But it was still an entertaining film to watch with some good reminders about just how much sugar is hidden in every convenience food. (It’s added to reach the Bliss Point, I learned this from the film.)

If you want some guidelines on what the recommended limits on sugar consumption are and how to determine how the sugar in your food plays into that, read this article. And just remember… moderation, balance, mindfulness when it comes to food consumption. I still think it’s okay to enjoy a cookie or cupcake, just not all day every day.

Threenager

Does this give you an idea of what my life is like lately? And my kid isn’t even three yet… she still has a few more weeks! She really is a sweet, loving girl. She says please most of the time, thank you all the time, she is articulate and energetic… but this sudden phase we’ve entered is so hard. I don’t remember being a 3-year-old girl myself, but I remember being a teenage girl. A time where you can go from happy to despondent in a matter of minutes seconds and we’ve entered that realm.

So I just read stuff online to give me comfort that I’m not alone and that my child isn’t some kind of anomaly, as I try to keep my cool.

• 10 Ways My 3-year-old is like a Teenager
• 10 Signs You are Living with a Threenager
• 23 Things All Parents of Threenagers Understand
• 5 Reasons Why Having a Threenager is Worse Than the Terrible Twos

The Google Support Group for this syndrome is lengthy.

Trip vs Vacation

We don’t take vacations. We go on trips. If you need help differentiating between the two, this article should help. But even before I had a kid we didn’t go on vacations. This article about taking longer vacations showed up in my inbox and the mere thought of a long trip gives me anxiety. For a few reasons:

1. My work never seems to shut off, I carry it around with me all the time, I LIVE in my job and it just seems to get worse every single day lately.
2. My husband complains that we never go on vacations, but he never offers suggestions of places to go or things he’d like to do and he takes no joy in any of them. So why would it be relaxing and fun to go hang out for an even longer time with someone who is acting like I took him to get needles poked in his eyeballs?
3. The dog! What to do with the dog?! You have to find a place where we can take her along with us or you have to board her. If you board her, she’s miserable. If we take her with us, we’re stuck in the car and that’s ONE MORE individual that I have to pack for.

Maybe if I got to go on a vacation all by myself?

No… that wouldn’t work. Because I don’t want to leave my kid that long. I’m supposed to go on a cruise NEXT YEAR without her, and the thought of that makes me sick to my stomach.* I don’t want to go away for a long time without her. ZERO desire. And if I do go away, I’ll just worry about her the whole time anyway.

Parenting is kind of cool, but kind of horrible too. Like… I’m pretty sure I’m going to have even more anxiety (than I would have given myself over everyday life) for the rest of forever. She’ll be a 45-year-old off on her own, and I’ll be anxious about what she’s doing. Sigh…

Digital Money for Health Habits

I recently learned about Wellcoin, a new healthy currency. You can earn Wellcoins for doing the healthy behaviors you already do (or start doing because you are enticed by earning Wellcoin). After you’ve accumulated so many Wellcoin, you can turn them in for various rewards. The rewards are products or services from big name vendors like Skechers, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and more.

The initiative had a successful beta test period with 10,000 Boston-area participants and is now spreading to everyone. You can sign up on their website, or you can use the app to log your activities, monitor your Wellcoin balance and turn them in for something cool. I’ve been playing with the app for the past couple of days, it’s a little clunky but it has potential. I have 420 Wellcoin right now and once I hit 1000 I could trade them in for a blender bottle or a discount on a Bulu Box. Or I can keep saving them and once I have  5000 I can have $70 to spend at Hello Fresh. (Maybe then I’d like cooking dinner?)

If you feel like signing up, use this code: TVSTchp8chde
That will give me 100 Wellcoin. 🙂

Hope you have a fun weekend that involves some laundry and chores! Or something better. Hands up for the weekend!

*It totally sucks that I can let something that is way off in the future consume my thoughts and give me anxiety at the same level as something I have to do in the next 40 minutes.