It was a very hard week for me. I have been really stressed out and that causes me to eat more than normal. I am hoping for having a better week.

I want to carry with me all the snacks that you have recommended, that way I stay away of the foods I should not be eating. 
I have also been so tired that I have not been as active as I should be. 

So, here it is my plan. I am going to make healthy foods and carry healthy snacks. I am also going to have water with me at all times, so I do not go to the store and get soda.
I am going to make a big effort to walk every night. Also when possible I am going to add Zumba to my daily cardio.

I have been away from twitter and facebook, but I need to get the time to find you girls and find your support as well. I think I am missing that support and communication with you girls. You inspire me to be healthier and to continue doing good. So I am making an effort to reach out to you more often.

I am putting all my energy on myself because I need it!

Ok, so my son is at Taekwondo classes. He likes it and I like it.

I believe that martial arts teach kids responsibility, respect, honesty and discipline. I like the structure of the classes and I enjoy seeing my son getting excited about going to class and participate in competitions.

For the other tournaments we had attended (only 2) I have asked my son to practice and practice. As he does for school if he wants to succeed, he needs to practice. But for this tournament, I asked him to practice and his response was: I already know my form. So I let him alone.

It was my way of teaching him a lesson. For me, this is more a hobby and extracurricular activity. It is not like we will be practicing for the Olympics or something like that, so I just decided not to ask him to practice and let him participate.

He was doing his form and he was also competing on sparring. He has been always good at sparring and I was thinking he was going to do well but I knew he was not prepared for the form competition.  As expected he got first place at sparring, however he did not get anything on his form.

After the tournament I asked my son how was he feeling, you know he is only seven, so I was expecting a crying child for not getting a trophy, but to my surprise, he said I am ok, because I know I did not practice enough to get a trophy. And then he added: “now I know I have to practice everyday”

Well, I guess sometimes parents just need to take a step back and let kids learn the lessons. And yes, he did learn because he has been practicing daily since then.

How do you teach your kids lessons? Do you let them fail so they can learn?

Look deep into my eye...

For most being at Maui, means relaxing, being by the pool, tanning, drinking and eating.  However I do like to explore and do more things during our vacations.

I do sleep in, try to do “nothing” but I like to explore the places, mostly when I know I will probably not be visiting soon.

While all my research about Maui, I found out about the Maui Tropical Plantation, where you can take a pretty inexpensive tour, and they teach you about the fruits and plants from the Island. My son, who is seven, was very interested during the tour. I was worried that was not going to be something he wanted to do, but he really enjoyed it, to the point of asking if we could take it again another day.

We also did some snorkeling. Although there are several beaches that might be good to see some fish and even sea turtles, I do recommend that you take one of the boat tours that take you to the Molokini Crater in the ocean. There you can really see corals, sea turtles and even dolphins. Some of these tours even offer lunch and the one we took had a glass bottom that gave my son a better viewing experience. 

For those that are not good swimmers, I do recommend to take a submarine tout. There are a few of these as well. Since I knew we were going to be snorkeling, I took the cheapest one, but if are not going to be out in the ocean I will recommend to take the most expensive so you can see more things.

Another adventure is Zip-line. My son always wanted to do this, but most places have a height and weight requirement. At the Maui Zip-line they have a family zip-line where kids as young as five can zip-line. My son really liked this experience I do recommend that you try it at least once. 

I will also recommend that you visit Maui Ocean Center.  If you buy the tickets online with three days in advance you get a discount. They have interactive experiences that will sure keep the little ones entertained. 

And my last recommendation, it is of course a Luau. You cannot visit Hawaii and leave without watching the show and eating the local feast. Almost all resorts offer one. I recommend you read reviews and book one in advance because they fill up fast. Most offer an option of VIP for an additional fee. The VIP allows you to eat first and be closed to the stage, so you can have a better view. Prices and offers change very often so I will advise you to research what it is better for your family. When I booked mine they had a free child with paying adult, but that offer is not available at the time I am writing this.

And with this, we end our series of post about our trip to Maui. I hope that if you are traveling there any soon, our experience and advice would be helpful.

If you have missed any of the post they are 

Travel to Maui, HI 
Sunrise at the Haleakala (volcano crater)
Drive west on highway 30
Road to Hana

Emotional eating, that is one of my problems.

As much as I try sometimes to eat healthy, it is on those days, when I am really stressed out that I eat what I should not be eating and in amounts that are not even good for me.

It is hard to admit it, sometimes I just do not even know how I was able to finish that bag of chips in such a short period of time, but I do. And I am not proud, I am really ashamed and I feel so bad about myself, than then again I feel depressed and I eat something else. And that is how the circle goes.

I have tried yoga, meditation, you name it. And guess what? I am still an emotional eater.

Lately life has been complicated. There have been too many things going on at once. Lots of work, pressure at work, money issues, and I can keep going, and going and I am sure I can justify my bad eating habits.

I have to try to control myself. Writing this is not easy. I am being vulnerable, and I do not like it, but you know what, I need it.

I need your comments, not only support ladies (or gentleman), I need the stop it, you know it is bad, do not do it again.

I am so frustrated with myself right now. And the circle or emotional eating is not helping. I need to make big changes; I just do not know how to start. 

Any advice?  I really some....


This post is sponsored by Beanitos and hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention &weight loss for women and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway