full tummies summer fitness goals

I don't know about you, but my family had a VERY busy, stressful spring. What happens when we're stressed? Our food gets junkier (more processed, etc.), our exercise doesn't happen (too tired, etc.), and we just spiral down into slothfulness. Admittedly, there was a lot on our plate (hah! no pun intended), and we haven't had time for true fitness.

But, this summer, we're attempting some fun fitness goals:

1. By end of summer, ALL three kids will be riding bikes well without training wheels (we have to drive somewhere for them to ride their bikes, so they don't get much practice).
2. By end of summer, ALL three kids will be know how to swim!  (hint, hint you friends of mine with pool memberships...).
3. I will work on my knee exercises (an old injury that I do NOT take care of...).
4. A "real foods" challenge! Details below. My husband and I like the idea of this, and our dinners tend to reflect this already (we, like so many, read Pollan's In Defense of Food a few years ago). But the rest of the day? Not so much lately. With our CSA share, the more relaxed schedule, and the elimination of school lunches for a while, it seems a good time to pursue some good, wholesome food for every meal, not just dinner. 
5. A healthy plate education for the kids! I plan to use the graphic shown above to help my kids start to make more of their own choices particularly for lunches. I'll be amending it slightly (i.e. dairy and protein are often redundant, depending on the dairy you choose; we also eat some combos of foods--like beans and rice--that provide protein even if there isn't a "meat" on the plate). At any rate, the plate graphic is a nice, clear way to show that yes! you need veggies even at lunch! It's simple, too, which will be a good start for my 6-7 year olds.

Our "Real Foods" Challenge: 
There are so many ways to define "real foods," believe it or not. So, for our purposes, for the next 30 days we will be following one basic rule:

We will buy/consume food that is package free (most of the package-free foods in the grocery store are the "whole foods"--fruit, veggies, better quality meat at the meat counter, etc.). 
If we must buy something packaged (which includes most grain-based products, dairy, and condiments), we plan to buy products that contain only ingredients which we can (a) pronounce and (b) could readily acquire and logically use to make the same product were we so inclined.  

For instance, my dark chocolate bar from Aldi contains the following ingredients: chocolate liquor, sugar, milk, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and vanilla extract. Yes, you can buy soy lecithin in stores--I know folks who've used it for years in their bread. So, I'm not too hung up on that, and we don't eat much of it in the first place. I'd still buy this and eat it in moderation. By contrast, the Ranch dressing powder I use regularly (because the kids call it "white ketchup" and will eat nearly anything with that stuff dolloped on top!) contains the following: Maltodextrin, buttermilk, salt, monosodium glutamate, lactic acid, dried garlic, dried onion, spices, citric acid, less than 1% of: natural flavor (milk, soy), calcium stearate, artificial flavor, xantham gum, carboxymethylcellulose, guar gum.

Um. No Ranch dressing for us for the next 30 days (eek!). I'll have to start making this again (which the kids DO like... Mommy's just been too lazy...).

Hopefully, this will help us be a bit more conscious of what we're eating. We plan to start this weekend: no time like the present! 

Anyone want to join us? Anyone out there have summer fitness goals they'd like to share?