Cooking barley instead of rice

I am off from work today. I really needed the break. I still got up this am and walked. It was chilly. I would have run, but my back has been bothering me a little and I do not want to be sore during the first night in my house where our kids will be gone at my mother-in-laws. I want a nice, quiet evening so I don't want to feel pain so I walked. It was nice. I cleaned the house after the kids and my hubby left. I finished about 3p and then went for another walk. I feel good that I was able to get out twice today. I will not be able to get out at all on Saturday so I was glad for the second walk today. I have lost some weight this week. I can actually see my ab muscles on the sides so the workouts and cutting back on sugar must be working for my overall fat. Maybe that bikini is not so far off after all.
I know it sounds insance, but I am currently cooking barley for dinner. We are having Chinese food and barely with it instead of rice. Ever since I read Jillian Michael's book, we have started eating different grains. Barely is one of my favorites. We tried quinoa. Not a fan. I don't think I really understand what should be cooked with it. My husband laughs at my new found adventurism with food. My mother rarely cooked anything other than french fries. Occasionally we had rice, and it was always white rice. I have finally gotten into onions and peppers and stuff. My mother never cooked like that. I avoided them like the plague until I read Jillian's book and learned the health benefits. Her book is like my food bible. It made me think of food as fuel for my body not just something to taste good to me.
My 8 year old niece is overweight. It is sad and very disturbing to me. I was a little overweight as a child or at least I thought I was. I was told I was actually. Told by my mother. I remember being 10 and having just taken a bath, hearing my mother ask my sister, "Do you think she has breasts because she is so fat?" I grew up thinking I was fat. I really believed it. Looking at pictures, I was not fat. I was not even overweight. I developed early, but I truly believe that is due to the hormones in milk. (I drank a lot of it. We now drink hormone free as a rule. My kids get NOTHING else, and I will not touch the regular stuff myself.) I am concerned about my niece. My mother is obsessed. I do agree with my mother, though, that my brother and his wife need to go to a nutritionist with my niece and make her a partner in her own health. She needs to lose weight. It is for her health. I wonder myself what I would do if she were my daughter. I workout as much as I do in part for my children. I want to be a good example for them that is why we eat right and I exercise.