And I don't think I'll be buying anymore...
Read this for why.
Plus, it's expensive.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Random Thoughts on Weight Loss
Well, it's been a week. I went back and forth over whether to post this on my blog, and it took me a few days to go forward with that.
First, many thanks to Joyful Dreamer who suggested that I snack on protein instead of saltines and applesauce. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, and will be implementing your suggestion.
So, last week I cut 1/4 cup of sugar out of my tea. I drink a lot of tea-as discussed earlier, our water is flavorful, LOL, so there we go. Tea is a better option for me to stay hydrated. And it's actually fairly weak-two tea bags per gallon. We live in the high desert, so even just hanging around the house, hydration is an issue. The air sucks every last bit of water out of you some days, so we try to drink a lot. Anyway, but cutting out 1/4 cup of sugar, I cut out 3 1/2 cups of sugar. Just doing that, I consumed over 5000 LESS calories than the week previous. I cut out another 1/4 cup this week, and added an herbal tea bag for flavor (peppermint). Didn't even notice the loss.
I also instituted portion control. When I started, this was working fairly well for breakfast and lunch, not so much for dinner. But last night at dinner, I got about 1 cup of casserole, plus a small amount of bread. And, following my rules, had to wait at least 15 minutes before going back for more. Well that 15 minutes turned into way more because kidlets started finishing their dinners and had to be cleaned up, and, well, the long and short of it is that I didn't need more. Now, this morning I'm ravenous, but that's OK. That means my body used up all of the food I consumed, that I digested well because I didn't eat anything too late.
Exercise, well, that area has lacked a bit more than I wanted it to. I think I've walked twice this week-but once was pushing kidlets in the stroller plus 40 pounds of potatoes in the basket (on sale). About a mile there, 1/2 of it pushing the potatoes home. DH went with me and offered to push several times, but I made it all the way home. Was useless the rest of the day, because it was hotter weather than I usually walk in, and I didn't drink enough while walking. And my arms were sore the next day. My stroller needs a front end alignment! The second walk was an hour or so through Trinidad. The bigs were invited to a birthday party in town, and DH had some stuff to do, so the littles and I took the stroller and played tourist. We have lived down here for seven years and I have never walked the main street of the beautiful historic town that we live 30 minutes away from. It was nice. I found this gorgeous little shop tucked away on a side street and spent a few minutes there, admiring all the pretties.
I did not, however, do much more exercise than that. There are various reasons, but I just didn't get it done. Time is a factor. Going on a walk takes about 40 minutes total prep time. In the mornings I'm doing other stuff (including sitting here way too much!) and doing any kind of workout during the day means I have kidlets crawling all over me. Ever done crunches with a 2 year old bouncing on your stomach? It's an adventure! But, on the bright side, we are getting an exercise bike from a friend who got a new one. So I can dedicate some time to that every day and then jump on whenever I have a few spare minutes. Will be much easier to dedicate 20 minutes than an hour for a walk plus 40 minutes of prep!
The biggest benefit I saw this week was increased energy. We slept late on the weekend, instead of getting up by the alarm. Huge change for me. But I got 8 hours of sleep for the first time in probably three years. Of course, Sunday night, the baby was up a lot, so I got maybe 4 hours of very broken sleep (I think she's teething). But Monday I had ENERGY. I didn't need a cat nap. I got my entire to do list done (possibly due to our new chore lists). I was amazed that I had so much energy on so little sleep. Last night I got my normal sixish hours and can't wait to see everything I get done! I really think that cutting out the sugar helped, as I didn't have as many sugar crashes. Well, I never got to feeling shaky and wobbly-because I was consuming less sugar, I didn't have as much of a sugar high to come down from.
I was NOT cranky or crabby (except for a bit of PMS-so we'll say not OVERLY cranky or crabby). But I firmly believe that implementing changes slowly is the name of the game. After all, I am trying to change a lifestyle here. We all know that dieting doesn't work. Curbing your eating habits for a few days or weeks or months and then going back to what you were doing before just means you're going to gain the weight back. You have to make life long changes, and that is what I'm trying to do. And if you try to do those quickly, you get really frustrated and often give up. If there is a medical emergency, and you have a doctor telling you that you have to do this or die, well, that's a bit motivating, but I don't have a medical emergency. I'm changing my lifestyle BEFORE it gets to that point. Then I don't have to do it fast and hard.
So, on to the bottom line. How much did I lose? Honestly, I don't know. I don't have a scale. I weighed myself at a friend's house last week, and haven't had the opportunity to go back. I will get a scale as soon as we are financially able, but right now that is a luxury item (DH is still job hunting). But, I lost half an inch around my waist. I don't know if that is a lot. I don't know if that is a little. But, it's something. It's encouragement. I lost something! I guess, if I carry that out over the time of my goal, I will lose seven inches by September 5. That is more than 10% of the inches in my waist. Again, I don't know if that's good, but it will certainly be a positive weight loss. In a quick search this morning I can't find a correlation of how many inches you should lose in a week. I did find a study that showed people lost an average of 2 inches over a four week period, so it looks like my half inch is decent, according to that article.
Have more to write, but have to go fix breakfast and such.
Thank you, God, for the strength to make these healthy changes for our family!
First, many thanks to Joyful Dreamer who suggested that I snack on protein instead of saltines and applesauce. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, and will be implementing your suggestion.
So, last week I cut 1/4 cup of sugar out of my tea. I drink a lot of tea-as discussed earlier, our water is flavorful, LOL, so there we go. Tea is a better option for me to stay hydrated. And it's actually fairly weak-two tea bags per gallon. We live in the high desert, so even just hanging around the house, hydration is an issue. The air sucks every last bit of water out of you some days, so we try to drink a lot. Anyway, but cutting out 1/4 cup of sugar, I cut out 3 1/2 cups of sugar. Just doing that, I consumed over 5000 LESS calories than the week previous. I cut out another 1/4 cup this week, and added an herbal tea bag for flavor (peppermint). Didn't even notice the loss.
I also instituted portion control. When I started, this was working fairly well for breakfast and lunch, not so much for dinner. But last night at dinner, I got about 1 cup of casserole, plus a small amount of bread. And, following my rules, had to wait at least 15 minutes before going back for more. Well that 15 minutes turned into way more because kidlets started finishing their dinners and had to be cleaned up, and, well, the long and short of it is that I didn't need more. Now, this morning I'm ravenous, but that's OK. That means my body used up all of the food I consumed, that I digested well because I didn't eat anything too late.
Exercise, well, that area has lacked a bit more than I wanted it to. I think I've walked twice this week-but once was pushing kidlets in the stroller plus 40 pounds of potatoes in the basket (on sale). About a mile there, 1/2 of it pushing the potatoes home. DH went with me and offered to push several times, but I made it all the way home. Was useless the rest of the day, because it was hotter weather than I usually walk in, and I didn't drink enough while walking. And my arms were sore the next day. My stroller needs a front end alignment! The second walk was an hour or so through Trinidad. The bigs were invited to a birthday party in town, and DH had some stuff to do, so the littles and I took the stroller and played tourist. We have lived down here for seven years and I have never walked the main street of the beautiful historic town that we live 30 minutes away from. It was nice. I found this gorgeous little shop tucked away on a side street and spent a few minutes there, admiring all the pretties.
I did not, however, do much more exercise than that. There are various reasons, but I just didn't get it done. Time is a factor. Going on a walk takes about 40 minutes total prep time. In the mornings I'm doing other stuff (including sitting here way too much!) and doing any kind of workout during the day means I have kidlets crawling all over me. Ever done crunches with a 2 year old bouncing on your stomach? It's an adventure! But, on the bright side, we are getting an exercise bike from a friend who got a new one. So I can dedicate some time to that every day and then jump on whenever I have a few spare minutes. Will be much easier to dedicate 20 minutes than an hour for a walk plus 40 minutes of prep!
The biggest benefit I saw this week was increased energy. We slept late on the weekend, instead of getting up by the alarm. Huge change for me. But I got 8 hours of sleep for the first time in probably three years. Of course, Sunday night, the baby was up a lot, so I got maybe 4 hours of very broken sleep (I think she's teething). But Monday I had ENERGY. I didn't need a cat nap. I got my entire to do list done (possibly due to our new chore lists). I was amazed that I had so much energy on so little sleep. Last night I got my normal sixish hours and can't wait to see everything I get done! I really think that cutting out the sugar helped, as I didn't have as many sugar crashes. Well, I never got to feeling shaky and wobbly-because I was consuming less sugar, I didn't have as much of a sugar high to come down from.
I was NOT cranky or crabby (except for a bit of PMS-so we'll say not OVERLY cranky or crabby). But I firmly believe that implementing changes slowly is the name of the game. After all, I am trying to change a lifestyle here. We all know that dieting doesn't work. Curbing your eating habits for a few days or weeks or months and then going back to what you were doing before just means you're going to gain the weight back. You have to make life long changes, and that is what I'm trying to do. And if you try to do those quickly, you get really frustrated and often give up. If there is a medical emergency, and you have a doctor telling you that you have to do this or die, well, that's a bit motivating, but I don't have a medical emergency. I'm changing my lifestyle BEFORE it gets to that point. Then I don't have to do it fast and hard.
So, on to the bottom line. How much did I lose? Honestly, I don't know. I don't have a scale. I weighed myself at a friend's house last week, and haven't had the opportunity to go back. I will get a scale as soon as we are financially able, but right now that is a luxury item (DH is still job hunting). But, I lost half an inch around my waist. I don't know if that is a lot. I don't know if that is a little. But, it's something. It's encouragement. I lost something! I guess, if I carry that out over the time of my goal, I will lose seven inches by September 5. That is more than 10% of the inches in my waist. Again, I don't know if that's good, but it will certainly be a positive weight loss. In a quick search this morning I can't find a correlation of how many inches you should lose in a week. I did find a study that showed people lost an average of 2 inches over a four week period, so it looks like my half inch is decent, according to that article.
Have more to write, but have to go fix breakfast and such.
Thank you, God, for the strength to make these healthy changes for our family!
June Lunch Menu
Sunday June 1 Lunchmeat Sandwiches (Amish Bread for church)
Monday June 2 Quesadillas
Tuesday June 3 Hot Dogs, Mac and Cheese
Wednesday June 4 PBJ, Fruit
Thursday June 5 Macaroni and Tomato Sauce
Friday June 6 Sloppy Joe
Saturday June 7 Ham and Fried Potatoes
Sunday June 8 Lunchmeat Sandwiches (chicken and Stuffing Casserole for church)
Monday June9 Grilled Cheese
Tuesday June 10 Spaghetti
Wednesday June 11 Bean Burritos
Thursday June 12 Hot Dogs, Mac and Cheese
Friday June 13 PBJ, Fruit
Saturday June 14 BBQ Pork Sandwiches
Sunday June 15 Lunchmeat Sandwiches (Crockpot Nachos for Church)
Monday June 16 Quesadillas
Tuesday June 17 Macaroni and Tomato Sauce
Wednesday June 18 Sloppy Joe
Thursday June 19 Grilled Cheese
Friday June 20 PBJ, Fruit
Saturday June 21 Creamy Ham and Cheese Salad
Sunday June 22 Lunchmeat Sandwiches (Amish Bread for Church)
Monday June 23 Spaghetti
Tuesday June 24 Grilled Cheese
Wednesday June 25 Burritos
Thursday June 26 Macaroni and Cheese and Hot Dogs
Friday June 27 PBJ, Fruit
Saturday June 28 Tuna and Ham Salad Sandwiches
Sunday June 29 Lunchmeat Sandwiches (Chocolate Cake for Church)
Monday June 30 quesadillas
Monday, June 2, 2008
June Breakfast Menu
Sunday June 1 Biscuits and Gravy with Sausage
Monday June 2 Pumpkin Bread
Tuesday June 3 Muffins
Wednesday June 4 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
Thursday June 5 Malt O Meal
Friday June 6 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
Saturday June 7 French Toast
Sunday June 8 Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Toast
Monday June9 Banana Bread
Tuesday June 10 Oatmeal
Wednesday June 11 Peanut Butter Bread
Thursday June 12 Fruit Salad
Friday June 13 Cinnamon Toast
Saturday June 14 Quesadillas
Sunday June 15 Ham and Fried Potatoes, Biscuits
Monday June 16 English Muffin Loaf
Tuesday June 17 Cornmeal Mush
Wednesday June 18 Pumpkin Bread
Thursday June 19 Muffins
Friday June 20 Cinnamon Breakfast Bread
Saturday June 21 Malt O Meal
Sunday June 22 Biscuits and Gravy with Sausage
Monday June 23 Whole Wheat Apple Raisin Bread
Tuesday June 24 French Toast
Wednesday June 25 Banana Bread
Thursday June 26 Oatmeal
Friday June 27 Peanut Butter bread
Saturday June 28 Fruit Salad
Sunday June 29 Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Toast
Monday June 30 Cinnamon Toast
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Chore Lists are Done
OK, the chore lists are done. I have Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Chore Lists for everyone in the house. Blogger won't let me put them up the way they are formatted, so I put them on box.net. Click here to see them.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Weight Loss
OK, I'm going out on a limb here.
I need to lose weight-badly. I currently weigh 266, with a BMI of 48.6.
Posting this on my blog is hard for me. I know I'm setting myself up for negative commentary, which will be self destructive. But I'm also hoping I'll see some support from this, which is something I greatly need. I need help, God, and I'm hoping I'll see some from here.
I've always struggled with my weight. ALWAYS. Childhood pictures show a chubby little girl with an awful haircut. While I was active in my teen years, which did help me to lose some weight, the only time I was really "skinny" was when I had a drug problem. Yes, I am an addict, with 17 years clean and sober.
I was still fairly thin after I gave birth to Aimee. I knew I needed to lose that baby weight, and went jogging with her dad one night. I didn't make it far, and he laughed at me. Yeah, that's cold and insensitive, but he was 18, so I give him a break for that. But it did harm my self-esteem. I did lose some weight, but not all of it, but that was OK. My weight stayed fairly reasonable for several years. I was overweight, but still not obese.
I don't think I lost much of my Saren baby weight at all, and then I got pregnant with Nikki when he was just 15 months old. I didn't lose much of her weight, either.
Now, I didn't gain a lot of weight while pregnant. With all of my pregnancies, I have actually lost weight. Doctors and midwives have all agreed that healthier eating, paired with more exercise to prepare for birth have contributed, and as I had lost, babies had gained. My midwife with Nikki did get worried at one point, because part of the problem with her was that even putting something in my mouth such as a bite of food, would trigger nausea. I had a LOT of protein shakes with Nikki! But in the end of each pregnancy I would finally gain weight-and never lost it. I had some good nursing babies, and that still didn't help with weight loss.
I also had Aria and Roan very close together, they are 17 months apart.
Pair that with a job, working at home, in which I sat, all day, in front of the computer. Oh sure, I got up-to get something to drink or to go to the bathroom. My weight slowly increased, through time and pregnancies, to what it is now-which is, interestingly enough, less than I weighed when I got pregnant with Roan.
As with any life issue, you have to be ready, really and truly ready, for it to do any good. Well, I am really and truly ready, and here's why:
I have frequent blood sugar crashes throughout the day.
I am 35-and not getting any younger (despite my original typo that said 25)
I am at risk for diabetes, heart disease, and a myriad of other health issues.
I want to be around to play with my grandbabies.
A friend of Larry's, who had recently had a huge weight loss over the last year, and was really getting in shape, went into the hospital for a minor issue-and had a heart attack during treatment. He's getting in great shape, losing weight, doing everything right, and he still has a heart attack-at 35. Thank God he was in the hospital at the time.
So here I am. Committed to weight loss. I'm hearing all over the place that decreasing your body weight by just 10% can cut your risk of diabetes by as much as 58%. So that gives me some interesting thoughts. Wanting to lose 100 pounds is HUGE. It seems unattainable. At a steady loss of 2 pounds per week, that's a year. And I actually need to lose at least 120. So that's MORE than a year. That's HUGE.
But...
But...
If I set smaller goals, it seems much more attainable. For example, my current goal is to lose 27 pounds by September 5. That, I can handle. It's reasonable, it's not some insurmountable mountain of FAT. It's a small mountain of fat.
And the bonus is this. If I lose those 27 pounds, I will weigh 239. My NEXT goal will be only 24 pounds, which will take LESS time to achieve. Being able to reach goals in shorter amounts of time will help to keep me motivated. 14 weeks for my first goal, but only 12 for my next one, 11 for the one after that, and so on.
So, how am I going to do this?
1. Lower the amount of sugar in my tea. I drink a LOT of sweet tea-like 2 gallons a day. Yeah, I pee a lot LOL. I had been doing 1 cup of sugar per gallon of tea, but I've already cut that down to 3/4 cup, and will cut out more each week. I will add mint to my tea, to make it taste sweeter without as much sugar.
2. Lower the amount of tea I drink. I will be making it a priority to sub some of my tea for water. Now, I drink a lot of tea because our small town water has a funky taste. So, to sub the tea for water involves buying bottled water. So that will be slow, until DH finds a job, but it will get done.
3. Portion control. I have already started out this week, measuring my food. It was pretty sad last night, looking at half a cup of mashed potatoes on my plate. Portion control has worked for breakfast and lunch. Dinner, not so much, so when I eat dinner, I finish my plate, then sit for 20 minutes before I can get seconds. That way I can make sure I'm actually still hungry before getting more food (and I have to REALLY want it if I'm willing to eat it cold, LOL, we don't have a microwave).
4. Better food choices. I hate eating my veggies. I'm awful at it. But I'm doing it, and must finish my veggies before getting seconds.
5. Eating when I'm hungry. Yes, eating when I'm hungry. Back before the days of refrigeration, world wide shipping, and nearby supermarkets, we ate what we had available or could find. That meant that sometimes, you went hungry-if you didn't save enough food until next harvest, or butcher enough meat to get you through until you could hunt or butcher again. When you saw that your food reserves weren't going to hold out, you started rationing food. So you existed on less. So your body learned to hold on to any existing fat cells in times when it wasn't fed what it needed. That continues in our bodies today. If you don't eat, your body goes into starvation mode, and won't let go of those fat cells that it believes are necessary for your survival. so I will take a few bites of applesauce or have a couple of saltines when I'm hungry.
6. Moving more. As you other busy moms know, working out is something we know we need to do, but most of us don't get to do. You'd think that chasing kids and carrying laundry and doing the dishes would be moving-and it is. Every hour of housework counts as 1 mile of exercise. But, you've in all likelihood hit a plateau. Unless you're doing heavier than normal housework, you're not moving enough to lose weight. I know that's my problem. I do try to go on walks. I plan to go on a walk every single day. But it takes 20 minutes to get everyone and everything ready and load the stroller, and another 20 minutes to get everything packed away when you get home. So an hour walk takes up almost 2 hours of your day. That's time a lot of us don't have. but, a friend of ours who is moving has GIVEN us his exercise bike. Well, we don't have it yet, which is OK, cause we don't have ROOM for it yet, but we'll have it. So I can bike whenever I have a spare moment, and for a dedicated 20 minutes a day, without having to load up everything and everyone to go. I think this activity will have a HUGE impact. I can FIND 20 minutes-I can't find 2 hours every day.
7. LOTS of prayer. Prayer to resist temptation, prayers of praise for when I do resist that tempting little cupcake, prayer to hold me up when I'm having a hard time of it-and I know that will come.
Larry is being very supportive. A few weeks back, we were discussing my need to lose weight, and he said "Babe, you're not fat, you're pleasantly plump." Well, that was sweet. It said to me that he doesn't care about my weight in terms of appearance. He loves me even when I'm fat-and I so love that about him. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. But, it also doesn't address the issue. I told him "I'm not pleasantly plump, I'm morbidly obese and if I don't lose the weight I'm going to die." Flat out, no BS. I told him how much I appreciated him saying what he said, that it gave me a very positive image of myself in his eyes, but that I need to lose the weight for my health. Not to look better, but FOR MY HEALTH. He then realized what I was saying. I don't think he had ever previously even had a concept of life without me. I would always be there. And for that mindset to continue for him, he needs to be supportive of my weight loss. I may not always be here, but he needs to have that mindset in his head-it grounds him and gives him strength. He needs that. Ahh, but I'm digressing again. But the closer I come to a healthy weight, the more likely it is that I WILL actually be here 40 years from now, when he's a dirty old man in a wheelchair trying to get nurses to sit in his lap and I'm denying that I need glasses to read a book.
But last night, I mentioned that I hadn't had any blood sugar crashes since I started this, on Tuesday. I think both cutting some sugar and eating when I'm hungry have contributed to that. And he said the sweetest words I could hear coming out of his mouth: "I'm so proud of you!" That makes me feel even more warm and fuzzy. We, as wives, need uplifting from our husbands just as they need uplifting from us. We need reality, but we also need uplifting. That support from him meant just as much to me as it possibly could have. Ahhh, what a man I've got!
OK, it's late and I need to get some breakfast and get the kids up.
I need to lose weight-badly. I currently weigh 266, with a BMI of 48.6.
Posting this on my blog is hard for me. I know I'm setting myself up for negative commentary, which will be self destructive. But I'm also hoping I'll see some support from this, which is something I greatly need. I need help, God, and I'm hoping I'll see some from here.
I've always struggled with my weight. ALWAYS. Childhood pictures show a chubby little girl with an awful haircut. While I was active in my teen years, which did help me to lose some weight, the only time I was really "skinny" was when I had a drug problem. Yes, I am an addict, with 17 years clean and sober.
I was still fairly thin after I gave birth to Aimee. I knew I needed to lose that baby weight, and went jogging with her dad one night. I didn't make it far, and he laughed at me. Yeah, that's cold and insensitive, but he was 18, so I give him a break for that. But it did harm my self-esteem. I did lose some weight, but not all of it, but that was OK. My weight stayed fairly reasonable for several years. I was overweight, but still not obese.
I don't think I lost much of my Saren baby weight at all, and then I got pregnant with Nikki when he was just 15 months old. I didn't lose much of her weight, either.
Now, I didn't gain a lot of weight while pregnant. With all of my pregnancies, I have actually lost weight. Doctors and midwives have all agreed that healthier eating, paired with more exercise to prepare for birth have contributed, and as I had lost, babies had gained. My midwife with Nikki did get worried at one point, because part of the problem with her was that even putting something in my mouth such as a bite of food, would trigger nausea. I had a LOT of protein shakes with Nikki! But in the end of each pregnancy I would finally gain weight-and never lost it. I had some good nursing babies, and that still didn't help with weight loss.
I also had Aria and Roan very close together, they are 17 months apart.
Pair that with a job, working at home, in which I sat, all day, in front of the computer. Oh sure, I got up-to get something to drink or to go to the bathroom. My weight slowly increased, through time and pregnancies, to what it is now-which is, interestingly enough, less than I weighed when I got pregnant with Roan.
As with any life issue, you have to be ready, really and truly ready, for it to do any good. Well, I am really and truly ready, and here's why:
I have frequent blood sugar crashes throughout the day.
I am 35-and not getting any younger (despite my original typo that said 25)
I am at risk for diabetes, heart disease, and a myriad of other health issues.
I want to be around to play with my grandbabies.
A friend of Larry's, who had recently had a huge weight loss over the last year, and was really getting in shape, went into the hospital for a minor issue-and had a heart attack during treatment. He's getting in great shape, losing weight, doing everything right, and he still has a heart attack-at 35. Thank God he was in the hospital at the time.
So here I am. Committed to weight loss. I'm hearing all over the place that decreasing your body weight by just 10% can cut your risk of diabetes by as much as 58%. So that gives me some interesting thoughts. Wanting to lose 100 pounds is HUGE. It seems unattainable. At a steady loss of 2 pounds per week, that's a year. And I actually need to lose at least 120. So that's MORE than a year. That's HUGE.
But...
But...
If I set smaller goals, it seems much more attainable. For example, my current goal is to lose 27 pounds by September 5. That, I can handle. It's reasonable, it's not some insurmountable mountain of FAT. It's a small mountain of fat.
And the bonus is this. If I lose those 27 pounds, I will weigh 239. My NEXT goal will be only 24 pounds, which will take LESS time to achieve. Being able to reach goals in shorter amounts of time will help to keep me motivated. 14 weeks for my first goal, but only 12 for my next one, 11 for the one after that, and so on.
So, how am I going to do this?
1. Lower the amount of sugar in my tea. I drink a LOT of sweet tea-like 2 gallons a day. Yeah, I pee a lot LOL. I had been doing 1 cup of sugar per gallon of tea, but I've already cut that down to 3/4 cup, and will cut out more each week. I will add mint to my tea, to make it taste sweeter without as much sugar.
2. Lower the amount of tea I drink. I will be making it a priority to sub some of my tea for water. Now, I drink a lot of tea because our small town water has a funky taste. So, to sub the tea for water involves buying bottled water. So that will be slow, until DH finds a job, but it will get done.
3. Portion control. I have already started out this week, measuring my food. It was pretty sad last night, looking at half a cup of mashed potatoes on my plate. Portion control has worked for breakfast and lunch. Dinner, not so much, so when I eat dinner, I finish my plate, then sit for 20 minutes before I can get seconds. That way I can make sure I'm actually still hungry before getting more food (and I have to REALLY want it if I'm willing to eat it cold, LOL, we don't have a microwave).
4. Better food choices. I hate eating my veggies. I'm awful at it. But I'm doing it, and must finish my veggies before getting seconds.
5. Eating when I'm hungry. Yes, eating when I'm hungry. Back before the days of refrigeration, world wide shipping, and nearby supermarkets, we ate what we had available or could find. That meant that sometimes, you went hungry-if you didn't save enough food until next harvest, or butcher enough meat to get you through until you could hunt or butcher again. When you saw that your food reserves weren't going to hold out, you started rationing food. So you existed on less. So your body learned to hold on to any existing fat cells in times when it wasn't fed what it needed. That continues in our bodies today. If you don't eat, your body goes into starvation mode, and won't let go of those fat cells that it believes are necessary for your survival. so I will take a few bites of applesauce or have a couple of saltines when I'm hungry.
6. Moving more. As you other busy moms know, working out is something we know we need to do, but most of us don't get to do. You'd think that chasing kids and carrying laundry and doing the dishes would be moving-and it is. Every hour of housework counts as 1 mile of exercise. But, you've in all likelihood hit a plateau. Unless you're doing heavier than normal housework, you're not moving enough to lose weight. I know that's my problem. I do try to go on walks. I plan to go on a walk every single day. But it takes 20 minutes to get everyone and everything ready and load the stroller, and another 20 minutes to get everything packed away when you get home. So an hour walk takes up almost 2 hours of your day. That's time a lot of us don't have. but, a friend of ours who is moving has GIVEN us his exercise bike. Well, we don't have it yet, which is OK, cause we don't have ROOM for it yet, but we'll have it. So I can bike whenever I have a spare moment, and for a dedicated 20 minutes a day, without having to load up everything and everyone to go. I think this activity will have a HUGE impact. I can FIND 20 minutes-I can't find 2 hours every day.
7. LOTS of prayer. Prayer to resist temptation, prayers of praise for when I do resist that tempting little cupcake, prayer to hold me up when I'm having a hard time of it-and I know that will come.
Larry is being very supportive. A few weeks back, we were discussing my need to lose weight, and he said "Babe, you're not fat, you're pleasantly plump." Well, that was sweet. It said to me that he doesn't care about my weight in terms of appearance. He loves me even when I'm fat-and I so love that about him. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. But, it also doesn't address the issue. I told him "I'm not pleasantly plump, I'm morbidly obese and if I don't lose the weight I'm going to die." Flat out, no BS. I told him how much I appreciated him saying what he said, that it gave me a very positive image of myself in his eyes, but that I need to lose the weight for my health. Not to look better, but FOR MY HEALTH. He then realized what I was saying. I don't think he had ever previously even had a concept of life without me. I would always be there. And for that mindset to continue for him, he needs to be supportive of my weight loss. I may not always be here, but he needs to have that mindset in his head-it grounds him and gives him strength. He needs that. Ahh, but I'm digressing again. But the closer I come to a healthy weight, the more likely it is that I WILL actually be here 40 years from now, when he's a dirty old man in a wheelchair trying to get nurses to sit in his lap and I'm denying that I need glasses to read a book.
But last night, I mentioned that I hadn't had any blood sugar crashes since I started this, on Tuesday. I think both cutting some sugar and eating when I'm hungry have contributed to that. And he said the sweetest words I could hear coming out of his mouth: "I'm so proud of you!" That makes me feel even more warm and fuzzy. We, as wives, need uplifting from our husbands just as they need uplifting from us. We need reality, but we also need uplifting. That support from him meant just as much to me as it possibly could have. Ahhh, what a man I've got!
OK, it's late and I need to get some breakfast and get the kids up.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Once A Month Master List
Once A Month
Dining Room
Wash Boys’ Blankets
Wash Girls’ Blankets
Wash Mom and Dad’s Blankets
Wash Living Room and Kayla’s Blankets
Straighten, Wash Hoosier
Wash Top of Fridge
Sweep Back Porch
Kitchen
Food Assignment 1
Food Assignment 2
Food Assignment 3
Food Assignment 4
Prepare Next Month’s Menus
Print Next Month’s Chore Sheets
Dish Drain
Move Stove, Clean Underneath
Move Fridge, Clean Underneath
Baseboards
Kitchen-Oven and Racks
Wash Trash Can
Wash Top of Fridge
Wash Outside Kitchen Cabinets
Wash Walls
Wash Doorframe
Wash/Organize Shelves
Living Room
Wash Trash Can
Sweep Back Porch
Hallways
Mom and Dad’s Room
Wash Windows
Straighten Aria’s Dresser
Straighten Larry’s Table
Wash Baseboards
Wash Walls
Wash Doorframe
Straighten Mom’s Table
Straighten Desk
Straighten Headboard
Straighten Desk
Bathroom
Wash Walls, Door, Doorframe, Baseboards
Wash Trash Can
Girls’ Room
Wash Windows
Boys’ Room
Wash Windows
Organize Roan’s Clothes
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