Happy Thanksgiving

How are you celebrating? What are you thankful for?
I'm thankful for the wonderful crazy bunch of people who make up OWOA. I couldn't do this without you guys!

Time to Weigh-in

Welcome to the new week. How are you? What did you do in the last week?
As well as weighing in, why not name something that went well last week and something you'd like to improve on.

My Dad

Hey guys. I just wanted to pop in and ask for prayers for my family. My Dad went to the hospital in heart failure. Once there they put him on a nitrate drip because his bp was extremely high and they found that he is in renal failure. He's been on the drip for almost 24 hrs and his bp is still high. I just got off the phone with him and it is 185/128. They are currently working on getting the dr. to get paperwork signed to get a blood transfusion going. While we were talking he told me he has a tired spirit. My Dad's health has been failing for a couple years now. He's only 51.

The kids and I will load up and trek on up to see him tomorrow. I'm sorry if I seem short and a bit distant in this post. There is so much involved behind the scenes in my family. My mom is up to her usual antics even with my Dad being in the hospital which make things seem rougher.
Thanks guys.

An example week

Monday
Weigh in, not particularly like the number I see on the scale. Looking after the kiddos, so meals sometimes take place at funny moments/are interrupted, get bored/feel sad, decide to comfort myself, after it's Monday, so there's a whole week before we have to weigh in again.

Tuesday
Similar to Monday, it's still the beginning of the week, often have the kids. Try a bit harder, but still seem doomed to fail. Wander aimlessly around the kitchen looking for something to eat.

Wednesday
Middle of the week, feeling ok. Generally do alright with eating. Maybe have one 'cheat'

Thursday
Church small group night, there's always lots of treats on offer. Try hard to resist, but somehow later find myself eating absent mindedly.

Friday
Teeny tots in the morning - have to try to resist the biscuits, sometimes go for lunch afterwards, Pizza Hut and the lunch buffet are the nearest and cheapest options. Load my plate with salad, but somehow lots of pizza makes it onto my plate. Spend the evening going out for a meal with friends/boyfriend, or down the pub drinking things like coke.

Saturday
Get up early for church prayer meeting. May grab something to eat on the way, go for breakfast with a group of people afterwards, go tutoring, go home, grab something else to eat - not lunch exactly as had a big breakfast at 10am. Snack my way through the rest of the day, eat dinner either out with friends or at home with family.

Sunday
Try really hard to resist the cakes after church, when they come past you for the 10th time give in and grab a piece of shortbread or chocolate brownie. Go out for lunch. Realise that I'd made rubbish decisions all week, and so give up on the diet and end up eating lots of crisps (chips), and bread and other delightful carbs, including pudding.

Monday
Wake up and go bleugh at the number on the scale.

Good morning

Walk this weigh to share your weight.

(I really need to work with coming up with something catchy to say on these weigh-in posts. Blest was so much better at them than me!)

It doesn't count because....

I think I'd figured out one of the reasons why the scale isn't moving for me.
I've been making excuses, telling myself that certain things don't count under certain circumstances, when actually, at the end of the day, if it's going in my mouth, it counts.
I think I need to get back to journaling my food for a few days and see what's really going into my mouth.

Here are a few I've caught myself using.

It doesn't count if I eat it when I'm out of the house.
It doesn't count if I've been carrying it around in my bag for a few days (fruit/nuts/chocolate)
It doesn't count when I eat it because I'm hungry just before bed.
It doesn't count if I just help the kids finish off their dinner.
It doesn't count if I'm eating it off someone else's plate.

The problem is, it always counts.
What excuses have you been using?!

Where's the mojo?

I've had thoughts rolling around in my head for a while. When wrote a post on Friday I know I sounded desperate and at that moment I was. I was in a state of wanting to just not care and have what I want. Is a burger bad...no. Is Chinese bad...no. Is it good for me...I would venture to say no. Will I die or get some horrible sickness from eating a burger. No (hopefully not). Brandi and Elly were sweet and completely correct in their response to my post but at that moment in time, I needed to stick to my guns (Friday), and deny myself a burger or Chinese or whatever else. You see, I've come to the realization after being "stuck" where I'm at on the scale for a 1 1/2 yrs that I can't seek or hope for some light bulb moment. Some moment of external motivation. I have to dig deep inside of myself and force myself to make the right decisions. It's a constant. I have to constantly deny myself. I have to tell myself that although that pumpkin pie that I'm craving won't really hurt me, it's not whats best for me...at that moment. Now mind you, I'm not saying to give up everything. Have I had some pumpkin pie? Not recently but I did 2 weeks ago. Last Saturday Jeff and I went to Burgerville and split a burger and large fry for lunch. We each ordered a shake and split it with the kids. Since then, I have denied myself any other self indulgences. Have I wanted other things, yes. Have I allowed myself, no. Guys, we have to just dig. We have to stay strong and do what we do with the purest of intent.

I don't know how many of you know but this summer I started studying for a Bachelor of Science in Holistic Nutrition. If that doesn't seem crazy, I don't know what does. Here I struggle with loosing more weight, struggle with making healthy food decisions and yet decide to study nutrition. Any hoots, I wanted to share something from one of the books I've had to read. I know it's something many of us have said over and over and over again (to ourselves) but I feel it's worth being said again. In Elson M. Haas' book Staying Healthy with Nutrition he states "When we say the word diet, many of us may think of a particular time when we tried to lose or gain weight before going back to what we usually eat. Who we are, how we feel, and how we look in size and shape are the results of what we eat, our eating habits, and all that we do and think. So, if we wish to change in any way, we probably need to change our diet-that is, what and how we eat-rather than go on a diet."

Later Haas states, "Balancing our diet requires developing new tastes." and "Changing our diet or lifestyle is not necessarily easy, but it can be done, and it may influence many other aspects of our life for the better"

So, where did your motivation mojo go? How do you get it back. To use the phrase Nike coined, "Just do it". Dig down, dig deep, pray, and do it. It's a struggle. Don't I know all to well. It's a struggle that's worth it.

Weigh to go

I've got so many blog posts going round my head, but none of them have quite made it to the actually sitting down to write a blog post. I've also had the busiest weekend that I've had in a long time - I'm ready for another weekend just to recover!
So I'm sorry I haven't been around much this past week or so, I'll try harder this week...!
While you're here, weigh in!

(and and you might want to pop over to Brandi's site to see some fantastic news, and don't forget Debbie's site too..!)

My leg grew

Honestly. Go read about it!

I'm Sick

of eating healthfully! There. I said it. I've have eaten so stinking well for an entire week and I'm sick of it. I swear I gag at the idea of eating anymore greens (lettuce, spinach, kale), tomatoes, black beans...anything. The part that erks me more than anything is the fact that the scale was up 1.4 pounds this morning from my lowest weight this week. Grrr......
I so seriously want some Chinese right now. Will I? No. But I'm sick of eating good for my health and good for my waist line food. How about a burger? A yummy, juicy, make me gain 3 pounds burger? No? Whaaaa.

*I just wanted to jump back on here and say that I know that I can't look at eating healthily for just the purposes of weight loss. I know that there is so much more to being healthy. I comforted in knowing that for a period of time I'm not being a glutton, I'm comforted in knowing that I'm striving to make serious change in my life, I'm comforted in knowing that I'm working on making a change for my children.

oh, and a picture :)

Here he is with the boys. We didn't even think to get one of all of us. Oh well :) Enjoy!

He's home! and other news

So that's my big news!! My big ol' Marine is home finally. We're still down in Eastern NC for de-briefing and such but we'll be back on the other side of the state soon. :)

Other news, my challenge goals are going well. I've been a bit low on water intake since I'm not at home but other then that the rest are well. I suspect I might have even started losing a bit of weight! Woot! No scale around so hopefully next Monday will be a good start.

Also in other news, I start my new job when I get back home. I haven't had one in years because I've been staying at home with the little ones so this is exciting for me. I need social interaction. Very much so. :)

That's all for me, just wanted to pop in and say hello and I haven't forgotten about you guys!! *hugs*

Challenge Check in

How's it going??? 2 weeks down, 8 to go. It's going really well for me right now. I am on the computer at a time that I had said I wouldn't BUT I haven't been on it yet and have been staying away from blogland SO, I'm still on track.
Time to get to 2 fussy little ones.

Sometimes I Can't Figure Out ...

... if I'm Gilligan or the portly Skipper. Anyway, here's an excerpt from my journal this morning:

Throughout my whole weight loss journey, since March of 2007, I've lost more than 50 pounds. I should be ecstatic, but in many ways I feel disappointed. I had expected to reach my goal (72 pounds) by August of 2007, and here I am in November 2008 and I'm not even close. I still have the 20ish extra pounds hanging around, and I still have a strong desire to eat and eat and eat.

I feel like I'm on an island by myself. Most people would look at me and say, “Hey, you've lost over 50 pounds, be happy! That's enough” I don't feel that way, though. The hard thing is spiritual leaders (who I admire) can't even relate to my problem. Either they don't have an eating issue, or they do and they don't seem to care. That's why I feel like I'm on an island by myself. 

Welcome to a new week

Good morning, it's Monday again.
The sun isn't shining here, but maybe it is where you are...
How are your numbers looking today?

Julie's goals

Julie has trouble posting, so she emailed me her 3 main goals for this
current challenge:

Drink 3 pts water a day.

Catch up and keep up to date with my Bible reading plan.

Lose weight for at least 5 of the 10 weeks, staying level on the other
weeks. (ie, NO gains)

Thankful Thursday

What are you thankful for today?

I am very excited and thankful about something, but it's not really my secret, so I can't tell you what it is. Maybe the person whose news it is will chime in in the comments!

I'm also thankful that I get to meet up with DebbieBoo today :) Talking of which, I need to head out the door very soon!

Challenge Check in

How is every one's work towards goal coming?

Victoria, are you writing in your journal?
Missy, are you drinking water between and with meals?
Christina, how's the late night snacking?
Bekki, did you make a meal plan and stick to it?
Jessica, did you clean on Thursday instead of Friday?
Debs, are you exercising? (Be careful!)
Brandi, are you meditating on the portion of scripture that you have meant to memorize?
Stephine, how's the H2O intake?

As for me, well, not near as perfect as I'd love to be but working towards my goals.
With that said, I must get off this computer in order to work on my habit change and my goals.

Candy Corn

A 500 word assignment

Pumpkin Soup

I agreed with my mum (Elly) that I would type this recipe up for her about 2 weeks ago (when it was the food Friday soup recipe thing!) and unfortunately never got around to it. She's coming back from a few days away today, so I guess I'd better type it up quick!

serves 4-6
cooking time: 35-40 mins
preparation time: 10-15 mins

60 ml Olive Oil
2 medium onions, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp sage
1.25 kg pumpkin, peeled and deseeded
1 carrot, chopped
3 sticks of celery, chopped
Red chilli, finely chopped, seeds and all
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tsp ground allspice
A pinch on cinnamon
2 litres water (we're not entirely sure about this - it ended up pretty runny, but then my mum isn't sure we had as much pumpkin as they suggested, so perhaps use your own judgement when adding the water!)

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and add the onions. Sweat over a medium heat for 5 minutes until the onions have started softening. Add the garlic and sage, and cook for a while longer until the onions have started releasing their sugars and the garlic has started filling the kitchen with a lovely smell.

At this point add the rest of the aromatic vegetables, the carrots and celery, with the pumpkin, chilli, cinnamon and allspice. Season generously with a few teaspoons of salt and freshly ground pepper and throw in a couple of bay leaves.

Carry on sweating the vegetables until the pumpkin has started to soften. Pour over the water and bring to the simmering point.

Simmer the vegetables until they are soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Blend with a stick blender to create minimal washing*.

We served the soup with a few roasted hazelnuts and grated cheese on the top.

* Be careful with the blender, because if you get distracted, disastrous things can happen. Not that we'd be talking from experience, or anything.

Missy's Late Challenge Goals

I might not be count now, but gosh-darn-it, I'll still do it with y'all!

By December 31, 2008 I will:
1. lose 8 pounds to get a few under 185
2. be consistently prompt (which includes posting in a more timely fashion!)
3. cook at least 5 evening meals at home each week

Reasons I MUST change:
1. to keep the pounds going down and breakthrough this 1 year plateau
2. to make plans that are solid but realistically flexible – stop overbooking or withdrawing: find a balance
3. to teach my children responsible habits
4. to be prepared, and yet surrendered to God
5. to find ways to save on the grocery budget so I can continue to be home with the kid

List 5 accomplishments needed to reach my Goal(s):
1. Drink water with every meal, and one glass between every meal
2. Eat only when I am hungry
3. Keep one calendar for the whole family and update daily
4. Take a moment each morning to plan the day
5. Take an hour each week to plan the week (meals, activities, shopping, etc.)

Tell me why.. I don't like Mondays

Hopefully your Monday will be better than mine. Actually, I don't think the day with be so bad, I'm just mad at myself for giving in to temptation and letting the diet go out of the window pretty much last week.
But today is a new day, a fresh start :)

How are you? Are you taking a fresh start, or continuing in a good groove? Where ever you are, go ahead and weigh in!

Cristina's Challenge Goals

By December 31st 2008 I will:
1. Loose 10lbs. I'm currently at 188, so on 12/31 I will weigh 178 or less.
2. I will read 2 books: The Shack and The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person
3. I will clean out my closet and my daughters closet.

Reasons I must change:
1. To improve my health
2. So that my daughter grows up with healthy habits
3. To reduce the clutter in these closets so that they don't stress me out
4. I've been wanting to read The Beck Diet Solution to see if I can really train my brain to think like a thin person; if thin people really think differently and I can learn to think like them, then I will be one step closer to leading a healthier lifestyle
5. To get closer to my goal weight

List 5 accomplishments needed to reach my goal(s):
1. Quit the late night snacking (aka binges)
2. Journal what I'm eating on my blog
3. Set aside time in the evenings to read
4. Set aside time on the weeekends to clean closets
5. Make healthy food choices when eating out and over the holidays

Bekki's challenge goals

By December 31, 2008 I will:

1. Lose a stone (14 lb).
2. Be regularly spending time with God each day.
3. Work through What Colour is my Parachute? by Richard N. Bolles to help me think through where I'm going in my career.

Reasons I MUST change:

1. I've been stuck around the same weight for months and it's time to shift it!
2. I've been trying to make myself happy with food and it doesn't work.
3. I want to have a healthy relationship with food where it isn't an issue or an idol.
4. I want to know God better.
5. I don't know what my next step in life is. I need to do some serious thinking about where next and not just drift along hoping that something will turn up.

List 5 accomplishments needed to reach my Goal(s):

1. Make a meal plan for the week and stick to it.
2. Stay away from sugar-filled cakes, especially flapjack. Replace them with healthy snacks (fruit, hummus and veg, low-fat cheese) or with water if I'm just thirsty or with doing something constructive if I'm just bored.
3. Plan time out from busy-ness, work, cleaning, shopping etc to spend just being with God, indoors or out, on my own or with others.
4. Plan time to read WCiMP and work through the exercises.
5. At least 30 minutes of exercise, 5 out of 7 days a week.

Today's the day!!

Yep! It's here! Our first official challenge here at Blogger. I really am excited about this one. Just to show you how excited I am about this one and to show you how much I would love for everyone to participate, you have through the rest of this week to post your goals. That's right, through Sunday night. Our 1 week check up will be next Wednesday though so for those of you that don't post within the next couple of days it will be more like a 9 week challenge.
Thank you so much Stephine, Jessica, Victoria and Brandi for challenging yourself. You all have some wonderful goals.

Jessica's challenge goals

By December 31, 2008 I will:

1. Lose ten pounds and then consistently weigh in under 190.
2. Read the Torah portion each week before Shabbat begins and spend at least some time in prayer/meditation.
3. Go to the gym at least three days a week.

Reasons I MUST change:

1. I've got good momentum going with weight loss right now, and I don't want to get stuck in a plateau. I want to keep losing.
2. I need to continue to strengthen my legs and arms.
3. When I don't exercise, I enter a vicious cycle...I don't want to go to the gym because I don't feel good, but then I don't feel good because I don't exercise...etc, etc.
4. Reading and understanding on some level the Torah portion deepens my understanding of and connection to God.
5. I'm tired of going into Shabbat morning services "cold," without warming up spiritually. Knowing the Torah portion that will be discussed helps me warm up.

List 5 accomplishments needed to reach my Goal(s):

1. Bring my own lunch to work most days of the week, rather than eat the school lunch. (I'm a teacher at a private school that provides lunch--mostly healthy but not South Beachy--for students and teachers.)
2. Remember to pack a snack for after work, before I go the gym. If I forget then I tend to skip the workout because I know I'll be too hungry to bike home afterwards.
3. Remember to pack my exercise shoes on my bike on days that I plan to go the gym.
4. Clean on Thursdays, rather than Fridays, so that I can have a quiet time and study time before lighting the Shabbat candles.
5. Make an effort on Sundays to learn the name of the upcoming Torah portion so that it's within my consciousness for the week.

Tami's challenge goals

By December 31, 2008 I will: (give specific/realistic goals)
1. Faithfully be spending time in scripture...not a set time but faithfully studying...digging deeper
2. Weigh 180 or less
3. Finish my current class for school

Reasons I MUST change:
1. To hide God's word in my heart
2. To not just accept God's word at status quot. To know and believe something because
I've studied and came to the conviction through studying
3. To be closer to being at a healthy weight...I don't want to become diabetic like all those in
my family
4. To feel better and to have more energy. I want to be a "Hot Mamma" for my husband.
5. Need to finish current class and move on.

List 5 accomplishments needed to reach my Goal(s):
1. Faithful time spent in prayer
2. Less time at the computer
3. Conscience food intake. Purposeful food intake
4. Faithfully set time aside a minimum of 4 days a week to study my schooling
5. Faithful time set aside each day for studying God's word

Debs' Challenge Goals

By December 31, 2008 I will: (give specific/realistic goals)
1. Weigh in at 200lb or less (currently at around 215)
2. Be exercising at least 3 times a week (hopefully more)
3. Tackle my confort eating - I realise that this is a biggie, but try to think about why I'm eating and do something more productive instead. I think this will involve some journaling too (sorry, this isn't a very specific goal!)

Reasons I MUST change:
1. To improve my health.
2. I've been stuck at this weight for ages, and it's getting boring!
3. Although I like how I look now, I know I'll like me even more when I lose some more weight.
4. I need the happy endorpines I get from exercise.
5. I've got really lax about eating and the weight seems to want to creep back on, so i need to get back into the right mindset.

List 5 accomplishments needed to reach my Goal(s):
1. Schedule exercise into my day - write it in my diary, so that it has to happen!
2. Stay away from chocolate, at all times of the month.
3. Stay on the beach, even at weekends - that's my time of weakness at the moment.
4. Journal some (if not all) of what i'm eating on my blog to stay accountable
5. Keep checking in with people, especially when things have gone wrong, rather than wallowing and letting them get worse (eg comfort eating)

Brandi's Challenge Goals

Tami and Debs--thanks for making the challenge available to those of us who are no longer making weight-loss a goal. (However, please don't feel like you need to always make challenges appropriate for those of is at goal...I understand this is still a "weight-loss" site!) :-)

Specific Goals:
1. Memorize 5 scriptures
2. Use arm weights 4 times per week
3. Read the book, "Choosing Forgiveness" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Reasons I must change:
1. I want to hide God's word in my heart that I might not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11)
2. And so I will know the truth and the truth will set me free (John 8:32)
3. And so I can stand against the attacks of the enemy without having to take time to go look up a scripture...it will be in my head already.
4. I want to have shapely arms to help fight genetics...all my female ancestors have flabby arms :-) I want to look my best for my hubby.
5. I want to be a woman who is characterized by a forgiving attitude because the Lord makes it so clear in scripture that He wants me to forgive.

Accomplishments needed to reach my goals:
1. Meditate on my 5 scriptures daily and quiz myself at regular intervals.
2. Use my scriptures in prayer.
3. Have my children quiz me.
4. Do my weights before lunch.
5. Read a chapter per week...that will even give me a "cushion."

You guys did a great job! This challenge is cool! :-)

Victoria's challenge goals

By December 31, 2008 I will: (give specific/realistic goals)

1. Lose 10 pounds

2. Exercise 5 days a week for 45 minutes at a time
3. Journal everyday.

Reasons I MUST change:

1. To improve my health.
2. To be obedient to God in this area of my life
3. To be able to keep up with my children
4. To feel better (I have been struggling with asthma)
5. Fit into smaller clothes…can’t afford to buy new and bigger clothing.

List 5 accomplishments needed to reach my Goal(s):

1. Journal everything that I place into my mouth
2. Eat more at home/stay away from fast food
3. Exercise 5-6 days a week
4. Drink 6 – eight oz of water daily
5. Pray!