Continental Breakfast

This is the plan I use for breakfasts for the children each day.  I've been busy sharing this idea with friends, so I thought I should just put it all in one place for easy reference. :)

Saturday, I do a big day of baking for the week. I make a couple loaves of "sweet" breads and granola bars. I also make a couple of pans of baked oatmeal (one for Sunday morning and another for Monday morning).  Everything goes right to the freezer. Anyone snitching on Baking Day doesn't get their share for breakfast later in the week.

Now that I have a baked good for each breakfast during the week, my oldest puts out a continental breakfast buffet each morning. The children come down and make their plate with a bread, fruit, nuts, and side of *G-Bombed beans that cooked overnight in the crockpot. They love it and so do I.

No more cooking in the morning. Way less dishes, so the cleanup that used to take forever is going much faster. I think we even eat faster this way.

Some recipes on our normal rotation:

Orange Berry Muffins

Banana Blueberry Bars

Pumpkin Pie Squares

Banana Bread/Muffins

Zucchini Bread

Make Ahead pancakes

Granola Bars using this recipe, minus the oil and coconut, pressed in a parchment paper lined pan. I sometimes add peanut butter and chia seeds.

So, this week's breakfast menu looks like this:

Monday: Baked oatmeal that is topped with crushed walnuts, fruit, Gbomb beans
Tuesday: Zucchini bread that has crushed walnuts in it, fruit, Gbomb beans
Wednesday: Banana Bread, walnut pieces, fruit, Gbomb beans
Thursday: Zucchini bread with walnuts, fruit, Gbomb beans
Friday: Granola bars, fruit, gbomb beans

*Gbombs is an acronym for Greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries, seeds/nuts. I use the term to mean that we've dressed up the beans to fit the acronym as much as we can. We add onion, mushrooms (chopped VERY finely ), and greens (kale or collards or spinach). They all love their beans and greens in the morning.

Hello Juice Fast...Hello New Decade!!

The past couple of weeks have found me struggling with eating habits.  While having company, I did well preparing meals that were healthful.  Still, I overate when it came to grains and oils, leaving me feeling sluggish.

We also went out to eat several times.  I was able to make fair choices from the menus but the salt and oils really make an impact on me when I'm doing that frequently.  Topping all that off, the last night we went out, I chose a chicken sandwich to go with my greasy fries and onion rings.  By the next day, I was a completely slug.

One of the great things we did during our visit was to watch one of our favorite family films, Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. I was reminded of my intentions to do a 10 day fast ever 3 months to reboot, boost my immune system, and jolt my body with nutrients.  After the last couple of weeks, I was ready. David, of course, was overjoyed.  He's been dying to go back to juicing for weeks.

Yesterday was day one.  The first juice was great.  The second, green juice, just as awful as I remember.  The third, still mildly gross.  But, I got them all down, we went shopping for more produce last night, and I'm committed to the 10 days.  Gulp.

I've never done more than 4 days and that was rough.  I'm pretty sure my crabbiness over the taste of the juices is connected with some detox issues. 

Upside is that I am FINALLY down to the NEXT DECADE!!!!!   A couple of goals I had for doing this fast is:

1.  To get solidly into and through this next decade swiftly.  I lingered way too long in that last decade and I needed a push to get that scale going again.

2. Cleanse my body from the excess crud that's gone in that last couple of weeks.

3. Prove to myself that I can do it. I need to conquer my mind and my gag reflex. 

4. Fit into a few clothing items I bought this week that are just snug enough to get me excited about shedding a few more pounds. :D

So, after seeing the scale down 2.6 pounds this morning, I'm feeling confident about hitting the juice for another day.  :)

Sunday check-in

So, for the week, I'm down 2.4 pounds. I'm really happy with that considering how much I strayed from the plan.  It just shows how well this works for me!

I also figured out that I'm only 10 pounds away from getting out of the Obese category with my weight. That is really exciting!! I think it's a far reach, but I would love to meet that goal by our next weigh in on October.  10 pounds gone in 11 days? Yeah, that's a little crazy. But, you never know. ;)

I'm newly motivated to hit the exercise hard with regularity.  If I can see the pounds come off being my normal lazy self, then I should see some great improvement by adding in some exercise. The weeks ahead look to be less busy so that leaves me time and room to put my health at the front page for a bit.

I'm also seeing that despite the pounds coming off, I'm not losing inches like I want.  Up top, I'm getting smaller, for sure. My hips and belly are still in the way, though, and I'm not going down in sizes like it seems I should with the weight loss. Focusing on T-Tapp will be a big help to see the inches come off. I want to see myself comfortably in the next size down by weigh-in next month. I'm going to work hard toward that goal. What's the use of losing 30-ish pounds if you're still able to wear the same (even if baggy) clothes you wore 30 pounds earlier??

We had a great hike with the family today.  I wore the baby and we hiked for a total of 2.5 hours. Gorgeous day for it, too!

I'm resting today due to several of the little girls having colds. I'm finally feeling like I've recovered from our busy weeks earlier this month, gotten over the head-cold pressure I was feeling earlier in the week, and I'm ready to take on life again.  Really ready. :)

New Goals

I've reset my weight loss goals.  In reading Dr. Furhman's book, he gives a formula for ideal weight.

    Women: Approximately 95 pounds for the first 5 feet of height.  Add four pounds for every inch thereafter. 

I realize that this can't be an unbending rule across the board for everyone. Our bodies are all made differently.  However, I've decided that aiming for this lower goal than my previous one will allow me to see how my body feels at a lower weight.

Prior to this I was using the goal weight as given by the wii fit game.  I have no idea how scientific that is.  I feel a little better aiming for what Dr. Furhman suggests given his extensive research and study. 

Truly, I've never been at a "small" weight at any age or size.  Even when I was at my smallest size, I was still unhealthy and "chubby".  Aiming for this weight, size, and level of health is pretty exciting for me.

Still, I have a LONG way to go.  It was a little painful to increase the length of my weight loss by nearly 20 pounds.  Yet, what better way can I spend my time than working on building my physical body for strength, health, and energy to serve the Lord each day?

A few pics

These are some pics of food adventures over the last couple of weeks.

Must-Go Soup from this weekend. I chopped up all the vegetable trimmings from this week and threw them in a pot with the bits of barley and lentils that were in the pantry. Seasoned it up and it was delicious!

My revised breakfast bowl I eat each morning for breakfast. I dropped the nuts/nut butter and have been adding more kale as I go.  So much so that it's now been renamed.  The Breakfast Salad. Finely diced kale, diced green apple, 1-2 cups frozen berries and 1 tbs ground flax seed. My favorite meal of the day.

Salad bar for lunch.  This is a great way for the children to enjoy a salad for lunch. They love building their own salad. Looks so pretty, too!

The start of a delicious spaghetti sauce. Yum.

Harvest time! Benjamin has some great tomatoes and peppers coming out of the garden right now.

We have two refrigerators. I love having two fridges for a big family.  They've now been converted to a Vegetable Fridge and a Fruit Fridge. My shelves have never been so colorful!

Baking day! I've started to serve Continental Breakfast each weekday morning. The children have a baked good, fruit, nuts, and G-Bomb beans. It makes for a quick meal and clean up.  Each Saturday a couple of helpers and I work on preparing all the baked goods for the week.  We've got everything from Baked Oatmeal to Banana Muffins to Granola Bars. The children have never liked breakfast so much!

I've been trying to make a yummy dessert each Saturday during Baking Day.  This is a Fruit Cobbler.  It was an okay treat. The topping was a little dough-y.  I didn't get pics, but last weeks Chunky Monkey Cookies and Raw Brownies were much better.

Meal for Friends

I tried a new soup, Sweet Corn Chowder, today.  It was wonderful!! I made extra to bring to friends and they enjoyed it as well.  That's a great feeling. 

David spent the day listening to the audio book of Eat to Live. Then we went over the 6 week plan laid out in there. He's decided to set aside the Reboot Juice fast and do the 6 week plan together with me.  I never did the full plan, so I'm excited to work on it together.  Reading it over, I realized that I've been overdoing it on nuts and underdoing it on grains.  It will be interesting to see what comes of making those changes.

So, tomorrow starts our 6 week plan. I'll work on typing up a week's worth of meals that we're eating to share on here. For now, I'm heading to bed. This week has been so full of blessings and hard work, I'm barely able to put my thoughts together right now.

First Day of Crazy

This week is going to be one for the record books, folks!

Today we had play practice and then attended a pizza party for a local homeschool group.

Tomorrow we are schooling at home all day and then David and the boys have an evening event.

Wednesday we are on a field trip all day, including a 5 hour round trip if you don't count traffic.  Driving to Mass?? yeah, we'll be stuck in traffic.

Thursday I am hosting Book Club.

Friday we have an afternoon event for the family.

Saturday, we catch up on some schooling.

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Somehow in there, I'll be cooking, prepping, and feeding as many G-Bombs as I can muster.

Today's attempts:

Breakfast - Zucchini bread, pears, walnuts, and black beans (I had my breakfast bowl and a half piece of that bread so I could taste it. ;) )

Lunch - Sloppy corn muffins (sloppy lentil joe's cooked in cornbread), raw carrots and broccoli, kiwi, peanuts (I had sloppy lentil joe's in iceberg lettuce "shells".  So good..and messy!)

Dinner - Pizza potatoes (baked potatoes topped with sauce, mushrooms, broccoli, some with vegan cheese and some with parma.  I made the sauce with crushed tomatoes, onion, and garlic), salad, pineapple

WHEW!  I didn't get all the g-bombs in for each meal, but I did pretty well considering the day. 

We have banana muffins thawing on the counter tonight waiting for breakfast in the morning. The Zucchini bread was a smashing success!!

Menu for the Week!

Just posting this week's menu for anyone wanting to see *the plan*.  :)

Friday, August 23, 2013

I juiced most of my day today. 

After going out to that restaurant for dinner, I could not get over that heavy, dragging feeling. I don't know if it was the bread or oils or salt or it all together, but all my body wanted was raw food.  So, I gave it to myself in the form of juice.

By the end of the day, I was feeling more energy and much better. I juiced some things that were needing to get used up, since we were low on groceries.  Zucchini, head of romaine, lime, apples, carrots. It was drinkable.

Just a morning workout again today.  We did walk to the school this evening to watch the fireworks. Did some dancing with the little girls while we waited. That was really fun.

Tomorrow is a big day. I have a lot of food to prep in the morning and then we head down town for hay day. That will give me a decent amount of walking, at least.

In the morning I'm putting together a Brown Rice Lentil Quiche and those empanadas I've been dying to make.  I hope I am!! That's a lot to cram in before 9am. Ugh.

Menu Plan

I just finished up this week's menu plan.  You can click on this link to go to the document. There are a few more new recipes than I wanted to go with for a school week, but I'm going to aim for it anyways. 

I like having a weekly menu to work from.  I don't eat all the meals that are on it, or all the parts of the meals.  I stick with my g-bomb breakfast, so the menu plan is for the children.  I also work to avoid grains right now, so I generally skip the rice, pasta, and some breads that we serve.  I allow myself one to two meals a week with whole grains aside from my daily sprinkling of raw oats in my breakfast bowl.

I was trying to link the recipes on the chart, but I couldn't find a way to do that.  When I'm planning, aside from recipes we already use weekly, I choose from my ETL binder or pinterest boards for new recipes to try. 

Let me know if you have any questions. :)

Sunday, July 21, 2013

I ate the pizza.

Yep, half a piece with lunch and felt just fine about that.

Then we had dinner. Two half-pieces with my salad. I don't feel so fine about that. I didn't eat those for the right reasons.  I should have set it aside or at least stopped with the one half-piece. It's not that eating pizza is wrong. It's that I ate it because I couldn't resist. I am still in need of more strength and prayer to make these choices well. Sigh.

Today I started back on the Juice fast with David. Sweetly, he explained to me this weekend that he really feels it would be best for me to being doing the juice fast.  He is concerned about my health and wants to see me gain the biggest benefits in the shortest amount of time possible.  We talked some more and I hunted around for a way to do the juicing without the struggle of the taste.

I found a solution.  The foods we juice that are most offensive to my palate are the cucumbers and celery.  I can't stomach those taste sensations. I've replaced the cucumbers with zucchini and the celery with romaine or bok choy and I am a Happy Juicer now. :)

I brewed up some goodies today. This morning, for lunch I made up my own green juice. I think I'll call it Strawberry Surprise.

Kale
Romaine
Zucchini
2 green apples
1 pear
qt-ish of strawberries

Totally Yum. :)

For breakfast we had the Carrot Apple Lemon juice from the Reboot menu. Also acceptable to my taste buds. 

For our afternoon snack I played around with a red juice. 
1 beet
large bunch of grapes
ginger
swiss chard
4 carrots

Then I added a bit of salt. David has been craving some salt or at least a different taste than the sweet of the juices. He wasn't so sure he liked it. I did. Reminded me of when I salt my green apples. Of course, avoiding salt is what I'm supposed to be doing with the Nutritarian plan. But, I don't mind adding a bit if it helps make the juicing a little more enjoyable.

For dinner I put together another Green sensation called Green Ginger Ale (also from the Reboot with Joe website)

For David:
1 large cucumber
2 celery stalks
1 lime
2 green apples
ginger

For Me:
1 zucchini
4 pieces of bok choy
1 lime
2 green apples
ginger

I tried David's just to see the difference. I almost lost my juice right on the spot! Blech!!! But mine was delightful. :)

So, now we know. As long as I stay away from that celery and cucumber, I'm good.  I mean, I do miss eating actual food. And the juice still has that *juice* taste.  But it is not making me sick or crabby having to get it down. I'm looking forward to the week ahead, experimenting with different foods to juice.  I got some pineapple, kiwi, and grapefruit to try for me. I got some tomatoes for something different for David. Fun!

The last couple of days have been a struggle for David. He's been frustrated that the weight isn't coming off in the same increments as it was early in the week. He's really having cravings for flavors other than he's drinking. He's just dying to chew something.  Last night he gave in and had a plate of salad.  Today he sliced up a cucumber for himself at dinner time.  I'm not sure how long he's going to make it with this fast. He still hasn't set a number of days in his mind.  Praying that he'll develop a plan soon.

That means I'm not sure how long I'm going with the fast either.  For now, I'd like to go for the week and see how things are going for me.  I'll make a decision from there.

Juice Fast Reboot - Ease Out

So, this is the morning that I'm dropping out of the Juice Fast. I have a tiny tinge of guilt at the thought of being a quitter. However, the fact that my attitude is SO completely different knowing I don't have to down that stuff is helping me see how the Lord answered my prayers.

In my journal yesterday morning, I was begging the Lord to enable me to embrace this fast and be a source of blessing to my husband that the Lord would be magnified in his life. I realized today, as I bounced out of bed early, prepped all his vegies, worked on cleaning more produce, cheerfully helped him pack up the cooler for his day, that I was being the person I had prayed I would be to him. I could NOT get there yesterday with those horrid juices looming on my horizon. 

The fact that I knew I was not going to DRINK that stuff took such a weight of anxiety and dread off of me and I am now able to joyfully walk this journey with David.

My plan for me:  Eat raw and minimal today as I ease back to food. I had my cup of detox tea this morning and I think I'll savor the crunch of a Granny Smith for my breakfast. Some raw vegies w/o dips or dressings for lunch, and the same for dinner.  Lots of water and I'll likely add some lemon to it to keep my system cleansing. 

No nuts or grains or cooked foods for today and maybe tomorrow. I want to go easy on myself.  I know it was only two days, but it was two days that I've never done before and I don't want to upset my system.

I've got a lot of yard work to do this morning and plenty of laundry and ironing to keep me moving today. Overall, I don't really feel any detox symptoms that I've read about with this fast. I'm a little tired and slow moving, but I really think that is more an emotional/mental block I've been having just dealing with the struggle to force what is distasteful into my body. Now that that battle is gone, I'm feeling the energy and joy of taking on a new day.

------------------
Finished the day well. Got in 38 minutes of Wii Fit plus yardwork in the morning. Lots of sweatin' today. 

I didn't go with all raw food today.  I made a meal for some friends and then prepped up some veggies for the children. I just joined them for dinner instead of making my own.  I haven't had any kind of issues coming off of the fast.  I actually feel great and upbeat compared to the last couple of days.

I'm down 2.9 pounds from Sunday.  I'm super excited because I saw a number today on the scale that is lower than I have ever seen since I started working on losing weight back in 2010.  That's a huge deal to me!!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Today's Good Things:
Attended a church cookout today.  Made great choices from what was available. Skipped the dogs and burgers!
Spent my time on my feet instead of just sitting after we ate.  Stayed busy taking pics, running around for the little girls, and doing a bit of stretching while I kept an eye on the little ones.
Got our shopping done for the juice fast!

Today's Not So Good Things:
I gave in and had a sweet treat from the dessert table.  I reasoned it away knowing we were fasting tomorrow. It was a small treat. Really, it's *okay* but I didn't NEED it, that's for sure.
Still dealing with some lingering *crab* in my attitude when we are dealing with stressful, get out the door, type moments in our days.

We are all shopped and ready to start our juice fast tomorrow.  I feel like I'm not quite ready, but I guess we'll just jump in and see how it goes. We're using the 15 day Reboot that Joe Cross (of Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead fame) recommends. We've decided to skip the first 5 days of prep since we've been eating so close to a vegan diet these last few weeks.  Tomorrow we begin the 15 day juicing fast.  We'll see how we're doing at day 15 and make a decision on continuing from there.  I am SO excited to see my husband take this on! I just know we are going to see great results and feel so much better doing this together.

Here's our shopping trip and my awesome job fitting all the juicing produce in ONE fridge. I am so thankful the Lord blessed us with two refrigerators in our home. Now the children have one for their menu this week and we have one for ours. :)

Daniel Fast - Day Twenty One

June 30, 2013

A couple final notes from the fast.

Today we celebrated with friends.  We enjoyed a simple lunch, and I was able to tell myself no to a second helping of beans at lunch.  I heard that reasoning voice in my head telling me it was Sunday and we were with friends and they were healthy, after all, so it was okay.  Then I told that self of mine that I actually was fine with what I had and I still had a yummy piece of watermelon to enjoy so I didn't need that extra scoop of beans.  Smart self I am slooooowly learning to be. :)

Came home after evening church, so it was late and everyone was really worn out.  Nursed the baby for bed. Put new sheets on our bed (since our bedding needed washing from the poison ivy breakout).  Then I headed downstairs and got in a 15 minute workout on the Wii.  It felt great to get in some sweat-able time.  And....I'm down another .9 pounds!!!  Craziness!! I have Never Ever been able to lose weight...even one little pound took every ounce of me to fight off. It is coming off so quickly right now. I'm in shock!

My total loss for this week is 3.7 pounds.  I'm already under the next 10 pound mark! My, how motivating is that?! 

I'm looking forward to the coming week.  I don't have any plans to jump too far from the Daniel Fast way of eating. I don't want to put my body in shock, and well, frankly, this is working for me!  We've got a huge list of new recipes to try. I'll be putting them all together in a binder tomorrow as well as getting some groceries for the week's experiments.  Elizabeth and I are both looking forward to trying Bean Burgers.  I don't feel a bit jealous of David's plans to head to Five Guys and Fries with a friend tomorrow evening.  Okay, well...maybe a little jealous.

Daniel Fast - Day Nineteen

June 28, 2013

Day Nineteen

Super great day!  Started with a fantastic time in the Word.  So much to speak to my heart. So much for me to seek, dig, search, explore.  So many ways the Lord wants to reveal to us right where we are, right where we struggle, right where are questions leave us.  I'm so grateful for such a mighty, loving God that leads me.

Ended my day under on calories and super happy with my food choices. We tried a new recipe, Sweet Potato Chili tonight.  It was..ummm...good.  Sweet.  The recipe called for adding brown sugar and I can't even imagine doing that! The children loved it, so it's another keeper.

I'm working on making a meal and menu plan for the coming month. I'm pulling recipes and ideas from Dr. Furhman's book as well as things we've enjoyed from the Daniel fast and our own collections. This is fun, but I have a LONG list of recipes to try now!  It may take me a while to get it all planned out on paper. Hey, at least we won't get bored of the same meals every week.

I'm still hoping to get a little more time to spend in prayer and reading and journaling. Today filled up too much with other things, so I didn't get the time I was hoping for.  I did get in a great walk with my husband, though, and some good time on the Wii after dinner as well.  Exercise is once again enjoyable. I'm having such a great time on the Wii Fit again.

I'm down almost 2 pounds in the last couple of days! Wow! Now I really do wish I had weighed in when I started this fast. This is the first time in a long time I've seen the scale going down. I wonder what I really was up to a few weeks ago. Scary.

One thing I am super looking forward to when this fast ends: Sleepytime tea.  I have such a hard time getting to sleep when I exercise in the evenings. I feel so great, it's hard to settle down for bed.

Journal Notes - Day Six

June 15, 2013

Psalm 37:23  The steps of a man are established by the Lord; and He delights in his way.

Cross references:

1 Samuel 2:9 

He keeps the feet of His godly ones, but the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; for not by might shall a man prevail.

 

Psalm 40:2 

He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.

 

Psalm 66:9 

Who keeps us in life, and does not allow our feet to slip.

 

Psalm 119:5 

Oh that my ways may be established to keep they statutes!

 

Psalm 147:11 

The Lord favors those who fear Him, those who wait for His loving-kindness.

Journal Entry:
This is what I'm praying for, that you would establish my steps, Lord, and that my way would bring you delight.

You desire to firmly establish me on a rock - Your word and Your path. Your way will keep my foot from slipping. I don't fully understand what that way is yet.  But, for today, it is enough for me to know it is firm. By Your grace, I will not slip, and it will bring You delight.  I will wait on Your kindness in revealing Your plans for me.  I will fear Your holy name.

Daniel Fast - Menu

Thought I would post the menu plan I have for our Daniel Fast.  I've made one week's worth of meals and snacks.  I am planning to simply reuse this plan for the 21 days, tweaking as needed for foods and recipes we may not like.  So far, we've liked the new things we've made just fine. :)  In fact, that plate of Apple Nachos was so tasty, it's going on the permanent list of favorite date-night desserts. ;) 

One thing I'm struggling with in this fast is that it is supposed to be a FAST.  I've dug around so much for meals that fit the foods we are able to eat that I think I've created a menu that leaves us feeling far from deprived. I mean, everyone is still finding something they'd like to eat, like eggs for breakfast or cookies for a treat. But, truly, there are so many good things we can eat, it's easy to forget this is supposed to be hard and create a need to seek the Lord.  I'm also finding that these new recipes are creating a bit more work for me, leaving less time for prayer.  I need to make some adjustments there, since the whole point of this fast is prayer and seeking the Lord.

I will say, though, that merely fasting from my beloved cuppa coffee is making a huge impression on me.

Monday:
Breakfast - Skinny Pear Crisp
Lunch - Raw vegetable salad with raisins and sunflower seeds, indian flatbread, pineapple tidbits
Dinner - One pot pasta, stir-fried green beans and broccoli flavored with Bragg's sauce
Anniversary dessert - Apple Nachos (with pb, raisins, cashews, almonds)

Tuesday:
Breakfast - Oatmeal with fruit, peanut butter OR fried rice with vegetables seasoned with Bragg's
Lunch - Roasted Roots (potatoes chunked, tossed with garlic and hm Italian dressing, baked in oven), celery with pb, carrots w/ hummus, vegetable salad with fruit and seeds
Dinner - Winter Lentil Vegetable Soup,  oat crackers or indian flatbread

Wednesday:
Breakfast - Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal with nuts
Lunch - Taco Soup with crackers
Dinner - Vegetable stir-fry with brown rice and almonds

Thursday:
Breakfast - Make your own burritos (pb butter, all fruit spread, beans, vegies)
Lunch - pasta salad (pasta, vegies, Italian dressing)
Dinner - Taco salad

Friday:
Breakfast - Oatmeal w/ nuts, nut-butter, fruit
Lunch - Vegetable soup with indian flatbread
Dinner - Pineapple, mushroom, cashew rice with steamed vegetables

Saturday:
Breakfast - Pancakes with fruit sauce and nuts
Lunch - Taco style lentils and rice with raw vegies and hummus
Dinner - Potato Bar with vegetables and beans

Sunday:
Breakfast - Fruit Pie breakfast with nuts
Lunch - Bean burritos with raw vegies and hummus
Dinner - Sweet potato chili with crackers

Snacks alternate: popcorn and granola

Preparations for the Daniel Fast

June 10, 2013

I've been hunting around researching until my brain is stuck in perpetual somersaults.  I'm trying to decide what is my best plan of action with my eating choices.  The Whole Foods diet that we eat just isn't cutting it for me with weight loss. Add to that the symptoms of diabetes that I'm experiencing and I really want to get a plan in to action.  However, with all these varying opinions and each one touting they have the True Method of curing everything that ails me, I'm left with a massive headache and no confidence in any of them. 

Too many voices in my head messing with too many voices around me has left me craving for some quiet and stillness.

Enter the Daniel Fast.  Once I realized that what I really needed was to find some time alone with the Lord, seeking what He has planned for me and our family's health needs (I'm not the only one struggling with nutritional issues), the idea of a Daniel Fast made perfect sense.  A bit of gentle cleansing for the body while creating opportunity to seek the Lord more fervently. 

It just so happens that the timing of this fast worked out perfectly with our school studies. I love how the Lord does that.  We are studying Daniel and the captivity of the Israelites. The children will be on the fast (modified for the youngest children) for 10 days, just as Daniel and his friends were. This is giving them some great insight into how those young men made hard choices, hopefully encouraging them to do the same.  David, Elizabeth, and I plan to follow the fast for a full 21 days.

I spent about a week prepping for the fast.  I spent time reading up on it. I researched and pinned recipes. I made a menu for a week's worth of meals and snacks.  David and I tried to wean ourselves a bit off of the sugar and caffeine so it wouldn't be such an extreme adjustment. I failed miserably on the caffeine-wean. Ouch.

Basics of the Fast:

Eat only plant-based foods.
No meats, dairy, eggs, yeast or baking powder (leaven), sweeteners, or caffeine allowed.
Drink only water.

I also included a fast from my social networking tools.  I have some great friends and support out there, but, I find myself going to them first when I know I am better to seek the Lord. Closing out the voices so that I am only hearing from the Lord and those who are directly connected to these issues is extremely important right now. 

I'm praying this fast allows me the time and tools to grow closer to recognizing the Shepherd's voice.

Prayer Points:

Along with direction for my health,

we are seeking the Lord regarding our finances,

wisdom regarding a business decision,

important communication issues that have arisen in our marriage,

clarity on some educational choices,

and I am desperate to know how to work with one of our children who is greatly struggling in many areas of life right now. 

I welcome any and all prayer support from my friends. 

Thanks for stopping in. It always is a great encouragement to know others are lifting me up and cheering me on.

Wednesday, Feb 6th - quick check in

I'm too tired for a full write up.

I've read my day 8 and need to read my day 9.  I'm keeping up with water and working on choosing the food vice I need to work on this week.

Super fun and active day. Headed to a friend's house to help her with some unpacking of boxes for an upcoming move into her home that was damaged by fire. Then we rushed through Sam's for a major quick shopping trip. Toting that big ol' cart was a workout!

Got home and headed out again with David for a full workout at the gym. Amazing how much that relaxes me. I feel so calm and ready to crash by the time we are done. Broke the 200 cal mark with my elliptical workout again.

So, I'm here. I'm working the plan. I'm just too tired from workin' it to write more tonight

YMCA scale said I was down to 208 tonight, so 1/2 a pound.  It's something even though I spent the evening grumping about why the scale doesn't move more and faster for me.  My husband replied to my grumping with some encouraging words. 

"You are getting stronger and healthier. Even if the scale never changes, you are healthier than you were and I like that. I also really like seeing you at the gym with me when I'm there. I'm glad we're doing this and I'm proud of you for working so hard."

That's better than anything the scale could say to me. :)

Day 1: Vice-Busting

January 29, 2013

Day 1

Add Water: My first action - one that will develop into a healthy habit and will change my life dramatically over time is making water an important part of my everyday life.

Substituting water for high-calorie liquids will result in lower calories, adequate hydration, optimal body functions, and better focusing. I'll replace toxins with clean fluids, sluggishness with more engery, expensive drinks with free water. My time buying these drinks will be better spent elsewhere.

Daily Scripture Affirmation:
God’s unfailing love for me never ends. 
"The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease." Lamentations 3:22

I NEED to hear words affirming the Lord's love for me right now. I am struggling so much with my emotions of failure and inadequacy. I daily battle thoughts that I am not good enough, my anger has made me unacceptable and unlovable. When I am hurting, when I am feeling this way, I don't even think. I just reach for a food that makes me feel safe or happy, or in control. I choose foods that I have already determined to avoid simply because it feels good to have that control over *something* when everything else is out of control. When I feel unloved....when I feel I am unacceptable...I don't care if I'm hurting myself. I'm already unloved, so why does it matter? Lord, your unfailing love for me never ends. Even when I'm hurt, even when I've hurt another, even when I sin the same sin I just sinned....your love never ends and your mercies never cease. Help me be loved by you rather than myself.  

I don't have many issues with high-calorie drinks. I've actually grown to the point where I really detest drinking calories, so this isn't an obvious vice for me. However, there are beverages I prefer over water, so I've most definitely grown slack in my diligence to feed my body well. I've chosen to fill up on decaf, and now, caffeinated coffee to push myself through my sleep-deprived days. I used to have a rule of 2 glasses of water for every cup of coffee, but I've also become lazy with following that rule. Starting again with a simple challenge of adding water to my day is actually helpful. It seems too easy and I feel like a horse restless to begin a race, but knowing that I'm doing just one simple thing differently and that it will make a positive difference...well, that feels pretty good. I can't do many big things right now, so one small thing that I can actually manage to include in my little bit overwhelmed life is a great motivator.

I am armed with my 20 oz water bottle. I've drunk one so far today as well as an 8oz glass of water at breakfast. I also had at least 2 cups of caffeinated coffee at breakfast.  I'm feeling good about my progress and looking forward to my cup of decaf coffee this afternoon. :)  However, I'm considering the idea that each cup of caffeine subtracts 20 oz of water so I make sure to get enough in.

Afternoon Entry:

I wanted to choose a simple thing to do to work on some marriage changes I'm learning about and record that each day. I've been challenged in my reading of the story of the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears and her hair. What physical ways am I pouring myself out of serve my husband? What physical needs does he have that I can meet? Right now, the thing I keep coming back to is a neck rub after a long day of sitting at a desk, staring at a computer screen. Something that would enable him to relax and unwind as well as release some tension. I'm going to attempt to make that a part of my daily add-on while I work on this vice-busting.

Evening Entry:

Got in 100oz of water today plus 2 cups of caf and a pot of decaf coffee.
20 min cardio and 1 full circuit on the weight machines tonight as orientation. I'm not as wimpy as I thought I was. ;)
Enjoyed some birthday cake this evening but WOW! way too much sugar for me.
I want to finish tracking my food for the day but I don't have the patience to enter the recipes in. Thinking I'm under today with the workout.

I feel great. On the wat there I was a stressed out, talking a mile-a-minute mess. On the way home I was calm, tired, but relaxed. Like the stress had melted away. Boy, did I need that.

Got in a short neck massage for my husband tonight too.