Feels good to be back on track with no sugar. I feel great again today. I increased my surge training intervals to 4x in a cycle. Dr. Bishop told me I could do up to 4x in a cycle and 4 cycles. I did 4 intervals, 3 cycles. I also increased my speed and tried to run on an incline a bit. Felt good. Felt faster. Felt like I needed air.

After a week of no chiropractor (she was sick with the mumps), I went back today. There's something about the whole process. It relaxes me, stretches me, inspires me for some odd reason.

And those people there! Every last one of them are so kind. They smile, know my name, encourage me. Of course, they are helpful, but it's more than that. It seems to be from the heart.

There is sickness in the house. Not sure if it is flu or strep because it is presenting pretty similarly. I haven't seen Leah this sick since she was a baby. Which makes me lean toward flu. We are taking her in this afternoon to find out for sure what is going on.

Right before I left for Dr. Bishop's, Lydia came down not feeling well. I sent her back to bed and she didn't wake up for 3 hours. It begins in her body. Lord, heal my family and keep me well.

So I am making some homemade chicken noodle soup for them now. Bought a beautiful chicken from whole foods and I'm waiting on it to cook now. I hope it helps both of them.

So excited!!! Received in the mail: Wholy Fit DVD, Extreme Makeover God's Way book, One Minute Wellness book and Maximized Living Nutrition Plans (which I am mostly excited about)! The last book has so many recipes for all meals: breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner. I can't wait to dive in. Tonight we are going to try our first meal from this book. Should be fun.

I also ordered a book (and received it over the weekend) called The Maximized Living Bible. I am disappointed. I didn't know it would be a BIBLE. I have tons of Bibles. I love the Word of God, but I didn't need this Bible. Oh well, that's what I get for becoming overly excited and ordering every book this guy wrote!

Can't wait to find some reading time today to get some more info.

So many books. So little time.

Okay, first day of eating "vacation" meals. Except that I made my vacation meal a couple of vacation hours and I FAILED. I binged on all the wrong things.

I ate way too much sugar. I ate chocolate chip cookies til I couldn't stay awake on the couch. I felt horrible! It was not worth it.

I also proved that I still have no self-control. For several hours, I ate what I wanted, but no sugar. Even told myself that if I gave in, I would not be able to control it.

That was true. Should have listened to myself!

Once I took one bite of that sugar, I wanted more and more. And I thought my taste buds were changing! NOT! I should have just taken one bite of dark chocolate. One bite of dark chocolate satisfies. But if I take one bite of milk chocolate, I only want more and more and more..............

So today, no sugar. I don't need to have "vacation" meals that contain sugar. I can have a vacation meal that has a bit of carbs, but no desserts. As long as I am just beginning this journey and trying to lose weight, I don't need to eat sugar.

It just isn't worth it. It affects me, but also my family because I can't function and I am grumpy. It never just affects me.

Kind of like sin.

Last night at church went well. Really all of yesterday went well except that I didn't get to exercise at all. I am amazed how much I missed it. My mindset has changed so much!

I ate well yesterday, but felt the need for exercise. This morning I got up, dressed to get on the treadmill and there were two little boys fast asleep in the gameroom. So it will have to wait. No fun! I like to do it before I eat in the morning. I will just do it to maintain the habit and give me the time to clear my mind and relieve stress. And I love the feeling afterward.

Thursday I met with Dr. Bishop and learned some more about nutrition. Turns out I am doing a lot right. There is always more that I can do, but I was pleased that the information I have been reading and implementing is right on. She was not feeling great, but still met with us. She's a very kind soul.

Dr. Bishop helped me figure out how to help Wade since he eats two meals out of the house everyday. I need to do some planning and go buy a few things to help him. He is so ready to do this. I want to help us both succeed and move closer to great health!

I received my most anticipated book in the mail yesterday but couldn't even open it because of a fundraiser I was working on and attending last night. I can't wait to get into it today because it has tons of recipes for me! I can't wait to try several new ones each week. Tomorrow I will sit down and plan my menus.

Have I said how much I am enjoying how I feel, the great sleep I am getting (without getting up to go to the bathroom!), and how much more productive I am because of increased energy? Just did. Thank You, Lord.

NEW PRODUCT USED THIS WEEK:

Grapeseed Oil. I have never used grapeseed oil, but I have used it twice this week while making omelettes or putting veggies in the skillet to saute. I couldn't tell any difference......nothing good, nothing bad. I will be using this. I also bought sesame seed oil, but haven't used it yet. I need to research when it is best to use these oils.

I've lost 3.4 pounds this week! Whoo-hoo! I have a busy weekend with lots going on. I am praying that I can plan wisely for exercise and food.

Surge training today: 30 sec intervals/3 cycles

Breakfast: omelette with red pepper, green onion, cilantro and mango salsa. Yummo!

Off to learn more about nutrition from Dr. Bishop this morning. She is meeting with me and a friend to go over some things to help me learn to live differently with food. I am excited about the information coming in. It is a bit overwhelming, but mostly encouraging and inspiring.

I am reading a great book right now, "Winning Your Race," which I bought from Dr. Bishop, and I am so amazed at the God-centered focus of this book! We want a healthy body so that we can serve God for as long as He has us on earth! We can't lengthen our lives, but we can make the quality of our lives better for sure. The more I get into this book, the more I love it!

There will be a few challenges for me this weekend as I face two meals at church. I think I can eat the chili (hoping no one puts sugar in it) and I can eat the salad on Saturday. Praying for wisdom and self-control.

Yoga morning. Feel the stretch.

Hate the mantra that goes with my particular dvd. Really new age......I just don't ever see me becoming one with the sun or feeling the sun in my heart (sUn, not sOn).

Can't wait for my Wholy Fit to get here so I can do the yoga moves without all of the empty-your-mind talk going on.

I actually LOVE the way those moves stretch my stiff body and strengthen my core.

The music is over good. Relaxing.

It's just the jibber-jabber of a lost soul believing that we can be one with nature.....or that we would WANT to!

That makes me sad.

So I will say a prayer for her.

And wait for my dvd with Christian music to come in the mail.

First day on the two week "reboot" (as I am calling it) was a little difficult for me. Around 2 or 3pm, I was craving something--anything--sweet. Isn't that sad?

Iced coffee with just a splash of skim milk I thought would hit the spot, but it didn't, so I drank a ton of water. Maybe I was just thirsty. I've heard that I can think I am hungry when I am really thirsty.

When the hunger didn't subside, I brought out the pistachios. They were great!

I did manage to go all day without one bit of sugar. All labels were read and if it contained sugar at all, I didn't put it in my mouth.

After looking over the menus, I drove over to the nicest Kroger in town (in my opinion). No, it is NOT the one on Chenal. I love the way they have redone the Kroger on Rodney Parham near I-430. The produce department is displayed like it is about to be in a magazine. You will find almost NO items that are bruised or look bad. I can't say that for Chenal's produce section.

This Kroger has a decent organic section and I knew that if they didn't have something, I could run over to Whole Foods.

Grocery shopping took longer today just because I was looking for new items, reading lots of labels and running back and forth for things I couldn't find. I wanted to make sure I couldn't find them there before going to Whole Foods.

We now have a frig and pantry full of healthy items that will help us move toward greater health. I am even cooking turkey bacon this morning. It's in the pan right now and I am wondering if turkey bacon gets crispy. We like our bacon crispy and this is not crispy. That will make it hard for my kiddos to eat. I think I will eat it just because I am learning to like new things and this is probably something I want to learn to eat if I ever desire meat for breakfast.

Surge training this morning: 30 second intervals/3 cycles. I ran faster and longer.

Yoga: for flexibility

I don't know if it is what we are doing, but I am sleeping like a log! I go to sleep and I am not waking up until my alarm goes off. That is huge in this 45 year old's life! HUGE!

Wade made me jealous yesterday. He didn't realize (yeah, right!) that we were starting yesterday and he went to Five Guys with a couple of buds. Just hearing about the burger and greasy fries........oh, my.

I just kept telling myself that I was two meals ahead of him on this REBOOT and I would need that "head start." He always loses faster than me. He's such a guy! :)

Praying today goes well and that I am able to stay on target. Being out of the house makes my planning hard. I am wondering what I will hit for dinner since I will be out of the house.

And I am having coffee with a couple of my girls today. What do I order at Starbucks? Iced coffee again? I think everything else would have sugar or sweetener in it.

Maybe I need to learn to drink black coffee.

When I was craving sweets yesterday, I was going to have some of Starbucks VIA that I had in the cabinet. It was mocha flavored and so it had sugar! Shucks!

My prayer today: "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." (Col. 3:17)

Mr. and I are adding a new element to our new adventure toward health. We bought two books while at the chiropractor last week. I read one of them this weekend. The healthy eating explained in this book was recommended to me if I am seeking greater health.

So today Mr. and I are started this initial two-week plan. It will be strict to begin with, but then we will add things back into the eating plan.

From what I am reading, since I eat so much sugar (and have for years), my body has been trained to burn sugar instead of fat. I have to retrain my body to burn the right stuff.

To do this, I am eating no sugar and no grains for two weeks. During this two week time period, I also do what they call surge training. It sounds like it will retrain my metabolism. Not sure about that, but it is what it reads like.

Surge training is where I do the hardest of whatever I am doing for 20-60 seconds, then rest for an equal amount of time. I do this three times and that equals one cycle. There is a 2 minute rest time in between cycles and I do three cycles.

I did my first one this morning on the treadmill. You can do anything really hard for 20 seconds! I wasn't expecting much since I am not doing endurance or even a fast pace for long, but doing the three cycles took me 11:35 min, I covered 1 mile and I burned 132 calories.

Now this surge training is NOT about those stats that I usually post. It is about retraining my body to burn fat. That will only show over time if I lose weight. I will have to let you know about that.

This sounds really restrictive, but there is a menu, grocery list and recipes in the book. I am going today to whole foods and buying the stuff for week I. Wade and I are ready to make the changes necessary. It will be hard to not have brown rice (which I love!) and any sugar at all, but it will be good for me. I have gotten off of sugar once before and I felt so much better! Wish I had continued........

Some of my favorite quotes of the book, entitled "Cruise Ship or Nursing Home," are:

"Good intentions don't determine where you will end up, your actions do." (pg. 3)

"Your body needs no help to heal you; it just needs no interference." (pg.4)

"Disease occurs now. It just kills you later." (pg. 14)

"To experience change, YOU need to change." (pg. 20)

"If you don't change your belief system, you'll never change your habits!" (pg. 30)

"The biggest shame that we see as doctors is when people settle for less than their potential." (pg. 31)

"If a person has a big enough WHY, they can endure almost any HOW." (pg. 34)

"While ten years ago is always the best time to have started taking care of yourself, the second best time is right now." (pg. 89)

"100 percent nerve flow gives 100 percent life to the organs." (pg. 90)

"Healthy lifestyles are the biggest threat to the growth and expansion of the drug industry." (pg. 115)

"The most common prescription durgs sold in the U.S. today, and possibly the most toxic to your system, are antidepressant medications." (pg. 117)

"You can't eliminate all toxins, but you can trust your body to do what it was created to do. When it is working at its optimum level--healing and functioning normally--your body is made to process and remove a certain amount of poison, but not the amounts in 'modern' Western living." (pg. 119) Wow! Something to think about.

The healthy eating plan for the first two weeks consists of five guidelines:

1. Eliminate sugars.
2. Cut out grains.
3. Remove bad fats and add good fats.
4. Consume very little fruit.
5. Avoid toxins.

This is ONLY for the first two weeks. Just while we are readjusting my body to burn fat, not sugar.

This means I WILL be eating:

1. Vegetables
2. Good fats
3. Proteins (lean, healthy)

And I will continue to drink lots and lots of water.

There is also a schedule for resistance exercises that I am going to try to implement beginning today. You focus on a different body part once a week and do quick sets. We'll see how this goes.

I am excited! I am hopeful. I am planning for change.

Lord, please make it so in my life. I want a healthy body in order to serve You as long as You leave me on this earth.

Today was yoga day. I did a 45 minute DVD, but I am looking for something more "Christian." I am going to hunt on the internet this afternoon for something less new age. It was relaxing and I found myself praying during the relaxation part, but still. I don't need to open my mind. I need to speak truth to my mind!

Wade and I embraced a chiropractic plan for us yesterday. I was shocked by my x-rays in several ways. We both need some work. Me more than Mr. We will begin to see Dr. Bishop on a regular basis at first during the corrective stage, but less often in the maintenance phase. It will be a while for me to get to the maintenance phase.

However, I want to do all that I can to help my body move faster through the corrective stage. There is so much information to digest and go through. So many things to slowly implement into our lives to change the way we live to move from unhealthy to healthy.

I told Wade yesterday that I have to rehearse the things we are doing well. After 45 years of treating my body very poorly, I have made progress. For some of you out there, these will be minor changes, but for me, a junk-food junky, it is total progress. Forward progress. And I have to keep telling myself what good things are already happening. Otherwise I will be overwhelmed with how far away I am from where I want to be.

Some of the good changes we have made are:

1. Our whole family is exercising on a regular basis.

2. We are not buying cokes and only buying chips on special occasions.

3. Water, water, water. I have always been a water drinker, but we are drinking more of it. That is about all that we drink now both in the house and when we go out.

4. Wade and I are seeing Dr. Bishop on a regular basis.

5. We are getting plenty of sleep even when it means we must go to bed around 9pm. We often beat our kids in bed, but we are both up at 5am.

6. When eating out, we are selecting places where we can have healthier options. There has been almost no fast food for me in a long while.

7. When eating out, we are selecting items that fuel our bodies for good health. Last night, Mr. and I went out and I had salmon with a lemon/garlic/tomato sauce with steamed broccoli. Now I also had the Bang-Bang shrimp, so it wasn't all healthy, but in the past I would have eaten the Bang-Bang as well as a heavy meal.

8. Sometimes we share meals when we go out. Mr. and I often share items and the girls share, too.

9. I am shopping more at Whole Foods or in the organic section of Kroger.

10. Mr. is eating "in" his office every single day! That is huge! He has eaten out for lunch the entire time we have been married. He is saving money and calories!

11. We are taking necessary supplements to enhance our immune system, especially me. Right now this includes fish oil, vit C/biofizz, vitamin D3 and iron. Hopefully, over time I will be able to get these nutrients through my diet, but for now I am supplementing. In the past, I have had good intentions, but have not followed through. I am not missing a dose right now.

12. We are taking items to family gatherings when we know there will be little healthy there. Tomorrow, we have a family birthday and I am taking the veggie tray. It doesn't mean we won't eat some of the other stuff, but we will have options and, hopefully, choose some healthy options.

13. We are taking healthy snacks to basketball games instead of getting the snacks at the concession stand. We take apples, pears or pistachios usually. That is huge for us.

14. We are just more health conscience. We are looking for ways to be healthy each day.

15. We are trying to undo "bad" habits on a regular basis.

16. My kids are choosing to go do things that incorporate exercise and fun together like climb Pinnacle. They have gone twice this week and I couldn't go either time!

17. We are buying and eating much more fruit. My husband never ate fruit and now he is taking a banana out the door with him every morning on his way to workout at 5:30am. That is huge!

These are a few things we are doing better. Wiser choices we have been making. New habits we are forming. There are many more that we want to make, but they will come slowly. We will implement them one at a time and try them for weeks at a time to try to make them habits.

I am looking forward to 2011. What will it hold me us? I pray that my health is greatly improved so that I can minister more for the Lord and take great care of my family. I pray we enjoy the process of it as well. If we don't enjoy it, we won't stick with it.

Lord, help us.

I told a friend just recently that "walking doesn't help me lose weight."

Well, I was wrong. This past week I have been able to walk, but not run. I have tried to put some variety in my walks so that I am not doing the same old thing everyday.

I am losing weight this week. (We are not weighing in at WW today because of a chiropractor's appt, but are weighing in here at home). I have lost weight this week.

It is not about the exercise. It is about the amount of energy I am exerting and how long I am exercising.

My goal each day is to exercise 45-60 minutes. I seek to sweat and be out of breath at certain points of my exercise. I want my heart rate up. Side note: I think I really want a heart rate monitor!

One day I would walk at a slower pace, but walk longer, working on my verses. Another day I would put in my iPod with my faster playlist and walk as fast as I could for 45 minutes. Today I walked hills. I took the big hill and the logging road out here. I didn't cover as many miles, but I gave my quads a workout!

I guess I walked for so long years ago, doing it the same old way, that my body adjusted to the exercise.

Now I don't want to walk every day. It was hard NOT to run sometimes today because I was walking as fast as I could, just under a jog. But walking CAN benefit my body if I will work really hard at doing it well, fast, pushing my body as I do it.

Good workout. I walked hills for 37:20 minutes. I'm not sure how far I went because my Nike thingy fell out of my shoe halfway through and I had to go back and get it. It doesn't matter. I know I worked out well today. My body feels it.

I have not been talking about my exercise because I was sick for 2 weeks and on restriction from the doctor. I now have permission to walk, but no running until I see the doctor in March. I have been walking this week, though.

Today I went outside because it is so nice out there. It also helps me work on my verses when I walk and don't jog. I am ready to say chapter 3 of Colossians after my 46 minutes today. I reviewed a lot and have the first 3 chapters down, I think. I love memorizing His Word!

Anyway, back to the walking. Sometimes I think walking doesn't help me, but it was good to walk outside. Where I live, there are only hills, nothing flat. So it gives me a different workout than walking on the treadmill even though I change up the incline.

Plus the fresh air does something to my attitude!

I just finished 46:28 min/ 2.8 miles/266 calories burned.

What it did for my spirit? Unmeasurable!

Off to see the chiropractor again this afternoon for another "adjustment." Hope it eventually helps the soreness I feel right now.

Still fighting this cold! Any helpful, healthy, natural suggestions out there in blog-o-sphere?

Okay, so I made two visits to the chiropractor yesterday. The first one in the morning was for a foundational, get-acquainted and information meeting. They took x-rays and talked to me. The second one, she "adjusted" me. She said that most people say that it feels like "a load has been lifted off." It felt good, but I couldn't tell that dramatic of a result. Maybe it takes a while.

I know I have some spots that are horribly tight and need to be worked out from going to see my niece who is a massage therapist. I can point the places out to you in my back and neck. Of course, that showed up on the chiropractor's back scan "thingy." The areas that I know are a struggle for me were "black" which means "off the charts" bad.

My hubby surprised me and showed up at my afternoon appointment. So funny! The sceptic couldn't believe he was in the room listening to this "propaganda" when he doesn't believe in it. I saw him smile on occasion with that smile that said as much.

He and I go back on Thursday for our consultation where she talks about a "plan" and reads our x-rays. That is the time to decide whether we want to pursue this plan or not. I am praying for wisdom.

There are several things that make me question. There was already talk about her seeing my whole family. I was forewarned about this.

There were some moments that I felt that she said exactly the same thing to Wade as she said to me even though our scans revealed different problems. She was more specific to me, but I asked more questions than he did.

The biggest doubt I have is that the results are subjective and unmeasurable in many ways. I know that I will be able to tell if I feel better or not, but I know that if I want it to make me better, to a large extent it will. Half of the battle is in my mindset.

I also thought that putting Vicks on my feet at night would help me stop coughing. And it did. For three hours. It probably did just because I expected it to. But it didn't take care of the problem.

I want to be wise with the money we have and with my body. I like the more holistic approach, treating the whole body and being preventative. My curiosity is peeked to see if this will work "miracles" as they all kept saying yesterday. It wasn't said to me, but it was said to Wade twice. Miracles? Really?

We will see what happens. Will their claims come true? Will I really be able to get off of my reflux medicine? Will my neck trouble go away over time? Will my joint pain be taken care of?

I sure hope so. But I am not sure it can do all of that.

I guess I am a sceptic, too.

And for the record, I was sore last night from the adjustment. My neck didn't feel as tight, but my back and neck were sore. But I expected that and they said it was possible.

I am embarking on a new adventure today......going to see a chiropractor. My sweet hubby is a real sceptic about it all, but I can't wait! I am leaving here in just a few minutes for a free evaluation, but I already know I want to schedule a time to see her this week. I have several friends from church who go to this gal and have highly recommended her. I have never been to a chiropractor and even grew up being told they were quacks. That is why Wade keeps saying to me, "Now when are you going to see your quacker-cracker?" He makes me laugh!

I hope it goes well. A little nervous because it is all new to me. Supposedly, she also have some great info for me about cholesterol! We'll see!

Small and Big Victories

One of the things I am trying hard to do each day is to make note of the wise choices I make each day. It reinforces my desire to make more wise choices. I write these in my health journal and sometimes post them here. Today I made a HUGE choice that I have only done one other time.

I took Grantmeister into Shipley's Donuts, saw and smelled the yummy donuts, ordered one dozen glazed, one dozen donut holes (my favorite) and his sprinkle donut. However, I did not take one bite. Not one donut hole. I didn't even lick my finger and steal a little sugar. Nothing. Notta.

In my reading, I am learning that sugar is not my friend when dealing with cholesterol. I am not sure sugar is ever our friend when we are pursuing health.

I know, too, that sugar will not help me get well this week. It will had nothing to the process of healing my body. In fact, I believe it will hurt it, so: SAY NO TO THE SUGAR!

So today my greatest victory was saying no to the donut and yes to my healthy breakfast that I waited to have when I got home. Yippee!! And I was very satisfied. Very satisfied.

Seeking Health. The title of this blog. We are truly seeking a lifestyle of health, but right now I am seeking general health.

I got a cold about 8 days ago. It doesn't seem to have gone into an infection yet. I have no fever, no symptoms other than post nasal drip that has responded to taking OTC medicine. However, I cannot get rid of this cough.

Sleeping sitting up for the past few nights has not been fun, but last night was the worst yet. Around 1:30am, I went to the green chair so that Wade could get some sleep. I was so hopeful about last night, too.

I had tried some new ideas that I had read/heard about that I thought would work. I put Vicks on my feet, slipped on socks and headed to bed hopeful that this was the ticket because I had read about this so often. Well, it worked for about 3 hours. So I reapplied at 1:30am, but it didn't help. I even rubbed some on my chest for good measure because that is what my mom always did when I was young.

I have a Vicks vapor humidifier by my bed as well which I have used every single night.

Hot tea is streaming through my veins right now because I had had so much in the past few days. Don't get me wrong. I love hot tea, but I have run our supply down because it seemed to help my throat. Well, not last night.

Chicken noodle soup. I made some chicken noodle soup and have eaten it religiously. I am blowing, blowing, blowing my nose.

I have had elderberry syrup before bed. Maybe I should have taken another dose of that. I am taking my vitamins, especially C. I am eating fruit, fruit, fruit.....including blueberries, clementines, apples, pears and pineapple. I am limiting bad foods which really isn't too hard because I am not hungry. My taste buds are numb.

I have even made my family laugh as I use my saline wash to clear out my sinuses. They think that is both horrible and funny. I find it kind of nice. It seems to work, but it is not helping my cough.

The only thing I haven't is a shot of whisky which seniors in my life tell me they have used for a long time and that it works miracles. I guess that yucky stuff would kill any bacteria in the back of my throat. I don't have any in the house and don't think I am going to buy any.........

So today, I am calling the doctor. Yes, I am giving in. I just hope they can see me. After snow closing the roads for several days this week, I know I would be a work in. I am just praying they can work me in or have had a cancellation.

And I realize that all of the healthy eating that I have been doing to try to get well is best when done as a preventative probably.

Another reason to seek a lifestyle of good health habits.

And, yes, it is true. I haven't weighed in two weeks. That is never good. Last week, I had a medical procedure and this week we had 6-7 inches of snow and couldn't get off the mountain.

Snow Day!

We had snow today! For Arkansas, we had a lot of snow today. 5-6 inches fell during the day today. Because the forecasters were pretty certain this was going to happen, we let the kids have friends over on Tuesday night so they could enjoy the snow together. So we have 5 extra kids in the house and it is so much fun! They are great kids, great friends.

I made some really great choices and some really bad choices today. It started out with me sleeping in until 9:45 because of some medication I had taken. I woke up to the smell of bacon frying. Wade was making a huge breakfast for the kids before they went out into the snow: bacon, link sausage, eggs and biscuits. So I let him cook me a fried egg (which my dad calls "the perfect food"), had a biscuit and 3 half pieces of bacon. It was so yummy!

I also indulged in a little bit of taco dip with some potato chips later in the afternoon. I tasted the guacamole we made (twice!) and only had 2 bites of the cheese dip.

Some of the great choices I made today were: lots and lots of fruit. I ate fruit with every meal today. Blueberries, pineapple, apples, pears and clementines. I had all of those today and they were really yummy!

Green tea. I bet I had 5 cups today with Luscious Lemon added to it. It really makes me scratchy throat feel so much better.

So some good and some bad, but I feel good about my good choices. My biggest excitement is that I went to the frig twice today to get fruit. I knew I was hungry and I grabbed fruit FIRST. That is not normal!

Thank You, Lord.

A New Favorite Product

Tropicana has a new orange juice out that I love! I first heard about it at my WW meetings a few weeks ago. It is half of the sugar and has Vitamin D and Calcium. Usually orange juice immediately hurts my reflux, but this one doesn't. Not sure why that is, but I also love that an 8 ounce glass only costs me 1 point in WW.

As I fight this sinus infection, I am drinking up!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

We have had this twice in the last two weeks and thought I would share. It has been comfort to my sore throat and sinuses.

8 cups of chicken stock or low sodium broth (fat free)
4 chicken breasts cooked and cut up into bite-size pieces
3 cups of dry egg noodle pasta (can vary the kind used)
2 cups of carrots, washed and sliced
1 bunch of green onions, washed and sliced
2-3 tsps Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Bring the chicken broth to a boil and put in carrots and onions. Boil til carrots are softened. Add egg noodles and boil for 8 minutes. Turn heat down and add chicken, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Heat for 10 minutes more.

This soup is 4 points per 1 cup serving on WW.

I did well yesterday denying myself things I wanted. I stayed within points and didn't overeat.

I am really fighting a sinus infection and want to fight it without antibiotics, if I can. I am drinking hot tea, eating raw fruits and veggies, homemade chicken noodle soup, and hope to get a sinus wash today. We'll see if I can get through this without a dr or antibiotics. I want to, but want to be wise, too. I have things that need to get done without me being sick for a week.

So far today:

Hot tea: green tea/luscious lemon combo

Have had 3 cups of hot tea, a pear, 2 cups of homemade chicken noodle soup, and 2 cups of coffee. Still not feeling well. Hate feeling a bit low; not enough energy to get a lot done, but not bad enough to put me in the bed. Just sluggish.

I'll be updating throughout the day.

Today's a New Day

Thankful for new starts. Today is a new day. A day open for new choices. Wiser choices.

So far I have made wiser choices. Of course, it is only 9:50am, but I am counting my wise choices today.

I've eaten fruit already and instead of the bacon, biscuits and eggs my family had, I ate old fashioned oatmeal. I need to lower my cholesterol and it will help fuel my body against this sinus infection, too. I am also making some homemade chicken noodle soup right now. I think I will use brown rice instead of pasta because I only have regular pasta. Chicken and brown rice, lots of carrots and scallions. Sounds yummy to my throat right now.

A few months ago, my kids and I did a 6-week "no sweets" deal together. It was hard, but it was good for all of us. We managed to make it 5 weeks before Thanksgiving hit and we ended a week early. I was still excited that I made it 5 weeks because I love sweets! I crave them because that is often what I feed myself.

Last night we talked about doing it again. There is something so beneficial to denying yourself something you crave. It helps me in every area of my life to deny myself and learn to go to the Lord for strength when greatly tempted.

We agreed last night to keep our sweets to one-a-week. I have one daughter that wants to do no sweets. We will let her make that decision. Hubby is not a sweet eater, but is greatly tempted by chips, so he is making his challenge "no chips" for the same amount of time.

We talked a lot about how long to do this challenge, but we didn't set a time limit. In my mind, I would like this to be a life change that I make from here on out, but maybe I need to set a time to begin this challenge. I am not sure. Still thinking about it and need to talk to the girls again. We will agree to a time limit (for them), but then work toward a lifestyle change on this.

To help us in this, I will NOT be buying chips or sweets. Well, I take that back. I will buy the kids small packages of chips for their lunches on Tuesdays (SEEK), but I will NOT buy big bags of chips. We will have veggies cleaned and washed and chopped to snack size, easily accessible in the veggie drawer in the frig.

I am going to look up some more good snacks that are WW friendly and healthy today while sitting here with hubby. We all need some lifestyle changes and, although they are slow, we are making them one step at a time.

I started a new book last night that I am intrigued by entitled "Younger in a Year for Women." Apparently, these two guys wrote another book that was more general "Younger in a Year" and it got rave reviews. I am going to spend some time reading it today and making notes.

I also will be rereading "Made to Crave." That book had lots of Scripture in it and wise words to think about when tempted. It motivated me to change my thinking on food. I want to reread it and make notes this time in my health journal. I need all of the encouragement I can get.

Breakfast:
Coffee/creamer 0 points
1/2 c. Old-Fashioned Oatmeal w/ honey/cinnamon 4 points
Banana 0 points

Lunch:
Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (1 cup) 3 points
Saltines (6) 2 points
Coffee/dry creamer 0 points

Water: I I I I I I I
Fruit/Veggies: I I I

Dinner:
Bager Thin 3 points
Cheddar Cheese Slice 3 points
Beer Brat (1.5) 9 points
Carrots 0 points

Coffee/cream 2 points
Kettle Corn 3 points

This uses all of my points for the day. I am done except to drink water. It is only 5:30, but I don't like eating late, so praying I will keep myself busy with handwork so that I won't eat. :)

I didn't get in nearly enough fruits/veggies, but I wanted to eat what Wade had cooked on the Green Egg. I will shoot for more tomorrow. I have apples, pears and bananas in the kitchen. I hope to eat 5 fruits/veggies tomorrow.

Him: Great! Me: Not So Great!

On this journey to health, I will have to say that this week has been horrible for me. I have not been diligent at all. Because of a medical issue, I have been told I can walk a little, but no running. I am supposed to rest for a few days. It has totally pysched me out.

It also doesn't help that I am fighting a sinus infection, but that SHOULD make me want to fuel my body with healthy things! But, no. I am eating junk and that will make my body succumb to the infection. Ugh.......

My sweet hubby on the other hand lost another 2.4 pounds this week! Go, Wade! He is a machine. He even went to the 5am AND 6am D1 classes Friday because he loves playing what they call "Ghetto Ball."

His diligence should be motivating me, but it's not. Instead I find myself eating everything in sight and enjoying none of it. I feel guilty, but am not really convicted or I would change my ways.

I need to reread "Made to Crave" and write down the verses that convicted me the first time through. I need to pray more about this and yield in obedience to what is healthy for my body.

Lord, tomorrow is a new day. Help me begin again and help me to desire to put healthy things into my body and, if I don't desire it, help me do what is right no matter what!

I will not be weighing in tomorrow. It's been an unusual week for me. I have had very little exercise. Have not eaten well. Have had a minor medical procedure. Am resting now for 24 hours. Waiting on results. Very tired.

Darling hubby has done so well and will be weighing in tomorrow. He is working out at D1 4 days a week taking on Wednesdays off (of workdays). This morning he worked out because he had time before my procedure and he wasn't playing soccer tonight. That is the only reason he doesn't usually work out on Wednesday. He plays an hour of soccer each and every Wednesday night that the weather allows.

I am reading a great book on this journeying toward health. It is written from a Christian perspective and I bought it electronically. I think I would like this one in paper form. I am going to have to reread it after I finish. There are so many great things in there. Last night I read a couple of chapters before I went to bed and I woke up thinking about part of what I read. I need to reread it to get it in my head. To change my thinking. This lady writes from experience. The title of the book is "Made to Crave" but I can't remember the author right now. I'll have to look that up and let you know what it is. So far, I would recommend this book.

My goal for tomorrow is to track everything I put in my mouth (which hasn't been happening) and to eat 3 fruits and 3 veggie servings.