It Starts Tomorrow

The 30 Day Challenge to myself and for those that are going to join me will start tomorrow (Monday).

To refresh your memory the challenge is to for the month of November to do 30 of each of these exercises....crunches, reverse crunches, bicycle crunch, abdominal twist, tricep kick back, hammer curls and tricep dips using whatever size of weights you are comfortable using.

Each of these exercises will tone and strengthen either the tummy or arms.

Who doesn't want rock hard abs and lean, toned arms??? I know I want them!!!

I placed links on this post for proper form for each of these exercises if you want to check them out.

On another note my husband and I were discussing my lack of motivation to exercise lately and we came up with a great idea that I know will make me want to get in a workout daily.

My husband is also going to 'pay' me $5.00 for each day that I do at least a 20 minute workout starting today until he is done work!! That could translate into about $50.00. I will then use that money to buy a couple of new books or a subscription to a magazine.

Guess who got a workout in this morning?!?!? lol

Its all about the pay off!

Heart Issue

I am going to attempt to explain to some of what has been going on in my heart the last number of days!!!!

I do not promise to be able to explain it well but I have to try.

For so many years I have dealt with the issue of being overweight and I have always depended on the scale to tell me when trying to lose weight if I was doing a GOOD job or not .

The scale can either make or break my day!!!

I know there are a lot of people like this and I am not alone in this struggle.

What may make me different is that I am no longer going to be looking to the scale for my affirmation!!

I need to build the confidence in my self that I am worthy!!

Worthy of....

affection,

success,

adoration,

affirmation

and ALL good things under the sun including loving myself.

I do not need to be a certain number to be worthy of these things!!

I need to love myself for who I am and not wait until I get to a certain place in this journey to really feel like I have arrived.

I need to enjoy each step along the path instead of waiting for the final destination to really be content with my body.

This is the BIG thing that I need to get a handle on right now.

I am not in any way saying that using the scale is wrong....I think it can be a real motivator as it has been for me for so long...it is just time for me to take this lifestyle change and healing of my thoughts and emotions to a new deeper level and the scale isn't invited to that place.

I am excited and scared at the same time because the scale has been my measurement of success for so long and now I am going to have to rely on ME!!!!

I do not have a lot of trust in myself...Yet!!...but I know it will come and that is part of what this is all about.

How will I measure if I am still losing weight or at least maintaining the 147.....I will continue to nourish my body with clean food and commit to exercising more often.

My clothes I wear now will tell me if I am gaining or losing too.

I will jump on the scale once a month so I can keep my commitment to the group of ladies that I am a part of for weight loss support...we have all come so for in changing our lives and I want to be a part of that group still so I will weigh in with them once a month if they are open to me changing this part of my commitment. I am sure they will be fine with a monthly rather than weekly WI and I will pass the idea by them on Sunday.

When I do weigh myself than I will let you all know what my weight is.

I feel like it is time to start enjoying my life and to stop obsessing about my weight...God is bringing more healing and I am excited to see it manifest in me!!!

I will leave you all with a fun picture my daughter took of me this week!!

Friday, October 29th

This has been a busy but productive week!

My eating has been on track even with the tummy troubles of earlier in the week.

I HAVE NOT exercised in probably 2 two weeks and I am missing it so much.....I don't feel the strong lean muscles like I use to and I miss that...I am craving to get moving in a more intense way then doing my everyday cooking, cleaning stuff and I soon will be able to.

My hubby will be done work in probably no more than 2 weeks from now and then I will be back to daily workouts. Hooray!!!!

Some may criticize the fact that I have not made time to exercise while my husband is working but I know my limits.

I am up at 5:45am with my hubby and spend until 6:30am with him when he leaves. I then take 30 minutes (if I get that) to spend quietly with a coffee and God. Then the day begins with the children and doesn't end until 8:30pm.....by then all I want to do is go to bed or relax on the couch. So this translates to not a lot of exercise in the last 2 months.

I am still working on how to explain all that is going on in my heart right now.....I am not a great person to express deep heart issues very well!!! It will come though.

We are having company for the weekend very soon so I must go and finish preparing for him.

What would be a Good Title?

Maybe you can think of a good title but I could not!!!

There is so much going on in My Life right now....heart issues mostly and still dealing with tummy stuff too!

I need to work through these things before I can share it with anyone so I will not be posting about it right now!

I want to thank everyone who left comments on the whole issue around spelt and I will take them all into consideration when I go shopping again and see what I can find....or I may just not do baking for me and stick with my usual oats, brown rice and barley, this seems like the smart thing to do right now because if I find a flour to bake with that I can eat I may be tempted to overeat it.

We have four ladies in on the30 Day challenge that will start on Monday....I think there will be great results from these exercises after 30 days. If you still want to join in that would be GREAT....the more the better so we can encourage and support each other in this!

I went shopping yesterday for some new to me clothes, the local church had another rummage sale and I came away with 6 new winter shirts, 2 vests and a pajama shirt. I was able to get a few things for the children too and it cost me $5.00!!! I love second hand shopping!!! I hope to go back maybe tonight after my hubby gets home from work to take a closer look.

Until later....Thanks for being a part of this journey with me ladies....

I would not want to do it without you all!!!!

Online Resource & Tummy Troubles

I wanted to share with you about an online resource I found a while back and I am now just learning a bit more about it.

It is called The Kitchen Table and it is an Eat Clean site.

This site is designed as a Eat Clean community for people to share stories, recipes, photos and just all round support each other.

If you are clean eating and are looking for some new ideas or a bigger support group this is the place for you....if you just want to learn more about Eating Clean it will definitely give you that.

It is worth the time you will spend there!

As for how things are going for me....yesterday was a rough, tough day!!

I made some Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread with spelt flour in the morning because the research I had done said that SOME PEOPLE that have a wheat sensitivity can eat spelt without any effects.

I am guessing after I tried some yesterday that I don't fall into the SOME PEOPLE category.

I did have 2 good sized pieces for lunch...because it was so yummy... my upset and pain in the tummy began within 2 hours of having the bread. By 6pm I was almost doubled over in the pain and my stomach was rock hard and I vomited once...sorry if that is to much information...without any relief!

I went to bed at 9pm in so much pain I didn't think I would sleep but thanks to some prayer on my husbands part I dozed off until the baby woke me at 10:45pm and by then my pain was gone.

The tummy issues (bloating, firmness) are still here today plus some other nasty side effects of which I will not go into details about but I am drinking lots of water today and hopefully this will clean me out quicker and give me complete relief!!!

I guess it is no wheat or any kind of flour....unless with some more research I come up with another alternative to try.

November Challenge

This weekend was so nice.....I had my husband home for 2 full days!!!!

Baby was still sick all weekend so we took turns cuddling with her and I spent the one morning at the hospital but I am happy to report she is doing much better today!

For the month of November...so 30 days.... I am challenging myself and anyone of my blogging friends that want to join me to target stomach and arm muscles.

My tummy is a definite problem area for me...after six pregnancies I am stretched in every direction it seems. That lovely little pooch I want to see decrease so I am taking a month of targeted exercises to work on it and see what happens and since I am doing that I figure why not increase the lean muscle in my arms too?!?!?

This is what my challenge exercises are;

30 Crunches (or sit ups)

30 Reverse Crunches

30 Bicycle Crunches

30 Abdominal Twists

30 Push ups

30 Tricep Kickbacks

30 Hammer Curls

30 Tricep Dips

I will be doing each of these in 2 sets of 15 repetitions for the 30 days.

If we stick with these I think there will be some definite definition after 30 days!

So who is with me???

Let me know if you are going to join me...the more the merrier..and it will help keep me motivated too.

I included a link to show proper form if you are not sure how to do one of the exercises.

Week 43 Weigh In

Just a quick update to report my weigh in......down 1 pound to 147lbs!!!

I am busy taking care of a sick baby so that is it folks!!!

Have a blessed Sunday!

Fall Themed Granola Bars

I got the idea to make these yummy bars from Amy at Choosing Freedom and the recipe is adapted from the Two Peas and Their Pods website.

I changed the original recipe to be more Clean Eating friendly!!!

Here is my version for......

Pumpkin Chocolate Granola Bars

3 1/4 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

½ cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup apple

sauce

1/3cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup dark chocolate

2/3 cup sliced Almonds

· Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 by 8 baking pan and set aside.

· Chop your dark chocolate into small pieces.

· In a large bowl, combine oats, spices, and salt together. Set aside.

· In a medium bowl, whisk pumpkin, applesauce, honey, and vanilla extract until smooth. Pour over oats and stir well, until all of the oats are moist. Stir in the dark chocolate and almonds.

· Evenly press oat mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. The pumpkin keeps the bars moist, so make sure they are golden and set-you don’t want them to be under baked. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

· Using a sharp knife, cut into bars. Remove from pan and let cool completely.

Makes 10-12 granola bars

*I tripled this recipe and froze the bars in packages of 6 for another time.

I enjoyed a bar with a cut up apple and a chia tea for lunch one day......Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Thursdays Eats

Yesterday was a snugly day with my baby!!!

She was running a low grade fever and just not feeling well in general...so we snuggled.

I am thinking that her ear was aching because she pulled at it a few times during the day...whatever it was it was nice to slow down and cuddle.

I looks like today is going to be much of the same because she was still fevered at 4am when I got up to nurse her so here is my post of yesterdays food.

This was breakfast;

Handfuls of spinach, a banana, 1+ tbsp. natural crunchy peanut butter,

1 cup Almond Breeze and 2 tbsp. flax meal.

Mid-morning Snack consisted of a honey crisp apple and a handful of almonds.

For lunch...

7 of Mary's Cracker's with peanut butter, a sliced banana and a spot of honey on each.

I had a peppermint/cocoa tea also! A new favorite!

These crackers are great for me and I will pick up some more when I am at the 'big city' again...no wheat or gluten...they are made with brown rice, quinoa, flax seeds and sesame seeds. I must admit that it is hard to remember to look at labels for wheat but I will get use to it and my next shopping trip will be a long one while I read labels of many different foods trying to find wheat free products.

Afternoon snack was 4 Medjool Dates.

Supper....more leftover Lasagna and salad with salt & pepper.

I got a 30 Day Shred workout in this morning and I think I will put on a fresh pot of coffee so when the baby wakes I can cuddle and drink it.

I am working on a 30 Day challenge to put out to my blog friends and I will post it in the next couple of days but just to let you know in will be for the month of November and it will target 'trouble zone' on the body...I have never ran a challenge before but I need this one and if I have some people doing it with me then I will stick to it...more details another day.

Who ate cake?

Yesterday was my little sparkles 5th birthday!

She is so sweet...a true blessing in my life!

For her birthday I made this....

and I did NOT have any!!!! Not a lick of it even!!!!

Did I miss it or feel deprived???

Nope!!!

I felt free!!!

Before the guests arrived I had a piece of leftover homemade Lasagna (made with brown rice pasta) so I would not be tempted, by being too hungry, to eat the chicken nuggets and fries that the party guests were eating.

After the party was over, the house tidied and the children in bed I treated myself to a cup of peppermint tea and a scoop of cocoa....Yummy!!!

Never tried it until tonight but it is a definite do over.

Being my Own Doctor

I don't know what people or for that fact what I did before Internet!!!

I have mentioned before that I thought I possible had a wheat intolerance and was going to research more on it.

I have been doing a lot of reading on the Internet about this and the more I read the more convinced I am that I am indeed intolerant to wheat.

To see if I am I did a little experiment over the last week....it was highly scientific....

I totally went off of wheat for 4 days the results......

I felt great after the second day of being off of wheat.

Then yesterday I reintroduced bread again at lunch time.

Guess what happened!?!?!

Within an hour of eating the bread I started to experience some lovely and familiar symptoms... gas, pain in the upper stomache area, bloating, cravings for more, more, more and a drippy nose.

Coincidence???

Maybe.... but I don't think so!!!

I am going to the Nurse Practitioner in a couple of weeks and I plan on discussing this along with other things with her but regardless of what the outcome of that appointment is I think I will be staying away from wheat because it is just not worth the nagging symptoms I have when I do eat it.

As for eating in general...I have been on track 100%! Yeah me!!!

I have a challenge on myself for this week. It is to eat clean completely and so far so good.

It is made easier by the amazing ideas and inspiration that I am gaining from the Eat Clean Diet Recharged book by Tosca Reno that I received from the Sweet's Free September Contest.

I love this way of life and would recommend the books to anyone that is trying to improve their health.

This week begins the party season for our house.... we have a birthday each month from now until March; a couple of birthdays in 2 of the months...then throw in Christmas and New Years and I have a whole lot of opportunities to show myself that I am worth the effort it takes to eat right!!! I am looking forward to the challenge!

Control

I am a perfectionist as you all know and along with that I also like to be in control.

Not a great combo!!!!

I was reminded today after reading a fellow bloggers

post that there are SOME things that are in my control and other things that ARE NOT!

I decided to make a list of things in my life that I can control and post it in a place that I look at often to really bring this fact home.

Here is the list I came up with;

I CAN CONTROL......

• if I will draw on the strength of God during a rough moment.
• how much water I drink in a day.
• what food goes in my mouth.
• if I will exercise at some point in a day.
• how much time I will waste on the computer.
• how I will handle my children when they misbehave.
• what I will wear.
• how I will feel about myself.
• how I treat others.

Making this list reminded me of the Serenity Prayer!

I Could Hardly Believe My Eyes

This morning I stepped on to the beloved piece of metal and looking up at me was a number I have not seen in years!

Really it was a number I have not even dared to dream about.....I would think maybe it is possible but I would quickly turn that thought off because the sensible part of me said 'No way!"......

But it was not a dream what I seen this morning but rather the result of 42 weeks of making the choice to get back up and dust myself off every time I stumbled and fell......and there have been many stumbles.....each time I reached for the hand that supports me and continued on my path!

Sometimes that hand was in the form of my Heavenly Father, other times it was my blog friends or weight loss support group and still more often than not it was my biggest earthly cheerleader....my Husband!

Each part of my support team is SO special in different ways and I can't imagine having got here without all of them.

This is what I seen this morning.........148........that is a 2 pound loss this week!

I can finally say I am out of the 150's, I had been there since July.

I have a feeling the next few weeks are going to be blur.

My husband is working with a road construction crew on the highway near our house and he has been doing this for the last month and a half or so.

Long hours during the week but then weekends off.

On Tuesday he came home to tell me that they will be working everyday until the job is complete...it may be 2.5 to 4 weeks straight they really don't know for sure.

Yikes!!! Okay, breathe Christine....you can handle this! Deep breath in......

and let it go!

I actually am handling it okay but I am having to prioritize what is most important and what is going to add to the stress on the family and then eliminate those factors.

The first thing to go was my race on Sunday, this race was something I wanted to do but because my hubby had started this job I was not able to keep up with the training schedule.

Now, I know I could have walked part of the course if I needed to but I know myself well enough that I know I would have stressed all week about having not prepared for the race in the way I had planned.

So to help myself and in turn my family I made the decision to let it go...besides I need to have a sitter to go to a funeral and grocery/birthday shopping this weekend and the children can't be with someone else all weekend.

Life is good and eating is ON!

I received a compliment last night while at the library from the town Nurse Practitioner who apparently has not seen me in a while.

She did the old double take, look you up and down stare and said in a very surprised voice...."You have lost weight....look at you Ms. Skinny Minnie!"

It felt great hearing that from her...I am not sure why it meant so much but it did.

Wonderful Wednesday

This morning I woke up with my mind cluttered with terrible thoughts about eating and myself again.

I started to dwell on the Lord and call to Him for strength... and with His loving way He began to speak to my heart about the issues that I need to focus on in order to walk in greater freedom from this addiction to food.

I have had a great day of working and praying through a lot of 'stuff'.

Today has been a day of great happenings for me too....my special package arrived in the mail from my friend Dawne for the Sweets Free September Contest...I am so excited to start reading my new books!!!

My eating has been right on plan today and....

A dear friend called this morning to see if she could sit with the children this afternoon while I would go for a run...I normally would not take anyone up on offers like this but today I decided I would and I am so glad I did....I came home feeling refreshed and ready to finish the day in victory!

Running Question

My Thanksgiving dinner time with the family yesterday went amazing! Everyone enjoyed each other and there were no upsets between the children. This made for a nice stress free occasion!

When we arrived at my Mom's place I was already hungry because I didn't get a chance to have a snack before leaving home as I had planned. A friend of ours stopped in about 1/2 hour before we planned on leaving and while he was here he got stung by a wasp...this man is allergic to some species of wasps so it was a bit of a crazy time getting his sting iced and Benadryl into him, getting his wife over with the Benadryl and then waiting to see if he was going to react. Thank God he didn't and everything was okay! but there you have it life happened and I didn't get a snack to hold me over.

At my Mom's house I was presented with a table full of junk food which I choose to not indulge in because I decided that I could survive until supper.

At supper I filled my plate 2/3 full with boiled carrots, corn, Apple Coleslaw (which I ended up making it by a Eat Clean recipe) and baked sweet potatoes. The other third was turkey meat and about 2 tbsp. of stuffing.

I did enjoy a piece of Apple Crisp with some vanilla ice cream.

I walked away from my dinner feeling so great about the decisions I made!!!!

Sweet victory!!!!

My question to all you runners is......

What do eat before a run and how long before do you have it????

I am finding that have alot of energy when first start out on my run but by 5-6km in I am spent.

So I am thinking I need to eat something but I just don't know what is good and when to have it. All advice is appreciated!

Turkey Day & Weigh In Report

Later today we go to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family!

My mom and I are preparing all of the food and nothing on the menu will be low calorie or clean items except an Apple Crisp but I am so okay with that because I plan to fill up on the vegetable dishes and turkey (white meat, of course!), drink lots of water and at the end of the meal if I want I will have a piece of dessert with a hot cup of tea.

I plan on living like a NORMAL person today, one who is FREE from addiction and knows it....no extremes....I am done with the ALL OR NOTHING ATTITUDE....forever!!

There is absolutely no life in it! as anyone who battles it or has battled it can attest to.

I have a long run planned for during the children's nap time this afternoon because my husband is home to sit with them. I can't express how giddy with excitement I am about going for a run! This seems so funny to me because 9 months ago I never thought I would run down the street never mind 8km.

With the struggles I have been having the last 2 weeks I was sure that my weight would be up but I guess I must have had more on track time then I thought because my weigh in this morning had me at

150 lbs on the button! Not a huge loss for 2 weeks but at least a loss. I am good with it and truthfully would have been good with whatever it said because I know my focus has been off.

The loss is another thing to add to my list of things I am thankful for today!

Thanksgiving

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! and I am still walking towards it.

Rough days come and sometimes a number of them in a row, but this time around I did not waiver in my hope for complete freedom from the cycle and THIS my friends is progress!

In the past when I have had bad days I would lose my hope completely and even question if God loved me.... but not this time.....I have a calm assurance in God and His love, He alone is my answer and He will bring me to the place where I can see what the deep issues are that I have yet to look at.

I do not have all the answers yet to why I am having to still deal with these reoccurring cycles but I am closer to the answer and I trust that God will show me each piece as I am ready to deal with it.

So this weekend I have a lot to be thankful for and here are just a few of them......

• A wonderful, loving and understanding husband.
• Six healthy children.
• Family that live close by and I can see whenever I want.
• Friends both in real life and in 'blog land' that love me for who I am.
• A three day weekend with my husband!
• That I will have a chance to go out running at least twice in the next 3 days.
• My bed sheets are on the line so I get to sleep in fresh, clean sheets tonight.
• I have great health.
• A place to call home.
• and the sun is shining!!

My Thoughts

It is time that I try and put into words some of what has been going on in me!

Cycles that I have went through ALL my life have been hitting really hard.

Lots of self hate talk...the kind that you tell yourself that you are fat and ugly.....

when you are talking about yourself this way it is only natural to treat yourself in that way too.

I have been trying to fight these negative thoughts and feelings but they are completely consuming my mental space.... they are starting from the time my eyes open in the morning until I fall asleep at night but on most days the

y take over my actions by about 2-3pm and I fall into a pit of binge eating. This binge has been lasting from that time until 7-8pm at night (when my husband gets home actually).

This has been making me be the old mom and woman that use to live here.....the one that can not handle everyday stress very well and loses her cool because of the little things. Then the next cycle begins of guilt, shame and condemnation....eat some more!

I know where my peace can be found and I know I am set free by the power of the death of Jesus....but I am really struggling to live in that peace and freedom place.

I have been encouraged by Amy's post today over at Choosing Freedom and I hope to take it and learn more about how to STOP SELF SABOTAGING!!!

If I do not post for a couple of days it is because I am working through things and need to focus...plus it is the long weekend here in Canada...Turkey Time!

I am on track today with eating and it 3:34pm.....yeah!

• Breakfast was Oatmeal, 1 tsp. maple syrup, splash of milk and 1whole egg plus 2 whites scrambled.
• No morning snack.
• Lunch was 4 wedges of cantaloupe and a smoothie made of spinach, a banana, tbsp. natural peanut butter, plain yogurt and almond breeze.
• Afternoon snack was fresh pineapple and 22 almonds.
• I made this for my supper......Coconut Rice with Black Beans. I had a bite of it this morning after I made it just to try it because I have never made it before.....it is yummy! so I am looking forward to it!!!

"Who Am I?"

This is a question that I have been pondering today?

Along with "What is it that I want to accomplish now?" as far as my body goes.

I think I want to lose more weight but I also feel very content with where I am at too....I hate the land of indecision.

To be honest, it is really hard to get use to who I am now and I think that this is part of the reason in what I consider a stall in my journey.

I have been juggling the same 5 pounds since the beginning of July!

I got to my original goal back then and since then I have lost my gusto.

I am in search for it today!!!

Anyone now where it went??? lol

I am really having a great day...even if it doesn't sound like it but I am trying to figure out how to get the ambition to continue to lose the last 10 - 15 pounds.

Anyway....my eats for today!!

This was breakfast, a bowl of strawberries and a bowl of Morning Hot Cereal with a splash of milk.

Morning Boost was a banana, almond breeze and peanut butter smoothie.

The next picture is lunch; Tomato soup, a whole wheat wrap with hummus and shredded vegetables. Terrible picture but it tasted yummy!

Mid-afternoon snack was was an apple, 3 wasa crackers and peanut butter.

Then supper was Spaghetti...lots of veggies in the sauce served on a bit of whole wheat pasta and a bit of spaghetti squash. I liked this...I was surprised that I did but mostly that the children did too. My hubby is not home yet but I mixed his squash in with the noodles...hoping he doesn't notice them right away. Sneaky me!!!

What is THIS????

"What is THIS?" or "Is that _________?"

I think I am going to be hearing this a lot in the next while from the children!!!

They have tried some new foods over the last two days.....and I am really proud of them all for being so open to new things.

I am trying to give everyone as much choice in what they eat while still maintaining a clean eating lifestyle which is helping them....they still have some power in the situation.

My aim is to have everyone eating at least 75% of the time from clean food.

NOT the ALL or NOTHING mentality!

I will catch you all up on what I have eaten and my activity for the last 2 days ......

Monday

• Breakfast was Muesli, milk and a banana.
• 11 almonds and an apple sprinkled with cinnamon was for Mid- morning Snack.
• Yummy Lunch was a whole wheat wrap with Indian hummus and shredded zucchini, cucumber, carrots and lettuce. With a few strawberries on the side.
• Wasa Crackers (2) with a spread of natural peanut butter.
• Supper was a Chicken breast, Vegetable stir fry and brown rice. Dessert for the family.....2 cups of frozen blueberries with 1 cup of vanilla yogurt all blended to the consistency of ice cream...it was a hit! I had approximately 1/2 cup of this.

I did the Jillian Michael's No More Trouble Zones workout in the morning.

Tuesday

• A half an apple and Morning Hot Cereal recipe from The Eat Clean Diet for Family and Kids.
• A smoothie made of 1 cup Chocolate Almond Breeze, 3/4 banana and 1 tbsp. peanut butter for Mid- morning Boost.

• This was Lunch, leftover veggies from the stir fry and a whole wheat pita bread spread with tomato sauce, sliced zucchini and 1 oz. of mozzarella cheese.
• Afternoon boost will be another smoothie like I has this morning but I will throw in some spinach too.
• Finally supper is Homemade Spaghetti Sauce made with lots of veggies and organic lean ground beef served on Brown rice pasta and a side lettuce salad (no dressing).

My exercise was a Leslie Sansone 2 Mile Walk Away the Pounds.

Feeling great and living it!!!

Those hard days of this past weekend seem so far away right now....Yet they seemed so impossible at the time!?!?!?!? Go figure...

The Weekend News

Thank you all who left encouragement and support on my last post! I really draw strength from you ladies!!

Saturday was a terrible day for me....from beginning to end! I consumed a ridicules amount of calories from terrible tasting foods. BOO!

Needless to say I did not weigh in for my weekly check today because I knew I would have a gain form the junk I ate yesterday and I did not want the scale to dictate how today was going to go. The scale isn't everything, right? See I am learning.

You read about the issue with my hubby working over the weekend unexpectedly and that was just the icing on the cake for me.

I was in a tail spin by lunch on Saturday and did not recover until about 7pm that night.

That situation ended up working out though because he got off early enough on Sunday for me to get to the grocery stores and get what I needed for the week. The whole family began to Eat Clean TODAY!!!!

I am super excited about this! This is something we have been talking about for sometime and now it is a reality. I will post more on this another day.

What I had not put into words was the OTHER things that were going on that added to my emotions not being too stable.

On Thursday afternoon a friend of mine got terrible news that her father had been in a boating accident and his 'body' has yet to be found. I am not great at handling situations like this....I never know what to say or do for people when they are in need like she is!

Plus on top of those two situations I was at that stage in my cycle that I crave carbs like crazy!!! and once I give in to the desire to eat carbs then the 'OLD ME' starts a talking about things like "oh,well...you have blown it now so you might as well blow it good"....before I know it a box of cookies or bag of chips have been inhaled. Those items will not be in the house anymore now that I am making everyone eat clean.

I actually now see the pattern in my hard days, with them being all during ovulation.

I have learned something this time around and I hope to remember it next time. It is, that yes I am going to crave things or more specifically carbs and it is okay to eat something to curb that craving. Then I must stop at that treat and re-evaluate why I want the next thing and so on. Hopefully this will prevent me from going on a 4, 5, 6 or so on day binge! because I am sure some of you can relate that once you have a few bad days in a row it is SO hard to get back on track.

I am over the craving issue, Thank the Lord for that! and I have had a great day eating wise, communing with the Lord and finally spending time with my hubby this evening.

I feel like myself again!! Praise the Lord for that!

The great and most fabulous news from the weekend is I WON the TREAT FREE SEPTEMBER challenge draw that my fellow blog friend Dawne had!!! I am more than excited to receive this gift! I don't remember the last time I won anything!

I am struggling today!!!

My husband came home late last night, he is usually off at 3 on Fridays but last night it was after 8pm.....when he got home he informed me that he has to work all weekend and the normal shift 6:30am to 8pm.

We only have one vehicle that he has to use to get to work so I take advantage of the weekend to grocery shop for the family! During the week I walk any 'thing' we have going on and to the store to pick up little things that we need. This is always a chore because I push the double stroller and there is some room in the bottom of the stroller for what we need (if it is not a lot of items) but taking 6 children into a grocery store can prove to be a trying time on my patience.

This change in routine is one I need to figure out and fast because the stress of it is driving me to the cupboards for anything to fill my face with. I do not want stress to effect me in this way anymore but it obviously is still an area I need to work on!!!!

Apple Crisp

October is finally here.....

I love the Fall but September seemed to be a rough month for me with making good choices so I am hoping that this new month will be better.

I received in the mail yesterday the Eat Clean Diet for Family & Kids book and I am enjoying reading it. This may be just what I needed to get the WHOLE family on board.

I got in a 30 Day Shred workout this morning before I had a close friend come over for the day, it was so nice to visit with her...it had been way to long!

My Apple Crisp turned out good yesterday ......so as promised I will share it with you.

Now, I will not claim this to be completely 'clean' recipe but a big improvement from my normal version.

The girls picked these apples from our own tree and helped me prepare them for the dessert.

Apple Crisp

6 Cups Apples Sliced

1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup Oats

1/2 cup 5 Grain Cereal

2/3 cup butter

1/2 cup Pure Maple Syrup

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1. Wash and slice apples into a greased 8 x 10 pan. {I left the skins on.}

2. Combined the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add butter and combine until the mixture is coarse.

3. Pour the maple syrup over your apples and then top with dry mixture.

4. Bake in 350 degree oven for 25- 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve Warm!!!