I have a huge respect for those that can post daily! I am going to be content with a post every couple of months!
Some things have changed in the past two months....good things, no make that great things!
My sister and I have been going at least 5 mornings a week to the gym and working out. It feels amazing! I have not had a soda since the first of the year and have started really focusing on eating healthy. Of course I have had a few hiccups but I have been good about not beating myself up on those days. Everyone needs a cheat day every once in a while! The results have been amazing and even more motivating to keep going. Now I don't check my weight regularly, I'm more going by how I feel and fit of clothes. I have had to buy some new clothes because the others were TOO BIG!!!
I have tried for so many years to lose weight and this time it just feels right. I have learned a few things along the journey so far.
First and most importantly I can't do it without God! I know that He has called me to take care of myself. If I don't do that then how can I take care of others. The biggest difference I have noticed is in the music I listen to when I am working out. I started out listening to 80's rock (who doesn't love 80's rock?), which did work but I finally got some christian music on my ipod and WOW what a difference the choice of music makes. I noticed an extra pep in my step and just more energy and motivation. Some of my favorites workout songs are: "We Live" by Superchick; "Let Go" by Barlow Girl; "Burn for You" by TobyMac; "Who I am Hates Who I've Been" by Relient K.; "Everything you ever wanted" by Hawk Nelson.
Second....I really need the support and encouragement from my husband and kids. My husband has been amazing at keeping me motivated. He and the kids have helped with adjusting schedules, food changes and food experiments! I could not keep it up if it weren't for them.
The third thing I have learned is that I do need an accountability person, my sister! We motivate each other to get up every morning at 5am to go to the gym. We also trade recipes and clothes. I firmly believe if I did not have her going with me I would have stopped going a long time ago. We are on a roll and don't anticipate stopping anytime soon. It feels great!
I encourage you, if you are looking to get healthy to start now! Pray, set up a plan and just do it!
"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!" Philippians 4:13
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Fake Fries
Saturday mornings are "mama's TV time". The one day of the week I get the TV remote all to myself! Needless to say this is something I look forward to all week long. Shows of my choice?? Ree Drummond's "The Pioneer Woman" and then I change over to Bobby Dean's "Not my Mama's Meals" and whatever else I can manage to sneak into this time.
This past week my son was at home and had to endure the shows with me. As we watch Bobby Dean make fries out of parsnips and butternut squash my son said they looked good! What?? I looked and asked "Do you want to try them?". To my delight he said yes. Oh and I forgot to mention we are trying to stay away from rice, pasta and POTATOES! So I decided that would be on the menu for the week, Hamburger Steaks and Fake Fries!
Well on Monday we tried the Fake Fries and they were GREAT!!! I even added an extra veggie into the mix. Our Fake Fries were made of butternut squash, parsnips and carrots. Everyone seemed to like them so they will appear again on our menu. I'm just thankful they went over better than my quinoa recipes, I'm still the only one in the house that likes that stuff. Oh well at least they are eating!
Fake Fries (adapted from Bobby Dean's "Not my Mama's Meals on The Cooking Channel)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Peal top halve of Butternut Squash and cut into fry shapes.
Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray place squash in a single layer.
Spray the squash with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Start baking squash for about 5 minutes.
Peal and slice parsnips and carrots into fry shapes.
Add parsnips and carrots to squash. (you can use a different sheet if you want, I used the same one b/c it was big enough)
Continue baking all veggies until crispy. Approx. 40-45 minutes.
Enjoy! They turn out very sweet and so good!
This past week my son was at home and had to endure the shows with me. As we watch Bobby Dean make fries out of parsnips and butternut squash my son said they looked good! What?? I looked and asked "Do you want to try them?". To my delight he said yes. Oh and I forgot to mention we are trying to stay away from rice, pasta and POTATOES! So I decided that would be on the menu for the week, Hamburger Steaks and Fake Fries!
Well on Monday we tried the Fake Fries and they were GREAT!!! I even added an extra veggie into the mix. Our Fake Fries were made of butternut squash, parsnips and carrots. Everyone seemed to like them so they will appear again on our menu. I'm just thankful they went over better than my quinoa recipes, I'm still the only one in the house that likes that stuff. Oh well at least they are eating!
Fake Fries (adapted from Bobby Dean's "Not my Mama's Meals on The Cooking Channel)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Peal top halve of Butternut Squash and cut into fry shapes.
Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray place squash in a single layer.
Spray the squash with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Start baking squash for about 5 minutes.
Peal and slice parsnips and carrots into fry shapes.
Add parsnips and carrots to squash. (you can use a different sheet if you want, I used the same one b/c it was big enough)
Continue baking all veggies until crispy. Approx. 40-45 minutes.
Enjoy! They turn out very sweet and so good!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Once again it has been a while since I last posted! I love reading blogs by other people but I just don't know how they find time, ideas and/or creativity to do it. BUT....(one of my favorite words from the bible) but I will continue on my quest to blog even if it is just a post here and a post there. My creative juices are flowing today so I am thinking of changing up a few things on my blog and maybe, just maybe that will encourage (or nudge) me to post more.
This year it flying by!! I can not believe my babygirl's birthday is less than two weeks away and she will be an official teenager! If that were enough to make me feel my age, in just a few short months my son will graduate school. REALLY??? Am I that old already? Needless to say it is a very exciting time in our home. Many changes in our future so I am trying to cherish all the moments while I can.
In my last post in November I mentioned the roller coaster of emotions I was on. Well I have to give God praise because for the moment the roller coaster has stopped! God guided me to a beautiful book to read called Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman. I am reading it at a snails pace compared to the way my husband reads his books but I want to make sure it sticks with me. I want to take it all in. It has been a tremendous help to me and my thought process. I am guilty of always worrying about what others think, how others feel; which in and of it's self is not bad unless you do like I do and allow it to dictate your choices. This book is showing me how I tend to hide behind different masks so that people don't really get to see the REAL me, they get to see the person I want them to see. And if the book weren't good enough by itself, God also had it timed just right for me to read to come along side of our series at church on Grace. Isn't God's timing always perfect!
I've heard of people choosing a word to focus on for a few months or a year and it appears that for now GRACE it my word! I have learned so much about Grace and I know I still have a lot more to learn. The most important thing I take from the book, the series and the bible is that God's grace is sufficient! It covers me, not part of me but ALL of me. I don't have to strive to be perfect (a challenge I could never accomplish anyway); I need only let God's power "be made perfect in my weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9
So what did I do to deserve God's grace??? NOTHING! That's right nothing. God GIVES us grace! It is a gift from the great I AM! How amazing it that? The creator of the universe sees me with all of my flaws, all of my sins, all of my imperfections and He still loves me enough to cover me in Grace. You can have God's grace too. All you have to do is accept His gift of salvation and grace. He is eagerly awaiting on you to ask Him. I encourage you, if you don't know Christ as your savior, to seek Him. God doesn't promise an easy life when we come to Him but He does promise to walk with us and cover us with grace. He will be there in the lonely dark places and the sunny, joyful places. He will even ride a roller coaster of emotions with you! What an amazing God!
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
This year it flying by!! I can not believe my babygirl's birthday is less than two weeks away and she will be an official teenager! If that were enough to make me feel my age, in just a few short months my son will graduate school. REALLY??? Am I that old already? Needless to say it is a very exciting time in our home. Many changes in our future so I am trying to cherish all the moments while I can.
In my last post in November I mentioned the roller coaster of emotions I was on. Well I have to give God praise because for the moment the roller coaster has stopped! God guided me to a beautiful book to read called Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman. I am reading it at a snails pace compared to the way my husband reads his books but I want to make sure it sticks with me. I want to take it all in. It has been a tremendous help to me and my thought process. I am guilty of always worrying about what others think, how others feel; which in and of it's self is not bad unless you do like I do and allow it to dictate your choices. This book is showing me how I tend to hide behind different masks so that people don't really get to see the REAL me, they get to see the person I want them to see. And if the book weren't good enough by itself, God also had it timed just right for me to read to come along side of our series at church on Grace. Isn't God's timing always perfect!
I've heard of people choosing a word to focus on for a few months or a year and it appears that for now GRACE it my word! I have learned so much about Grace and I know I still have a lot more to learn. The most important thing I take from the book, the series and the bible is that God's grace is sufficient! It covers me, not part of me but ALL of me. I don't have to strive to be perfect (a challenge I could never accomplish anyway); I need only let God's power "be made perfect in my weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9
So what did I do to deserve God's grace??? NOTHING! That's right nothing. God GIVES us grace! It is a gift from the great I AM! How amazing it that? The creator of the universe sees me with all of my flaws, all of my sins, all of my imperfections and He still loves me enough to cover me in Grace. You can have God's grace too. All you have to do is accept His gift of salvation and grace. He is eagerly awaiting on you to ask Him. I encourage you, if you don't know Christ as your savior, to seek Him. God doesn't promise an easy life when we come to Him but He does promise to walk with us and cover us with grace. He will be there in the lonely dark places and the sunny, joyful places. He will even ride a roller coaster of emotions with you! What an amazing God!
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
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