I don't stay up late anymore. Every day my alarm goes off at 6:30 and I arise and try to remember that I am blessed. When I make a rare exception and stay up late, I pay for it for many days in a row as I fight the urge for an all-day nap.
I don't really watch much TV anymore because someone usually needs help with her homework...or at least nagging. I'm basically living the changes I tried to make when I was homeschooling-getting up earlier and watching less TV. It is not the miraculous cure-all I thought it would be. I have no more motivation to do housework now than I did before. Funny how we imagine that some changes will suddenly and amazingly transform our lives into what we always wanted. Most change just doesn't pack that kind of ammo.
Slowly, painstakingly slowly, I am making positive (I think) changes for my health and for the well-being of my children. Momma is far too grouchy and mean to spend the day educating my children at home...that is what I mean by the well-being of my children. We are not all liking all of the changes. There are even more on the horizon. Today, I hope to accomplish some more much-needed decluttering and some cleaning. Change is hard, progress makes it possible.
When I think about where I started this decluttering journey, I am inspired. My house and my body both are so much healthier.
How about you...any changes going on in your life?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 22
FOR TODAY...Monday
November 22, 2010
Outside my window...a beautiful day. Warm and breezy with a chance for much needed rain later.
I am thinking...I am thankful to not have to go anywhere today, like a doctor appointment...tomorrow though...
From the learning rooms...Oh Public School, you have some flaws but overall I love you right now.
From the kitchen...Making a turkey today and plans for the leftovers!!
I am wearing...jeans and a tshirt that is long past retirement age.
I am creating...a plan for how to really enjoy the days off from school that are coming up.
I am going...to clear my bar of a thousand papers.
I am reading...just finished Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult. Kind of a bizarre take on religion, but it was a good book.
I am hoping...for my sanity to come back.
I am hearing...Kayla doing her Videotext Algebra.
Around the house...Wow, I need to clean.
One of my favorite things...Unseasonably warm weather.
A few plans for the rest of the week: Thanksgiving with family. Maybe some Christmas shopping here and there. A Harry Potter movie would be nice. ( ;
Sunrise, Sunset
***I've had this in my drafts for about two weeks and yesterday my preacher preached a sermon on almost the same thing.***
I am in Community Bible Study, abbreviated CBS. This is a non-denominational group that studies the word of God very in-depth. As in, we are studying Genesis for a whole school year. It is very encouraging. I've never really thought very much about Genesis being encouraging, but it is.
I have always been one to always cut myself some "David" slack every time I screw up. I mean the David of the Bible. The youngest, smallest shepherd boy in his family who became a king. It was through his lineage that Jesus was born. He's the one that killed Goliath. The one that lusted for Bathsheba: Long story short-he watched her, then had her brought to him, used her, and impregnated her. To conceal his sin, he commanded her husband to come back home in hopes he would think the child was his. The man did not want to come home and would not sleep in his bed because his men could not sleep in theirs. This integrity caused David to send him to the front lines where he was killed to cover up his sin. (And you thought the Bible was boring!)
I like to think I have not done anything much worse than that...however, God has David in the Faith 'Hall of Fame' (Hebrews 11) and called him a man after his own heart. We serve a mighty God who can redeem ANYONE!!! AND He WANTS to redeem everyone. I digress!! Studying through Genesis at this slow pace has revealed to me that almost every person God did mighty things through also made some pretty big faux pas. Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Lot...and we are only up to mid-Genesis. Abraham has become as great a source of encouragement as David. And Sarah, oh my did she ever try to do things her own way!!
It reminds me that not only is the Bible full of stories of redemption, I am a story of redemption!! It is amazing that I am the person I am today when I know the person I was 20 years ago. You wouldn't have liked me much then, I did not like me much back then. I took a huge turn from pretty good kid to doing everything I could think of to sow my wild oats. Okay, I was still likeable, but I was not making any wise decisions about life. I am a miraculous work of God. AND, I'm not even anywhere close to finished-He will continue to grow me and make me a better person.
Sometimes I see other Christians really look down on others. REALLY judge them harshly. "That guy is nothing but a drunk!" "He is a dopehead!" "She is a total slut!" IF we have professed Jesus as our savior, we are holy and blameless. Our sins are separated from us as far as the east is from the west...sunrise, sunset.
I am so glad that the labels people might put on me or others can't stick. I am who God says I am. God says I am HIS and I am forgiven. God says all people are WORTH IT! All of us are His and it is our job to be a part of helping Him draw all of His children back to Himself. We won't ever do that by hating, hurting, guilting or labeling. We will do it with love, mentoring, and discipling AFTER we have bothered to build a relationship.
My life here on this earth may just be a vapor or tiny blade of grass, but my life still has a call on it. A call to love other people as much as I love myself. To love others with the love of the Lord.
Psalm 103:6-16
6 The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
I am in Community Bible Study, abbreviated CBS. This is a non-denominational group that studies the word of God very in-depth. As in, we are studying Genesis for a whole school year. It is very encouraging. I've never really thought very much about Genesis being encouraging, but it is.
I have always been one to always cut myself some "David" slack every time I screw up. I mean the David of the Bible. The youngest, smallest shepherd boy in his family who became a king. It was through his lineage that Jesus was born. He's the one that killed Goliath. The one that lusted for Bathsheba: Long story short-he watched her, then had her brought to him, used her, and impregnated her. To conceal his sin, he commanded her husband to come back home in hopes he would think the child was his. The man did not want to come home and would not sleep in his bed because his men could not sleep in theirs. This integrity caused David to send him to the front lines where he was killed to cover up his sin. (And you thought the Bible was boring!)
I like to think I have not done anything much worse than that...however, God has David in the Faith 'Hall of Fame' (Hebrews 11) and called him a man after his own heart. We serve a mighty God who can redeem ANYONE!!! AND He WANTS to redeem everyone. I digress!! Studying through Genesis at this slow pace has revealed to me that almost every person God did mighty things through also made some pretty big faux pas. Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Lot...and we are only up to mid-Genesis. Abraham has become as great a source of encouragement as David. And Sarah, oh my did she ever try to do things her own way!!
It reminds me that not only is the Bible full of stories of redemption, I am a story of redemption!! It is amazing that I am the person I am today when I know the person I was 20 years ago. You wouldn't have liked me much then, I did not like me much back then. I took a huge turn from pretty good kid to doing everything I could think of to sow my wild oats. Okay, I was still likeable, but I was not making any wise decisions about life. I am a miraculous work of God. AND, I'm not even anywhere close to finished-He will continue to grow me and make me a better person.
Sometimes I see other Christians really look down on others. REALLY judge them harshly. "That guy is nothing but a drunk!" "He is a dopehead!" "She is a total slut!" IF we have professed Jesus as our savior, we are holy and blameless. Our sins are separated from us as far as the east is from the west...sunrise, sunset.
I am so glad that the labels people might put on me or others can't stick. I am who God says I am. God says I am HIS and I am forgiven. God says all people are WORTH IT! All of us are His and it is our job to be a part of helping Him draw all of His children back to Himself. We won't ever do that by hating, hurting, guilting or labeling. We will do it with love, mentoring, and discipling AFTER we have bothered to build a relationship.
My life here on this earth may just be a vapor or tiny blade of grass, but my life still has a call on it. A call to love other people as much as I love myself. To love others with the love of the Lord.
Psalm 103:6-16
6 The LORD works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The Starvation Factor
****disclaimer*** This isn't a post about actual starvation anywhere in the world.
I have been on my diet/lifestyle change journey for about a year now. I've learned some interesting things like:
Fat people have bodies that store fat because they are starving.
Let that sink in. Know it, live it, and embrace it.
People who struggle with their weight also struggle with enormous guilt about being overweight. Sometimes we think the whole world looks at us eating a cookie and says, "See there, Fatty McFatFAT, if you wouldn't eat so many of THOSE you might be thin!" Then, the world as we perceive it looks down its skinny nose at us while we choke down the cookie...cookies. Then to punish ourselves, we don't eat again until tomorrow. OR, we go to a buffet, have no control and eat our weight in buffet food. Then we don't eat again until the next day, not only as penance, but because we are literally not hungry.
I have quit eating bread, potatoes, sugars and grains-these changes are forever not for a time. (Diabetes is rampant in my family and I am trying to steer clear of it!) I also have cheatedtoday from time to time. It has had zero impact on my weight. Why is this? Because before I was often just doing without food rather than take the time/effort to eat meats, veggies or fruit. My body wants to eat many small meals a day. In fact, it is designed for grazing. IT IS NOT DESIGNED TO EAT THREE SQUARES A DAY. Especially when those squares are as huge as the squares we eat nowadays. Therefore, eating a forbidden carb (like A cupcake or A bowl of cereal) has less impact on my weight loss program than skipping a meal.
Skipping a meal-or a snack when your body is hungry-will FORCE your body to store the next food you eat as fat. It has to, it can't trust you to feed it and the instinct of self preservation is so strong that it will store fat and store fat until you weigh 700 pounds and cannot leave your house. It is the cycle of OVEREAT....STARVE, OVEREAT...STARVE that makes us obese.
I am now down 42 pounds and I have a long way to go, 50 pounds at least. However, I am keeping my attitude in check and loving my body at any size-another key to weight loss. If you think of yourself as fat and loathsome-or worst of all-GENETICALLY INEVITABLY FAT, you will not care enough to make healthy choices.
I try very hard to never 'binge' and never starve. These are two extremes that have kept me gaining weight for a whole lot of years.
Every body is different and has different reasons for weight gains. My 'lessons' may not apply to you at all. But if you tend toward eating one large meal a day and then starving through the hunger pains until the next big meal, you are FORCING your body to pack on every calorie ingested. MOST children and toddlers are not inherently overweight-they have not learned to keep eating when they are full. Only when that is learned, practiced and paired with the guilty starvation do the weight woes begin.
I have no scientific evidence to back this up-just the good old teacher of life. All these things are true of me, they may not apply to you at all-but try to make some of these changes:
Try these little things before you run a marathon or do a fad diet. Get to healthy weight and THEN run the marathon, your knees will thank you.
I have been on my diet/lifestyle change journey for about a year now. I've learned some interesting things like:
- Exercise WILL make you lose weight and also get tone and fit...until your body gets used to it. Make sure to vary your exercise routines when your weight loss ceases. Just simply running 5 miles a day will not keep you fit-your body will get used to that and expect it.(AND you will pack on the pounds if you only do that for a long period of time and then stop.) Vary your routines.
- Diet changes (like eating less fat or carbs and adding more fruits and veggies-not diets!) WILL make you lose weight and that does not change until you buckle and cheat long term.
- A carb rich diet will make you sluggish, especially if there are a lot of sweets and processed flours in your carb consumption.
- Exercise will give you energy and a general feeling of well being.
- Protein and lots of it is essential to a healthy diet. You cannot make wise eating choices without the satisfying feeling that proteins offer.
Fat people have bodies that store fat because they are starving.
Let that sink in. Know it, live it, and embrace it.
People who struggle with their weight also struggle with enormous guilt about being overweight. Sometimes we think the whole world looks at us eating a cookie and says, "See there, Fatty McFatFAT, if you wouldn't eat so many of THOSE you might be thin!" Then, the world as we perceive it looks down its skinny nose at us while we choke down the cookie...cookies. Then to punish ourselves, we don't eat again until tomorrow. OR, we go to a buffet, have no control and eat our weight in buffet food. Then we don't eat again until the next day, not only as penance, but because we are literally not hungry.
I have quit eating bread, potatoes, sugars and grains-these changes are forever not for a time. (Diabetes is rampant in my family and I am trying to steer clear of it!) I also have cheated
Skipping a meal-or a snack when your body is hungry-will FORCE your body to store the next food you eat as fat. It has to, it can't trust you to feed it and the instinct of self preservation is so strong that it will store fat and store fat until you weigh 700 pounds and cannot leave your house. It is the cycle of OVEREAT....STARVE, OVEREAT...STARVE that makes us obese.
I am now down 42 pounds and I have a long way to go, 50 pounds at least. However, I am keeping my attitude in check and loving my body at any size-another key to weight loss. If you think of yourself as fat and loathsome-or worst of all-GENETICALLY INEVITABLY FAT, you will not care enough to make healthy choices.
I try very hard to never 'binge' and never starve. These are two extremes that have kept me gaining weight for a whole lot of years.
Every body is different and has different reasons for weight gains. My 'lessons' may not apply to you at all. But if you tend toward eating one large meal a day and then starving through the hunger pains until the next big meal, you are FORCING your body to pack on every calorie ingested. MOST children and toddlers are not inherently overweight-they have not learned to keep eating when they are full. Only when that is learned, practiced and paired with the guilty starvation do the weight woes begin.
I have no scientific evidence to back this up-just the good old teacher of life. All these things are true of me, they may not apply to you at all-but try to make some of these changes:
- smaller more frequent meals
- look in the mirror and like what you see (fake it till you make it)
- never skip a meal or snack if you are hungry
- lift some light weights every day...convert that fat to muscle!
Try these little things before you run a marathon or do a fad diet. Get to healthy weight and THEN run the marathon, your knees will thank you.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Dear Blog...
Dear Blog,
It has always been my intention to keep you in the manner that you are accustomed. This means that I might neglect you from time to time, but I don't just leave you hanging...without even an explanation. For this type of behavior worries my friends who are also my readers and my readers who are also my friends. Especially when my last post was about voting and IT SEEMED LIKE I SHOULD BE HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS??? YES?? So now I will try to offer up a lovely set of reasons for my absence. (I was happy with MOST of the election results-bye, bye Pelosi!!!! Hopefully Harry gets nixed next time!)
I now have two children in school and this means....I must wake up at 6:30 and begin my day. I am used to beginning my day very slowly much closer to 9ish. This time change is wreaking havoc on my internal clock. For instance, today I tried so hard to SLEEP IN. I made it to 8:15 and the last 15 minutes I was totally faking it. This means that I am soooooo READY for bed in the evenings. I actually start thinking about how nice it will be to go to bed around 8PM. The other night I was seriously crabby at 9PM. Need I remind you that I am a night owl???????? At least, I used to be.
I am trying to set a record for doctor appointments. I have had at least three a week for quite some time. Oh, of course, they aren't all at the same doctor...we have orthodontist reg. visits, orthodontist something broke appointments, my 'weight' Dr visits, my mom's kidney, blood, vascular and eye visits AND last week, we had a trifecta of eye doctor appointments featuring surgery on Tuesday, Wednesday and then a follow-up visit on Thursday. Next week we have 2 more follow ups on Monday and Tuesday.
That isn't quite enough on my plate though, let's throw in some big projects, shall we?? How about three separate Social Studies fair projects last week with a side of two science fairs this week. Lilly has a theatre group with a part in the Christmas play. The older two girls are committed to teen court. Also-Lilly is in the most awesome Girl Scout troop...we had a fall festival last night. I have given up the impossible dream of keeping piano lessons going-when, when could they be?
My dog still has tail issues...but no longer has a tail, just a nub. Hubby bought a project car/truck (El Camino). We had a funeral today and a wedding this evening. My children are very lacking in the dressy clothing area because our church is casual...this makes much stress when there are dressy clothing occasions!
The cat's litter box got so bad I threw the whole thing away and started with a new one. I have broken my diet three times this weekend but was good all week. I have read three Jodi Piccoult books this week while waiting for docs, surgeries, etc. Her books are awesome.
I have to go to bed now. My eyes are so droopy and I have to put the clothes in the washer into the dryer so we will have pants for tomorrow. Sorry to be so long and drawn out here, I just thought you had a right to know.
Normal is bound to return any moment now.
Oh wait, I think it is officially the holiday season...Falalalala-la-la-la-laaaaa!!
Janjanmom
It has always been my intention to keep you in the manner that you are accustomed. This means that I might neglect you from time to time, but I don't just leave you hanging...without even an explanation. For this type of behavior worries my friends who are also my readers and my readers who are also my friends. Especially when my last post was about voting and IT SEEMED LIKE I SHOULD BE HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS??? YES?? So now I will try to offer up a lovely set of reasons for my absence. (I was happy with MOST of the election results-bye, bye Pelosi!!!! Hopefully Harry gets nixed next time!)
I now have two children in school and this means....I must wake up at 6:30 and begin my day. I am used to beginning my day very slowly much closer to 9ish. This time change is wreaking havoc on my internal clock. For instance, today I tried so hard to SLEEP IN. I made it to 8:15 and the last 15 minutes I was totally faking it. This means that I am soooooo READY for bed in the evenings. I actually start thinking about how nice it will be to go to bed around 8PM. The other night I was seriously crabby at 9PM. Need I remind you that I am a night owl???????? At least, I used to be.
I am trying to set a record for doctor appointments. I have had at least three a week for quite some time. Oh, of course, they aren't all at the same doctor...we have orthodontist reg. visits, orthodontist something broke appointments, my 'weight' Dr visits, my mom's kidney, blood, vascular and eye visits AND last week, we had a trifecta of eye doctor appointments featuring surgery on Tuesday, Wednesday and then a follow-up visit on Thursday. Next week we have 2 more follow ups on Monday and Tuesday.
That isn't quite enough on my plate though, let's throw in some big projects, shall we?? How about three separate Social Studies fair projects last week with a side of two science fairs this week. Lilly has a theatre group with a part in the Christmas play. The older two girls are committed to teen court. Also-Lilly is in the most awesome Girl Scout troop...we had a fall festival last night. I have given up the impossible dream of keeping piano lessons going-when, when could they be?
My dog still has tail issues...but no longer has a tail, just a nub. Hubby bought a project car/truck (El Camino). We had a funeral today and a wedding this evening. My children are very lacking in the dressy clothing area because our church is casual...this makes much stress when there are dressy clothing occasions!
The cat's litter box got so bad I threw the whole thing away and started with a new one. I have broken my diet three times this weekend but was good all week. I have read three Jodi Piccoult books this week while waiting for docs, surgeries, etc. Her books are awesome.
I have to go to bed now. My eyes are so droopy and I have to put the clothes in the washer into the dryer so we will have pants for tomorrow. Sorry to be so long and drawn out here, I just thought you had a right to know.
Normal is bound to return any moment now.
Oh wait, I think it is officially the holiday season...Falalalala-la-la-la-laaaaa!!
Janjanmom
Monday, November 01, 2010
Deep Thoughts...
- My voting strategy is re-elect no one...except Bob Leeper, the only honest politician left. I cannot wait until November 3rd when all the ads and crap will STOP!!! I got a call from a good friend asking me to do phone calls on behalf of some local politicians. I declined due to lack of time, but as I have been thinking over it more I have come to a conclusion: Does anyone EVER want to get a political phone call endorsing a candidate? I don't think so. Millions of us sign up to be on 'no call' lists. How would a political phone call help anyone get votes? Also, unless you are the ACTUAL candidate, don't come knocking on my door with a flier. It goes straight to the recycling pile-what a waste of paper and ink. I'm all for the mailings though-keep that junk mail coming!! Job security for the good old USPS!
- Have you seen the ad for the shake weights? LOL. That's all I have to say about that. LOL. LMBO. Go ahead, try not to smile.
- Today feels really nice. It is really the first day I have two kids in school, one at home and nowhere to really have to be. I like it. Plus, I have the added bonus of being able to threaten this remaining kid with school and she stops any annoying behavior and hits the books. Life is good.
- I had a cheat weekend from my diet. I did not go all crazy or anything-I just had a few splurges here and there. Today, I am back on track and I don't think I will allow myself any cheating opps again-but this weekend, it had to be done. I was surrounded by sugary goodness and no sugar free candy or even fruit. Next time, I will fortify my defenses more. Luckily, my scale needs new batteries and by the time I get new batteries, cheat fest will be long gone.
- I was very upset all weekend about some things that were said about two people I love. Hateful labels placed on people who belong to a loving, caring Heavenly Father. I considered some major confrontation involving long lectures about how judging people is wrong. I was going to forcefully point out that no one can fairly be labeled by their sins-the Blood covers them all. I even skipped church and was near tears most of the day. Then, I asked God to take it away. Take away my injured feelings. Help me forgive it and move on. He did. I was even around one of those people later in the day and felt nothing but love and good will. God is good!!
PS. I don't care who you vote for tomorrow-just don't forget to vote. People fought and died for your right to express you opinion. Don't take that casually.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)