Diet Update

I have been making progress on my journey to better health. I am still striving to lose more weight but have been making great progress. 12 lbs. down and 20 to go. Praise God for His faithfulness, without Him I could not do this!

So, here's what I have been doing in an effort to lose weight....

* I quit eating sugar. Except for natural sugars like honey, agave or pure maple syrup. And I use those VERY sparingly.

*I cut down my food portions.

*I cut way back on bread. I rarely eat bread now, I used to eat it very often but now not so much.

* I quit eating packaged and processed foods and junk foods. I stick to whole foods, foods in their natural state as much as I can. Shop a lot at Sprouts, buy organic, etc.

*I gave up whole milk for almond milk. which has not only helped me lose weight but has also helped my allergies a lot! Dairy is really bad for any type of allergies.

*I don't eat any artificial foods (fat free, low fat, artificial sweetened, trrans fats, hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, etc.)

*For cooking I only use real butter or olive oil or coconut oil.

*I only drink water or herb tea. No sodas or sweet drinks. Wine on a very rare occasion. Almond milk. Coconut water.

*I only eat beef about once a month.

* I don't eat pork.

*I take Extra Virgin Coconut Oil daily. 1 Tbsp. in the morning in oatmeal or in a green smoothie. There are two excellent books on the benefits of coconut oil for weight loss and health in general. "Eat Fat, Lose Fat" by Sally Fallon and "The Coconut Oil Miracle" by Bruce Fife. Also, www.nourishingtraditions.com.

*More recently I have been trying to transition myself onto a "high raw" diet (50% or more raw foods on a daily basis). That, I think, has been the biggest contributing factor to my loss and especially my increased energy and overall well being. I found a lot of great info on-line about this kind of a diet/eating lifestyle. A good place to start is to Google Phillip McKlusky and Angela Stokes-Monarch.

*I've been drinking green smoothies for breakfast most days, which seem to keep me full till past lunch time. I can give you recipes if you are interested, they are awesome and easy and very filling.

*I have been working out 3 - 5 days a week, 30 minutes to an hour each time. Walking, doing the Gazelle Glider, workout DVDs,... This has really helped boost my metabolism.

*I drink a lot of water.

*I try to eat dinner before 6 pm.

*I don't take any prescription or over the counter medication unless absolutely necessary.

*I take a few supplements (Fish oil, Vitamin C, Bioflavinoinds, Probiotics, B-12)

*I eat three meals and two very light snacks (usually fruit or nuts and raisins or a few corn chips and salsa). For breakfast if I don't do the smoothie I will have a bowl of oatmeal with the coconut oil mixed in, lightly sweetened with honey and stir in some pecans, coconut and ground flax seed. Or an omelet with spinach, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and a little cheese topped with salsa. For lunch I do a salad with turkey or tuna or chicken and a little cheese and a few crackers on the side. Or maybe a raw soup or fruit salad or raw cereal. For dinner it varies but I try to stick to one serving of each item on an average sized plate (1/4 grain, 1/4 meat (chicken or turkey or bison or fish), 1/4 fruit and as many vegetables as I want) This portioning of the plate came from The Sonoma Diet and seems to work well.

Now, I do have to say I have not been perfect in sticking to this plan. I would say I eat this way about 85 - 90% of the time. There are days when we are super busy and eat out and I do the best I can on those days... or then there are the days when the hormonal cravings hit at certain times of the month and I give in and eat late at night or eat something sweet. But in general this is what I do and it has been working!

Raw Foods Are Amazing!

I've been doing a lot of reading up lately on the raw foods diet. What this means, in case you have not heard of it, is eating all of your foods raw. No cooked food at all. The healing that many people have experienced from this type of diet just amazes me. There are lots of sites and articles out there on the net, just hit up Google if you want to find out more.

That being said, I began to think I wanted to try this way of eating. As you can imagine, my kiddos were not amused at this suggestion. It's bad enough that mom has taken away most all the junk food around the house. And my second oldest daughter HATES most all fruits and veggies. My husband was on board mostly but not 100%. I was disappointed but not dissuaded. I decided to works towards a more raw way of eating on my own.

So, at this point I am about 50% raw in what I eat. I begin most days with a
green smoothie of some type, veggie juice or just a couple pieces of fruit. For a snacks I eat some type of nuts and dried fruit or some type of veggies. If I am in a hurry I will do salsa and corn chips or carrots with dip. For lunch or dinner a salad of some sort. The other meal will be mostly cooked and although some of it is cooked it will contain mainly veggies.

I can't begin to explain how much healthier I feel since I started eating this way. My energy levels are soaring and I actually crave vegetables which normally I have to remind myself to eat. I don't know that I will ever go 100% raw, just for convenience sake (not having to prepare two meals 3 times a day when I am the only raw foodie here) and also due to the high cost of produce. If we lived in a more garden friendly environment I could change my mind, but for now I will continue to eat a "high raw" diet.

Our new website should be up in about a week or so. More info on that to come soon. :)

Green Goodness

When I first heard of "green smoothies" my first thought was "Yuck!" I could not imagine putting spinach into a drink with bananas and honey. Then I finally got up my nerve to try one and I am so glad I did! Not only is this smoothie really good, it gives you so much energy. If you can't stand the sight of it, just close your eyes and take a sip. You'll think you just took a trip to your favorite smoothie bar for a tropical treat :0)

Michele's Favorite Green Smoothie

1/2 c. vanilla almond milk
1/2 c. cold water
1 large handful of baby spinach leaves (not frozen spinach)
1 frozen banana
1 c. frozen strawberries
1/2 c. frozen mango chunks
1 Tbsp. extra virgin coconut oil
1 Tbsp. honey

Put almond milk, water and spinach in blender. Blend until fairly well blended. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Drink immediately.

I'm Still Here :0)

I have been in a blogging rut for a while now, hence the lack of posts. I thought I should at least poke my head in and let any readers I still have know that I am still alive, LOL! :0)

We have had a A LOT going on since the year began. Praise God all of it is good and He has been blessing us beyond measure.

We have a new church home. Actually, it is our original church home which God has lead us back to after many years. We are very happy to be back there as it has been obvious to us that is where God wants us to be.

Our 5 year old daughter is going to be baptized this Sunday. We are so blessed to see the work that God is doing in her life. She has such a love for Jesus, it is a blessing to see her grow in Him.

My husband and I have become involved in a new on-line business (more on that later on) which has also been a great blessing for us.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been really focusing on our family's health lately. Due to various health conditions, I felt it was time that I really delved back into the world of healthy eating. We are not only aiming for weight loss but for general health and well being.

If you visit me here regularly, you will be seeing a lot more posts related to that topic. I felt that instead of starting a new blog I would keep posting here ... vary the topic as life's seasons change for us. After all, that is what life is all about... God growing us and changing us. :0)

Making Use Of The Summer Months

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

Titus 2: 3-5

I belong to a few different email loops and local homeschool groups. It's so wonderful to have like minded people to fellowship with and to share ideas with. Over the past couple of weeks most of these groups have been winding down for the summer as many take the time to take a much needed vacation or embark upon projects other than the normal school related grind.

I was kind of surprised, however, to hear several people saying that they would like to know who would like to participate in different activities on a daily basis this summer to "get out of the house" because they don't like to "sit around all summer." HUH??? :0(

Don't get me wrong, I am not one for idle time either. I don't enjoy just sitting around my house either doing nothing. But there is SO MUCH to do at home that I can't imagine being bored. For my family once or twice a week is plenty of time to get out of the house. The rest of the time we spend doing activities at home.

So what IS there to do during the summer? Well, whether you homeschool your children or they attend school away from there is much to be done at home during the summer. Here are a few ideas...

Gardening - depending on where you live, it's not too late to start some plants for the summer. What about a vegetable garden? That is not only a nice fun activity for you and your children, but it's healthy to go outdoors and get some sun every day. The fruits of your labor will also help supplement your family's grocery budget.

Sewing - it's a great time to make some nice decorative items for your home or some clothing for yourself and your children. Older children can also be taught to sew. Even boys should know how to mend or sew on buttons!

Cooking - stock up your freezer! Take the time to make a recipe you have been wanting to try. If you don't like to cook or don't' know how, it's a great time to learn or practice your skills. Baking is a great all day activity for children, they love to make things that are good to easy. If you have a garden, use the end of the summer to do some canning or freezing of your summer bounty.

Organizing - sort and organize your closets, drawers, shelves, etc. You'll feel like your home is brand new. If you find a lot of items that are still good that you don't use any more, have a yard sale or start an Ebay store.

Clean - if you didn't get a chance to deep clean your home in the spring, now is the perfect time. Give everything a good scrubbing and get your kids to help.

Read - Take a weekly trip to the library or order some favorites from an on-line book seller. Read books that you have been wanting to read and haven't had time for or better yet read out loud to your children from a well loved classic. When you finish the book have the kids make up dress up and act out part of the story.

Play a game - break out those dusty board games and have some game time each day. Your children will thank you :0)

Exercise - put on some fun music and get moving as a family. This is great to do early in the day so that the little ones will have a nice sound nap in the afternoon.

Practice hospitality - have friends over for the day. Have lunch together and enjoy a visit. Have friends over for dinner on the weekends. Host a tea party for your children and their friends. Have an ice cream social. Have a BBQ. Invite out of town friends or relatives to visit with you for a few days this summer.

Swim - if you are blessed with a backyard swimming pool take the time to use it. Better yet, host a pool party.

Plan for school - if you are a homeschooling mom, now is the time to order your items for the next school year and make a daily school schedule. Plan your activities and field trips. Do your on-line research. Ask your kids what they would like to study next year. If your kids go to a traditional school, start planning what supplies and clothing you will need to get them for the next school year.

Write a letter or make a phone call - get in touch with friends and family members that you haven't spoken to in a while. Encourage your children to do the same.

Charity work - see if there is any way you can serve your church or your community from home. Make baby blankets or baby hats for a local woman's shelter or Right To Life organization. Pack up canned goods or other items for a local food bank or other charity. Make hand made blankets or quilts for a local homeless shelter.

Do some crafting - if you have a craft that you enjoy spend time working on it. If you make a lot of hand made items, consider starting an Etsy store.

Watch a movie - It's pretty hard to find a good, quality movie any more but there are still some out there! Instead of going to the movie theater, make a nice cozy pile of blankets on the floor in your living room, pop some popcorn and watch a movie as a family. Not only will this save you a lot of money at the theater, it is much more realizing for younger children to enjoy a movie at home where they can doze off if they get sleepy.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. There is so much to be done at home. When you do go out for grocery shopping, errands or just for some away from home fun, make good use of your time so that you can be at home the majority of the time. Spending too much time away from home can cause exhausted kids, frustrated mothers, undone chores and too much money spent. Remember that God calls mothers to be keepers at home and we should take pride and joy in our calling. Let's honor God in all we do this summer!

Enjoying The Day

Yesterday was so productive that today is going to be nice and relaxing. We just finished up breakfast a little while ago and the dishes are either washed or soaking (for the ones that decided to be stubborn, LOL). I have ground beef thawing for Shepherd's Pie for dinner and lunch will be leftovers from last night's dinner.

The yogurt in the crock pot turned out wonderful! We had it for breakfast this morning. I was so thankful to find a recipe that worked the first time with no tweaking. I have that recipe posted on my crock pot blog now in case anyone else is interested. Thanks again Candy (and DeNiece) for the video blog posts last week that inspired me to give it a try!

I had a phone call to make this morning and a few things I wanted to look up on-line in preparation for next years homeschool plans. As I do that, the girls are reading and listening to a favorite CD. My two year old is happily sitting with her big sister listening to stories read to her.

All the girls are signed up for our library's summer reading program. They have to either read or listen to 24 books over the summer and they win prizes for doing so. My 7 year old finished her books in the first 3 days! She did a combination of reading to herself and to her sisters to earn credit for prizes. She is still reading daily, all of them start their day with a book or their Bible or both. It is such a blessing to have children that love to read. My husband and I both love books as well!

This afternoon we are going to work on some craft projects. I made a culotte skirt for 7 year old and a skirt for 4 year old and both need to be hemmed so they can wear them to church on Sunday. I will then cut out skirts for myself and my 9 year old and a jumper for baby girl. My 9 year old bought a craft kit to make a mobile for the girls room so she will work on that. 7 year old is going to cut out a dress for her doll. I'm sure my 5 year old will want to do the same so the two of them will work on the doll dresses. Baby girl will be napping at this time so she will be safely out of the way of all pins and needles and such that she so loves to touch when no one is looking :0)

I guess that is all I have to say for today. 7 year old just came in and asked if she could make "cheesecake grahams" for a snack so I need to give her a hand with the honey bottle which just happens to pour out way too fast! If you like cheesecake, you would love these snacks and your kids will love making them!

Cheesecake Grahams

Graham Crackers
Cream Cheese
Honey
Cinnamon

Spread graham crackers with cream cheese. Drizzle with honey them sprinkle with cinnamon. Great with a cup of tea!

Busy Day In The Kitchen!

This is one of those days that I wish my carera hadn't died on me because I sure would have lots of great photos to share :0)

I woke up super early this morning and decided to surprise my still sleeping girls with a breakfast pizza. What I did was make up some biscuit dough and rolled it out onto a cookie sheet. I then baked it for 5 minutes. I then topped it with scrambled eggs, grated cheese and crumbled turkey bacon. I then baked it for 5 more minutes and it was done. The girls loved this and it was filling enough for leftovers. When I make this again I will add some country gravy as a sort of sauce so it will be more moist. What I am planning to do this weekend is to make the dough and roll it out onto the pan and prepare the gravy on Saturday night, then store those in the fridge. Then I will scramble up the eggs and cook the bacon on Sunday morning for a very quick breakfast before we head off to church. I plan to make two so I can make one of them with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and spinach on top as well. My husband will love that but the girls would run and hide :0)

I spent all morning in the kitchen getting a lot of good things going for the rest of the week. Eating healthy is so good for us but it also keeps me in the kitchen a lot. It's a good thing I love being in the kitchen. :)

Tonight I am going to roast a chicken so this morning I took a nice roasting chicken, cleaned and rinsed it, sprinkled it inside and out with seasonings and lemon juice then tucked it nicely into a ziploc bag with some extra virgin olive oil to marinade before roasting. We'll have that tonight with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans. Yum!

I also have 4 loaves of homemade bread rising in the kitchen right now. It's a recipe I found on a package of Red Star yeast called Classic Country bread. My family loves it so I make it often. Here is that recipe.

Classic Country Bread

1 1/2 c. water
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1/3 c. molasses
2 1/4 tsp salt
2/3 c. oatmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill 5 Grain Cereal)
1 1/3 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/2 c. bread flour
2 tsp. quick rise or bread machine yeast

Put all ingredients in bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Set on "dough" cycle. When dough is ready, split into two equal pieces and form into loaves. Please each loaf into a greased bread pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise for 45 minutes. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks and allow to cool before slicing. Makes 2 loaves.

This morning I also started a batch of homemade buttermilk from a recipe I found while reading through Candy's blog. She actually did a video tutorial on this recipe and several other last week which is what prompted me to give it a try. We love buttermilk for biscuits, pancakes, coffee cake and lots of other good things so this is really going to be good to try.

Tonight I am going to make homemade yogurt. I make this often in my little Salton Yogurt Maker . Candy gave a tutorial on how to make yogurt in the crock pot so I will be using both methods tonight. If the crock pot version works well I will use it regularly because as much as I love my Salton, it doesn't make very much and my family adores yogurt.

Finally I am about to go make up some pie crust for quiche later in the week as well as empanada dough that I will use for both savory and sweet empanada snacks for the freezer.

Praying your day has been a blessed one!

Listening, Waiting and Living For Him

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

It's amazing how clearly God speaks when He talks to us in our daily lives.

For the past three weeks or so the girls and I have been just chugging along around here, keeping up with chores, taking care of my husband as he healed for an injured knee and returned to work, and trying to keep up with school... all at the same time. The days have been very busy and often tiring but of course we continue on because things have to get done. Through all of this, I kept hearing God's voice in the back of my mind, that I needed to take a break. I don't mean a break, as in physical rest, I mean a break as in a chance to mentally regroup. I kept ignoring God's voice, thinking that as soon as the end of May arrived we could shelf the school books for a while and take a little time off. God continued to speak to me. And finally I listened. After discussing this with my husband, I announced to the girls last week that we were done with school until August. Unfinished books and all, I put everything aside.

Since then I have been taking time each morning to pray. Sometimes I read from the Bible, other times I just focus on the Lord in thanksgiving and praise, in prayer and just in awe of His awesome power and love. I take my time and listen for His voice.

These past days we have spent "taking care of home". Getting rid of clutter, making plans as a family, spending time with friends and just decompressing.

I think it's so easy to get into the "flow of the world". Just because the world does things a certain way I often feel that I have to as well. School is from August to May. Wake up time is at 6 am. Lunch is at noon. Too often I fall into this and in the haste of it all I miss God's voice. He has so much for us and often we need to obey. Time has been scheduled on man's clock, not God's. Often He wants us to stop everything jut because it is His will.

In just the span of almost two weeks not only do the girls and I feel more refreshed but I am starting to have a new vision for the next school year. We, as a family, also have new visions for our future, as far as how God is leading us to work for His kingdom. All of these wonderful happening all because I chose to listen to God. To cut MY plans short and to just sit back and listen to Him. So we are now taking our time about things and are not putting ourselves on a strict schedule.

My husband and I are just praising Him right now and waiting on Him to see where he is leading. We are making plans but waiting on Him to lead us where He will.

Weight Loss Helps

As I said before, when we first decided as a family to start eating healthy, weight loss was not one of my main goals. Sure, it would be great if some of my old clothes would fit again, but most of all I wanted to FEEL healthy.

Now that we are a few months into our plan, I am starting to realize that weight loss might just be the key to our goal. I have lost 12 lbs. since we started and I am amazed at the difference in how I feel. I sleep better (which is a huge deal for me), have less allergy problems and I have a lot more energy. I used to always doze off in the afternoons during my kids play time, not I am up and around doing any and everything that needs to be done. Talk about being more productive!

About two weeks ago (at the 10 lbs. lost mark) I realized that I was still down 10 lbs. after a few weeks and was not losing any more. I made a couple changes which already has me down two more pounds.

First of all, I (once again) added Extra Virgin Coconut Oil to my daily eating plan. I used to eat this every day but once I ran out, I honestly just forgot about buying it again. I didn't realize how much better it makes me feel when I take this until I stopped.

I use the coconut oil like butter on toast or pancakes at breakfast or mix it into a smoothie or stir it into hot tea. It gives me this amazingly satisfied and full feeling and I have no hunger again until lunch. I try to take about 2 Tbsp. a day but the optimum amount is supposed to be 3 Tbsp. (from what I read). I give this to my 9 year old too which really helps with the tummy problems she experiences. It tastes great! You can also use it in place of butter or oil in cooking or baking and it is shelf stable for months so no need to worry about refrigeration. If you haven't tried this I would highly suggest reading more about it and giving it a try.

The second thing I have done is to add exercise back into my weekly schedule. Right now, as I get my muscles back into shape, I am exercising 3 times a week, but I plan to make it a daily habit once my legs stop aching so much. I use a Gazelle Glider or go walking with the girls.

Finally, I have kept a very sharp eye on my portion size and drink lots of water. Eating less really does make a difference for me and more water seems to stave off my hunger longer as well. My goal is to lose another 28 lbs. I've put a ticker up in the left sidebar here to keep accountable to that goal.

Great Website For Once A Month Cooking

Since we started our healthy eating plan, I really have been in the kitchen more often doing prep work, mostly for salads, home baked breads and healthier condiments. I have been trying a sort of "cook once, eat twice" kind of style of cooking as to always have meals on hand in the freezer. Life is always so much easier when dinner is in the freezer! :0)

I wish I could do a once a month cooking kind of day but we just don't have the freezer space. If you want to get your freezer stocked up, here is an AWESOME website that I found that has lots of ideas. They are not all the most healthy, but you can glean a lot just in the way of ideas on how to cook a lot of food at once to save yourself time in the long run. Then just adapt them to what you and your family eat. Here's the site - The Erratic Homemaker.

Our Healthy Eating Plan

I got a couple of comments last week (which I have not replied to as of yet - sorry!) :0) about our new healthy eating plan, asking what we are specifically doing to eat more healthy. I have been planning to blog about this for some time now but it has been put off until today. Finally, a few spare moments to share with you what we are doing.

I'll start by saying that this has nothing to do with wanting to lose weight, although that is a nice side effect of how we have started to eat! This plan all stems from my desire for better overall health (I suffer a lot from sinus/allergy problems not to mention trouble sleeping and a few other things). It is also due to some problems my husband has, namely acid reflux. Lastly we aspire to eat better due to some food allergies we found out that our oldest daughter has which led to symptoms of colitis. We knew that based on all of this, that it was time to make some changes.

We never did eat BADLY, really. Just your average American diet. Maybe even better because I do like to get those veggies in there and I have always been health conscious as far as picking and choosing certain kinds of foods and ingredients that I feel are best for us and trying to buy organic whenever possible. But we have found that was not enough and we had to be extremely picky on what we eat for the sake of the health of our family.

To begin, the main plan we are using right now is The Sonoma Diet and The Sonoma Diet Cookbook. This plan works really well to help you get rid of sugar cravings and also helps you to lose weight if you want to. You don't have to exercise but of course it does help if you are after weight loss. After reading those two books I also read through The Maker's Diet and Eat Fat, Lose Fat as well as Nourishing Traditions. I've also been scouring the web for info and have read a lot about coconut products which we have added to our diet. You can read more on this here.

Basically, I have combined what I feel to be the best advice of the above three books with the Sonoma Diet stuff to fit within a few guidelines (our budget, what we like to eat and to address and specific health concerns we have). The basic idea is to balance your meals.

Breakfast consists of half protein and half whole grains (if we eat hot or cold cereal) or 25% whole grains and 75% protein if we eat say, eggs or meat. Lunch and dinner are broken down into 25% increments (25% veggies, 25% fruit, 25% whole grains and 25% protein or dairy. Sugar is not included at all the first 10 days of the diet, not even fruit and after that it is severely limited and has to be something like honey or Sucanat or molasses. Refined products like white sugar, white rice and white flour are not allowed not are pre-packaged, convenience type foods. Thanks goodness I like to cook because I spend A LOT of time cooking now, even more than before which was already a lot! :0) I may just have to go back to food blogging again, LOL! We've tried to go 100% organic as well. I'll share some recipes soon, I have been coming up with new ones like crazy to keep some variety in our diet.

So far it's all going really well. Around day 8 of the first phase (which is 10 days total) my husband had only had a problem with reflux maybe once. I'd lost about 12 lbs. (without exercise!) and I am now sleeping better with less allergy problems. I'm also not snacking late at night like I used to because honestly I am not hungry. This is great because I am really bad about late night snacking! My husband has lost a lot, his clothes are loose but he's not tracking his weight so we're not sure of how much he's lost.

I also picked up a couple books and DVD's by Jordan Rubin (Perfect Weight America book plus accompanying DVDs and The Vitamin Code) that Sprouts had for FREE if you buy one of his Garden Of Life products. We needed coconut oil anyhow and I always buy the Garden of Life brand anyhow so this was an awesome deal. If they still have those to offer, go pick them up they have some great info. (just try to look past how much he is trying to get you to buy all of his products on the DVDs and you will see he's got some good info there no matter what brand of products you purchase). :0)

Finally, we are incorporating into this plan my oldest daughter's food allergies. She is on a 90 day plan which avoids foods that she reacted to in a food allergy blood test. There are some pretty common foods she has reacted to so it has been a challenge to incorporate her plan into the diet as well. She can't have potatoes (white, sweet, yams, etc), peppers, citrus, eggs, cows milk or tomatoes... some of our favorite foods! Once the 90 days are up we are going to try to wean her back onto those foods again.

So, that is the long and short of it for now. I will try to post some updates soon.