All in a Pair of Shoes

**Knee and Hamstring Update**

Well I have still been having a lot of problems with my legs.  It started with my right hamstring. Now My quads and especially my knees have really been bothering me.  Even when I'm not exercising.  I decided to take some more time off.  And now I'm just exercising four days a week. We got a gym membership.  I have been doing the bike.  That has felt so good on my knees. I have started out just doing it for 20 min on the lowest level possible.  I have also been icing my knees every day.  A friend of mine suggested building up my leg muscles so they would be stronger and less likely to get injured.  And she also said I really need a pair of good shoes.  So... today I went to Fleet Feet and got a pair of shoes.  They are very comfortable.   I also learned a lot about feet while I was there.  They watch you walk and run.  And also

 measure and size you for shoes.  So far I would definitely recommend going there to get a pair of shoes.  I'll let you know for sure once I try them out. 

New Food Ideas

I made two things recently that I enjoyed.  They add in carbs for dinner, but they are healthy choices. 

Cheesy Quinoa

Cook quinoa according to package instructions.  Then in separate pan saute:  green and red bell peppers, onion, basil, and mushrooms in fat free cooking spray.  Add quinoa and fat free mozzarella cheese to pan.  You can add other vegetables.  I served it with tilapia cooked in the skillet and okra.  (I'm not actually sure where this brand of quinoa came from because it was given to me, but I'm sure any is fine)

  

  

Basil Chicken Pasta

Whole wheat penne pasta. I sautéed bell pepper, diced tomatoes, basil (next time I will add the basil later for more flavor). Then I added the pasta, and already baked chicken breasts (baked in oven 170 while at church with basil and garlic powder), fat free mozzarella, and 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil. 

Addiction

SUGAR... You know the thing you love and hate at the same time.  Sunday was my husband's birthday and let's just say the sugar won that fight. We had a date night Friday night to Cheesecake Factory.  I had planned all week to have a piece of cheesecake Friday night. I ate the entire thing myself. That started the downward spiral. Saturday I was home alone baking this birthday cake. 

Big mistake.  When you are hungry, you already have sugar in your system, and you are by yourself, I don't recommend this at all.  Man was I a weakling.  I ended up eating a servings worth of cake batter. Then on Sunday of Course I had to have a piece of the actual cake.  

So I am now on day 3 of the sugar detox. It sounds like a joke, but seriously.  I have not had this bad of cravings since the beginning.  Once I got over the hump of not having it, it wasn't nearly as bad. Your body craves sugar more when it's in your system.  My sister helped me realize a good goal which also led to a new life reality.  She suggested waiting until my birthday to have desert again.  That will be two weeks of no sweets.  Once I had the goal in mind it made it much easier. Well, easier, we can leave out the much. 

Life Reality:  Sweets are okay, and fun to have.  But having it does effect the cravings for more. So I plan to look ahead at my calendar and pick the next "sugar date."  When it comes, I will enjoy it.  But it will be planned and an end will be in sight.  That way all the other times when it's in front of my face it will simply be, "no it's not scheduled".  Otherwise there are always sweets around and I will be eating more sweets than anything else.   Sounds a little cooky, but this I think this regimen will help me. 

Emotional Roller Coaster

Why is it that changing my food habits and exercising is such an emotional roller coaster for me.  My husband doesn't understand that part at all.  Food and emotions do not belong anywhere near the same sentence as far as he's concerned. 

But for me, it totally is.  I started out so pumped and motivated.  The majority of the time I have continued to feel that way.  The last two weeks have been very challenging for me.  I've hurt my leg, which has slowed me down with the exercising.  But yet my appetite has increased majorly. Along with my desire to eat foods that have not even been that much of a temptation for me up until this point. Every single day- several times a day- I have had to remind myself of my goal and pray for perseverance.  I have stood at the pantry door praying that I will choose wise things to eat so I can finish up the goals that I have set for myself.  Last night Jonathan walks in the kitchen to find me standing in front of the pantry with my eyes closed.  He laughed and said, "What are you doing?"  I said praying.  I actually do that a lot lately, right here. 

It's not that I think that choosing to have a "cheat" would be horrible or the end of the world.  It's just the talk that's going on in my head of - this is too hard, I can't do this forever, I may as well just quit.   All lies I know.  I just have had to talk back and forth to myself. The whole reason I'm doing this is to choose a healthier lifestyle and take care of my body.  Weight loss is not the ultimate goal.  I guess my flesh has just gotten caught up in that. 

Needless to say the last few weeks have left me to feel emotional, and a little nutty.  My prayer is that I will continue to try and bring glory to God through the way I take care of my body.  I had to break a lot of bad habits.  I guess now that my body has gotten in the groove my mind is having to catch up. 

Bum Leg

Well a week later, and there's no improvement.  If anything it's gotten worse.  I took a couple of days off.  I also went swimming in my parents pool a couple of times.  The swimming felt great. Getting back in the water for laps made me realize how much I used to enjoy it.  If it weren't for the 15 minute drive, I would do that every morning.  Although it didn't seem to help my leg heal extremely quickly, which is what I was hoping for.   So this morning I started back out in our neighborhood.  I just walked for 45 min. and did 5 - 1 min. runs throughout to keep my heart rate up a little.  I ended with some crunches and push ups. It's really hard not to get discouraged when I'm not able to run as much as I was.  But, I'm really trying to keep my perspective.  The whole reason I started this was to take care of my body in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.  

So, here's my pep talk to myself:  I have lost 27 lbs in 2 months. I am down three sizes and in pants I haven't been in since High School.  I feel great (other than an occasional limp due to a bum hamstring).   I am in the habit of eating healthy and feeding my family healthier foods. And all of these changes have helped me grow so much in my relationship with the Lord.  It has helped me to rely on him when it's not easy.  It has also helped me to turn to him with the cravings.  I can truly say that a lot of really bad habits have changed.  So even if I'm not exercising the way I want to be, or the way I thought I would be, I am still accomplishing my goal.  God has been faithful to pull me through these new changes. 

In anticipation of the winter, to hopefully find an exercise that doesn't hurt, and also to change things up a bit, we are thinking about getting a gym membership.  There's one just a minute away and I would be able to do a lot more strength training.  We're praying about it.  So who knows, maybe there will be a little bit more variety coming my way. 

Exercise

So I've talked before about how I've been walking and building up to running.  I have been trying really hard to go slowly and gradually build up.  I walk for a good 5-10 min.  Then I stop and stretch.  Then I had gotten to where I was running 17 min then back and forth running/ walking until my 45 min. was up.  Well this past week my right hamstring has started hurting.  It's gradually gotten worse to where now it hurts even just walking regularly.  This is exactly what I was trying to avoid.  I want to be able to exercise for the rest of my life.  I wasn't just doing it to lose weight.  So I have decided to slow things way back down and add in some muscle strength training.  I'm going to walk in the mornings for 45 min. - no running- (at least for a few days).  And I am going to do some leg lifts, weights, crunches and various things at night.  Several people have told me how important it is to alternate cardio and muscle training, so I'm going to give it a try.  Hopefully my leg will heal and I can get back in to some running.  I was finally starting to enjoy it. =( 

Too Much Salt

Have you ever noticed nights after you eat mexican, chinese, or anything else high in sodium the way it makes you feel?  Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night feeling hot, like my skin is tight, and I'm really thirsty.  Well since I've been changing the way I eat, I haven't felt like this at all.  I have completely taken added salt out of my diet.  I also watch the content of sodium in the things that I use that are already prepared for me.  

Well... yesterday was a half-cheat day.  My in-laws were here for the day and I knew we would be eating lunch and dinner out.  I have only had a few cheat days since I started and it had been several weeks.  So I decided yesterday I would have a few exceptions.  We ate lunch at Baja Burrito and dinner at Olive Garden.  These are two of my favorite restaurants.  At Baja for lunch I got a wheat burrito with chicken, beans, rice, lettuce, pico, salsa, cucumbers.  I didn't get the cheese or sour cream, but I knew that it would have a lot of salt and butter in the rice, chicken, and beans.  Hoping to counterbalance the sodium, I had several glasses of water with my meal.  At Olive Garden for dinner I got the Venetian Apricot Chicken.  I had looked it up online beforehand and new it was a sensible choice.  It had grilled chicken (I asked for the apricot sauce on the side) broccoli, and asparagus.  But once again I knew the food was all prepared with salt and butter (the customary way of food preparation in our culture). So once again I had several glasses of water to drink with the meal.  Well all this to say I woke up in the middle of the night feeling awful.  I was burning up.  My hands and feet were swollen.  I felt so thirty.  It took me a while to go back to sleep.  This morning wasn't much better.  It also made the morning run much harder.  I'm thinking goodness is salt really that bad.  It makes me feel miserable.  It definitely was not worth it.  I don't say all this to make people feel guilty about eating out or even eating salt.  More just to be conscious of what salt does to your body and the amount of it you take in.  It's very obvious that with my body it makes me retain large amounts of water which makes me very uncomfortable.  That also makes me wonder what it's doing to my body that is harmful. 

Meal Ideas

I had a friend ask me for some meal ideas.  I though I would share them here also.  One thing about eating the way I have been is there's not as much variety.  So I am always looking for new ideas.  Here's what I have so far.  I learned a lot of this from my sister.  

Basic Tips:

My main carbs are oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and brown rice.  I occasionally do whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread or cheerios.  The minimal carbs is for weight loss.  I will add in more carbs once I reach my goal weight. Foods I avoid on a regular basis due to high fat or carbs: avocado, olives, corn, salmon, red meat, sugar. 

We try to eat as much from the garden as possible. When I say fresh vegetables here are some of the options I do:

sauteed  (with fat free cooking spray only) zucchini, squash, and onion

sauteed or boiled green beans with fresh garlic

fresh- tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, carrots, spinach

sauteed okra

Other vegetables, steamed broccoli, brussel sprouts, sugar snap peas

Breakfast:

* English Muffin sandwhich.  English muffin (whole wheat if possible), 3 egg whites (cooked kind of like an omlet), turkey bacon. 

* Oatmeal (unsweetened) egg white omlet (options: spinach, mushrooms, salsa, fat free cheese, peppers, onions)

*Plain cheerios with skim milk and fruit or turkey bacon or 2 boiled egg whites

pretty much every morning I do eggs. It adds good protein first thing in the morning

Lunch:

*Sweet Potato with fresh vegetables (raw when possible)

*salad with black beans, boiled egg whites, and fresh vegetables

*Tuna (with mustard and sometimes onion), sometimes with one slice of bread, fresh vegetables

*Pasta salad made with fat free cheese and dressing with fresh veggies added.  

*Brown Rice with Pinto Beans and fresh vegetables 

If i'm going to have additional carbs, I try to eat it here and avoid it for dinner. Same goes for fruits.

Dinner:

*Salad (always dark green lettuce, no iceberg with spinach) with Grilled Chicken Breasts (pat breasts with fresh basil and pepper) with fat free dressing

*Grilled/ sauteed tilapia (or any other white fish that's low in fat and high in protein) cooked with garlic powder and fresh lemon squeeze

*When I fix spaghetti for the family, I do a small amount of spaghetti sauce with a large portion of lean ground turkey and green beans and spinach. 

*Turkey Burgers without the bun (lean ground turkey, chopped onion, garlic powder), with fresh tomatoes and onion, and salad

*Lean Pork tenderloin with salad or fresh vegetables

*Salad with grilled chicken, strawberries, fat free cheese, and vinaigrette dressing

*Shepherds Pie: cooked Ground turkey, mixed vegetables, Mashed cauliflower (boil, drain, mash, add pepper, garlic powder, and fat free cheese), topped with fat free cheddar cheese. 

*stir Fry- Sauteed sugar snap peas, green onion whites and greens, carrots, edamame, bell pepper, and fresh garlic and herbs, chicken. (cook chicken in pan, set aside, saute vegetables, add chicken back)

Snacks:

*1/2 scoop of EAS chocolate soy protein shake made with skim milk.   First thing in the morning before exercise

*fat free cottage cheese with fresh tomato

*fruit 

*celery and homemade salsa

*fat free yogurt and fruit

*raw broccoli, cauliflower

Weight Loss:  I am down 21 lbs and two sizes.  This has been great so far.  Please pray for continued perseverance and motivation.  I am up to running 17 minutes, with 5  1/2 min. intervals. 

The Busy-ness of Life

Well, the past couple of weeks have been the busiest things have been in a while.  I am in the middle of studying for a a test to validate my teaching license.  VBS is going on at church.  Along with all the other responsibilities of being a stay at home mom.  This has been a good test for my new lifestyle of eating healthy.  In the past, I would eat the quickest food I could grab when I was on the go.  Now, because I am being very conscious of what I'm eating, and I don't want to mess it up just because I'm in a hurry, I am learning to plan ahead.  It's actually helped me to get organized and even get places on time occasionally (only occasionally =) )  I have started thinking through every night what I will eat the next day. Snacks and meals.  This has been very beneficial for my eating plan.  But it's also helped my stress level.  I think through the next day what we will do, get everything set out, and prepare whatever needs to be prepared.  When I wake up in the morning I am ready to go.  It makes the morning and breakfast go so much smoother.  It also makes eating healthy much easier.  I find that when I'm very hungry, something healthy doesn't always sound the best.  But when it's already prepared I don't mind eating it.  Ultimately food is fuel, and I just need something to eat.  It doesn't have to be the best tasting thing in the world.  Which is actually what I've been avoiding for a while.

Running update:

I'm still walking 6 mornings a week.  I have been building up to running.  This week I have been doing 15 min. total running.  I do 5 different running times (3, 3, 2, 3, 4).  I am learning to really enjoy it.  The time goes by very quickly and it has become a refreshing quiet time with the Lord in the morning.  And it feels good to do something for myself that I enjoy that doesn't really have anything to do with being a mommy or a wife.  I think it actually makes me enjoy those things more.  

Being Away From Home

So far... I have found that staying at home is the easiest way to stay on track.  When I am hungry, I can be sure that each meal or snack is nutritious and I know exactly what's in it.  I remember to eat and get my minimum of 5 times of eating in a day.  When I'm away I forget to eat sometimes because we get busy.  At home it's a controlled environment.  But I realize I can't be a hermit and stay at home all the time.  There are people we enjoy spending time with and things we have to do.  So I'm getting better about having snacks with me.  I do it for the kids, so it's really not that much more to do.  The other thing is to keep water with me.  If I don't then half the day goes by and I haven't had my water.  

This weekend we went to my husbands parents.  My mother-in-law had meals planned for the whole time.  I just brought the few things I needed to stay on track with my eating plan.  It was so nice to have the weekend off.  I didn't have to figure out what to fix for the rest of the crew.  I am doing my best to bring my family along with me on this journey.  But, there are some things I'm doing to get the weight off quickly that isn't really reasonable for a grown man and two little ones.  Like eating spinach for a snack or No carbs after late afternoon.  By the next morning I feel a little cranky and ready to eat, so I'm not interested in making them do that too! And the rest of the house doesn't want any part in this no salt and butter business.  I can handle that, I never really added a ton to begin with and they all eat the fresh veggies.  

This weekend marked the end of week 4 and I'm just about done with Month 1. Still pushing forward and learning new meal ideas with all the fresh vegetables and low -fat meats. For a little while longer, no carbs for dinner.  I try my best to make a dinner we can all eat and then I just don't have the carbs.  I'll let you know how that goes.  It's been challenging so far.  3 days down.  At least 4 more to go, maybe 11 more. 

New Snack

Snacks

This has been a challenge for me.  Now that I've been going at this for four weeks.  I'm ready to switch things up a bit.  One thing I love about cooking is that you can always do something different.  That hasn't necessarily felt like the case with all of this.  But I'm learning.  I would love to hear recipe ideas for meals and snacks from other people. 

A friend of mine told me about a new snack.  I am thrilled with it.   It is so yummy.  Celery with salsa.  Now, you have to like celery.  And the salsa is homemade.  The salsa is 3 cups Fresh tomatoes, 1 garlic clove, 1/4 med onion, 3 T fresh, chopped cilantro.  I pulse it a couple of times in the blender.  I keep all of these things on hand because our family loves salsa.  And I have a ton of tomatoes from the garden.  But I've been torn, because I am not eating chips.  Well my friend told me about the celery and salsa.  Great snack.  Feels like a treat.  

Monday Morning Exercise

So I have realized something.  It is always hardest for me to exercise on Mondays.  I exercise Monday-Saturday, and take Sunday's off.  Getting back into it Monday morning is really difficult. 

 I get to sleep in on Sunday mornings and it is a wonderful day of rest.  

As I'm walking Monday morning, I find it hard to get motivated to push myself harder.  A lot of self- talk goes on.  "Come on, where's my energy?"  "You had a whole day off, surely you can do this."  But I've realized something.  My new goal:  Monday mornings, I am out there.  I push myself to go the full time.  Even if I don't go as hard as most days.  Even if I don't run any.  I am there.  And I find that Tuesdays always seem easier. The hardest thing about adding exercise back in my life has been consistency.  I think that in itself is a great goal.  So, today I went.  I will probably do something else later in the day when my energy comes back. (Random squats or leg lifts, recommended by my brother-in-law, which my husband and mother think is hilarious) 

So... even on a dreary Monday morning, I choose to get up and get moving. Woo Hoo!

Take Out anyone?

Since i've been doing this, I have been amazed at the foods /lack of foods restaraunts offer. I have realized that most restaurants to do not even offer more than 1 or 2 plain vegetables. By plain I mean not creamed, fried, or mixed with something high in calories. Not even counting the butter and salt they add.  A lot of places do not even offer salads with any kind of lettuce except iceburg.  (which has very little nutritional value)  Most places, their overall menu consists of meats that are high in fat, entrees with very large portions, and a lack of healthy options.  It's amazing to me what we as Americans have told the restaurants what we want and WILL buy.  We have backed ourselves in to a corner where a lot of restaurants do not even offer healthy choices.  And things they say are "healthy" aren't even reasonable in calories and fat content.  For instance a fried chicken salad, offered at many restaurants ranges anywhere from 600-1100 calories.  (That's without the dressing)

The source that I have used to find a lot of information is  www.thedailyplate.com   I have decided the smartest way to eat out (when I have to, because it's not even enjoyable these days) is to research ahead of time and find something that is reasonable to eat and that I can live with, knowing how many calories it has. I think that restaurants should be required to list the calories and fat content in each menu item.  You know why they won't ever do this?Because we wouldn't buy it if we knew how bad it really was.  And they purposely put it in there to make it taste better and make us come back. 

Here are some of my recent findings of two of our families favorite restaurants. 

Steak 'N Shake

Food Item	Servings	Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein
Steak And Shake Original Double Cheeseburger With Everything	1.00	540	32g	90mg	947mg	33g	7g	1g	27g	x
Steak And Shake Chili (cup)	1.00	389	26g	64mg	1,120mg	17g	1g	7g	21g	x
Steak And Shake Regular Fries	1.00	472	23g	0mg	701mg	66g	0g	5g	4g	x
Steak And Shake Chocolate Shake	1.00	734	22g	74mg	388mg	120g	105g	3g	19g	x

Click totals for charts!	Totals:	2,135	103g	228mg	3,156mg	236g	113g	16g	71g
% of your daily value		106.75%	157.69%	76%	131.5%	78.67%	n/a	n/a	142%
		Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein

Can you believe that?  2100 Calories for a burger, fries, chili, and a chocolate shake? Now I know that's a lot of food, and I can see a man eating all this food way before I would.  But still the shake alone is 700 calories.

Here's another one.  The Cheesecake Factory.  We love it.  Well at least I did. Now I am kind of afraid of it. 

Food Item	Servings	Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein
Cheesecake Factory Avocado Eggrolls	1.00	958	8g	0mg	1,131mg	104g	0g	0g	0g	x
Cheesecake Factory Shrimp With Angel Hair	1.00	845	2g	0mg	1,586mg	106g	0g	0g	0g	x
Cheesecake Factory Adam's Peanutbutter Cup Fudge Ripple Cheesecake	1.00	930	59g	195mg	490mg	93g	0g	0g	0g	x

Click totals for charts!	Totals:	2,883	69g	195mg	3,221mg	303g	0g	0g	0g
% of your daily value		144.15%	106.31%	65%	134.21%	101%	n/a	n/a	0%
		Cals	Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Carbs	Sugars	Fiber	Protein

This is a common meal I would order (keep in mind I would share the appetizer with my husband and probably have leftovers, but to even consume all these calories in two sittings is pretty bad) This is a lot of food that we would go and eat on special occasions, but any one of these alone is mind boggling to me. 

I do have to brag on Bonefish Grill. They have several different meats to choose between, all sauces offered on the side, and a very nice House salad. We had a date night planned the other night. I looked into 3 different restaurants (just based on menu options, not even looking into calories) before I came to Bonefish. I was pleased with a few things to choose from on their menu and the eating out experience was great. Needless to say, I study long and hard before we eat out now. 

Detox

One thing that I noticed from the beginning is it was going to take some work to go through a detox process.  When your diet consists of a lot of sugar and complex carbs, it seems to mask your taste buds and cause you to crave more sugar. From the beginning, I slowly started taking out almost all sugar and as many bad carbs as possible.  I have only been drinking water. (a lot of cold water- about 100 oz a day)  No desserts (with a few exceptions).  No added salt. Main carbs being sweet potato, oatmeal, and long grain brown rice.  Breads are occasional and are whole wheat.  After the first few days of feeling hungry all the time and learning to like the green vegetables and other foods, I started to like them more and more.  By taking out the sugar, salt, and bad carbs, the other foods started to taste really good to me.  Now the other foods taste very rich and make my stomach hurt.  Between the exercise and food changes, I have had amazing amounts of energy. 

Inspiration

Well, here's my new blog.  I am inspired to share what has been going on in my life.  I have decided to take charge of recent weight gain and unhealthy eating habits.  This is the first time I am truly giving this part of my life to the Lord.  I started this journey on June 15 and am still going strong.  From day one I started adding exercise in.  I am walking and building up to running 6 days a week. There have been several things to encourage me.  I have been doing a class at church called Healthy Lifestyle.  We have talked about several different topics including, exercise, healthy food choices, what to eat, when to eat, posture, sabbath rest and fasting.  It inspired me to make some changes. One thing I learned that has been significant is to eat when I'm hungry.  Eating the right portion sizes and right foods means I eat at least 5 times a day. (Generally every 2-3 hours)  This keeps the metabolism going strong.  I also heard about a book on the radio.  "Never Say Diet" by Chantel Hobbs.  My sister and brother-in-law have recently made a drastic life style change also.  They have been very encouraging to me. 

After trying many times, what makes it different this time? I have realized that this body is a gift from the Lord and I want to use it to glorify Him.  I am realizing that food is simply fuel.  Not the opportunity for pleasure that it has become for me many times. In the past three weeks I have found myself looking around at other people eating things that are yummy to me.   I have tasted many yummy things all the time, for a long time.  So for now, it's time to deny myself of a little pleasure and rely on Christ to be my strength.  I am also developing new taste buds and a desire for healthy foods.