Sunday, May 31, 2015

Weekend Randomness


Friday: Levi and team played two baseball games, won one and lost the second. Their season is over but they came in third in our area. Levi is catcher in this picture.

He made the paper!

Sunday I helped the kids with a fundraiser car wash to earn money for their trip to Boston. 
Judith and her green tea something drink. 

Saturday, May 30, 2015

My Story

This picture, taken on Thanksgiving Day 2014, was the breaking point for me.  When I saw this picture I knew that I had to do something to get this weight off, for good. I had tried exercising for seven months with little to no results.
On December 28, 2014 I ordered "the" book. Yes, I am talking about Trim Healthy Mama. I had read about THM here and there and just knew it was not for me, but I was wrong. I ordered my book and tracked it daily until it arrived on my doorstep. In the mean time I started reading all I could online and on Pinterest I created a secret THM board and pinned like crazy. When the book arrived, I read it quickly and was thankful for cold winter days to read. I think my book arrived on a Friday so I had the weekend to read as fast as I could. 

On January 5, 2015 I began my journey. I weighed and wrote my weight down, wrote it down people. I owned my weight. I also did some sort of weight calculator and faced the fact that I needed to lose about seventy-five pounds. Ouch! 

I started small and my goal was to have on-plan breakfasts that first week while I read more of the book and read parts for a second time. I even had spaghetti and pizza that week, yet I still lost weight.
I had an instant support group as two other friends were starting at the same time and a third joined a couple of weeks later. (We get together every month or so to chat, ask questions and try new recipes) I dropped six pounds in the first three weeks. Then I hit a wall and stayed the same and even had a couple of pounds come back but after those few up and down weeks I hit my stride with figuring out meal types, learning to love Good Girl Moonshine, finding a couple of on plan desserts and enjoying food without guilt.

Five months have now past and I am still enjoying this way of life. I do not feel as though I am missing out of anything because I can eat so many great things. Life pretty much has us eating all THM meals for dinner with off plan side offerings for the family members that choose to partake of such things. 

Judith has joined me and she has lost weight and makes excellent choices the majority of the time without feeling like she is restricted. When the time comes for pizza and other such foods when she is somewhere with friends she can eat the food available and then get back on plan next meal. She chooses this, she saw what was happening with me and she read the book and started making recipes from the book. She has introduced me to many great desserts and is quite the thm kitchen whiz. 
 Elisabeth is now interested and she jumps in when she can with our meals, so I would say she is at fifty percent on plan. Breakfast is her favorite on plan meal of the day.
What I love about THM is that it is not extreme, it seems like it at first, but once you are on plan it really does seem to come easier than the first month. My girls can do this and they are not wrecking their metabolism, starving themselves or setting bad habits. They are learning to live a healthy lifestyle and still enjoy food. That makes a Momma happy.

Here I am five months into my THM journey. I am about half way to the finish line for weight loss but I have also learned skills to maintain this weight loss when the goal has been met.


Friday, May 29, 2015

It's Friday

Friday was sunny

The garden is 99% in.

We are diying our version if high tunnel gardening. It is a work in progress.

Onion sets are growing

I have not done a Friday picture in a while. Here I am, thirty-nine pounds lost.

Levi's team played two games of baseball tonight and their season ended tonight as well. 

Monday, May 25, 2015

Why I Do Not Do Busy Crafts With My Children

Children, they are truly a blessing. They are full of energy and curious. I do not provide kid crafts for my crew, nor did I when the older ones were little ones (which was yesterday). I do not believe children enjoy being drug through useless crafts that serve no purpose other than to keep little ones busy.
What did I do? I provided raw materials like homemade play dough, paper, paint, markers, colored pencils, stickers, stalkers, cardboard boxes, etc. They had items to keep them busy but I did not do much telling them what to do. I allowed them to get bored. I also worked on crafts in front of them and when interested I showed them how to do what I was doing. I taught them crafts that had a purpose.
I am pretty sure it has worked out well. I have a wood worker in the making. My girls can knit and know basic crochet and have dabbled in pottery and jewlery making. As I speak one is looking online for items to make and sell because she wants to earn some money. Crafts for money making have a purpose.

My Oldest

Almost seventeen years have flown by, sigh.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Life on Thursday


'Tis a rare occasion that I take off on a school day and have a pedi/lunch outing with a friend, but that is just what happened today. We went for a falafel pita for lunch. Yummy but off plan, and that is okay, because I can start again in three hours and falafel pita beats burgers and fries any day of the summer. Falafel really isn't that unhealthy just 
not something I would eat weekly. Although, it is that yummy. 


On another note: I have never liked spicy food, NEVER. Since eating the THM way I can now tolerate a little spice. I ordered my falafel spicy today. 


Fun

It is always a good day when a box like this arrives!

Friday, May 15, 2015

Friday Update






I put together a quick collage of the progress so far. Some of the pictures are no makeup, no hair fixed days, sorry about that, I did not mean to frighten anyone. I guess I was skeptical as to whether or not this would work because I guess I never thought these pictures would need to be seen and shared.
 I need to get a picture this week, maybe that will happen this weekend. I have reached the half way point of the journey and all I can say is wow! THM has been such a blessing to me. I love eating this way and I love my new view and attitude toward food. I also seem to be at the point where others can see that the weight has come off. I can navigate a potluck, party, restaurant menu and what not now pretty well. On occasion I will have to eat off plan but really those times have been rare and for that I am thankful. I have energy now and that is amazing.

Friday Rambles

Today is Friday, here I go...
  • We had an extra little guy at our house this week, I called the boys the "twins".
  •  I like having two littles around at the same time, they keep each other busy.
  • They go almost non stop all day long and they are loving being outside
  •  I am exhausted on this Friday evening and it is not because of the littles.
  • The week has been a good kind of busy.
  • I bought the next size smaller of pants, well, capris. 
  • I can finally wear something beside jeans.
  • I bought a cute knit skirt as well.
  • I am half way to my goal. Half way!!!
  • I did not get anyone to take my picture today because I slept in and the rest of the day was busy.
  • As soon as these kiddos go to bed I am going to my bed.
  • My big kiddos are at a friend's house for a bonfire.
  • My house is quiet.
  • The littles have been to two playgrounds, played outside at home, had s'mores and are now watching a movie.
  • I did not have s'mores. I do not like them.
  • Pre-THM I would already be laying on the couch by now. 
  • The little are camping in the fort that Levi built for them under the kitchen table. It may be an interesting evening. 
  • We shall see if they last in there all night.
  • This is all, happy Friday!! Alaskan daylight is longer each day and I am enjoying soaking up as much vitamin D as I possibly can.

Lockdown

Over the last few weeks there have been many local schools on lockdown. The article I am linking to is the school closest to our house and is the school in which Levi plays baseball.