Wednesday Weight Loss and Wedding Plans!

I am so happy to share that our oldest daughter, Jessica, got engaged on Labor Day! She and Jon have known each other for nearly two years, and he shares an apartment with our two sons, and works where my husband and one son works, and attends our church - he joke that he was under 24 hour surveillance for a year before their courtship began!   They are planning a wedding for January 3!

I am super short on time (like the craziest, never at home week of my life), but I wanted to get this posted and do my Weight loss Wednesday this too, but it will all be short and sweet!

They got professional engagement photos done by my friend, Renee of Little Earthling Photography!  She did an amazing job!

Life has now kicked into high gear with wedding plans and trying on wedding dresses!

Christy has also had some health issues come up so we have had lots of Dr and specialist appointments - in short we are addressing her issues with sleep apnea and swallowing/aspiration problems.  I'll post an update next week as then we will have the results from the sleep study that is happening tonight!

Here's my quicky Weight Loss Wednesday up too:

Did I overeat this week on any given day?
Nope - been survival eating since I've been so busy.  Eating too little has been more of a problem!

Did I move more and exercise regularly?
Moved more but have had no time for doing my workout, sadly!

Do I feel lighter than I did at this time last week?
Nope, about the same.

Did I eat in secret or out of anger/frustration/happiness?
No - but I did have a few things that were "off plan" due to having to eat in unusual circumstances but they were mostly whole wheat type things, not sugar, so I do not feel guilty about it (well, there was that white pizza crust).


Did I feel that, at any time, I ran to food instead of to God?
No - too busy to do anything voluntarily!

Before I hopped on the scale, did I think I'd had a successful, God pleasing week?

Mostly - I just really felt that my eating was mostly not in my control.  I've been eating away from home more than at home and it's really tough.  I'm keeping next week's calendar as open as possible so I can get a handle on my eating (like more variety - peanuts are getting old!).

What were the measurable results?

I gained .7 pounds, but lost 1.5 inches, so I'm OK with this week.  

Gotta Run!  Nap, Packing and then off to drive 2 hours to Christy's Sleep Study Appointment!

And now

Thinner Thursday - Weight Loss Wednesday One Day Late!

It's one day late, but I'm still calling it Weight Loss Wednesday because it's my blog and I can if I want to, so there!

Did I overeat this week on any given day?
No.  Actually I struggled on some days with under-eating due to some very crazy/busy days and lots of time away from home.  I came close on Thursday night as I had a big salad and a few too many dark chocolate covered blueberries (I know, some may see this as a cheat, but it did no trigger any cravings and I was watching the SeaHawks and it was the best snack I could find at the grocery store - I did have Daryl hide the bag so I couldn't have anymore until the next SeaHawks game....so you will be hearing more about this "cheat". I only feel a smidgen of guilt on this).


Did I move more and exercise regularly?
I did better than last week, but there is definitely room for improvement.  I had my monthly and so a few days it was just not prudent for me to exercise, and the one day I did was pushing it for me.  But yesterday I finally got the whole Basic Workout done and felt great all the way through - yahoo!

Do I feel lighter than I did at this time last week?
I do, but wasn't sure that the scale would agree with me since last week I was still recovering from that stomach bug and was feeling awfully light!

Did I eat in secret or out of anger/frustration/happiness?
No.  Didn't really have time, but I did experience a lot of frustration this week due to time pressures, trying to get preschool/homeschool set up for the little girls and a crazy and busy week with doctor appointments and therapy and so forth.


Did I feel that, at any time, I ran to food instead of to God?
No.  I am doing better at having my quiet time (still room for improvement) and I think that really helps!


Before I hopped on the scale, did I think I'd had a successful, God pleasing week?

Yes.  The only questionable thing was those dark chocolate blueberries, but since I had a good outcome this week, and it did not trigger any sugar addictions and I did not eat them for the wrong reasons, I'm OK with having them only when I watch the SeaHawks games (but next time I'm only bringing a safe amount in a baggy and leaving the rest at home (we watch the games at our sons' apartments as a cheap date night!)

What were the measurable results?
The scale was friendly to me this week (you know, post-pre-monthly weight ins are always nice) and the scale showed that I lost about weight since last week.  I wasn't writing down the weight each week and I just can't get it right, but overall I have now lost exactly 50 pounds since my first T-Tapp DVD arrived in August of 2012, and since I started my new spiritual journey of eating right to honor God in my life I have lost a total of 9 pounds!  I am less than a pound from my lowest weight that I reached about a year ago.
So about measuring...I have kept very accurate records of measuring almost every time I was doing T-Tapp regularly.  Since I started measuring I have lost a total of over 95 inches now!  When I measure I measure my upper arms, pecs, chest, ribs, waist, abdomen, hips, upper thighs, lower thighs and calves.  I decided early on that the best way to measure was to pull that measuring as tight as I possibly could so that I couldn't cheat the system (by pulling tighter the next week) and then it would be more accurate.  

I measured for the first time (since last spring) just last week, and was so pleased with the progress this week, thanks to Aunti Flow effecting last week's measurements and being absent this week!  This is why I measure!  I "only" lost 2 pounds in the last week, but I lost 8 1/4 inches!!!!!  That was very rewarding, especially since I had gained 4 1/4 inches from my measurements last spring.  So even though I'm still a little over a pound heavier than I was a year ago, I am actually 5 inches smaller then I was then!  That means more muscle/less fat!  The scale is so not a picture of your actual health, but it easier to step on a scale than to take the time to measure yourself, but it's so worth it!!!!

And I do still plan to blog about my menus and meal plans and favorite recipes, but, again, this was just not the week!

Until next week - keep making good choices and turning to God instead of food to meet  your needs and if the scale is not reflecting your hard work, then it's time to start using that tape measure instead!

Weight Loss Wednesday

It's late, but I'm GOING TO POST THIS TODAY!

Did I overeat this week on any given day?
No, actually last Friday I got  bad stomach virus and could hardly eat anything until Monday.

Did I move more and exercise regularly?
Not really - was too sick to even try most days!  I did a workout on Thursday, and was able to do a few moves on Tuesday, but forgot today as I had to take Christy in for her swallow study (actually didn't happen due to a clerical error, so that's happening tomorrow morning instead!).

Do I feel lighter than I did at this time last week?
Most definitely - hollow described me most days this week, and most of today too, but a great dinner tonight gave me a very satisfied feeling (Alfredo Sauce + Chicken pieces + Dream Fields Angle Hair Pasta and lots of green beans with lots of butter!).

Did I eat in secret or out of anger/frustration/happiness?
Nope. but I had lots of reason for happiness this week, but I can't post about it yet.....I actually purchased veggies and fruit instead of chips and dip, and I just avoided the white buns and had a great meal!

Did I feel that, at any time, I ran to food instead of to God?

No.  I did better, but I also had more challenges and did much better at praying about the challenges I was facing


Before I hopped on the scale, did I think I'd had a successful, God pleasing week?

Mostly - I did have one thing this week that was not "on plan" - when I was so super sick and trying to find ways to eat that would not cause my stomach to hurt and yet be satisfying, I resorted to have a cheesy roll on a white tortilla shell.  But I am happy to report that I did not resort to saltines and ginger ale which is my normal "go to" for stomach illnesses.  I mostly had whole wheat toast with butter and/or cream cheese (I was too weak to actually fix any food for three days).

On Monday morning I had lost 6 pounds from being sick, but as I expected on Tuesday I had gained 1 1/2 pound back.  This morning I was very surprised to see that I had actually gone down another 2 pounds, putting me just 1 pound above my lowest weight last summer.  Two more pounds and I will officially be at my lowest weight in 14 years!  (14 years ago I used the Atkins diet to lose a lot of weight very quickly, but my healthy suffered greatly from that experience.  I would have to lost another 46 pounds to reach and low weight I achieved at that time, but I was not exercising at all during that weight loss, so I might actually be thinner at a higher weight than that with the dense muscle that T-Tapp builds! 

 My goal has nothing to do with a weight, actually, but to do with size.  I want to be able to fit in my wedding dress for our 30th wedding anniversary at the end of March....it will take a miracle, but it might happen!  When I got married, I was 63 pounds lighter than I am now, but I know I will fit in the dress and yet weight more than I did then.

Oh - and I finally found my measuring tape today and will start measuring tomorrow, so next week I will include my weight loss and my measurement loss!

And I do still plan to blog about my menus and meal plans and favorite recipes, this was just not the week!

Until next week - keep making good choices and turning to God instead of food to meet  your needs!

Weight Loss Wednesday!

So it's been 17 days on this journey to grow closer to God and turn to Him to fill my spiritual and emotional needs, while eating healthy to nourish my body. To learn more about how God led me to this, please read my first Weight Loss Wednesday entry!

So here are the questions I will answer each week (far more important that actual weight lost!):

Did I overeat this week on any given day?
No, I did so well this week and have been completely over that nasty cold for a while now so I'm eating a little better.  Looking forward to a less busy week this week so I can take time to make a few things like cookies and skinny chocolate bon bons!

Did I move more and exercise regularly?
Yes, but I did exercise as much as I wanted to, but got lots or exercise doing house work, yard clean up and cutting for my home business!

Do I feel lighter than I did at this time last week?
A little bit.

Did I eat in secret or out of anger/frustration/happiness?
Nope.  I was concerned about the church's potluck picnic, but I was able to make good choices there too!  Lots of salads and meatballs!  Not positive about whether there was hidden sugars in those items, but I did the best I could at choosing foods that didn't look like they were sweetened!

Did I feel that, at any time, I ran to food instead of to God?

No, but just like last week, I definitely could have done better at turning to God when facing temptations.  I added some more sticky notes to my bathroom and bedroom to help me memorize scripture to help me remember to do this in God's strength and not my own!


Before I hopped on the scale, did I think I'd had a successful, God pleasing week?
Yes.  As of Saturday I had  lost 4.8 pounds!  But as of my weigh in yesterday, I had gained 1 pounds back - not from eating choices...not sure why.  I have done more workouts this week and felt that I had a good week, so I didn't let that one pound back on bother me (much).  So basically I'm at the same weight as I was last week.  I have done measuring in the past and I know that measuring is a much better way to measure progress (I lost over 30 inches doing T-Tapp but had only lost 5 pounds at one point!), so I am planning to start measuring again now that I am past our post-adoption-home-visit (which was just a few hours ago and I think it went great!).

I have decided that I really need to do a blog post about what/how I eat and some of my favorite recipes, so keep an eye out for that - hoping to do that over the holiday weekend!

(This banner reflects my current progress, not where I was when this blog post was written)

Are You My Mommy?

This precious little boy is still waiting for his forever family to find him! 

Let me introduce you to Kristopher!! (not his real name, but it's close! Real names are not used to protect the children) I have met this little cutie several times as he was Christy's roommate from their earliest moments!  He and Christy are very close in age, but very different in abilities.  I have been told that he loved to try to get her to play with him, but she mostly ignore him.  Sounds like the typical guy/girl relationship, right?

So Kristopher is in a very good group home.  He is cared for by loving caretakers and has regular therapy.  He is in a home with 9 other children with special needs.  The time he spends in this group home will be great preparation for him going to his forever family, just as it did for Christy.  He is allowed to roam around the home in his walker or sit in a bouncy seat.  He also gets to interact with the other children in the home, aging from his age up to around 16 years of age when I was there.  The other children all have special needs of some sort.  The director of the orphanage has such a sweet heart for these children and just loves to see them get adopted.  I found out recently that she even purchased a little kiddy pool last summer for the kids to enjoy, but only Christy truly loved it!  These children also get to go outside everyday that it's nice enough and there is a little playground with a swing and a slide as well as a little walking area too.  This is not the norm for children from this county, so he is blessed beyond measure to be here, but a forever family would be so much better for him!  And once he's adopted another child can be saved out of the orphanages there where they are left in their cribs all day!

Kristopher has a page on Reece's Rainbow, but until he has a family committed to him, they can't accept donations according to the way things are done for orphans in this country.

Christy in her bed, Kristopher playing nearby - I wonder if he misses her?

Kristopher was born with some eye problems and a few physical issues, but most of them have been resolved.  Recently he has surgery for his cataract and that has greatly improved his vision.  He was a happy little guy most of the time that I saw him, except when he was having physical therapy - then he was this little drama king, pounding the mat with his little first and crying like "mercy! mercy!" when the therapists was only massaging his legs with oil!  What a little manipulator!  He is so smart, that he could tell when Christy was almost done with her physical therapy and started fussing and complaining just because he knew his turn was coming!

Anyway, this little guy would thrive in a loving home and I'm on a mission to find that home!  His file is only available for a short time and then it goes back in the "drawer."  PLEASE, if you blog or do social media, SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!

This is Christy and Kristopher just after they got transferred
to the wonderful group home in June of 2013."
He's grown so much and is so much happier!

Can you imagine finding out that you have been used by God to bring this little one into a loving family???

Matthew 25 :31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, 

even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

Weight Loss Wednesday!

So it's been 10 days on this journey to grow closer to God and turn to Him to fill my spiritual and emotional needs, while eating healthy to nourish my body. To learn more about how God led me to this, please read my first Weight Loss Wednesday entry!

So here are the questions I will answer each week (far more important that actual weight lost!):

Did I overeat this week on any given day?
No, in fact on a few days I think I under-ate, which can be  problem as then I don't sleep well or I am weaker to temptation later in the day, so I'm going to work on that!  I've been eating pretty much the Trim Healthy Mama way, but pretty much all "S" ("Satisfying" or "low carb") meals.  I did choose fruit a few times as a treat, but always had protein with it.

Did I move more and exercise regularly?
Yes, even in spite of being very sick with a bad cold.  I was able to get 3 workouts in since my last post.  I tried the second part of T-Tapp's Total Workout and made it about 20 minutes in, but then I got sick and haven't tried again - hoping to try that again today!

Do I feel lighter than I did at this time last week?
Definitely, especially around my middle.


Did I eat in secret or out of anger/frustration/happiness?
Not once - even at my first grand-baby's baby shower (due in October)!  I prayed ahead of time that I would be strong as I knew I would be distracted while there, and God gave me the grace to make the choice of eating the deviled eggs and fruit and not even desire the cake and punch!

I am so thankful for the grace God gave me this week, as I was very sick over the weekend, and I have always turned to "comfort foods" when I am sick, but I was able to continue eating healthy!  He also gave me grace in that I have not been overly tempted even when my kids were baking up a storm this week - cookies, cakes, bread and fresh freezer jam....even when I was feeding things to the little girls, I didn't even lick my fingers!  I can only say it is God's grace because I still so new at this that I often forgot to ask God for strength in the moment, but He gave it anyway!

Did I feel that, at any time, I ran to food instead of to God?
No, but I definitely could have done better at turning to God when facing temptations.  I have some sticky notes up in my kitchen now to help me remember to do this!

Before I hopped on the scale, did I think I'd had a successful, God pleasing week?
Yes, I felt that I had an amazing week even though I faced lots of temptations and had such a tough time being sick for half of this week.

So how much did I lose this week?  Well, since I started this journey 10 days ago, I have lost 3.7 pounds!  I am happy with that, for sure!

New Beginnings - Weight Loss Wednesdays!

This month marks the 2 year anniversary of my starting T-Tapp!  I have NEVER EVER stuck with any exercise program for more than a few months, let alone 2 years!  Sadly, I have not been totally consistent at doing it, but unlike any other exercise program I have tried, I have actually been able to return to T-Tapp after a break and enjoyed doing it again! Also, returning to it after even a month's break did not kill me!  Somehow I do not lose all muscle tone gained even when taking a break!

It was just over a year ago that I discovered Trim Healthy Mama.  I have eaten according to this plan off and on this year.  I was completely committed to this plan for 5 months last summer/fall, but the holidays and homeschooling and traveling for our adoption and finances kept me from doing it full time since November.  I have gone back and done it for a few weeks here and there, but something would come up and derail my best laid plans.  I truly love how I feel with I'm eating the THM way, but it takes planning and in many cases preparation, which can be difficult if not impossible with my busy lifestyle!  Plus, I just seem to easily return to my eating for the wrong reasons.

Between August of 2012 and October of 2013 I lost a total of 50 pounds.  As of Monday, I had gained back 7 of those pounds.  Not bad!  But I have more to lose.  I'm not sure how many pounds I need to lose (somewhere around 40 - 70 pounds - 70 pounds would be the weight I was at my wedding but I was not exercising at the time) in order to achieve my goal (to be able to wear my wedding dress!!), but the pounds don't really matter, I just want to be at a healthy weight and no saddle bags!

Food has always been something I turn to for just about anything.  If I'm super happy or want to celebrate something, it's time for a treat, if I'm depressed I turn to sugar loaded treats, especially chocolate, I looked forward to the food at events almost as much as I looked forward to the events....you get the idea.  Definitely a problem for me.  I do have to say that I have rarely gained weight when I was not pregnant, and I would often lose weight between pregnancies, but being pregnant about every 2 years for 25 years makes one not exactly motivated to try to lose weight....only to get pregnant and gain it (and maybe more) back!  And nursing didn't help me in the least - I never lost weight from nursing alone!



This past month Chessa Honey shared a book, Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food, that was a huge part of her weight loss journey (she has love 85 pounds over the past 2 years through healthy eating and running).  I've seen lots of women lose weight, lots of weight, but usually I won't pay attention to how they did it unless I see that they've lost and kept it off for years.  So why would I look into what Chessa did to lose weight?  Especially since a huge part of her weight loss was through running, something I could not do even if I wanted to due to the type of knee injury I sustained 2 1/2 years ago (hole in the cartilage on the weight bearing surface of my femur)???  Well, it was what she said about no longer eating to fulfill her needs.  Turning her craving for food into a craving for God.  THAT got my attention.  I immediately ordered the book "Made to Crave" on Amazon!

So I am almost done with the book (I have one chapter left), and this past Monday I began a journey that I am hoping will be for the rest of my life.  That of eating healthy for the sake of being healthy and going to God to fulfill my needs.  This will be hard, very hard.  Changing habits and seemingly natural reflexes will be something that I could not possibly do on my own.  I don't like change.  I don't like "hard,"  But sometimes I am up for "hard" if the carrot at the proverbial end of the stick is good enough.  Growing closer to God and stronger in my faith is something I always desire.  That is the carrot that works for me.  While weight loss is something I greatly desire, it is not enough to keep me from eating that dessert when it's calling my name.  Instant gratification wins out every time for me over long term goals.  I'm weak that way.

Here are some of the things I'm committed to thinking when I am tempted to eat things that are not good for me:
"God has given me power over my food choices
"I was made for more than being stuck in a vicious cycle of defeat)
"How will I feel about this choice tomorrow morning?"
"Is this within the parameters of my FREEDOM?"

(These are taken from Made to Crave , some of them direct quotes, some of them my paraphrase)

So what, exactly will this eating healthy look like?  For me this means avoiding refined carbs (sugar, while flour, white rice, potatoes etc), leaning on the fatter side of life (heavy whipping cream, cheeses, nuts, butter, coconut oil) and balances complex carbs/protein.  It's a lot like Trim Healthy Mama, but I am also going to be eating some fruits too, and not freaking out about "S" meals and "E" meals...just eating fruit now and then as treats and trying to always have protein whenever I eat.

As far as exercising goes, I am working on learning the Total Workout from T-Tapp.  The Basic Workout that I've been doing since last November is the first 15 minutes of the 40 minute Total Workout.  So I'm planning to to The Basic Workout every other day, and on the other days do what I can out of the Total Work out, working up to learning it all.  I do plan to take weekends off though!

So, two days into this journey I am looking for accountability.  This is going to be hard.  This will take a mental shift and knowing that I will have to answer to someone will be very helpful, especially in these early months when change is so hard and new habits have not gotten embedded in my brain!  So I am going to, as much as it is possible, to post here on my blog once a week how it's going to me.  I'm going to answer the following questions (these are from Made to Crave ):

Did I overeat this week on any given day?
Did I move more and exercise regularly?
Do I feel lighter than I did at this time last week?
Did I eat in secret or out of anger/frustration/happiness?
Did I feel that, at any time, I ran to food instead of to God?
Before I hopped on the scale, did I think I'd had a successful, God pleasing week?

Here are my answers for this week (well, the past two days):
No
Yes (Basic Workout on Mon and today, 15 minutes of Total Workout on Tuesday)
Yes (lost 1 1/2 pounds of water weight and my ankles prove that!)
No
No (but I wasn't very good at turning to Him to deal with temptation yet either)
Yes

I am looking for a partner in my journey.  Someone to pray for me, and I pray for them, and to hold me accountable to these questions.  Are you that someone?  If you think you might want to partner with me, please email me and we'll see if it can work for both of us!  I'm thinking a few emails/week or maybe even just one a week....

I love tickers - do you?  I'm going to set my first goal at losing 54 more pounds from where I am now.  That would make a total weight loss of  97 pounds (that sounds insane!).  This should get me into my wedding dress, if not really close!



If I've inspired you to read the book, I'd love to hear from you.  I am so excited to see where this journey takes me!

PS.  The links in this blog post are such that if you purchase the book after using the link, I will earn a small commission, just wanted you to know!