Time Consuming Distractions

     Why is it that even a lifestyle of healthy eating is so difficult to maintain? Why can it not just come natural to me? I am asking the same question about my walk with the Lord. Why is it that so many other things can seem so important and needed and part of my daily schedule, but I cannot find 15 to 30 minutes at the end, or even beginning of my day to just sit and soak in His word. Sure, Misty Edwards and other worship CDs play almost constantly in my home as I tend to my babies, but that cannot be it. My heart aches to know more about the Lord and to seek out who I am as a woman and how to be more like His girl that I KNOW He has called me to be in the Kingdom. The only place I can find that is in the Word. DUH. Cool story as proof that the Lord really is at work and is speaking loud and clear, IF you sit tight and listen for him. I had a word spoken over me a couple of weeks ago that confirmed a desire that has been in my heart for years now. I have held on to the hopes that I would some day get to experience this, and my spiritual momma spoke this over me. Not even two days after she told me what the Lord wanted to do with me, He so blatantly confirmed His words. I do not want to go into intense details because it was so intimate for me,  but a little peak of what He spoke to me was that I was to begin writing,(hence me starting a blog, gotta start somewhere right?). I am a worshipper, I have been called since a little girl to sing and worship, but along with that I have desired to write love songs to my Jesus but I did not ever know where to start. Now I do.  His love song to us is His word, so why not look to the most beautiful writer for some tips. ;)
     On a completely different note, I cheated this weekend. On my diet that is. I definately went to the fair, but I won't dare tell you what I ate. My goodness. One thing I was proud of though is that because I have been away from fried food and unhealthy things for so long that the food for some reason did not taste as good as what I had remembered. Hm. Funny how that works. I know I started out this blog saying why can it not just be a natural lifestyle, but I think I have made progress! If those things do not even taste good, and I never crave them, then something must be changing, or perhaps I am just learning what self control is. I am also learning that the consequences of getting off my "eating plan" far outweigh the enjoyment at the time. Seriously, how much gas can a poor girl have?! Poor Mercy even has to reap the benefits of my splurge. Not cool momma.
     I watched part of Food Inc. again with my mom the other day, and can I just say, that I have made up my mind that I want to be a farmer girl and raise my own cattle and grow my own vegetables! I mean come on! The food industry is INSANE. I am in serious disbelief of how much they control. It is actually disturbing. And speaking of disturbing: fact, because feed lots are so jam packed full of cattle that are up to their knees in manure, ecoli is so infested in these cows that slaughter houses have to run our meat, that we put in our mouths and feed to our children, through ammonia to kill off all the bacteria. Now don't you dare criticize me and tell me that I am trying to be a vegetarian and that this document was written by vegans because I really like me some steak. I was raised in Texas and have grown up on beef my whole life and I do not plan on not eating it, I am just gonna seriously think twice about buying meat from the grocery store that is not organic, all natural, and grass fed beef. The biggest fight that I wanna start right now is why are we not supporting our local farmers markets and organic products in the grocery stores? I know, it is more expensive to purchase organic, but if enough people started demanding and buying organic products the costs would go down. This is America people, supply and demand. It is not a hard concept to understand. We will either pay now for healthy food or pay later at the doctor for medications and surgeries because our bodies cannot handle what we are shoving in them. One of the opening statements on Food Inc. is, "The food industry has changed more in the past 50 years than it has in the last 5000 years." Disgusting much? I know this may sound harsh, but I am so tired of people so threatened by being healthy saying well we(Americans, grandparents, great grandparents) have been eating like this for years and have survived. This is said by people that live on medications and continue to chow down on anything and everything they want. Something is not working! My grandpa Biehler died at the age of 66 from a heart attack. Lord bless my grandpa and I loved him very much but that man never ate a healthy thing in his whole life. I know at the age of 66, I would rather be a kickin grandma that can still play with my great grandchildren and really LIVE. Life is fragile and God tells us in His word that our bodies are His temple and that we are to take care of it, physically and spiritually.
     Food diary for today, lunch was mixed greens with tomatoes and almonds with a new dressing that my sweet friend Jenny Brooks gave me the recipe for. Olive oil, fresh lemon, lime, italian seasoning, sea salt and pepper. Season to taste. YUMMM!
For dinner I made asparagus drizzled with coconut oil and sprinkled with garlic salt and then some fresh parmesan and then baked for however long it takes to get it to however done you want. Along with some steamed carrots and turkey meatballs that I mixed with some mozzerella and Janes MixUp Salt. I was greatly impressed.
     I am still just a girl on a journey of getting healthy. Its funny how I have been craving knowledge of health, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually.

:)

Oof

      Definitely not gonna lie, today has been really rough. Do you ever have those days when you are eating healthy that you just wanna eat the walls off of your house? Well today is that day for me and luckily I didn't have any crap food sitting around to fulfill my badness. Now that the babies are in bed, hubby is at his soccer game, and the house is quiet, the Lord is taking me to a place of questioning why I want to run to food when I have an off day and can't quite pinpoint what is really driving me to eat. Why is it that food turns into a drug for me and for many, many, many people? My mom and her friend have recently been on this journey of learning what dopamine really is and why people stray from where we should really be getting our fix from. It starts when we are babies with our mothers when we nurse. Have you ever stopped for two seconds to focus on your babies face while she/he is nursing to see pure delight? My Mercy has been a pure testimony of what a dopamine fix should really be. There are some days that I cannot get her to nurse because she is so giddy and delighted to see me that all she can do is laugh. I think Jesus longs for us to look at Him, even in the midst of our bad days and just laugh with Him and smile with the joy of knowing  He is so good, and merciful, and just, and beautiful. Why would we turn to food, or music, or movies for comfort when HE is the ultimate comfort? I know this is so far fetched for some, but it is so real for me in my "journey to becoming healthy" because I am having to look to a new source to be content with myself and with my life, not FOOD.
     On a different note, I have decided you can turn just about any meal into a gluten free one. Thad and I had fajitas tonight and while I could have thrown everything into a tortilla, like I so wanted to do, I just got me some beans, guacamole, fajita meat and hot sauce and sprinkled it all with some cheese and ate it that way. YUM! I do understand that the best part of fajitas is the tortilla, especially if you are at Rosas, mmmm. But I did it, gluten free, and my belly was happy and full of food and gas :) The same goes with like burgers or sandwiches of some sort. Axe the bread people, it can be done.
    The last thing that I have learned today is that being a mom of two can possibly make a work-out schedule impossible to stick with. I generally try to do Biggest Loser bootcamp which uses weights and does like a million squats, 3 or 4 times a week, because we all know muscle speeds up metabolism and a speedy metabolism allows you to eat whatever you want. LoL I'm so kidding. But muscle really does help to lose weight and be fit and toned more so than just strictly cardio or running and such. The other days, I try to do some sort of cardio, and I am working on focusing on abs to burn off that baby belly that I and the mirror despise so much...
Back to my point. I learned today that it is not about beating yourself up if you don't get to do the workout you intended to do, as long as you try to stay active during the day with the babies. Today I chose to take a nap with the girls in the afternoon instead of working out like I normally do so tonight I loaded the girls up in the stroller and went and circled the park a few times. Just FYI, if you suck in your stomach and hold your core tight, even walking can make you feel firm and sore :) yippee!! Shoot, try sucking in and holding your core tight while you sit here and read this and look at Facebook and you will start to notice a little burn.
I am not perfect, nor do I know all of the answers, but I can say that getting healthy from the inside out can give you an entirely new outlook on life. Eating junk food, will not make you feel better. Heck, eating healthy food cannot make you happy. But seeking your dopamine fix in the Lord is where you find true peace. Today is the national day of peace. I'm not looking for the hippie kind of love and peace that today is probably intended to represent, I am looking for that perfect peace that passes all understanding, and tonight as I sit in silence listening to Kim Walker singing Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, I truly feel at peace in my heart, body, soul, and mind.

P.S- tomorrow is See You At The Pole. I know I am not in high school anymore but I do know that in the morning when I wake up, I can pray for our schools, that God be brought back in and that there be a radical impact and movement on students that are looking for a Saviour to rescue them. What if kids started praying and doing Bible studies and worship meetings instead of partying?

Lets Be Honest

     Lets be real here. I love to eat, I know what good food is and I have the perfect body to prove how much I love to eat bread, pasta, chips, beer, and all those yummy things.  I also have enough gas, bloating and snot to last a person a lifetime.

     I have recently discovered that my two babies and I have yeast infections. And if you did not think so before, let me assure you that this is a problem. Mercy has had thrush since she was two weeks old, and Trinity has recently showed discomfort and told me about it. I could just run to the doctor and get a prescription and be done with it within a couple of days, but I like to go a little deeper than that. I want to treat the cause, not just the symptom. And I would like to lose a little (LOT) of weight doing so.

     And so begins my journey to a gluten free diet, not just for me but for my girls. If you do not think this is any big deal, try going three days without any sort of food or drink with wheat or sugar in it and then come talk to me. It’s stinkin impossible! Or so I thought. I am discovering an entirely new world of food. Fruits and veggies are realllllly good, if you don’t have any other options. Gluten free pretzels, in the gluten free section at United in a red bag, rock! Seriously, dip them in hummus and your belly can be tickled with health, not to mention a little extra protein.

     I have been at this for a week and a day now and I have to say I am 12 lbs lighter and feeling great. I hardly have any gas J praise the Lord and if I do it is due to me eating broccoli or something, my clothes fit better, and I have more energy because I am eating things that give a real energy boost without a crash 30 minutes later. I am also excited because Mercy’s thrush is almost gone! Gluten and sugar feed yeast and make it thrive, so I have the girls and myself on colostrum(in powder form) and a probiotic 2 or 3 times a day. Yes, you read correctly. Colostrum is a natural yeast fighter, it may be a little pricey but it is no different than paying for a doctor’s visit and a prescription. I have also recently learned that coconut oil is a natural yeast fighter, so I drizzle some on at least 2 of our meals a day. Hurray for natural things that God initially intended for us to use!

     I am writing this blog to keep track of my progress and to maybe help others out that would like to put a halt to unhealthy eating habits, but that may not know how to go about doing so. My quest is not just about being gluten and sugar free, but about learning a whole new lifestyle to pass on to my kids so that they will grow up healthy and strong, not obese and at the doctor all the time for meds.

Starting weight: 180lbs :/

Currently weighing: 168lbs

Goal weight: 137lbs

Yummy recipe for dinner: Beef/Chicken and Veggie stirfry

Thin cut sirloin/chicken, Kikkomans Stirfry sauce, carrots, snap peas, broccoli, green beans, and any other veggie you prefer. Brown rice or whole grain rice is optional if you need more filler.

Yummy snacks that I have discovered so far:

Glutino Gluten free pretzels

Hummus

Light Piemento cheese with gluten free crackers

Larabars (found at United made without preservatives and entirely of fruit and nuts)

Cottage cheese (good for the tummy)

Greek yogurt with any kind of fresh fruit

FRUIT

VEGETABLES (dipped in Ranch J)