Awesome blog post...just wanted to share

This young man is awesome! His name is Justin Willoughby and he has lost nearly 200 lbs in just a couple years. He has been featured in Guideposts magazine and I was very impressed.

Here is a link to his latest thoughts:
http://justinwilloughby.openarmsbradford.org/?p=307

I thought it was a wonderful reminder that we can become healthy people and in doing so we are honoring our creator.

My weigh in was last night and I am down another 1.5 pounds! Which means I am only 10.5 pounds away from GOAL!!!!! I am SO excited!

The past few weeks have been a struggle for me. After working really hard for a week and not losing that week I kind of got discouraged. The next week I didn't work out much and ended up not be able to go to weigh in. Not because I was trying to avoid the scale but due to circumstances beyond my control...see previous post. So this week was going to be a rush to make weigh in but I knew I had to do it. I honestly wasn't sure how I had done this past week. My husband had gotten sick with a bad stomach virus, we were still adjusting to the boys being back in school, I had long work days and then next thing I know I had caught the evil stomach virus as well. Friday and Saturday I pretty much spent on the couch or in the recliner napping and nibbling on crackers and ginger snaps while sipping on ginger ale. I was worried about the amounts of sodium in the crackers and soda. Sunday I was able to get up and do a few things but wasn't able to eat much.

Anyway, my 13 year old plays in the middle school band and they had a game last night! Gasp! On Monday! For the past two years, all games have been on Thursday! One reason I choose to attend Monday meetings. I actually got off close to on time, went to pick up my 7 year old, ran by the house and picked up my husband and then stopped off at WI on our way to the game. After the news that I had lost 1.5 pounds, it was so worth all the rushing around!

All evening I kept thinking, "Only 10.5 to go!" This is exactly the news I needed to give me a little extra motivation to work a bit harder. I am going to continue to focus on natural, filling foods and protein. I will continue with my workouts and increase the intensity.

I have a little challenge with myself to reach my goal in 10 weeks. But it won’t kill me if I don’t because I know I am the healthiest I’ve been in a very long time and all the work I’m doing is only going to keep me healthy! Not to mention, looking pretty good!

Reason to be Thankful

My 13 year old son, Michael was in an accident yesterday. First, let me say he is fine. But it could have turned out so differently! Let me explain...Michael was with his 18 year old cousin, Brandon, helping him mow grass at a family friend's house. Brandon's truck and trailer w/ his riding lawn mower on it was parked on the side of the road (a good six feet wide spot)and Michael had went up to the truck to get his pop out. For some reason he stopped and leaned against the guardrail about 3 feet away from the truck. A lady lost control of her car about 10 feet up the road and slid off the road and into the trailer which was pushed about 6 feet downward and almost 3 feet to the side. The trailer hit Michael's leg but he only has some bruising. The car went airborne and spun around a couple times before landing, facing the opposite direction that she was driving. Her car is totaled. It hit the ground so hard that two of the wheels and tires popped off! The trailer is all warped up, the truck is damamged. The truck was pushed into the friends SUV and it has a busted bumper and tail light and it seems to be warped as well...the doors aren't shutting well. I'm telling you guys...another couple inches and the corner of the trailer would have been pushed into Michael's leg and crushed it against the guardrail. It could have ended really, really badly.

But, Praise God, He was watching over my boy! He was shaken up a bit but he KNOWS that God was watching over him! Brandon was really freaking out because, at first, he couldn't see Michael. It took Brandon about 3 hours to calm down. He kept saying to me that it wasn't his fault and for us not to be mad at him. And I kept telling him that we were not mad at him and we were just as concerned about him as we were Michael. Rough day. But I am still so thankful the boys are fine! Such an awesome answer to my daily prayer to keep my family safe!

Why do people think they can NOT follow the rules and be successful?! This has been a thought that has been brewing for a while now. I can restrain myself no longer and must comment!

1. Rules (or program guidelines) are in place for a reason! Not to make you mad or deprived or to be mean or take away your individuality. They are there because they work—plain and simple!

2. Success does depend directly upon the individual. How much are you willing to give to this process? How committed are you really?

3. Truth. Each person must be honest with others as well as, or more importantly, with self. I know a lady that has been going to WW meetings for 5 years and has not lost an ounce and has in fact gained 20 lbs. But she shows up for the meetings faithfully and swears she doesn’t know why she is not losing weight because she is following the program. Come on people! I work for a diabetes doctor and this one is huge! Patients come in and say they are following their ADA diet to perfection and walking 2 miles a day, 5 days a week but their A1C (3 month average of blood sugar) comes back at 11.6 (normal for a diabetic is 6.0 and maybe even up to 7.0 if the patient is insulin resistant). Yeah, right!

4. Work smarter not harder. There are certain ways to do things. Not my way or your way but the proper way. You can’t always change things because you want to do them your way. Well, you can but you are just making more work for yourself and possibly setting yourself up for a huge disappointment.

5. Accountability. Don’t blame others for your lack of commitment. I have seen this in other blogs and I have heard it at meetings. “If my husband would just do the program with me, then I could do better.” Yes, it is easier if your spouse is on board with you. But not impossible if he/she is not. And yes, I do speak from experience here. “If my friend wouldn’t have missed those meetings I would have lost more weight.” Again, it is easier when you have a buddy. But it is up to you to decide to what extent the program will be followed. Meetings are a way to connect to other people so reach out and make some new friends. Accept that your weight loss is your responsibility.

6. Goals. Set them! Reasonably. Don’t expect to lose 20 lbs in a month or cram a whole day’s work into 2 hours. Resolve to lose a couple pounds a week for a month or to drink more water or walk 5 days a week. I have seen people with an “all or nothing” attitude that quit at the first setback. Face it, most people can’t lose 50 lbs in 6 weeks and maintain that type of rapid loss. But the “slow and steady” attitude of aiming to lose those 50 lbs in 6 to 8 months is reasonable.

7. Staying positive. You can’t go around moaning about how much work you have to do or how much weight you have to lose. Embrace your journey and stop looking back. I don’t mean ignore the problem but accept it and move forward. Break down your work or weight loss into mini goals. Make it manageable for yourself. Get inside your own head and tell yourself that you can be a healthy person, that you can meet your goals, you can live without chips, cookies or even cheesecake daily. Don’t let a setback (delay or a weight gain) destroy you. Accept it as part of your life’s journey and move on. Keep a positive “I can do” attitude. You will be surprised how far this alone will take you!

I'm Back!

I've been absent from the blogging world for a long while! Life really does get in the way sometimes. My family and I have been through alot of changes in the past year. My husband's best friend and cousin passed away a year ago iJuly 6. That has been very difficult for all of us, especially my boys. We still miss Clyde every day and probably always will. In August of last year, my grandmother had her second hip replacement. She did much better this go around. Also in August my youngest son was diagnosed with moderate asthma and moderate-severe allergies. Poor kid is allergic to 9 different things so far. It seems like I lived in doctor's offices last year! School was very busy for us last year. My oldest son is in the band and had ball games and other activities he was required to attend. I was also elected Treasuer of the Band Boosters which added more to my plate.

This year my mother-in-law fell in March and fractured two vertabre. Thankfully, she was a canidate for kyphoplasty to relieve the pain. She was in and out of the hospital and HealthSouth for rehab. It was a very long, very hard road for her. She had gotten so weak in the hospital she was unable to even stand and had to stay with her daughter until she regained strength and completed the doctors physical therapy. She was finally able to go back to her own home this month.

I know most of this news seems negative. But we have made it through all if it with God's help. To me that is a huge positive!

Personally, I gained back almost all the weight I had previously lost. I finally realized that my own program wasn't working. I always hated the idea of paying to lose weight. But I knew something had to change so I joined Weight Watchers (WW) in January. It took me a month or so to really learn the program and get in my groove. I must say that I love WW!! The program very closely resembles the ADA (American Diabetes Association) diet and is designed for slow weight loss. It is not a rapid quick fix or something you do until you reach your goal. It is a lifestyle change.

WW has been great not only for me but for my whole family! Let me make myself clear here...in NO way, shape or form have I ever suggested to either one of my boys that they need to lose weight or follow the program.

But the boys are seeing both my husband and myself weigh in weekly and hearing us discuss our losses. They also see the changes in the snack cabinet. It's not stocked with their previous go to snacks. Not because I am depriving them. I am keeping myself in line and removing temptation. Besides, how much processed food does a person really need to consume and be healthy? Not much is my guess. Anybody ever watched "Super Size Me"? If so, enough said. If not, go join Netflix and watch. I promise you will never eat at Mickey D's again.

My kids new go to snacks are now grapes, microwave popcorn and low fat yogurts and ice creams. Not to mention the all important banana smoothies! Why the change? They see me--their mom--trying to become healthier and they want to do what I do. They saw me jog for the first time in my entire life and somehow decided that was pretty cool of mom to try something new. They saw the happiness when me and their dad finished our first ever 5k in the top 10. They are so happy that their dad can now play with them much easier, without so much back pain. In short, they are proud of us!

I realized all this when my youngest son, age 7, went to WW with me a few weeks ago because his dad was working late and it was either take him or not go. So he went with me. He had actually been a few times before and liked it...all the women I think. He had dropped from 97 lbs to 91 lbs! This is the first year ever that I have not had to buy him a bigger clothing size for school! The only reason he needs new jeans is, well, he's a 7 year old boy who plays hard! My 13 year old son noticed that his jeans were looser and he had to dig out a belt. He weighed and realized he had lost 10 lbs!

They were not trying to lose weight at all. They just wanted to be healthy like mom and dad. So the next time you think your kids (or grandkids or neices or nephews) aren't watching...think again.

Here's a pic of me and my hubby from Aug. 7, 2010 at my young cousin's wedding:

I am 23 pounds lighter and Mike is down 27 pounds!

One more thing, I joined a discussion board on the WW site called 'Positive Thinkers'. It is a wonderfully, supportive place to be for non-judgemental encouragement!

I hope to be back posting more reguarly here. The world needs all the positivity it can get even if only 4 other people read this!

Fresh Start

Hello all! You will notice some changes to my blog....a new title and description for starters. I've changed them because I want others to particiapte with me. I want to provide a place to discuss issues and encourage one another. These past few months have been a very difficult time for my family. But we have learned--and are still learning--how to find positive solutions to life situations.

One challenge we have faced recently has been finding out that our 6 year old is lactose intolerant. At first, the only solution I could find was giving him Lactaid chewables, changing his milk to Lactaid brand and limiting what he ate. We live in a small area and there are very few products out there for special diets. But after much research and finding a great blog and some helpful posters (http://lactoseintolerance.blogspot.com ) I have learned there are other ways to handle it. There are websites that sale drops that can be added to regular milk (and other dairy products) to make it lactose intolerant friendly. Plus, thanks to Jenny, I have learned how to read dairy product labels to know if it is lactose free. So far I have found Kraft Natural cheese shreds (all varieties) and Kraft 2% Sharp Cheddar have NO lactose!! For the first time in weeks Adam got to enjoy nachos last night with no problems. I have also found WalMart and Kroger have their own brands of lactose free milk, which is at least a dollar cheaper per half gallon. Soy milk runs about the same price which is another choice. Thanks to Courtney at Food City, I found soy ice cream products.

Another very difficult challenge has been my husband getting laid off from his job. Technically the business closed. We could have freaked out, screamed and cried. But how would that help? Instead we prayed. We prayed and put our trust in God. Then we decided to make the best of it. Yes, Mike was active in his job search but he did not let it overwhelm him. He went to Adam's fun day at school. He picked up our 12 year old son from school on his last day driving his 1969 Chevelle SS. This past week he got caught up on all the yard work he is responsible for (our properties plus his mother's) and taught Michael how to use a weed eater. The two of them worked and learned together. They would pick up Adam in the afternoons and play. A couple nights they even cooked dinner and had it ready for me when I got home from work. During this week, Mike also had 5 job offers. He looked at all the pros and cons and decided to return to Cole Chevrolet. He starts on Monday.

I have found that trusting in God and seeking the help of others that positive solutions can be found to even the biggest challenges!!

Night of Blessings

A few days ago we had a crazy rainstorm with extremely high winds which is very unusual for our area. To be honest, I wasn't even thinking about this when we all got home from work because my husband greeted me with the news that the outdoor water spiket was leaking and he had to fix it while it was warm. It had been in the teens but was in the 50's that day. To make the necessary repair the water to the entire house had to be shut off. Thinking ahead, we drew the water for our youngest son's bath and ran enough water in the kitchen for me to finish dinner. By 7 o'clock, Adam had gotten a nice warm bath and was in a sweet playful mood, dinner was over and the mess cleaned up. My two Michaels were finishing up the outdoor repair. All was going smoothly for a change!

Suddenly, at 7:22 the lights filckered once and went out less than a minute later. Thankfully, I keep candles out all over the house so all I had to do was convince Adam that he just needed to hold Mommy's hand and I'd take care of him. We soon had several candles burning when Michael came in with a flashlight. We found another flaslight for Adam which calmed him considerably. Mike came in with his own flashlight and we soon had a nice, cozy glow in the living room. I settled Adam on the couch with me and read several stories from his Bible storybook while Michael took a warm shower (we have gas hot water) by candle light. Soon Adam was snuggled up by my side, giggling and calm. He even stated it was just like camping, just in a bigger "camper".

As I look back over that night it is so clear to see God's hand of protection upon my children. He knew Adam would NOT have taken a shower by candle light and that Michael would have thought it was cool. He knew what to do to help me to calm them and help them feel safe and cozy. He knew how to turn what could have been a negative into a positive. Actually, it was the most relaxing evening we had all week!