Paleo-days 2-3 ""Eating Out"

Hi Paleo Peeps.  I am writing you from the depths of detoxing hates!  The Detox stage for sugar takes anywhere from 17-30 days.  For me 17 days has been the magic number.  Things get easier.  Cravings stop.  Headaches disappear.  Energy abounds.  :)  I promise if you are considering this you have nothing to loose, but the unhealthy lifestyle that surrounds you on a daily basis!

My biggest struggle by far is food.  We have to eat to live.  (I sometimes live to eat.)  If you are like me and are an emotional eater, foods become a weapon we can punish ourselves with, disguised with promises of hope, reassurance and comfort.  Face it.  We eat when we are happy.  We eat when we are sad.  We eat when we are bored.  We eat to celebrate.  We cook and eat food when tragedy strikes.  There is no way to get around eating.  It is something we face 3-5 times a day, 7 days a week.  WHAT we choose to eat is the key.

I am a HUGE believer, (mind you this is my opinion),  that weight loss and Healthy living is composed of 4 things.  1)  Mental Strength-The choices we make and where our mind dwells.  2) What we eat.  (you cannot eat ice cream every night for dessert and expect to maintain a healthy life.) 3)  The amount of water you drink. (ONE of the very most important things, and often the most under-utilized.) 4)  The amount you move.  Heart beating movement that gets your heart rate up and takes you somewhere.

Of these 4 things, todays struggle was the choice of what I was going to eat while out and about.  Lunch time choices if not prepared for can be extremely difficult.  Today my husband took me to lunch at Moes'.  I was in a silent panic as I looked at the menu board.  (Paleo and eating out do not normally exist on the same plain!)  Not because there were not good choices to make, but the fact Mexican food is by far my very favorite food!  After repeating to myself over and over, (well silently chanting in my head), "You are worth Good decisions.  You do not want to derail everything you have done for the last 3 days.  You are worth a healthy life.  This you can control.  Make wise choices."  I took a deep breath and did ok.  I ordered a fish bowl double meat, NO BEANS OR RICE (ugh), lettuces, cucumbers, pico, black olives(YUM), guacamole (even more YUM), and jalapeños.  I chose to get NO chips, because I am not strong enough to resist, and I topped my heaping bowl with salsa verde.  Friends!!!! it was delicious!  I didn't miss the cheese, sour cream or other stuff.  MY entire meal was 280 calories.  AT MOES!  Good choices are out there.  If I can do it, you certainly can too!


Todays Steps =10,345
Devotion Done =  reading through "Breaking Free" By Beth Moore
Water = 45 ounces
Calories intake thus far (as of 5:15 pm) = 811

Pounds LOST - SIX!!!!!

90 DAYS of Paleo!

I have decide to commit 90 days to Paleo living.  Why are you doing this you ask?  It is simple.  Last year I practiced a 90% Paleo lifestyle for about 4 months.  During this 4 month period I lost about 45 pounds.  I had more energy.  I didn't swell in my joints.  I never got headaches.  Due to having 2 surgeries and not being able to exercise, I fell off the train.  I fell into old habits and paid the ultimate price of gaining back 15 of the 45 pounds.  :(   It is time to regain control.  I need a plan.  So here goes.

What led you to Paleo?
  That is simple.  I was grossly unhealthy.  I needed to change.  I researched many different options and landed on Paleo.  It makes so much since to me.  It takes what the body can process the best and uses it as amplified fuel to work more efficiently and help your body normalize.  I had abused my body for so many years by filling it with unhealthy "quick" options.  Processed, refined, sugary foods that were ladened with MSG and high sodium counts, not to mention the unhealthy fats I was consuming.  It was a time to begin a new path.  The outcome, I can assure you is worth the initial struggle (or the detox stage.)  I am by NO means an expert.  I do not hold a degree as a dietician or nutritionist,  so I encourage you to explore and research  what exactly the Paleo Lifestyle is.  I will give tips and tricks that I have used during the "change over".  I have personally see the difference in my own life, but each person is different.

What is your purpose for this Blog?
    It is a form of accountability for getting back into the lifestyle that has brought me pain relief and wellness.  (Did you know that eating the wrong foods can cause your joints to swell? I didn't!)  I will daily or (every other day) post where I am at.  I will post my struggles and I will be honest about where I am falling!  The blog posts will not be long.  Just little snippets of victories and challenges.  I also hope to challenge others to choose something to make their lives better.  To choose health.  TO make the decision to stop complaining about their current health situation, but to do something about it.  (Let's face it, we all are tempted on a daily basis.  We all have things such as girl scout cookies, and ice cream and convenience foods to tempt us.  This is more about the choices that I am going to make, in the face of these temptations.)

So we begin!

Mission Statement:  To mentally prepare for battle every morning!  To make wise choices and recognize that it is important to MOVE everyday (at the very least 10,000 steps a day). To eat foods that will fuel my body, not send it into storage mode, and to recognize the choices I make are a sign of my mental strength.

How to accomplish the above:

--Make WEEKLY Menus and FOLLOWING it:  (I plan on eating more FRESH produce and making more than a week at a time might be wasteful, things might go bad before we can use it all)

--Prepackaging snacks and not allowing myself to get overly hungry.  (This is a danger zone and sets me up for failure)

--Spending un-disturbed time with the Lord everyday (preferably morning) at least for 15-30 minutes.

--Working out doing at least 45 minutes of cardio and 20-30 minutes of weights 4 out of 7 days.

--MUST hit a minimum of 10,000 steps per day!


So what did you do today?

Today I worked out with a buddy!  She motivates and pushes me to be accountable.  We have an agreement that even if we are not going to go to the gym the next morning that we will encourage the other to go!

Workout: Eliptical -- 55 minutes.
                Weights -- Arms, back, and shoulders

Food: Breakfast:  Paleo Pancakes
          Lunch: Grilled Chicken Asian Salad from CFA, straight balsamic vinegar and EVOO, Mediterannian Sea salt and Pepper

Water-- 40 ounces

Steps taken (as of 2:30 pm) -- 11,596

Distanced walked -- 4.4 miles

This is it thus far.

Great Places to start when beginning the Paleo Journey:  Paleo for dummies and Paleo for dummies cookbook.  I kid you not.  I love them.  I first got them at the library and enjoyed their no fuss definitions so much I bought a paperback copy of each, off of Amazon for around $7.00 each.  (they were lightly used)

Wish me LUCK!  I plan on making 2015 a year of fresh starts, new journeys and BIG accomplishments!  Want to follow my progress?  you can do it here or send me a friend request on the My fitness Pal app.   (laurel757) Let's encourage each other!

Life

Yep, it has been a while... A long while... I have watched friends around me blog and stop, blog and stop, blog and stop.  I was questioned a while back as to the why I had stopped, and I replied with, "I haven't stopped, I still write them in my head, and when I feel I have something worthwhile enough to share then I will."  It  would be a lie, if I said, I didn't want to be very sure of not over spewing my life ups and downs all over cyber space, for all eternity to relive.  People abuse this private privilege far to freely.  Once the words are released, they remain forever.
Over the past few years, (cough, cough, yes I am aware it has been that long), life has had many turns and bends. A big move, to a new place, with new adventures and responsibilities. A new store,  New friends, new people, and new opinions...all of which have challenged and grown me.  Life seems to have gotten busier, not quieter, and I would be remised if I didn't confess that balance does not come naturally for me.  Our lives seem to be jam packed with activities and commitments.  In my younger days, I was happiest when I was going Mock-80 with my hair on fire.  Involvement everywhere. I could spin plates in any direction and meet my own needs, and of those close to me!   Now that I am rounding the other end of 30, I find plates crashing down around me or wobbling precariously.  I have found that my happiness is interrupted by that same Mock-80 personality! What has changed, you ask?  Life...and its demands.  It is easy to become over committed and let life begin to steer my course.  When  the weight of things get heavy, I try to remember My happiness is more centered in my child's success, my husbands victories and the cultivation of my own hobbies, my sweet spots.  Not what others believe I should be doing in that moment.  How do I stop the spinning?   What draws me to balance the most? The answer is simple..  My creator..My constant..My hiding place.  In Him I can be who I was meant to be, free of Opinion, free of Judgment, and Free of conformity.  In Him, I find a tether that allows me to steady myself once again.  I find that if I start to spiral, I need to make sure I am, 1) finding quiet time with Him, 2) spending time in prayer, focused on God's desires from me, and 3)  reviewing my current commitments and weighing them against balance and over-commitment.  I believe that God is most happy when I am following His will, not trying to write my own stories...

So thought provoking question...How do you stop the spinning?  What centers you most?  What brings you into the center most part of your happiness bubble?  What tethers you there when the wind blows? Do you have a evacuation plan to keep you from spiraling out of control?

Resting on your Laurel's: Does anybody hear him, does anybody see?

Resting on your Laurel's: Does anybody hear him, does anybody see?: Sorry it has been awhile...(major understatement), but this summer has been CRAZY busy with lots of fun, fun, fun! Now that school has gone...

Does anybody hear him, does anybody see?

Sorry it has been awhile...(major understatement), but this summer has been CRAZY busy with lots of fun, fun, fun!  Now that school has gone back into session I am finding little tidbits of time to start blogging again.  Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog, it means alot.
With school in full swing, I am going to let that fuel this latest blog.  I don't ooften blog about my children.  I do this purposefully to protect them, but after today's events, I have been pondering a few things....  Let me begin by saying this!  I think educators ARE AMAZING.  They have in my mind a VERY difficult job..One of the hardest.  They have a responsibility to arm future generations with the tools they need to succeed.  Not only in that child's/persons someday profession but life as well.  To help infuse passion into their work and to tap boundaries that the student never knew they were capable of reaching.  With all of this hero responsibility also comes a pile of JUNK as well.  Not enough pay worthy of their job, endless needs for school supplies with NO budgets in sight, Disrespectful children, disobedient children, unreasonable parents, and the list goes on and on and on.
Being a parent of a child who is a little behind the curve, puts me into the category of parent who needs to have more than the average parent teacher communications.  Thus far we have been very lucky with the teachers we have been assigned.  They seem very interested in seeing my child succeed and get past these delays.  They are happy to give me communications to help iron out problems and come up with solutions to nip things in the bud.  Without rehashing the whole situation, here is the question I have been pondering...How often does it happen if a child is pegged as a trouble maker the previous year that they will continue carrying that scarlet letter into the next school year?  Even if there has been marked progress in that child's behavior.  I would love to think each year begins new, the slate is wiped clean, but try as we do sometimes we allow the past to dictate or fog the present.  This breaks my heart.  Living with my child on a daily basis, we tackle the good, the bad and the ugly and some days there is more of the bad and ugly...but each days brings more maturity and progress...  Sending them into the big bad world is scary and when your child is being blamed for something they HAVE done, but nothing is being done to get to the bottom of the situation or too find out the WHY is where I find fault.  I will never criticize the system when it is teaching my children to own their mistakes, this is critical.  You will find I will only question it when they are not being treated fairly and they were not asked the why they did what they did...that they had  reacted out of retaliation to an others  mean and vengeful bullying.   I know often it is easier to just see what the past is dictating the future to look like.  Being the parent of the child who doesn't fit in easily, who needs to have speech therapy, who needs to have extra reading help, ( I thank God every day these HELPS are available to him!) I Know there must be frustration.  On his part and that of the teachers, but I also know that kids can be EXTREMELY MEAN, especially if one in their midst is unlike the other, a  little bit weaker, a little behind..  I am a strong believer in second chances, but I also believe there are many who would say the same but really are weary of those in need of the second chance.

So here is my thought provoking questions....How loudly do you yell to demand fair treatment for you child?  If a situation arises who do you know (other than yourself and your husband) you can count on to advocate for your child?  And how hard are you willing to push the point without creating more problems for your child at the school?  And where does that fine line fall?.

Activate Super Mom Powers! Wait where's my cape?

Being a mom is the HARDEST job on the planet! Yes I said the Hardest! Noses that need wiping for the ump tenth time, walls that need scrubbing, cloths that need folding, dogs that need walking, spills that need cleaning, meals that need planning, groceries that need buying, meals that need cooking, carpools that need driving, diapers that need changing, time outs that need timing, stories that need reading, homework that needs doing......and on and on, You get the picture. In the middle of all this stuff, the time is needed to be found for your own personal and physical development and health, not to mention meeting the needs of your husband...(well that's a whole nother blog)... There are moments when the above can become a vortex of scheduling, duties and time management that seems to spiral out of control. And I would wager to guess that many of us do not handle the above with the grace of Joan Cleaver or Mrs. Brady. On One said above day in my life I had a dear Friend explain this to me and I have clung to her words of wisdom daily.
This particular day, things were WAY out of control. I had 3 babies all under the age of 4 and all in a type of diaper. My house was a wreck, the laundry was piling up and the baby was screaming. And I had just crumbled to the floor crying because I felt like I was failing at the one thing in my life that should come naturally. My fuse was burning out. And Lo and behold there was a knock on my kitchen door. I opened it to see my sweet, dear friend. Now I was glad to see her but I was MORTIFIED that she would see my house in this state of dis-order or worse see me in this condition. What she did next, I believe was ordained by God Himself. She took one look at me and ordered me to a bubble bath. I was not to reappear for ONE hour. I reluctantly followed her command. After my hour of bliss, I walked into a seemingly new world. My kids were all calm, clean and DRESSED! ( all before 11:00 am.) Dinner was started in the crock pot, lunch was made and a load of laundry had been started and folded. I looked and her and said "How"? She looked up from the table where she was doing a puzzle with my oldest and patted the chair next to her. She explained her secret to me with this principle. "Each day you begin with a basket of apples. and all day long you are passing out apples to the people in your life. Now if you don't do something daily to replenish your supply, you are going to be left with NOTHING to give."
I will not tell you that since that day I have perfected the art of replenishment. Some days are great and others, well they are still hard.. But I have recognized the importance of taking a few moments a day for myself. Whether it be to do a devotion, blog, read a book or just take a 30 minute bath in silence. :) It helps to keep me centered and most importantly helps me to be able celebrate the hugs and new adventures in my children's lives...

So thought provoking question for the day...How do you fill your apple basket? What steps are you doing TODAY to bring a sense of replenishment back into your life?

In an instant!

Have you ever had a moment when ALL is going great and then boom everything changes.  Without notice, without warning, and definently without your permission!  You are blindsided..trapped in a moment that seems to become frozen....a moment that will change your day or even your life forever. I would wager we all have had this moment on one scale or another.  I would even take that one step further and guess that some of us have let that moment DEFINE us.  I would go one step further and ask you  not let this moment define you but rather refine you.
     When my son was 18 months old that moment happend to me.  It was a regular day.  We got up, I got ready for work, I kissed my husband and children goodbye, and went to our resturaunt to prepare for the customers I would serve that day.  If you had warned me of what was to come, I would tell you, YOU were crazy.  I remember I had to take a delivery that day to a city about 20 miles away and since it was so far, my husband and son rode with me.  When they came to pick me up, I noticed that my son felt warm.  I didn't think much of it, except I hoped he wasnt getting sick!  But since he was smiling and his usual happy go lucky self I wasnt that worried.  I remember making a mental check mark to watch him and mentioned this to my husband.  After taking the delivery my husband and son went on thier merry way to pick up the girls from preschool and put the babies down for thier naps.  When they left everything seemed fine, but how quickly things change.
     About an hour and a half later my husband called me and said he thought that my son was acting a little strange and we probably needed to make an doctors appointmnet for him.  I told him I would do that and call him right back.  In the time it took to dial the phone and talk to a nurse, my husband beeped in on the other line.  I put the docs office on hold and when I swtiched lines my husbands paniced voice said...."come home NOW, I've called the rescue squad.  He (my son) is having a seizure and is turning blue."I remember switching lines and blurting out to the nurse what was happening and if she could get a doctor to meet us at the ER that would be great!"  I told my manager that I had to leave and I RAN!.  The car ride home was excrutiating.  I was pleading, screaming, sobbing for God not to take my Son.  I barely remember anything else except for that!..  When I got home my husband was outside holding my son waiting for the ambulance...which I beat By the way!.  The baby was stripped down to just his diaper, lips purple and his little arms, legs and head were just hanging there.  limp, lifeless.  My husband was trying to get him to respond, but there was NOTHING.  The ambluance pulled up and as if on cue my son vomited...and started breathing.  I rode with him to the hospital.  When we arrived we were told to wait for triage.  While waiting I looked at the paramadic and asked if this was normal.  Before he could respond, we were called back.  The nurse took one look at my son, asked if she could hold him and told me to follow her. She took off at a sprint, knocking over tables and sending doors flying.
      I remember that at first it was only one nurse and one doctor, and then like 20 medical personel.  I felt like I was in a dream.  All I could do was watch and plead with the Lord.  I remember them flying past me with his little body on a gurnie, twitching from the seizure that had gripped his body.  The nurse stopped and explained that they needed to be in a trama room and close to a crash cart.  A CRASH CART?   This couldnt possibly be happening to us.  How could God alllow this happen?  We were just begining the journey with our son!  We had NOT had enough time with him.  Why was the Lord not answering our pleas?  I FELT helpless.  In that moment I surrendered.  I told the Lord I trusted Him with whatever outcome He had planned for this moment.  I tumbled into a corner and cried...waiting and watching.. 45 LONG minutes later, it was over.  The seizures had stopped.  These were the answers we were given.  My son suffered from something called Febrial Seizures.  They happen when the body has a temp spike when there is a cold or virus in the body.  He would likely grow out of them by the time he was 3 years old.  My son only had 2 more seizures after that on a much smaller scale.  And then majically they never returned.  I always hold my breath when he gets sick.  I am always armed with tylenol and ready to battle with this dreaded seizure that almost stole his precious life.  While the commotion of that day has faded the memory remains clear.  Present, persistent, never changing...I can even still rememeber the distinct smell of the hospital. 
   Each persons moment is different.  Some are more extreme than others.  Some are more crippling.  I could have turned into a basketcase after that happened.  Blaming God and choosing not to see that He had graciously chosen to spare our sons life.  While the moment was excrutitaing, the outcome was peaceful..We were very blessed.  When I watch my son play or laugh, I remember how grateful I am for the Lords mercy.  Things could have ended so differently.  Even though it is hard to explain I was prepared for the Lords will.  While I obviously Pleaded for His mercy I understood that His will was perfect.  It gave me comfort.  I could envision my Heavenly Father standing with my Son stroking His hair, telling Him He was right there with Him....
   So here is my question....How do we deal with the things that we have NO control over.  The unexpected curveballs that life throws us.  What do you feel that the Lord  has equipped you with after your moment.  What has He placed in your arsenal of experiences to help others?  How do you stay connected to waht you have learned?  How do you keep growing? 
    While you ponder this, let me leave you with a verse:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
                                         -Jeremiah 29:11 NIV