HEALTH~ME In Pics From the YR!

I'm so excited to be 75#s down and so I wanna show off my progress in pics~here's ME throughout the year!

This was taken last night at church, July 3, 2011.  Not all fixed up, but the REAL ME LOL!

 Taken at the park on a blustery day May 2011 ;-))

This was taken Feb 2011~you can't see my whole DOUBLE CHIN in this one!

You can in this one~whole family ;-))

Another one from Feb 2011 with my Mama ;-))

 Christmas pic with the kiddos in early Dec 2010

Nov 29, 2010 w/hub!

Nov 2010!

Aug 2010 with a friend ;-))

Taken in July 2010

 

Where it all began in April 2010~75lbs ago!

HEALTH~I Must Be on a Kick!

Okay, I keep writing about food~WHAT I'm eating or trying to eat, so I must be either on a kick or obsessed! But either way, I have to figure out HOW to eat in a sound, HEALTHY, God honoring way. . . I ck'd out several more sources..not so sure about

http://www.carbohydrateaddicts.com/ Which lays out a food plan of three meals and a potential snack~for those needing one...all planned and purposed. The first two called Complementary Meals are essentially 3-4 oz protein and two cups of low carb veggies.  Then there is a Reward Meal consisting of balanced non diet food that is whole, lean, non sugared, but in the quantities and character of the chooser. I dunno! SEEMS rationale, but in fact, is scarey...and the website seems old and out of date to me..WHAT do you think?

Then I found http://www.livestrong.com/article/395701-foods-that-help-heal-insulin-resistance/
which seems to be a little less extreme, but advocates eating carbs and doesn't talk about limiting them EXCEPT in the instances of over processed and refined (faster metabolizing ones that give fast high spikes to blood sugar.) Oh brother! WHERE IS good sound info when you need it?  WHAT is your thoughts?

I have NOT had a dietician consult for this condition. The most I got was leave the sugar alone with this diagnosis. Everything I can find mostly to read couples insulin resistance with Diabetes and treats it pretty much the same way...Okay, so I can live with that.  But, the concern I have is being SURE I'm lowering my carbs to an acceptable level that will heal my body. I have inflammation going on~literally have pain in my tendons and muscles AND I have neuropathy~all sugar related. BURNING FEET is no fun! And yes, they're improved, but it does seem that at times I still have it in a milder less intense form..I'd like to get rid of it altogether! WHOOT!

Okay, I'm heading on to do more reading. 

I'm LOOKING FOR my miracle today and doing my part. The Lord will do His I am sure!

BTW~today is week 35 NO WHITE and NO SUGAR (processed or goodies!) YAY ME!

Hugs
SisterT

HEALTH~NOT Reinventing the Wheel!

I'm sorta stuck.  Not totally, but sorta, b/c I have insulin resistance and so I need low carb in my life...but it goes against all the whole grain LOW FAT info of the past 25 years that I know.  I did learn about three years ago that all carbohydrates turn into or PROCESS as sugar in the body~hence why whole grains are better than more milled varieties b/c they process slower~MORE FIBER equals slower...okay, I get this...but, what and how can I eat?  I am morbidly obese. YUP~afraid so.  And SisterT is redoing her life, so how and wha?  I NEED INFO...

So since I don't have to go to a chemist nutritionist to figure this out (HOPEFULLY!!) I've done some web surfing and I want to lay it all out here for YOU AND ME...interested?? Okay, if you are, here we go~

I have learned first that insulin resistance in when my cells don't accept the insulin my pancreas produces nor the sugar that it will or is supposed to carry to those cells...as a result, sugar circulates at higher than normal levels in the blood causing high blood sugars...OKAY~something like a first form of diabetes.  Yeh, THAT word...NOT THRILLED, but TRUTH...and truth is knowledge.  So I'm living with this. Now, b/c the sugar isn't effectively sent into those cells that IF IT HAD, would give me BOUNDING WONDERFUL energy, IT INSTEAD goes to FAT. FAT. YES, I said, FAT...uh...NO WONDER! And so I'm fat. FATTER than EVER IN MY LIFE...well, okay...119lbs down from my highest EVER wt...but FATter than EVER! Soo what to do now?

I have to eat, right? TRUE.

I have to live, right? TRUE.

In researching this, I'm coming to the conclusion that a LOW-CARB diet is going to be best for me.  LOW meaning none of that really high intense carb stuff that has given me the CARB COMA for quite a few years now, and IF I had known then..oh how diff my life might have been!

So here's The Low-Carb Food Pyramid I found. Actually they have quite a few resources that TO ME seem better than the American Diabetes Assoc.  GO FIGURE!  HOW reliable is it? Well, it's adding up with other sources, and I plan to ck it all out~or as much as I can find.

I like the Low-Carb Food Pyramid. I have always believed that fruit and veggies FRUIT CARB (approx) COUNT ARE ESSENTIAL and PTL I've always eaten quite a bit of it~okay, too much! B/C I can overeat on celery..but I will tell you that God has blessed me with relatively good health for a person LIKE ME of 'size.'  I attribute this to #1 the LORD, and #2 the way I eat..loads of FRESH unprocessed whole foods/virtually NO MIXES or pre-prepared (BOX FOOD) stuff for me.  I can explain more of this later, but for now, just know that I do eat mayo and mustard, bought spices, some bought pickles, but overall~my food is made by us out of whole foods, and some of it we grow ourselves...and can or freeze.  MORE on that another time.

Okay~soo at this MIDDLE AGE time for me~WHAT ARE YOU doing for your health? HOW's your carb situation: TOO MUCH or ...???

HEALTH~My Progress AS OF LATE...

It's been a little bit since I last blogged in about my health pursuit progress. LOADS has gone on~but none of it bad, just busy.  I've continued to exercise even added walking our block and continuing to do more and more in our home as well as running the streets shopping and having a GREAT TIME! My food continues to be white FREE~no sugar (try very very very hard to abstain from it in ingredients as well) and flours (same as sugar!)  I still eat a bit too much, but it's coming down slowly.  My stomach organ must  be shrinking b/c hunger is improving as well.  The biggest news is that recently I saw a new cardiologist to ck my arythmia and had a battery of test. PTL I am FINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the doc said, KEEP DOING WHAT you are doing! Talk about encouragement! AMAZING!! Overall, as of about 3 weeks ago my wt is down 61lbs since April 2010! For this too, I praise the Lord! But folks, I have so far to go yet~will you continue to pray for me? 

Gotta LOVE Maxine!

I am continuing my 12Step program for overeaters and food addictions. I fully realize that some would be uncomfortable with such a relationship, but I believe that God is using the program to draw me EVER closer to Him and helping me to give Him, my food~DAILY! While OA does allow for the nonbeliever, it is a spiritual program and points so strongly to the Lord giving the nonbeliever a place to begin putting into place the workings of faith that a relationship is built on the Lord~in fact, most christians I know with weight issues, me being one~generally never considered GIVING GOD CONTROL over our food...until now, it's precisely WHAT I'm doing! He's in control of it all. AND then, that Serenity Prayer~do you know it? Have you read it IN ITS ENTIRETY? Oh do yourself a favor and read it...my fave part, 'accepting as He did this sinful world' and 'accepting hardships as the PATHWAY to PEACE.' Those are so powerful and really make that first stanza much fuller than just it alone! 

GOD IS to be praised! For once, in my life, I can believe that a 'normal' weight is possible FOR ME...I have HOPE! HOPE that the Lord can restore me to sanity as His Word promises. ALL the OA involvement in my life is Christian based and many of the ppl I am in association with are believers.  This is a comfort as well.  Does OA endorse christianity? NO.  It will embrace whatever, but when reading the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Blue Book (AABB) there are such beautiful christian principles.  AMAZING! 

THANKS for your prayers!

Just this week I purchased a RED beautiful Huffy bike for me~chrome fenders too!

Thanks for stopping by~
GOD IS GOOD!
SisterT

SisterT's BEEN Cheated!

Yes, I have. Life cheats us everyday....but thoughts of my blessings have to over ride these feelings that accompany the pain of those losses.  I can tell you that being cheated STINKS! nor is it fun~

I ran across a sir name that reminded me~ONLY REMINDED ME of that gal I babysat for with her 6...READ THAT RIGHT~SIX...awful little wild kiddos...and I had been promised pay...but as a teenager, got nothing except a life's lesson that some people are not kind and lie...THEN I think sometimes about that homeschool VENDOR chick who sells STUFF ON THE NET who I paypal'd a payment to~THIS PAST FALL~who has decided b/c her schedule was quite too busy...to NEGLECT to send me the items I ordered....I've thought about Telln' It! to you all just who and what...I have plenty of 'proof'' such as her corresponding emails~but nooooo! SisterT isn't going to STOOP that low.  $15 and some change JUST isn't worth THAT kind of blight on my life and blog!  But you have to know that some people are truly full of THEMSELVES..and this has got to be the problem~SELFISHNESS which is namely, sin.  And would it be right for SisterT to decide to SIN in reciprocation?  I have a fella in my church who by the grace of God I've not taken OUT...not literally, of course...but he's HARMED ME and MINE...and trust me, (WINK*WINK) THIS GRACE I issue IS from God! b/c SisterT's natural...yeah, it's natural to wanna *fix* it, inclination is to want to grab him by the throat and put us BOTH out of our misery in letting him KNOW just what he has done~but, again....I bring these up so you can see that my cheats aren't some fabrication of my mind...and neither is the GRACE coming from God through ME!

While being cheated isn't fun~it's very painful, I have to look UP and think of that portion of the Serenity Prayer that is just the BOMB:  Taking as HE DID, this sinful world and seeing hardships as the PATHWAY to peace! What power are in those words!  You see, if we didn't have CAUSE for war, peace would come too cheaply~and it's in the struggles that grace flourishes!

Here's that WHOLE Serenity Prayer~having never been one for 'rote' prayers, this one grows on me all the time:

Thanks for coming by today~leave me a shout out as I'd love to hear your thoughts~
hugs!

Love/Hate~Rethinking MY Thinking

I'm a daughter, wife, mom, friend, pastor's wife...teacher..artist...blogger..uh...well, the list goes on to include past professions and future ambitions, but...WHAT in the world am I thinking about LIFE?  Am I squandering it away sitting in my chair typing on this keyboard and concerning myself with things that really don't matter while LIFE is moving~active~NOT PASSIVE~but going and doing all around me? I have a love relationship with my computer and have had since about three years ago when I got MY OWN laptop~I'm on #2, (don't hate me...LOL) but WHAT have I allowed this box to steal from me and more importantly MY FAMILY? 

I adore my children and my husband. They are the MOST important ppl in my life~but when I have neglected them for the life of escape of reality in this world~whether it was crafting or some other EVEN WORTHY cause, I have left them to move into another realm. Yes, they are all capable of getting along without me for a season or time, but is THIS the use for which I have been created and the PURPOSE to which I need to focus my resources? I THINK NOT.

In fact, I am rethinking my methods and my goals. So much has gone on these past few months. First, we totally rerouted out schooling methods from a mommy based education where I educated them to an online public school done in the convenience of our home~we have remodeled space in our home to acomodate this change AND then all the changes I've personally done to work on my health~AND I FEEL better than I have in years! Sooooo now, it's time to ACT~to jump out of this chair and GO~LIVE~L I F E!  This chair and this cyberspace world IS NOT LIFE for me. I need activity and while I am so thankful for my readers and those of you who share my passions and interests, I must say that it all has to be put into perspective! PERSPECTIVE! PRIORITY~And I'm not overly OVERLY concerned with bloggy numbers, but let me CONFESS a twinge of pain when I read that so and so gets this recognition~so and so is TOP WHATEVER MOMMY BLOGGY PERSON...b/c FRANKLY this blog~this realm of life comes at too high a cost for so little (please understand) LITTLE return in the THINGS that MATTER! Things like my family and faith...MY BLOG is ONLY a tool..ONLY...and you know, it's NOT even MY JOB. For some it is~but by cracky if THIS IS MY JOB then where oh WHERE is the MONEY? Let me tell you, there are some busting down some bucks who do this, but I'm either NOT good enough OR God has other plans for me b/c either way~I tired of padding other people's purses, and so I do not measure up! NO, I DO NOT! Sooooo WHY am I still visiting blogs and participating in stuff that brings me very little? Is it that I AM THAT generous? Maybe. Maybe, I am. But what WHATwhat are my goals with my blog? AND WHAT PRIORITY should this little spot of cyberspace hold for me and my LIFE???

I'm really rethinking my thinking, and you know...I am believing that CHANGES are coming...stay tuned and we shall see...Right now, I'm gonna jump off here and go hunt down my dusting rag (...LOL...not exactly exciting is it?) and get going...Thanks for reading and offer up a few prayers that God will show me His divine will for my life INCLUDING my blog.
SisterT;-))

Just Talkn'...

Sometimes you just gotta talk.  I do or else it will all bottle up inside and I fear I'll go MAD...mad at everybody~mad at life~just plain ole MAD~Today my world of green grass and fifty degree weather turned BACK into an ice/snow castle.  Oh it's pretty, but I'm longing for spring! And well, we are back to the dry dry heat running full force in our home~yeah, we're nice and warm...but...I WAS HANKERING for SPRING!

Yeah, the ice and snow HAD all melted away~all but just the tallest of PILES where those essential snow plows had done their job to keep the paths/roads/ways as clear AS THEY COULD~but today it's all OUT THERE again...a desert of snow with a layer of slippery slidey ICE~just enough to take one's life in a bad bad fall.  And falling would be really bad...but alas, Sister and her family so far have gotten to stay home and snuggle and cuddle up right in here~but I had sooo wanted to get out of this place~to be free and roam the wide green areas of terrain...but not yet...

Guess the old groundhog decided winter needed to hang around a bit longer...maybe he wanted a longer nap...Well, picture postcard winters are okay~but it's enough, now~ LET THE GREEN begin!

And it will...it's coming...I'm waiting... ...

For the LOVE of Dolls~

Bet you didn't know SisterT is a doll collector? I love 'em! In fact, I have so many that I'm pretty picky over WHICH ones I display~and I even sew and crochet for them sometimes~Well, being a collector, I love Barbie by Matel too~In fact, I have a few of them myself~even a few from my childhood~Bet you played with one too~most of us did! Well, interesting FUN FACT is that Barbie and KEN are 'getting BACK together' LOL! Oh yeah! LOL...sooo let's see HOW the publicity spin will work in connection with romance, marriage and family for the long-time duo!


Here's the article I found...HERE on the Barbie/Ken reunion


and a little FuN Barbie history~TOO CUTE!


MORE Silly Barbie FUN!
Gotta go FIND MY Barbie...oh yeah!! LOL...