Weigh In - Wednesday

NO, I don't plan to bore you to death with thoughts on weight loss - I joined a yahoo group with friends who are in the same boat as I, and don't mind my boring THEM. ::snort::

However, I've been thinking and praying a lot about this weight loss thing. I've done the Weigh Down and Thin Within route for nearly 10 years. I'm the type of person who follows these sorts of directions pretty much to the letter. I don't do so in any other area of my life (snort) but I tend to think that the weight loss experts have some secret that I'm unable to crack. When they said "don't eat unless you are hungry", I didn't eat until my stomach growled. I've been telling people I don't eat much and that I work out and I KNOW they thought I was deceiving myself. I wrote it all down for a month and saw the dietitian. You know this part. She said I wasn't eating enough. You know that too. I struggled with this whole "eat whether you're hungry or not, your body needs fuel" because for 10 years I've been led to think that to eat when you weren't stomach hungry was gluttony...and it may be....

Somewhere along the line, however, my body quit giving hunger signals. It did. I've known others who say that their bodies were hungry all the time so they couldn't do Weigh Down/Thin Within....but I think I'm the only one who I've heard say "I'm never hungry - that won't work"....because when they said not to eat until your stomach growled....I didn't. I easily went 2 - 3 days without food. I often had one meal a day and my portions were small.

However, since you hear repeatedly "If you aren't losing weight it's simply a matter of eating less and working out more", I continued to cut back on food and up the work outs...with no results. I was sure that my portions were the "right sizes". I know that many of share how "small a portion really is" but I've been surprised at how "big" a portion really is.

I was TERRIFIED to add 3 more eating times to my day.....because I've been so CAREFUL and have either gained weight (6 lbs in one week), lost huge amounts in one week or stayed the same for so long....even being very careful. I prayed about it. I decided I would try it for a month and see what happened.

After the first two days I realized that I simply COULDN'T add all that food at once. I was sick, bloated, and felt terrible. I am supposed to be getting 10 - 12 servings of produce a day, adding two snacks and breakfast (they can be produce). Debbie really stressed breakfast and said it could be a serving of fruit if that is all I could make myself eat. She shared that there ARE studies that show that there are cycles as to when YOUR body will handle food best. She shared that she can have a glass of OJ in the a.m. and her blood sugars are way off (diabetes) but if she has the same OJ in the afternoon her sugars remain stable. SO....she said I may not be a breakfast eater but I should at least be sure to get my water and fruit in. Since I couldn't make myself eat those snacks when I wasn't hungry, I decided to focus on the breakfast and be faithful with it. IF I do feel hungry or want a snack, I make it produce. (Except for the Chocolate Toffee Almond that is my nightly deployment surival reward).

The first week I stayed the same. I was thankful that I'd not gained a ton but was feeling like this was really not helping me and I may need to do it "my way". I continued praying and felt that I had committed to one month. Today was weigh in day again. I lost three pounds this week. I'm not hungry. I'm eating a LOT (by my way of thinking). I have more energy. Hmmm.....I'm guessing she was right and that you can't eat the way I was eating for an extended period of time without your body going into survival mode.

The Thyroid Diet book I'm reading really stresses the importance of speeding up my metabolism....because it's sluggish. I don't think I'll try all the supplements she mentions - I shy away from those. But the nutritional thoughts she shares match the things the dietitian said. I think I'm on to something....I'm optimistically hopeful to actually REACH my goal this year.

Fashion Sense

We dressed Stacia in a darling outfit...little fitted jacket with fur around the collar....

SHE stripped the jacket off and went for Arielle's jacket. ::snort:: Sort of washed her out, didn't I?

Cel-e-bra- tion time, C'Mon!!!!

Yay! They are DONE for another year! 2006 taxes are flying through cyberspace. I remembered the Children's AK PFD money at the last moment and had to fix that, but I think it is all done! I found enough deductions with the help of Turb Tax to get quite a healthy return. I've proposed to Mike that the $400 filing fee that several friends have been quoted should go to ME! I could buy a new grain mill and dehydrator....or I could go to a Wing Chaplain's conference with him I suppose.....though, oh yeah, I'd need to figure out what to do for the little ones....that's right...that's why I don't go with him on these business trips. LOL We had one blessed year when the older girls were still living at home, driving, and not minors....and we took advantage of it. LOL

Workout!

I usually wake up, do Bible Study, stagger into the kitchen and make the fabled "breakfast" that my children must have, and THEN...the older 3 begin school, Arielle and Nolan clean up the kitchen and Zander plays with Stacia...*I* go work out...either a bike ride or lately a video.

This a.m. I woke up with so much extra time that I decided to work out before breakfast. Zander and Stacia are the first ones up. Well...NO...Jamin is up writing but his writing time is sacred.

Against my better judgement I let Zander in to the room where I was "werking". He watched. Carefully. Then Stacia was pounding on the door. I let her in. She must be in the middle of things. I was avoiding her, still not babying my should so not doing arm movements, trying desperately not to step on Stacia instead of the step...you get the picture.

Zander cheered me on with encouraging comments such as, "Alright MOM - do the arms like this" and "Mom they are better than you are!"

I quit at 30 minutes today....I think I deserve some sort of credit for surviving that long with my audience. ::snort::

PAPERWORK!!!

I'm drowning in paperwork!

We DID manage school today.

I finished details on the trailer purchase.

I filled out Josiah's FAFSA...only to discover NOW that some of the info is wrong but I'm trusting all of you who say they'll give me a chance to amend it before hauling one of us off to prison!

I had to redo our taxes....funny thing...Turbo Tax agrees with me that we don't get the child credit...but then THEY give it back as an "additional" child tax credit. I would think the government could streamline this whole thing. This is so silly. I really like the idea of a set percentage for taxes...I can't imagine how nice it would be if we didn't have all these silly forms, exemptions etc. Just pay the percentage on your gross income and be done with it.....anyway - $1,000 per child under 17 is a chunk of change in our home....though I still don't get WHY they say "you don't qualify", and then turn around and give it back to you AFTER you fill out ANOTHER worksheet. I also am not sure why they think a 17 year old costs less to raise than an infant......I can guarantee my 17 yo costs more to feed than my 7 year old. ::snort:: I suppose it's one of those mysteries of the universe.

I fielded phone calls from the RV dealer. Mike let me know that I got the trailer at 8K below blue book - not bad. I didn't even play hard ball...I DID shamelessly set out to charm them even though they called me "little lady". I simply told them that my dh was deployed, pining away dreaming of camping in TX, and I'd like to let him know I had his dream trailer purchased. Then I asked for the bottom line price because I wasn't interested in bargaining. The dealership has been calling all day offering to throw in more free things they think I need. Maybe we'll have to try this next time we need to buy a vehicle. They are quite surprised that I told them I'd bring a check in and didn't want to mess with their financing.

I also dealt with calls and such for produce co-op.

Bible study tonight.....had fun visiting afterward but had NO idea what time it was. The clock in our room was missing. I'll need to take my own clock next time. I obviously can't tell when I've done an hour's worth of talking. ::snort::

The Rest of Monday!

We did get couch school done. Couch school consists of the things that I do with the children - most of which are done on the couch around here (history, science, read alouds, phonics)...

I took the 3 little ones and went to the RV dealer. They wanted to see a trailer like the one I bought, but it won't be here until Thursday. We left the dealer and went to Sam's Club. I picked up some chicken so I could cook tonight. I made oven fried chicken....oven fries...salad...fruit....

I had to leave before dinner was done to meet the Shop Natural truck. Our order was small this month - which was good as we met the truck later than normal. Adrienne and her children came over and helped inventory and sort.

Heather came over to pick up her "stuff" and fixed my camera...again. Yippee! I would have missed THIS photo if she'd not stopped by....
Stacia climbed into a teeny, tiny box...it holds 12 boxes of mac and cheese...and got STUCK!!!! See the lollipop in her mouth? It's made from fruit juices....I thought I was buying a little bag for treats. It was 3 oz....I thought...but it must have been 3 lbs...because we got a huge canister of them. I plan to take them to Mike's office. He has a ceramic pig that is full of candy...I'll add these so there is something somewhat better for the children when they visit. I'll put some in the diaper bag....hmmmm....who knows because we don't really do lollipops...but STACIA DOES! ugh.

The younger 4 and I read some out of Jungle Book and they called it a day. Oh wait - my dear college sister friend called. She informed me that what may have happened with the credit card is that they suspended it because I made so many payments in one month. I made 3 payments...big ones....and umm.....since the patriot act that's a huge red flag for money laundering...so now I know. I guess one payment a month...and I'm not sure how having this account so that I could make the payment for local things from it will help. I certainly don't want them freezing the account every month I make more than one payment. ::snort::

My shoulder is feeling miraculously better. It still twinges and aches but I can move....I worked out today without the arms...which worked out well since I used the step and needed to focus on my two left feet! ::snort::

Jamin is creating a weight circuit for me to do. He's excited. I told him to remember I'm old. He wanted to know what areas I need to work on most. I told him to LOOK at me....maybe I should let him off the hook and tell which areas I want to work on. ::snort::

Tomorrow...taxes, school, FAFSA, loans....

TODAY

It's nearly 1:30 p.m. and we've not done couch school.

I have applied for two loans. I did deal with the credit card company again. This time they made MIKE call them....no comment. I've talked to the county courthouse and we are exempt from the sales tax on buying a trailer here. I'll have to look into HOW to register the trailer in AK next....but it can be done. I've checked on insurance for the trailer. I've talked to the salesman 3 times....we'll see what he finally nails down....I don't like "dealing". I have fielded several produce co-op phone calls. I've printed invoices for Shop Natural co-op tonight....and I'm going to go eat lunch, get Stacia down and do SCHOOL.