setting small goals

i started tracking my eating on www.sparkpeople.com about 4 weeks ago.  at first i just tracked and didn't try really hard to cut back.  i also purposed to exercise a bit more since i had gotten a little lazy over the winter.

after two weeks my weight was the same.  and i was still logging on and keeping track of my food.  thats an achievement!!

so on the third week i decided to start setting little goals.  on week three i set 2 goals.

1.  keep my breakfast calories at 300

2.  up my walking time to 50 minutes  5 times a week.

the results are in:  i lost 2 lbs this past week---great!!!!

so for week four i added another goal:  the keep my snack calories at 300. this is going to be a tough one.  i am an evening snacker!!!!  so i added something else to this goal:  i have to be DONE eating by 7 pm.  so it looks like i should be going to bed earlier.

setting small goals and trying to get them to become habit is my purpose.  i probably will stick with these goals without making more for a few weeks.

so to summarize

breakfast 300 calories
snacks 300 calories total
walk 50 min. 5x week
no food after 7 pm.

i have been taking the turmeric golden paste for a week now instead of ibuprofen (for sciatica and all around aches and pains)

my observations:  while i'm not pain free, i am also not 25 years old.  so some aches and pains are normal and to be expected.  however i really do feel like it has helped with the sciatica pain in my leg.  the burning pain when i walk is gone!  i have also noticed that i'm in a better mood. this could just be from the eating right and exercising, but the turmeric is supposed to be helpful in that respect also.
soooo, i'm going to continue to take it.

there is one more kind of weird thing that i have also decided to do.  i have decided to not get my haircut until i reach my goal weight.  its a control issue with me.

me and my turmeric golden paste!!!

until next time....................

i am such a slacker when it comes to this blog.  i just can't decide what it should be.  

hmmmmmm

so i am going to make it a health improvement blog.  

at least for the moment.

heehee

i'm fat.  

there.  i said it.  

i've always been fit.   yeah.....fat and fit.......

but then.......

i got older.   bleh.

almost 56.  can you believe it?  i don't look a day over 55!!!

i can't ignore it anymore.  

i'm fat.  its okay though.........i've got a plan

i'm gonna eat less and i'm going to walk more.  sounds simple enough!  i think i can do this!!!!

first i have to be honest.   in public........

i'm 56, 5'8" and my weight this morning was 249.  last time i had a checkup (4 years ago--i go every 5 years unless something comes up)

anyway, last full physical had all numbers still in the "okay" range.  who knows if they still are.  i sure don't want to know :)

in the last 5 or so years i've developed some sciatica pain.  i know its because i'm weighing down my body.  its purely compression.  therefore i do believe that being lighter would be helpful all around.

so.............i'm going to try to blog about this journey.  as a way of being accountable.  i started an account on sparkpeople.com.  its kinda like myfitnesspal.  it helps you log your calories and exercise.

and in the last couple of weeks i've come to realize that i am deficient in the protein category.  this is important because its the protein that makes you feel less hungry.  

so i will try to blog often about my struggles and successes and maybe i can be helpful to someone else. 

i also started a trial of taking golden paste made of turmeric for my aches and pains.  i'm in day 2.  so far it hasn't killed me. :)   i want to find an alternative to ibuprofen and this is touted as one.  

i will keep you informed.   wish me luck!!!!

oh!  and the most important reason of all for me doing this!!!  i'm holding one of them in the picture above (sophie 2 weeks old today and my first granddaughter) .  my grandchildren.  they call me bubby. and i want to be able to go on bear hunts (pretend) for a long, long, time with them.

my boys

  

traditions 2

a christmas tradition i started this year with the little boys.
we used to do this with the kids when they were younger.
candy houses.
i felt that they were too young for real candy houses, so i baked really large gingerbread flat houses.
then i set up the dining room for the parents to help their littles decorate the houses with lots and lots of candy.
it went awesome.  everyone loved it and they want to do it again!

i kept it simple with canned frosting , m & m's nonpariels, gumdrops, necco wafers, mike and ikes, smarties, twizzlers, kisses, and starlights.  each boy also got a candy santa.

joe wanted to eat his santa, but i don't think he did.

ethan took his work seriously.

such a fun family project!

julie is expecting so she got to complete one for baby sophia!

this bubby was really happy that they all enjoyed it!  i look forward to doing it year after year!

new traditions

since i didn't spend thanksgiving with any of my grandsons, i decided to begin a new tradition.  something we could do every year on the sunday after thanksgiving.

we decorated a wildlife tree.
since they are all really small and seriously messy, i premade all of the decorations this year.  as they get older we will transition to them helping me make them.

this is what i made

orange slices with pipe cleaner hangers

half oranges with the insides scooped out and filled with birdseed and pipe cleaners for handles

peanuts in the shell and fresh cranberries strung on thread and then tied in a loop

pine cones with peanut butter spread on them and then rolled in bird seed, again, pipe cleaners twisted onto the end to hang it with

all of the boys (and the grownups) loved decorating the tree which is located at the edge of the lawn.

bubby and grampa with our boys

**this morning when i woke up  i looked out and saw several different kinds of birds flying about the tree, landing and pecking at the seed. 

traditions and change

holidays

we had our traditions  

when we were raising our family

sometimes we would be with extended family.  

sometimes it would be just us.  

then we moved to a place where we didn't have anyone but us. 

but we still celebrated holidays together. 

there were five, then four, then three.  now two.

and we are more flexible.  it's not that we don't have traditions, we just know that things change.

and we would rather create our own new traditions than take the leftovers of the day.

this time of life when you have to share your family with others,

 you never get used to it. 

happy thanksgiving!

  

how feminism destroyed America

The United States of America

it truly had the potential to be the greatest nation on earth.

under God.

indivisible.

but then something happened.  history repeated itself as it has from the very beginning.

in the beginning, God gave us a perfect paradise to live in with Him.
but He gave us a line that we were not to cross.  we were warned.

don't. eat. the. apple.
you will surely die.

the woman was deceived.  she disobeyed.  the man did not lead.  he went along.
eden was no longer possible.  our relationship with our God was changed.

fast forward to america.  struggling nation.  God fearing, God loving, the majority identifying
as christians--followers of Christ.

then we do it again.
the woman is deceived all over again.  she believes the lie that she can do whatever she pleases in this life...........

even kill her own offspring.

and the man doesn't lead.  doesn't protect.  he goes along.  encourages.
why not?  sex with no strings attached!!!!  woohoo!

this way of life
this fornicating and killing.
it leads people further and further away from their God.

to this time.
now.
when the majority of americans still identify as christians---but they do not follow Christ.

God will not be mocked.
because of our collective evil ways He will not protect us. we will be exiled from His goodness in this world.  we will be taken captive.

all because the woman believed the lie.

here lies the United States of America:  killed by feminism

what is the truth?

men and women are equal in God's eyes.  but the world's eyes are different
the world's eyes are full of lust and lies.

women are now used and abused more than ever before in history, and they are deceived.  they don't even realize this freedom they have is the real bondage.

they have believed the lie that motherhood, home keeping, and marriage are just meant to enslave them.
women are left unprotected because they have stepped out from under the God designed model of accountability and protection.
they give it all away so they can be "equal"

they kill their offspring and think they have gotten away with murder.
but they haven't.  they will suffer in anguish forever.

and because of the horrific practice of abortion; state sanctioned murder of our most innocent and vulnerable citizens, we have all stepped out from under the protection of our God.

their silent screams are heard

their mothers killed them.  their father's did not save them.

and their lives did matter.

more than all others.

terror

God's promises
they are hidden in plain view
no matter how the nations rage
and the world descends into turmoil

God. has. this.

my reading this morning
matthew 21:33-46
parable of the evil farmers

it spoke to me
in this time of trying to make sense
of terror attacks

it told me that we should never back down in proclaiming

that Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone.

of our nation, of our church, of our lives.

it promises me that all who "stumble" on this cornerstone WILL BE brought to ruin.

i can say what i believe no other way.

Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to God and the Kingdom of God belongs only to those who trust in Jesus.