Tag Archives: weight loss

Happy New Year

02 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

A few years ago I picked a WORD for the year that I wanted to see reflected in my daily life. It was RADIANT – a wise and amazing choice that gave me joy. Another year I chose JOY which lifted me up and cheered me on as I ventured in another year of aging.

I try not to over-think the next year’s word. I spend a little of each day as the end of the year approaches meditating on what word might best fit the new year. For some reason I did not pick a word for 2019, and found that I really missed seeing the little things that a word might show me. Because of this I went back through my photos and realized that my word should have been CREATIVE due to the amazing number of ways I was creative.

2919 Christmas Ball OrnamentIt began when I started making quilted ornaments from styrofoam ball. I used a YouTube video to teach myself how to do it. That lead a year-long effort making over 40 ornaments which I gave away to friends, family, teachers, or donated to raise money for my P.E.O. chapter or the Chattanooga Autism Center. My first ball was one of my favorites.

mushroom kale soupThe next thing I knew, I started a weight loss journey with Noom and discovered hundreds of wonderful healthy fulfilling recipes like this mushroom and kale soup with orzo pasta and within four months I lost 15 pounds and dropped two sizes.

 

handmade cardsThe next creative thing I discovered was handmade cards. I found fabric with pretty or cute patterns, cut them out and ironed on adhesive then trimmed them, peeled off the adhesive and ironed the pattern onto a card.

The next thing I did was paint the shutters on my house and then the front door. It’s kind of fun being known as the only house in our neighborhood with the yellow front door!new paint

Chickamauga Race

And if that wasn’t enough, I started walking on the treadmill at the gym and participated in the Chickamauga Chase walking two miles beeting my treadmill time by five minutes! Doesn’t sound too agressive, but before I started training, I could barely walk down the street to my granddaughter’s house without getted winded.

Dream Catcher

In April, I created a dream catcher for my granddaughter who has Autism.  By the time summer arrived, our backyard garden started to produce and I was able to create some delicious breakfasts with zucchini, cherry tomatoes and boiled eggs.

 

Lexi's dress

Sometime before school started I decided to make a dress for Emery Kate and then Lexi.  It has been over thirty years since I made a dress with my sewing machine.  It was such fun and so rewarding that they liked their dresses. EK's dress

 

 

I participated in my church’s first Trunk or Treat.  I rained so we brought it indoors to the Parish Hall.  Halloween Healthy TreatsOver 100 children visited with about 15 families hosting a table in lieu of a trunk.  I created mummy boxes of raisins, pumpkin cookies, and jack-o-lantern tangerines. They were all a big hit!

 

Finally, the last creative thing I did in 2019 was to finish Emery Kate’s afghan. I started crocheting it last year. She loves it! EK's afghan

 

Part of staying healthy at my age is staying mentally healthy as well as physically healthy. My morning routine of prayers, meditations and reading devotionals is key to my success. I discovered a little book by Catholic monk, Fr. Richard Rohr entitled Just This, a book of contemplative prayer. And although I am about finished with the book, it has occurred to me that I really like the idea of a contemplative mind.  According to Fr. Rohr, “The contemplative mind does not tell us what to see, ut teaches us how to see what we behold.”

That’s what I want! My sweet cousin, Patsy, says I’m the only person she know who doesn’t take things at face value. I question; I did deep; then deeper until I feel I have the answer. Contemplative prayer exemplifies this technique: read, study, read again, write, and of course pray. Maybe I’m a little OCD, who knows? If so, too bad I didn’t have this desire while in school or I would have made better grades! But one is never too old to learn new things.

And so this year I plan to stop my habitual thinking and work to broaden my horizons by usig my imagination. I begin by posting yesterdays message today. I kept telling myself to post, yesterday, but I was focused on cooking the blackeyed peas and my mother-in-law’s coleslaw recipe to which I added my father’s cheese grits recipe and fried ham bringing all the luck and prosperity I could muster up on one meal.

But then what is New Year’s Day really? For me, it’s about new beginnings and seeing things through a CONTEMPLATIVE mind.

Blessing for 2020

Clean Eating

15 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by in Clean Eating

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

My Garden Bounty

My son is 42 years old and recently was given a clean bill of health from his family doctor. His once high blood pressure has returned to normal and his life-long history of allergies have disappeared and he has the body of a 20 year old man. Two years ago he started a regime of eating clean. According to Fox News Health, “The primary principle of eating clean is to replace processed foods with fresh and natural foods. This means foods that haven’t had anything added to them, and haven’t had anything valuable taken away. “

“In addition to reading ingredient lists, so you can ditch products made with artificial additives, including flavors, sweeteners, colors, and preservatives, clean eating is about steering clear of foods made from genetically modified organisms, and those treated with hormones and antibiotics, and going organic when possible, to reduce foods grown with man-made pesticides and fertilizers,” writes Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian with master’s degrees in both nutrition science and public health.

She goes on to explain that clean eating is not a trend but a movement focusing on how food we eat affects our body as well as our planet. My son says he doesn’t “live to eat.” Instead he “eats to live.” He doesn’t eat clean to change or influence others but he is an inspiration. At the same time he began this way of life, he gave up alcohol and meat. He eats fish and sea food and eggs, but no dairy.

I do not eat clean totally, however I do read labels and try as much as possible to eat fresh organic foods especially ones I’ve grown myself. I do eat meat and drink a glass of red wine every day and I understand that high fiber foods that are good for me are also high in calorie. Combine that with the wine, odds are losing weight might not be in the picture.

However, like my son, I have the power to choose how I want to look, feel and weigh. When I turn to the Spiritual connection I have within I realize what a young girl suffering an eating disorder realized, “A turning point for me, I can remember,”  says Emily, “it was as if God was speaking to me directly, saying, ‘It’s not how you see yourself but how I see you that will heal you.’ And I started seeing more of what God sees. God doesn’t see imperfection, God sees good and only good.” And like my son, she went on to not only heal her eating disorder but also the need to wear glasses.

It occurred to me that if I combine my healthy eating habits with my connection to God and begin as Emily suggests: to see me as God sees me, I can then truly become the person I want to be.

A Divine Pattern of Perfect Life

28 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by in Pattern of Perfect Life, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

I recently took up walking at the local mall.  Walking 30 minutes at a fast pace, I seem to average 1.7 miles a walk.  My Fitbit tells me exactly how many “active” minutes I walk which is nice that when I make a pit stop at the restroom, it doesn’t count against me.

My goal was to lose weight.  I have not.  I have, however, dropped one size in my jeans; so that is nice.

Two months ago, I started using portion control and have pretty much trained my stomach that a bread and butter size plate is all I need.  I decided that it didn’t matter what I ate as long as it fit on the plate.  That may have been a mistake in thinking.  So two weeks ago I gave up drinking my few glasses of wine each night, mainly because of the sugar content.

I did not start drinking wine until my children grew up and left home.  But I have found I sleep better, feel better and except for one after a very stressful Girl Scout meeting, I have not even wanted to have a glass.  (And I did not on that particular evening either.)

My inherent wholeness is embodied in every cell of my body.  I give thanks for my body and that I can choose to take care of it as I see fit.  I avoid sweets and eat balanced meals that are healthy.  I enjoy quinoa, lentils, healthy fats, and garden greens from my backyard such as kale, beets, lettuces, arugula and herbs, year round.  I also enjoy seasonal foods during the summer such as tomatoes, squash, okra, strawberries, cucumbers, zucchini and squash.

God’s pattern for perfection is the blueprint of my life.  I am whole, well, and happy.  I plan to continue on this path, one day at a time.  And so it is.

Attitude vs Weight Loss

24 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Healthy Attitude Toward Weight Loss

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , ,

Everyone needs a cheerleader now and then while on their weight-loss journey.  Last week I heard from fellow travelers giving me good advice.  I learned that I’m not alone; that there are many people in this world going through the same issues I’m going through whether it is the meeting place, the people at the meeting, the leader or the number on the scale.

The past seven weeks at Weight Watchers has flown by.  I only missed one meeting when I was out of town.  I could have found a local meeting, but didn’t make the effort.  I’ve lost a total of 3.6 pounds.  When I was younger I’d most likely beat myself up for not losing more weight in seven weeks, but not so today.

The leader asked us to share ways to change how we think about ourselves, what mantra we us.  I said, “How I think about myself is more important than how much weight I’ve lost.  If I change how I think, then I change my life, and changing my life gives me the power to change the world.”  For a split second there was dead silence and then a few ooooh and awe’s as if others in the class were absorbing the idea that this was possible.

Yes, it is all about taking control of our destiny and putting ourselves first.  One lady said she had always put her husband and children first and then when she was in her thirties when her sons where still young boys she jumped on her riding mower and started cutting the grass on their property.  The boys would chase after her for this or that, and she’d said no, she was too busy cutting the grass.  It was the one place they couldn’t bother her, she said.  And she added she had the shortest grass in the county, to which we all laughed.

It’s nice to laugh about yourself now and then.  It is good for the soul.  So here’s one on me.  Remember my blog last week about sitting alone and no one speaking to me?  Well, I took everyone’s advice and moved to another row sitting on the inside seat.  That row filled up almost immediately and I had conversations with the women to my right and in front and behind me.  And what about the seat that I used to sit at?  Well, a woman sat in the exact spot and no one joined her until right before the meeting started when one other sat at the opposite end of the row.  I made a point of saying hello to her before I left.  It was the seat — not me!

One Pound after Another

18 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Taking the first step to a healthy life

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

, , , , ,

Last month I joined Weight Watchers to get back to my goal weight.  It has been much harder than I expected.  Not the program, the commitment to stay the course.  There are more days than I like to admit that I just give up.

Because I’m not heavy or even over-weight, I appear in good shape, but I’m not.  I am at the high end of my BMI and therefore very close to being over-weight.  And my body feels it; in my joints, my clothes, in my attitude.

My weight loss has been like a roller coaster going up and down the past five weeks.  The slightest thing can trigger a change; a trip to see the grandchildren, a birthday lunch out at a restaurant, and even the everyday schedules I maintain with my commitments to Girl Scouts, writing deadlines, housework, and taking care of my grandchildren.

The first week of meetings I had a woman actually confront me and say, “You don’t look like you need to lose weight.”  It was disconcerting to say the least, but I explained to her that my attending the meetings was to reach my goal weight and be healthy.  She looked at me with a blank stare.

As the weeks progressed I noticed a pattern at the meetings.  Everyone sits in the same place or close to it.  Some are friends, mother/daughter, and husband/wife.  Many are life-time members and I would venture a guess that of the average twenty-five who attend the meetings on a regular basis, 90% are technically obese and of these members, 75% are my age (62) or older.

I am amazed at their grit and determination to improve their health by committing to the program.  I am proud to sit in that room and listen to their stories, their trials, and tribulations.  They are not unlike me when you take the weight factor out of the problem.  Yet, it is clear, that I’m not one of them.  They don’t see me as a partner in this journey – at least not completely.

I noticed yesterday that no one sits on my row of chairs until the last minute.  I don’t think they are avoiding me on purpose, but it happens week after week.  I thought about sitting in another chair next week to see what happens, but what purpose would that serve?  This is not sixth grade and a popularity contest.  This is my life.

The leader asked me to share a story I told her before the meeting and I noticed the ice crack a little when a few people turned and smiled at me when I shared my story.  I don’t need the other’s approval.  All I need is my own.  I know that what I’m doing is a step in the right direction and I’m going to keep on keeping on, as the saying goes – one pound after another.