Home, Sweet Home

Lately we’ve been a quest to create a healthy lifestyle.  As part of this quest, I’m making my best effort not to use any prepackaged spice mixes/blends since most contain very high levels of sodium.  I’ve been cooking with fresh onion, garlic, and herbs.  Too keep from spending a crazy amount of money in the produce aisle at the grocery store, I planted my own container herb garden.

I chose an 18′ planter with Miracle Grow potting soil with 7 different herb plants.

So what did I plant?

I have Parsley too, but because it doesn’t need full sun I planted it in a flower planter as a greenery accent.  I also planted a few sweet onions and some garlic in the flower bed.

I know there’s usually a Thursday Thirteen thing going around in the blog world, but today I want to be different.  Instead of making a list of random items, I wanted to list some of the very many things for which I’m thankful.  So, in no particular order, I’m thankful for…

1. My health.
2. My husband.  My rock.  My best friend.
3. My job.
4. My Savior.
5. My dogs (weird, I know).
6. My family.
7. My home.
8. Good food.
9. Reliable transportation (I just hope my car doesn’t break down on me tomorrow!)
10. A wonderful church.
11. My friends.
12. A comfortable place to lay my head at night.
13. Love.  All kinds from all people.
14. Dr. Pepper (even though I’m not supposed to have it right now).
15. The internet.
16. DVR
17. a feeling of safety and security.
18. Spring.
19. Flowers.
20. Life.

It’s frustrating when you do the right thing but you’re made to feel like you’ve done something wrong. Ugh!  I’ll be glad when this week is over!

Dear Sony,

I love your cameras.  I have a sickness that requires me to purchase additional lenses and accessories that compliment my camera.  I love my 230, but it’s a little too noisy for me…luminance noise that is.  It would be such a loving and wonderful gesture if you would donate another camera to me.  The a55o would be great and the a850 or a900 would be superb!

So my dear Sony, as soon as you feel the need to make a donation in my name, I’ll very happily accept!

Until we meet again…

Kathy

ISO 100     50mm     f/5.0     1/500 sec

ISO 100     50mm     f/2.0     1/400 sec

I wish I had a marketable talent or skill.

Something unique.

Something original.

I wish I could create something as unique and practical and beautiful as Shey B’s camera strap covers.

I wish I could capture those perfectly special moments as perfectly as Jasmine Star.

I wish I could invent the next Post-It Note.

I’m seriously just wishing today.  Wishing for something marketable.  Something semi-profitable.  Something that would let me quit here and work from home (but please don’t tell my bosses I said that!).  If you have any ideas, please pass them along!

How have we done?  So far, I’ve lost 5 pounds…mostly from water weight I think.  My husband has lost 10 pounds.

What’s the biggest issue for me?  Not the meals.  I like healthy meals.  It’s the snacking.  I feel like I have the nagging need to snack.  During the day at work, I’d snack on Cheese Crackers and Dr. Pepper from the vending machines.  Now, it’s water and either an apple or Craisins and dried cherries.

A little of my food history…I used to be the healthy eater.  I rarely ate junk foods and would literally make myself sick on vegetables, especially when they were garden fresh.  If I did eat junk food, it was during a school vacation, a food reward for myself.  And I definitely wasn’t a stress eater.  Actually, stress made me feel sick at my stomach so I actually ate less.  During exam weeks at school, I’d even lose a few pounds.  And if I started dating someone new, I almost couldn’t eat for a month.

But during college, that all changed.  I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease…the pesky cause of my nervous stomach as well as the culprit behind my sudden loss of 50 pounds in less than six months.  To avoid having to take steroids to gain weight, I was told to eat everything.  And I did.  Unfortunately after I got my weight up, I continued this unhealthy trend of eating.  And over the course of the last three years, my weight has increased.  I weighed almost 160 when I met Jerrad and I weighed 174 last week.  Much of my weight gain can be attributed to birth control pills, hormonal struggles with depression and finding comfort in food.  After a long day at work, I “owed it to myself” to eat french onion dip and chips.  And then the next day, I would “deserve” that third Dr. Pepper and maybe even a hot fudge sundae.  And during the day, I would find myself reaching for junk food snacks to help “get me through”.  In my mind, I was so hungry that I wouldn’t be able to function if I didn’t eat food.

But I’ve realized that food doesn’t support me or make me feel secure.  Food doesn’t even make me feel good.  Especially when I look at the pictures above.  I realize that all junk food does is make me feel guilty for not being better to myself.

I’m committed to changing my lifestyle.   I’m committing to eating healthier so that I can feel better about myself.  I’m committed to treating myself the way I truly deserve by eating what’s good for me.

We started dieting with our first official weigh-in on April 4.  I hesitate to use the word “Diet” because it implies something temporary that will go away soon.  I’m aiming at more of a lifestyle change.  This “diet” was brought on as a result of looking at pictures of us from 3 years ago (when we first met) and looking at pictures of ourselves now.  Whoa!  Big, big difference.

Whoa!  Big, big difference!  For me, it’s 15-20 pound difference.  So we started last week.  We’ve tried to eliminate/reduce three items from our diet: extra processed sugars from items such as soft drinks (I’m having serious Dr. Pepper withdrawals!  And no, Diet Dr. Pepper really doesn’t taste the same as regular Dr. Pepper!),  sodium, and excess fat.  This means no soft drinks, no potato chips, no cream sauces, no fried foods, and–the kicker for my husband–no ice cream. We seriously want to be healthier and not just skinnier.

Oh, we do have a splurge day.  We get to pick one day a week to eat whatever.  Last Saturday, we ate a Bojangles Cajun Filet biscuit for breakfast and then ate at Texas Roadhouse for supper…salad, steak, and baked potato.  Still not too bad if you ask me.  We’re also trying to avoid restaurants because of the processed foods and overuse of preservatives…even in the salads.  Yep, even the lettuce in most salads has been washed with a preservative.  And between you and me, it causes gaseous by-products for me.

And how have we done so far?  Well, I’ll tell you tomorrow. 

MckMama is giving away an iPad to benefit Compassion International.

Each $5 dollar donation earns you 1 entry to the iPad giveaway.  A $100 donation would earn you 20 entries.  How cool would it be to win an iPad for only $5 bucks!  The best part is you would be helping save the lives of children!

Click here for more info: http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2010/04/little-ipad-with-big-purpose.html