A-Weigh We Go!

I realize I am beginning to sound very "fifty-ish" in my recent blog posts. I can't help it! My concerns during recent months have been mostly about finances, sleepless nights and weight gain!

I'm happy to report some progress in regard to my weight! I found a website that has so un-complicated things, I can't believe how easily I've begun to lose weight. I started the diet (although I can't even honestly call it a diet)less than a week ago and my shorts are already beginning to feel loose.

The website is http://www.caloriecount.about.com

It's approach is exactly as the name implies. I joined for FREE, then set up my profile with information like how much weight I want to lose (20 lbs) and when I want it all to be gone.

Each day I keep a log of what I've had to eat and enter it onto the site. Voila'! It calculates how many calories, and other nutritional information my food intake contains. Also, based on my answers to some questions it prompted me to answer, it tells me how many calories I am taking in versus how many calories I am burning each day.

But wait! There's more!

There's also a place to log activities, not just exercise but every day household activities like putting away laundry and even bathing, and calculates how many calories I've burned.

After all this time I've been fretting over trying to drop a few pounds, attempting to exercise, cut back on sweets, etc. Who would've thought success could be so simple as watching my calories every day.

Did I mention I've not been hungry even once since I started? Well, I haven't! That's the beauty of it. Because I'm conscious of my calorie intake, I keep track of it all day long and pace myself accordingly. So far I am averaging less than 1400 calories a day. YAY!

Oh yeah! I'm pumped! I may be back in one of those cute little bathing suits by my birthday after all.

I guess I should also mention that the site did burst my bubble a little by telling me I couldn't possibly lose 20lbs by August 13th. It suggested that mid September might be a more realistic goal. Oh well. We'll see how that goes. Even if I've only lost 10 lbs by my birthday I'll be ecstatic.

So here I go! Success at last. I'm losing weight the old fashioned way and I like it!

Becky J. Taylor
July 16, 2010

http://www.beckyjtaylor.com

Weighting Around ..

I've never had a real weight problem. Through no fault of my own, I inherited my Dad's metabolism which, for the first 40 some years of my life, made it relatively easy to stay thin.

What a cruel trick of Mother Nature to suddenly turn the tables on me (no pun intended)! Dad is ninety years old and still eats anything he wants, most of which is covered in enough sugar to throw a normal person into an instant diabetic crisis. Never-the-less, he's still rail thin and no doubt always will be.

I remember when I use to be rail thin. Throughout my childhood, teen years and twenties I couldn't gain weight if I tried (and I actually did try) Then, when I was in my thirties I gained up to what would have been considered a more "healthy" weight. During my early forties I reached the middle to upper limits of what the medical charts called normal for a woman my age and height.

With the exception of a brief period of time during my Mother's illness when I gained up to my heaviest ever weight, the scales have been generally kind to me. Even then I found it nothing to be alarmed about! I simply cut back on the sugar in my diet and dropped the extra pounds in no time at all.

Now that I am pushing fifty (and within about four pounds of my previously recorded heaviest non-pregnant weight ever ... eeeeek!) I'm finding that nothing ... nothing I try results in the loss of any of these extra pounds.

To the contrary! It almost seems that the more I try to lose it, the more I gain!

What the heck is up with that?

I've never been more health conscious in my life. I've never put more effort into watching what I eat, taking supplements, and exercising.

Not only does it look like I won't be reaching my goal of being in the best shape ever by the time I hit fifty ... the opposite appears to be a real threat. Instead of buying a new bikini to wear to the beach on my birthday, I'll be shopping for a MuMu.

(I really wish I was kidding about that!)

I just don't know if it's worth it anymore. Seriously! If I'm going to gain weight regardless of what I do, why not enjoy it? Why not indulge myself in all those desserts I normally say "no, thanks!" to?

The way I see it, if saying "No" has only been a catalyst to gaining, then maybe ... just maybe saying "YES!" will cause me to LOSE weight.

OK, so maybe it's a bit of a stretch to find the logic in that manner of thinking but at this point I'm ready to test my theory.

What's the worst that can happen ... I'll gain weight? Oh! Wait! I'm already doing that!

I'm going to stop restricting myself and start enjoying food again. If by some odd twist of events, my theory is correct I will actually lose weight by eating more. If the theory proves to be wrong, that's fine too. Either way I intend to celebrate my findings with a nice big piece of hot fudge cake.

Becky J.Taylor
http://www.boldnewday.com

Why Do They Call It A Fast (When It Goes So SLOW?)

Our church family is currently finishing up day two of our annual twenty-one day fast. Several of us have opted to begin by doing a three day "water only" fast, then switch to the "Daniel" fast which allows fruits and vegetables, and a few other basic "real" food items.

My husband is going to go even longer than the three days on water only. Personally, I'm drinking water every day until sundown, then eating some of the actual "Daniel" fast foods in order to take my medications. Otherwise, the meds would upset my stomach terribly and trust me, we don't want that to happen.

This fasting stuff is an interesting experience. I'd like to say I'm so "super-spiritual" that I find it enjoyable, but I'd be lying. Although I didn't read anything in the "fasting guidelines" specifically addressing the subject of telling lies while fasting, I'm pretty sure it would have adverse effects on the desired outcome.

So, can you handle the truth? I'll tell you the stinkin' truth! I dread this thing every year. It's the only time I actually contemplate the possibility of finding a different church to attend, at least for a few weeks during the month of January!

Gasp! Of course I don't mean that.

I believe with all my heart that God Himself, has placed me in my particular church family. That is where I'm suppose to be and I wouldn't change it for the world. After all, I want nothing more than to be in the center of HIS will for my life. If my Pastor calls a fast every January, then that's what I know I should be doing.

But, do I have to LIKE it? I hope not, because if that's the case, I am in some deep trouble!

Fasting can be compared to labor and delivery. I've had three babies in my lifetime, and can honestly say I always enjoyed being pregnant. Even more so, I excitedly looked forward to finally holding each of my precious newborn babies in my arms!

The labor and delivery part though? I can't say I looked forward to THAT aspect of the whole "having a baby" process in the least. Even though all my labors and deliveries were relatively easy (for lack of a better word), there was nothing enjoyable about it! Not once during any of my pregnancies did I ever say, "Oh! I just can't wait to spend hours in writhing pain! Bring it on!"

I did, however, happily anticipate bringing my babies into this world and have been known to comment, "I wish I would hurry up and go into labor!"

Did I just contradict myself?

No!

I knew that labor and delivery were very necessary in order to get my babies here. That was my reward for enduring the pain.

Talk about the "end justifying the means"!

The same goes for fasting. Every year I dread it.

And every year I also know it's something I MUST do, because at the end of the fast there is always a great reward. Just like giving birth, there's something about what happens as a result of fasting that makes it seem "not so bad" after all. It makes me say that I would definitely do it all over again.

(Just not immediately, of course!)

That's what I focus on while I busy chewing on raw broccoli and washing it down with water when I'd much rather be gulping down a pizza with a side of Diet Pepsi! Eventually, the painful part WILL end!

Right now, with two fasting days behind me and nineteen left to go, that "end" seems like a million miles away.

I can do this! With God's help, I know I can.

But boy! Will I ever be happy when it's all over and done, and I can go back to eating "real" food for the other forty-nine weeks of the 2009!

Becky Taylor 1/5/09

Ham Salad Monkey

I just got home from my morning errand run and made myself a nice ham salad sandwich for a snack.

Ham salad and I go back a long way. My Mom use to make it a lot when I was a little girl. By the time I was four or five years old, the "ham salad monkey" had firmly attached itself to my back. I would have eaten ham salad sandwiches three times a day if my mother would have let me.

Of course, she didn't.

One morning when I was in first grade, I discovered a fresh bowl of ham salad in the fridge and I decided that's what I wanted for breakfast. Mom said, "No", but I argued my case. She offered to fry some eggs for me instead (how boring!) My relentless protest eventually wore her down. She agreed to fix a ham salad sandwich for me, but only if I promised not to tell anyone.

It was obvious that Mom's interest in the nutritional value of my breakfast was not so much the cause for her denying me the ham salad sandwich, as was her fear that someone might find out she'd fed her six year old child (insert *gasp* here) a lunch item for her morning meal.

That ham salad sandwich tasted almost as good to me as did the sweet victory I felt in winning the breakfast war that day.

Later, I sat at my desk at school as Mrs. Ward gave her usual "good morning" class talk. I was half paying attention to her, and half watching a bird hop around on the sidewalk outside the window when I heard her introduce our topic for the day.

It was "nutrition". Yada, yada ... Three balanced meals a day, lots of dairy products, not so much sugar ... I knew the drill. I'd been born six years earlier, not just the night before, after all. I directed my attention back to the hopping bird.

Then, Mrs. Ward said something that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. She announced that she was going to go around the room and have each of us tell the rest of the class what we'd eaten for breakfast.

I gulped, wondering if my mother could possibly have been angry enough over losing the battle of eggs vs. ham salad, that she'd called the school and tattled on me. I sank down into my seat, quite literally sweating it out as each student reported their breakfast choices to the class.

Bacon and eggs.

Oatmeal.

Cereal and Orange juice.

Milk and toast.

Cream of wheat.

I prayed that someone would come up with " A Three Musketeers candy bar and grape pop" .. anything that might actually make my ham salad sandwich seem like a good idea.

God must have been on my Mother's side that day because before I knew it, it was my turn to tell what my personal breakfast meal had consisted of. I was within mere seconds of being found guilty of poor food choices by a jury of my first grade peers.

All eyes were on me, including Mrs. Ward's. Not only was she looking at me, she had the audacity to be smiling and nodding, giving me the non-verbal order to "Go ahead and make yourself the laughing stock of the whole class ... NOW!"

I was pretty sure I caught a glimpse of the food police waiting to pounce on me just outside the classroom door.

I had to make a decision and I had to make it fast. Smooth as silk, I smiled sweetly back at Mrs. Ward and said, "I had eggs!"

Whew! I wasn't busted after all. Yes, I'd lied and I felt terrible about that, but I was counting on asking forgiveness as soon as the attention of the class (and Mrs. Ward)was on the next victim.

I vowed never to have ham salad for breakfast again as long as I lived.

Of course, as time passed I found the ham salad monkey on my back again and I succumbed to it. To this day, I love to eat ham salad sandwiches for breakfast, but now I don't have to hide that fact from anyone. It's just one of the benefits of being a grown up!

Yes, ham salad was and always will be, a very good friend of mine!

Feed Me!!

This time last week we were boarding a ship for a weekend cruise where for three days, we were surrounded by food. Even before our ship pulled away from the port, a veritable 24/7 feeding frenzy ensued which lasted until we walked off on Monday morning.

My problem with that? I wasn't hungry.

I tried to eat. I felt compelled to join the masses at the buffet every morning and afternoon. There, I would pile food on my plate like it was going out of style, only to sit down and decide I didn't want it after all.

Each evening we would dress up and make our way to the dining room where we were able to order any delicacy our hearts desired, even if it wasn't on the menu! The food was delicious, but try again as I may, I just didn't want it. About three bites into each dish, my appetite would abandon me, leaving me sitting there feeling badly about wasting all that glorious food.

It was weird.

You wanna know what's more weird than that?

Now that I am home and my choices are much more limited, I suddenly find myself starving. Seriously! If I'd felt like this last week, someone would have had to wheel me off the ship in a cargo box. There wouldn't have been any food left in a three mile radius after I got finished with it.

Yes, even this morning, I would KILL for a big buffet to plunder through.

I'm not normally a big eater. My philosophy has always been "Eat to live", not "Live to eat!" Food typically holds a rather low spot on my list of priorities. It isn't unusual for me to get so involved with whatever I am doing, that I forget to eat.

Yes. I said I "forget" to eat.

So why this sudden change? I haven't the foggiest clue. Hopefully it will pass as quickly as it hit and I'll be back to my normal un-hungry self soon.

For now, I'll just go fix myself a bowl of left over chili and bide my time as I wait.