Healthy Living

This adventure of healthy, balanced living has not been as hard to do as I first thought it would be, I know that struggles are coming, but I am doing my best to prepare myself mentally for them.  Today I got a letter from Carewise Health, its a benefit of Rob's job that involves health management.  There is a program (could be old, and I just never payed attention, could be new) that links you with a Wellness Coach.  I can choose my plan, and then once a month at a scheduled time I talk on the phone with my Wellness Coach, who will keep me accountable to the choices that I'm making! 

I called to set up a time with my Wellness Coach and I chose the Balance Plan, this will help to keep me on track for my weight loss and exercise goals.  And here is the REALLY exciting part...if I complete my plan in the next 6 months (one phone call every month), I will get a $75 American Express gift card!  This is SO exciting, because I am sure that I will be wanting a new outfit or two by then!

I have sent out a "shout out" to Frito Lay before, but I gotta do it again!  This is a GREAT idea!  Really, what a great bonus.  We really are blessed to be with a company like them.  They really do take care of their employees.  We are big fans.  That's probably fairly evident by Rob's 17 years of service to the company, but I just wanted to say it.

The past few days have really been good ones for me.  I have successfully stuck to my plans for diet, exercise, quiet times and time with Rob, I continue to struggle with the kids, but I feel like it is going a little better, I guess that couldn't really change in a weekend, I am sticking to my guns better though.

One thing that I honestly recognize about my previous diet was that I was the human garbage disposal in the house.  If the kids left food on their plates, I would graze off it, and when I was cooking, grazing there too.  I was eating breakfast, lunch and dinner twice a day some days.  This is such a bad habit, and one that had to be broke mentally, realizing that I did that is making it easier to consciously stop.

Thankfully I haven't had Diet Pepsi "withdrawl" symptoms, which could have been hard on my family, quite honestly.  The break from my pop addiction has been pretty easy (I am SHOCKED-why didn't I do this sooner?), no caffeine headaches, but that is probably because I am allowing myself one cup of coffee in the morning).  I have been drinking A LOT of ice water, some with lemon (through a straw, I read that was easier on the pearly whites), anytime I have had the urge to snack, I get a tall glass and sip it instead.  This has really helped curb my appetite. 

My breakfasts have looked like this:

One scrambled egg

A sprinkling (2 tbsp?) of ham (leftover from the crock pot ham I made last week and shredded-I had 3lbs left!)

A sprinkling (1 tbsp.) of mild cheddar  

 6 strawberries (not mixed with the above)

OR

 One scrambled egg

6-8 small cubes of mozzarella cheese

2 tomato slices, chopped

A banana (not mixed with the above)

Previously this would have consisted of frozen waffles, or cold cereal and then I was hungry in an hour. I have felt satisfied with this new breakfast and it lasts most of the morning now.  Mid-morning I have been having a granola bar and lunch has been a fabulous salad with a serving size of Ranch dressing, that I have found if I water down, it coats more of my salad and I don't feel like I need more (thought of that one myself!).

For dinner I have not had to changed how I cook yet (I cook pretty good balanced meals for the most part), but I have left out the dinner rolls.  Everyone usually eats some form of bread for breakfast and lunch, I don't feel the need to add it to dinner too.  I am planning to switch out the white rolls for whole wheat when the menu does call for it and the pastas too.  Pizza night (lazy night) is going to be a challenge for me, I LOVE me some pie, I am debating on possibly doing one slice with a side salad.  But, maybe we will soon be giving up pizza night all together, in exchange for a slow cooker meal (still, a little lazy), we'll see.

In the evening, popcorn with a show is Rob's "thing", this has been a constant struggle for me (I shouldn't say struggle, I gladly joined him), that smell, OH, the smell!  But I'm not changing Rob, I'm changing me, so, last night I had a small bowl of grapes to keep the popcorn out of my mouth, I felt good about that.  

Since Friday, I'm down more than 5 pounds, I'm not sure if this is a water weight thing (lemon water has been known to help with that), or if the Lord just knew I needed a boost in confidence that I CAN DO THIS, either way, I will take it!  I'm very excited!

Right now I am working on a little book in my quiet time from Women Of Faith, my mom gave four of them to me awhile back, my current one is, "Listening For The Voice Of God, Growing in Faith Every Day", I am really enjoying it.  While I can't seem to find hours and hours to spend in The Word (sadly, that may never be the case), He knows my heart's desire and I am finding some now. And He is blessing that time.