Something Beautiful for God

Guitar Man's first instrument is the accordion.  Yes- you read that right.  He has a strong distaste for the instrument of his youth.  It's heavy, physically difficult to play and it brings back bad memories.  But, every once in a while, he pulls it out and plays at a family gathering and immediately the mood is lifted.  He even played at my sister's wedding.  He played a special polka version of Hey Jude by the Beatles.  Anyway, twice a year, he's asked by the local retirement home to play some oldies.  He never refuses even though he doesn't want to do it.  I don't brag on Guitar Man much, but he is great with senior citizens.  He knows their music and cultural references of their youth.  They love him.  This is a sacrifice for him.  He does it with style and grace and I am so proud of him.

Excuse the blurriness of the pictures, our camera is not working properly- we are getting iphones in a few weeks- YAY!

Seven Quick Takes- Goal Weight Edition!!

I made my goal weight in Weight Watchers this week- YAY!!!  They give you a range to and I picked the highest weight as my goal.  I think some more weight will come off as I keep up this new lifestyle- maybe 5 more pounds.  We'll see.  Here are the top 7 ways I lost 20 pounds.  

-1-

The Anti-Inflammatory Diet

I haven't been perfect, but in general, I follow this diet.  Basically, no processed or fast food, potato, and tomato.  Lots of mushrooms and fish.  I've also taken out  dairy and grains.  I make lots of Paleo recipes.  Wellness Mama is my favorite.  Not one of her recipes has failed me. 

-2-

Sleeping

I'm trying to get better sleep.  I'm not perfect about getting 8 hours, but that is my goal.  I probably get more like 7 each night.  

-3-

Exercise

I take 2 15 minute walks a day.  One is at lunchtime.  The other is after school.  I also do 20 minutes of hard cardio like swimming or running during the week.  I added this when a YMCA satellite location opened at a school one block from my house.  It literally takes me 2 minutes to run there from my house.  What a blessing!  On the weekend I do an hour long run.  Again, this doesn't happen perfectly everyday, but it's a goal.  I want to add some yoga stretches and weights for about 10 minutes in the morning, but haven't been able to squeeze them in yet.  

-4-

Going to a meeting every week

Food has been a life long addiction for me and facing it every week helped me chip away at bad habits and face the fact that I have a disordered attachment to food.

-5-

My leader

She is super encouraging and positive.  

-6-

My friend J

We go together.  She has some more weight to lose and I'll be going each week with her until she reaches goal. 

-7-

Learning not to be so hard on myself

This could be a post in and of itself.  But, by going every week, I had to fact the fact that I was so hard on myself that I didn't want to face the scale.  I was equating my worth with the number that is on the scale.  I've always had a hard time reconciling the fact that God didn't want me to be the weight I was, but he still loved me no matter what weight I was.  My all or nothing brain took a long time to wrap it's head around the fact that both could be going on at once.  I'm still working on it though.  Just like I'm working on the sleep and exercise and the anti-inflammatory diet.  It's a work in progress.  

If you told me a year ago that this is how I would lose the weight or that it would take a year, I would have laughed.  I never in a million years thought I'd find an hour a day to exercise or be eating such a limited diet.    I always hated walking.  People really can change.  I pray that He guides me through the next phase of maintaining these wonderful habits.  God is good!  God Bless you tonight.  

Thank you from the bottom of my heart

Your prayers were felt!  For many reasons, I became burned out last week.

1)  Practicing for two weeks during lunch and after school for this:

It was the annual talent show at our school and the teachers always do an act.  If you watch (I don't expect you to!!), I'm second from left with hot pink boa.  We had a blast practicing.  Dancing is totally out of my comfort zone and I need my lunch time to be by myself.  In those fun personality tests, I always come out 50/50 introvert/extrovert so I have to be really careful to take time by myself.

2)  Meeting after meeting after school and before school.

3) AJ had a bad dentist appointment- he has 3 cavities in permanent teeth.  The child has a history of bad teeth and has had extensive work done on his baby teeth.  I've mentioned before that he had developmental delays as a younger child and this is a direct result of them.  He's got sensory issues with his mouth, low tone in his tongue and would not eat when he was born.  We had to have a feeding specialist come to the house for 2 years to help us learn how to feed him.  Even with that help, his diet is very limited and he's not getting proper nutrition.  Of course the doctor thinks he's fine because he's a good weight, his blood work is normal and he's generally healthy.  But, IMHO, he's missing key nutrients from foods like vegetables and meat and that has to impact his oral health.   He also has motor planning issues (he has to be specifically taught any complex motor task with great repetition).  Last time we saw the dentist, he recommended an electric tooth brush.  I never explicitly taught AJ to use it and don't check on him while he's brushing.  Big mistake.  He hasn't been brushing well.  Okay, I'll stop about that one...

4)  My main meal that I was going to eat throughout the week was a total FAIL so I didn't have a plan for several dinners.

I started eating fast food to compensate for my feelings of frustration and that is definitely NOT on the Anti-Inflammatory Diet.  This burn out feeling is new because it's always been buried under the crushing fatigue.  After I was able to identify what was happening (which took 3 or 4 days) and ask for help, it got better.  I went to Adoration for 15 minutes, slept in for a few days and just generally took off doing much around the house for the rest of the week.  By Saturday it was better.  I had to cancel a few plans for the weekend which always makes me anxious, but I got over it.

Sorry for the boring post- it's cathartic to write it all out.

Thank you again for your prayers!  You all are in mine each and every day!

May God Bless You!

Lenten struggles- Prayers please

It happens every Lent.  I'm not sure if I'm under attack or it's just the time of year.  My Lenten practices are a total FAIL and I'm giving into temptation left and right- especially with food.  Can you please send up a simple prayer for me?  It's hard for me ask this!  Maybe that's the devil too.
God Bless you and thank you in advance.
St. Michael, pray for us!