For the Sake of the Call - Homeschool Blogger

Better Stuff Than Dieting

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:03:00 -0500

I've been frustrated by Dismal Summary as my top post for all this time, but I honestly didn't have any update to my whole "diet/eating right" thing. Trying to keep track of what I ate and when and how much I exercised was just too much for me. I have too many other things to do and keep track of. So I've pretty much fallen back into my old habits again as a result. Sigh! I have been trying to do better about eating breakfast and lunch, and if nothing else, I start my day with a mug of hot unsweetened green tea (Yuck!) to try to get my metabolism started. I have gone for a couple of bike rides, but it's starting to get too cold. The last time I went, my ears, throat, and chest were burning from the cold wind. There's no excuse for not doing Pilates in the warmth of my own basement; just sheer lazyness. I continue to do well with preparing healthy dinners and have decreased portion sizes. We've been enjoying trying a couple of meals with lentils and rice, as well as beans. I'm trying to go to one-two meatless meals a week. I was also doing well with avoiding too many sweets until I hosted Choctoberfest. ;)

But there are much better things in life than dieting and weight loss! I continue to blog about the rest of my life here. Today I posted this post about a number of things that warm my heart.:

Returning home after being away for a couple of days is such a sweet encouragement. My heart is full after a time of refreshing with friends, and I am excited to see my kids and husband again. It helps when they're excited to see me too. ;) My sensitive middle daughter hugged me and hugged me and kept hugging me for quite a while after I got home Monday. This was the one who was concerned that I might die while I was gone. At 11pm the night before I left, we were engaged in a deep conversation of whether she trusted God to protect me and whether she trusted God to protect her even if He decided to take me to heaven. She's SEVEN!!!! I told her that I didn't think God was done with me here on earth and that there were still things I needed to learn and do, but I just couldn't promise her I'd be back Monday. No one knows what tomorrow brings! She was definitely relieved to have me by her side again; sweet girl.

Other signs of life around the home warmed my heart as well. Things I might normally overlook, like this note hanging upside down on the fridge.

Or this e-mail that I found in my inbox:

Dear Daddy and Mommy,
Isn't God beautiful?
"Oh ya He is!!!!"
I love God so much!
He is the best person in the whole wide world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love you.

Love your daughter,
Elianna

And this one:

Dear Mommy,
I love you!
I wish I had a BLOG!!!!!!!!!!
Can I have a BLOG????
Please????
I hope I can.

Love,
Elianna

Yes, it's nice to come home! :)

Today, I celebrate the accomplishment of my 6th grade son who has completed his Saxon Math 76 book and prepares to begin Algebra 1/2. 1ds11 worked dilligently throughout the summer so that he could complete this book early. He taught himself using the text alone with only a couple of consultations with me. That's what I'm most excited about: the fact that he's learning to work independently and teach himself. When I sat down with him today to grade his final Problem Set, he was able to explain how he got answers that he had done in his head, proving that he really does understand the concepts and has a good grasp of the theory as well as the mechanics. Being a Math geek myself, that thrills me. ;)

This is one of those days where I love to homeschool as I see the fruits of homeschooling. There are certainly enough other days where I scratch my head in frustration and wonder why we don't just send them all to school. I thought I should write this down to remind myself when those days come.

Grace and Peace,

Angel

Come visit me at http://thesakeofthecall.blogspot.com/

Dismal Summary

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 09:30:00 -0500

Friday, August 1st got off to a horrible start with drinking my first glass of water at 11am. I didn't sleep in until 11am, I just didn't drink anything until then. The first thing I ate was at 1pm. Old habits die hard.

11am 16 oz water
1pm BBQ pork, baked potato (butter & sour cream), yellow squash, 8 oz water, 1 oatmeal raisin choc. chip cookie (ww, sucanat)
6:30pm grilled hamburgers (ketchup, lettuce, tomato, vidalia onion), corn on the cob, baked beans,

Saturday wasn't much better. I drank a glass of water and had half a cinamon roll before rushing out the door at 10am, and didn't eat again until 2:30pm.

10am: 1/2 cinamon roll
2:30pm 1/2 corned beef sandwhich w/ provolone cheese on flax seed bread
4pm small piece zucchini cake (whole wheat flower & sucanat)
6:30pm grilled pork loin ribs w/ Soayki, wild rice, green beans, cucumbers, pineapple, roll,

Sunday, I tried to start out better with a half a grapefruit, but I only managed to take a few bites before we had to head to church and say good-bye to friends who were visting from out of town. I drank a big glass of water when we got home from church at noon, and ate lunch at about 1pm. We had friends over for lunch who brought brownies and cookies. I had more than my fair share of brownies over the course of the next couple of days. Bad bad bad. That evening we went on a bike ride to get ice cream. I only got a small chocolate dipped vanilla cone. That was dinner.

9:45am 8oz water, 3 bites of grapefruit
1pm 12 oz water, ham, corned beef, turkey sandwich w/cucumbers, lettuce, & tomato, potato salad, chips and salsa & cheese sauce, brownies,
6:30pm 45 minute bike ride, small chocolate dipped vanilla ice cream cone, water

Monday was another mediocre day. No exercise, no breakfast, not enough water oh and brownies . Brilliant! Typical of my life before I started this blog. Leftover chinese food for lunch, tacos for dinner (ground beef, refried beans, sour cream, lettuce, tomato, onions, taco sauce, dorittos, guacamole). Kettle corn.

Tuesday was the same. No exercise. No breakfast, not enough water, and a fudgsicle (sp?). I did weed in the garden in the evening, and as sweaty as I got doing that, I know I was burning some calories.

12pm 1 slice banana bread (whole wheat w/ honey)
2:30pm leftover BBQ pork, beans, cucumber slices, brownie
5:30pm stir-fry (wild rice, pork, zucchini, carrots, peas, Soyaki)
10pm banana split (2 scoops chocolate crackle ice cream, hot fudge, butterscotch/caramel sauce, 1/2 banana)

Today is Wenesday, and I got up early to go on a 20 minute bike ride (I got to see the sunrise!), then I worked in the garden for another 30 minutes or so. And believe me, attacking the forest of weeds definitely counts as exercise! I had a banana after my bike ride, and I've had about 24oz. of water, but I need to get off the computer and go have something more for breakfast and another glass of water.

I'm trying not to get discouraged. I've established years of bad habits that won't be corrected overnight, but I had really hoped I could at least make it through the first week without falling back into my old ways of skipping meals and not drinking enough water or exercising oh and brownies. I can tell physically that I felt much better the days that I was exercising and eating well throughout the day. The days I skipped meals, ate sweets, and didn't exercise, I felt weak and shaky. I almost think I put my body into shock by eating right and drinking plenty of water for a few days and then reverting back to my bad habits. Getting up early in the morning to exercise is really key, but then I have to be careful to sit down and eat before I get busy with other things. Take now for example.

Anyway, hopefully I can get back on track again and not just feel discouraged and throw in the towel. (That's kinda what I felt like doing earlier this week, but I'm ready to begin afresh.)

Grace and Peace,

Angel

The Last Decent Day

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 08:48:00 -0500

I didn't have a chance to post this entry. This was a good day. Now if only I could have sustained it!

Thurday, June 31st

6:45am 16 oz. water, 35 minute bike ride,

7:25am 16 oz water, 20 minutes Pilates JP

8:25am 3/4c. shredded wheat, 3/4 c. 2% organic milk, 1 tsp. bee pollen, 1/2 cinamon roll, 1/2 c. blackberries, 4oz. OJ

9:30am 16 oz water

12:30pm 1 yellow squash w/ cream cheese, 1 baked potato w/ butter & sour cream, 8 oz water

1:30pm 8oz water

3:30pm 2 cookies (from scratch oatmeal raisin choc. chip w/ whole wheat flour & sucanat)

5:30pm Amish chicken, noodles, & corn (organic cream of chicken soup, canned chicken, egg noodles, corn, creamed corn0, 16 oz. water

6pm 2 cookies

Oreo double-stuff? What kind of diet is this???

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:30:00 -0500

10:30am 1/2 grapefruit, 1 cup Kellogg's mini-wheats, 1/2tbsp sugar, 3/4c. 2% milk

12:30pm 12 oz water (I should know better than to have my first glass of water at 12:30pm!!!)

1:15pm sandwich (1 slice organic whole wheat bread, 1 roma tomato, 1/2 cucumber, 2 slices lean honey ham, 1/2 slice Kraft American cheese)

1:40pm 8 oz water

2:45pm 11 Honey Almonds

3pm 16oz water

4pm 16oz water, 6 almonds/cashews

6pm Taco Salad (seasoned ground beef cooked in tomato sauce with corn & black beans, green leaf lettuce, tomato, vidalia onions, crumbled doritos, cheese, Catalina dressing, sour cream, taco sauce), 12oz water

7:30pm 2oreo doublestuff, 4 oz. 2% milk (2 is not bad, I've been known to eat 4 times that much!)

No exercise and oreos, what can I say? We planned to play tennis this evening, but it was sprinkling when we went to load up the van. My calories are roughly 1200-1300. 64 oz. of water is ideal, but I shouldn't have to guzzle it all afternoon since I didn't drink all morning! It's great that I ate breakfast, but it would have been better if it were earlier than 10:30am. Sigh. I have a long road in front of me. Tomorrow I get up earlier and exercise again. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Thanks for your support and encouragement!!! :)

Grace and Peace,

Angel

To find out what's going on in my life beyond my "diet" check out my other For the Sake of the Call.

Can I Really Lose Weight With All This Butter?

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:03:00 -0500

There were good things today and not so good. I actually got up in the morning, but then ended up in bed later in the day. I was sore and achy and had a head-ache. Do you think staying up until 2am reading had anything to do with that? Here are the specifics:

7:15am 16oz water, 1/2 banana, 30 min. bike ride,

7:45am 16 oz water

8:10am 20 min Pilates mat workout

9:30am scrambled eggs (butter, eggs, milk, ham, cheese,), toast w/ butter & grape jelly, 5 blackberries, 12 oz. water,

3:30pm (Yep, 6 hours later) leftover beef stir-fry, 1 small white peach, 12 oz water,

5:30pm 12 oz 2% chocolate milk (Hershey's): What can I say? It was either that or oreos and milk.

7:00pm BBQ pork, yellow squash w/ butter & cream cheese, baked potato w/ butter(half as much as I usually use), sour cream, chives from the garden, 16oz. water

9:30pm 8 oz. water

DH is really bummed about the no eating after 8pm rule. He asks how we're supposed to enjoy our ice cream without the children. Sacrifices! ;)

I did well with water today: 80oz!!! 50 minutes of exercise is great too. The only set-back is the 6 hour lapse in eating. I think I need to eat more frequent smaller meals to jumpstart my metabolism. My body has gone into starvation mode after all these months/years of skipping meals and not getting the proper amount of calories, so it just holds onto fat and I'm not able to lose weight.

Alright, I'm off to bed so I hopefully won't be as exhausted tomorrow. I have work to do and can't afford to spend half the day in bed reading!

I pray you have a great day! I forgot to mention yesterday, but the couple of verses I've been meditating on the past couple of days are

"Whatsoever you eat or drink...do all to the glory of God," and "You are not your own, you have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God with your body." (1Cor. 10:13?)

Grace and Peace,

Angel

The First Day is the Hardest

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:40:00 -0500

I wanted to go for a bike ride this morning. I was supposed to get up at 6:15am (craziness!) so that I could be back before my husband left for work. He ended up waking up in the middle of the night with a coughing fit; I woke up also, having already been awoken by my 7 year old climbing into bed with me. Isn't she too old for that? So when I awoke at 7am and then was told by my husband that it was wet from rain and not ideal for bike riding, I decided to just go back to sleep, knowing that the basement where I exercise (not that it happens often) was a mess. Excuses, excuses. So much for rising early! (As a side note, my husband actually brought the pilates machine upstairs so that I wouldn't have any excuses. He's being very supportive!)

Here's what the day ended up looking like.

10:30am small banana, 16oz glass of water

11am 20 minutes Pilates (with machine); 8 oz glass of ice water

2:30pm salad (2 cups green leaf lettuce, 1 freshly picked roma tomato, 1/3 cucumber (farmer's market), 2 slices lean ham, 1 oz. cheddar cheese, 1Tbsp. Blush Wine Vinaigrette)

4:15pm 16oz water

6:40 pm one helping of beef stir fry with brown basmati rice (beef, green beans, sweet peas, carrots, zucchini, onion,Trader Joe's Soyaki, Succanat, Cooking Sherry, Soy Sauce, Garlic Powder, Olive Oil, Butter ); 8 oz ice water

7:45pm 12 oz water

Old habits are hard to break. I can see that it's not as easy as posting a blog entry. I still skimped on breakfast and slept in too late. But no snacking and no treats and no seconds on dinner, even though I wanted more. I did a rough calculation, and I'm only at about 750 calories. Obviously I need to eat more. 52oz of water isn't bad, but I need to increase that even more.

Anyone else with me? How'd your day go?

Dieting

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 20:03:00 -0500

I know I said good-bye to HSB and started blogging here, but I've decided that since this blog is just sitting here, I might as well use it. Here's the explanation.

A few posts ago, I mentioned the word diet. I'd fully intended to begin a diet this week. I didn't. I need to. I hate it. The excess baby weight after four kids has lingered even though my baby is now 5 1/2. I'm disgusted by the inner tube/muffin top, and struggle with insecurity as a result. I don't know if it makes any sense at all, but somehow the extra weight feels immodest even. I don't know if I can explain it, except that I'm paranoid that it draws attention to parts of my body that I prefer would be unnoticed. Even my feet look fat. It's been bothering me more and more over the course of the past several months, and I need to do something about it.

The challenge is that I'm afraid of diets. My struggle in the past with border-line anorexia compels me to avoid dieting at all costs. I don't want to count calories or fat-calories or figure out correct portion sizes or watch my weight or any of that stuff. I know how obsessed I was with that in the past and I just don't want to go there again. Sigh.

Another part of the problem is that I don't know that I have really overcome this struggle. I still skip meals, I still have an unhealthy view of what my ideal weight should be, I still struggle with contentment with the way my body is, and I'm not sure I'd be content even if I were 20 pounds lighter.

So how does a person who truly needs to lose some weight, but has struggled with border-line anorexia in the past and still continues to do so even though it doesn't look like it externally, lose weight in a healthy manner? I don't know. If anyone can enlighten me, I'd really appreciate it. I do have a few ideas of how to start though, and I guess I'll just have to see how they work.

No fad diets: I haven't read and don't plan to read any South Beach or Atkins or Mediterranean or French (although that one sounds intriguing) or _________ books. No diet pills, no Slim-fast, and NO cabbage soup diets either!

Eat more: All the seasoned experts say that you need to eat less and exercise more, but the fact is that I don't eat enough and my metabolism has shut down. I need to eat more consistently throughout the day. I especially need to eat breakfast first thing in the morning!!!

Eat less: I know I just said I need to eat more, but I also need to eat less when I do eat: one half a chicken breast for dinner not a whole, no seconds, try to watch portion sizes at dinner, don't eat half the chocolate chip cookies myself, eat something for breakfast other than chocolate cake.

Exercise: working in the garden and chasing after the kids just don't cut it. I need real exercise. I hope to get up early and ride my bike before it gets too hot, do Pilates (hopefully 3 times a week) with workout tapes in the basement, and ride my bike to play tennis with my family in the evenings (1-2 times a week?)

Eat more raw foods: I stocked up at the farmer's market and the grocery produce section this morning. Salads, fruit, fresh (local) veggies...now I just need to eat them myself and not just feed them to the kids!

Whole grains: I've been adding whole grains to our diet for over a year, so this isn't anything different, I'll just continue to enjoy them.

Nothing radical: I'm not going to eliminate sugar completely or high fat foods. I won't eat diet or lite or low-fat anything. Instead, I'm focusing on moderation, self control, and enjoying certain foods as special treats, not everyday occurrences.

Prayer & Scripture Memory: The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Gluttony is a sin. I need to yield to the Holy Spirit in this area of my life, surrender to Jesus, and allow God to be victorious. In my weakness, His strength is made manifest.

Blogging: I've never been thrilled when people post about diets, but I think it would be good for me to record what I eat and how much I exercise to hold myself accountable. Since I hope to do this daily, I'm going to use my old blog as a place to record my progress. If you're interested in keeping up with me, encouraging me, or holding me accountable, you can follow my progress here. It will not hurt my feelings a bit if you don't really care. ;)

Those are my ideas. We'll see how it goes. I still don't own a scale, so I'm not going to be able to obsess over how much weight I've lost. Instead, I'll just have to judge how I'm doing by how my clothes fit and how I feel physically.

Do you have any suggestions? What's worked for you when it comes to losing weight or eliminating the muffin top?

Grace and Peace,

Angel

RSS Feed for HSB

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:06:00 -0500

My sweet friend Maggie has asked me a few times to explain the RSS feed thing for HSB, and I am long overdue in doing so.

First of all, RSS is, well, you'd have to ask my husband, but what I do know is that if your RSS is turned on, people can subscribe to the RSS feed and be notified when you post. I use the Microsoft Windows feed reader, some people use Google or Yahoo or Bloglines.

For the HSB blogs, you'll notice "My Blog's RSS" under the Links. Clicking on this link will enable someone to subscribe to your feed, IF it is turned on.

To turn it on, first log in to your HSB account,

Under "My Blogs" on the right hand side of the row that has your blog name, click on SETTINGS.

At the top, in red, click on the last option SITE FEED.

Next to "Publish site feed?" Select YES from the drop down box.

Beyond that, I chose 10 and With HTML as the answers to the next two questions.

Click SAVE CHANGES, and that should be it. Now anyone can subscribe to your blog, and be notified when you've updated.

Understanding this option has been a tremendous time saver for me as I used to randomly check blogs to see if they'd updated. Now, I just subscribe to my favorites and even if someone doesn't post for a month, I know when they do.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment, and I'll do the best I can to answer them.

Grace and Peace,

Angel

P.S. Don't forget that I've moved. Come visit me at http://thesakeofthecall.blogspot.com/

Signatures, Friends Page & Rosetta Stone Contest

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:25:00 -0500

Hey, everybody!

I wanted to remind you that I've moved over to blogger in case you're still looking for me here. :) Come visit me and change your links and blog readers to http://thesakeofthecall.blogspot.com/ Thanks!

Also, as I still check back in and read through the Friends' page from time to time, I wonder if I could ask a favor. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but when you're reading through the Friend's page entries, you don't always know whose blog posts you're reading. The titles don't link back to the original posts, and there isn't even a note that says, "EEEEMommy wrote..." Sometimes I can figure out who wrote something, sometimes they post pictures and I recognize them, and other times I'm just scratching my head wondering whose blog post I'm reading. Take today for example, who wrote "Girl Time On Good Friday?" I'd like to comment, but I kinda want to know whose blog I'm commenting on before I do.

I've figured out how to figure it out (click post comment, click cancel, and you'll be at the original blog page), but the best solution to this issue (unless HSB changes things, which I requested that they do awhile ago) is that you utilize a signature and sign every post. I'll confess that I'm not very consistent in this myself, but it really helps when you're reading from the Friends page. If you've seen people with cool signatures, the might have gotten them free at My Live Signature, but just signing your name at the bottom is helpful. Thanks!

In case you haven't heard, JenIg has another fabulous contest going on. Here's the info!

Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!

This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.

This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.

To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!

Grace and Peace,

Angel (EEEEMommy) :)

Moving On

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 20:10:00 -0600

I'm filled with a little bit of sadness as I write this post. As some of you have already discovered, I've begun a new blog at blogspot, and have been double posting for the past couple of weeks while I play with colors and add links and personalize it. I've enjoyed the almost 2 years that I've spent here at HSB immensely, and have been blessed by so many friendships. Some of those have even resulted in real life friendships which I cherish!

I love the sense of community here at HSB, and the ability to click on Random Blogger and get a peak into the lives of homeschoolers all over the country. I never realized how much of an impact blogging would have on my life, but I sensed the potential that this forum had at the beginning, which is what led me to choose to begin at HSB. Now that I've learned a little html (or at least how to copy), I'd probably have been content to stay here indefinitely, even though many of my friends have switched to blogger already over the past year. But the one friend who I have known longer than any other, and who stood beside me at the altar, has been unable to access my HSB blog for some unknown reason, so she's the reason that I finally decided to make the change myself.

But, heh, it's not like I'm moving far! You'll all be able to access my new blog just as easily, and I'm accepting annonymous comments, so you don't even have to create a blogger account to leave me a comment. Just be sure to sign with your hsb name and I'll know who you are. I've added a whole list of links to my new blog. I tried not to omit anyone, but if for some reason I missed you, just let me know and I'll be sure to add you to the list. I already have most of you on my feed reader list, so I'll be sure to keep up with you as best as I can.

I owe you all a debt of gratitude for the support and encouragement that you've already given me here at HSB, and I hope that my move to blogger won't see the end of that. You're the best imaginary friends a girl could ever ask for! ;)

Please come check out my new blog here. And be sure to update your links, and your bloglines subscriptions, or whatever with my new feed and link. Thanks!

Grace and Peace,

Angel