Modifiable

I recently took a health risk assessment questionnaire with my employer’s health insurance. Taking this assessment will save me $500 on my health insurance next year. The assessment asks questions about blood pressure, weight, eating and exercising habits, and so on. At the end it tells you if you are at risk for anything from cancer to heart disease to strokes.

What struck a chord with me was that what I am at risk for are considered modifiable risk factors. I can do something about them…making an appointment, eating better, exercising…it’s in my power to change and minimize my risk factors.

Convicting much?

Oof.

This really is something I will battle forever. What can I say…I love food and not exercise.

Lord, help me love you above all else. Help me make good and healthy choices, and avoid the bad ones. Strengthen my resolve and my will-power. Amen!

5 Confessions of a Food-aholic

1. The first one is a biggie and a difficult one to put out there. I’ve gained 5 pounds in the last 3-4 weeks. Ouch. I’m thoroughly unhappy with myself, but I guess vacations and my birthday were bound to leave their mark. Now I have to find my way back to having positive motivation.

2. I have been pretty much snacking indiscriminately. It’s bad. What’s portion control again? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that.

3. I didn't go to weigh-in on Saturday. I don’t want it to become a habit, but I just really didn’t want to see how much I gained since the last time I was there…a month ago. I’m already down enough about having to pull out some bigger capris.

4. I have not been meal planning. Big mistake. Meal planning is much harder to do when on vacation, but I should at least be doing that at home. I’ve had great intentions, but I’ve failed miserably. Time to put on my thinking cap!

5. I have been over indulging in sweet things. Oh my. And now that I’m used to eating all these sugar-laden goodies, it’s hard to retrain my taste buds to be satisfied with less or even *gasp* without.

In conclusion, I’ve been a bad bad girl. Please tell me I’m not alone in my vacation-induced weight gain. Please?

The Donut Connection

Did you know that the devil knows what kind of donuts I like? He does.

One day, in the midst of a making other bad food choices instead of going to God with my issues, I went in search of a donut. I had heard via the office grapevine that there was a box of sweet donuts down the hall.

Did I need a donut? No.
Was I hungry? No.
Was I going to eat it for no good reason? Yes.

I walked down the hall and looked in the donut box. Behold!

The only thing left was a strawberry frosted donut! I ♥ strawberry frosted donuts. I snatched it up and took a bite, anticipating the tender sweetness. One more clue that I should not have eaten it – the donut was stale. As I was eating this stale donut, I wondered if it was all a set up.

Could the devil possibly know what kind of donut I would find irresistible? I would say this is proof that he does indeed. The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10a). He wants to break me down physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

How can I still be surprised to realize that the devil has been working hard to challenge my weight loss efforts? That should be a no brainer by now. I was made for more than this struggle with, and reliance on, food.

Jesus, on the other hand, came to give me a full life (John 10:10b). He wants to build me up with the amazing hope and power that comes from him alone (Ephesians 1:18-19).

There is a connection here that I need to be better at making. Tempting sugary donuts promise to fulfill me and the devil tells me that food can manage to do that on a level far above what is logical – even though it feels logical in the moment of extreme craving. Cravings that are a result of stress, sadness, boredom, and more. The connection I need to chase after, the one that is truly fulfilling, is a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God.

Today, instead of being the lies whispered to me when I am feeling defeated and worthless, I will believe what God tells me I am.

I am a daughter of the King (Romans 8:15).
I am a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).
I am free (Romans 8:1-2).
I am holy (Ephesians 1:4, Colossians 1:22).

Cupcake Dreamin'

You know how I gave up dessert for lent?

Well, Saturday I was looking online at fancy schmancy cupcakes to order once the fast is over. Amazing, scrumptious, and decadent cupcakes!

Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry, oh my!

Saturday night I had a crazy dream about dessert. Serves me right for day dreamin' about cupcakes right before bed.

I was at some sort of church ladies function. I walked into the dining room and the table was covered with decadent desserts of all types. The hostess urged me to dig in and I obliged. It started with just a bite, and before I knew it I was shoving cupcakes and cookies and chocolate into my mouth as fast as I could chew.

Oh, it was good. Sinfully good.

In a split second, I remembered that I was fasting dessert.

Busted.

I had a choice to make. There I was, mouth full of sweets like a chipmunk and a treat in each hand. What was I going to do? I hesitated. I chewed as I thought, ‘If I blew it this bad I may as well keep going.’

Wow.

I kept going.

Ouch. I’m relieved that it was just a dream.

But isn’t that just like us as humans? We crave the wrong things. There is nothing wrong with eating a cupcake, but when I choose the cupcake over God I cross the line into sin. I joked last Friday about feeling like I was about to die of sugar deprivation. Sunday night I found myself asking, do I crave God that much? So much I would die without him? I should be.

It's time to restart checking my cravings. This morning. No more putting it off. When I feel that intense craving for food, I will pray that God helps me to crave HIM instead.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world.

~ 1 John 2:15-16

7 ways to eat healthier

1. Eat your fruits and vegetables. When I first joined Weight Watchers (WW), I struggled with how to get five servings of fruits and vegetables in a day. I have learned to eat one serving at breakfast or as my morning snack, two at lunch, one as an afternoon snack, and one or two at dinner. Buy what is in season, and you will get the best tasting fresh produce.

2. Watch your portion sizes. I know this seems like a no-brainer, but most of us eat way more than we need. Be honest with your portion sizes. Don't try and cheat. You are only hurting yourself.

3. Focus on making one good choice at a time. If you mess up and eat an entire bag of cookies in a fit of hormonal PMS, forgive yourself and move on. Make your next choice a super healthy one.

4. Find healthy snacks that you enjoy. I get the munchies often. Having a bunch of go to healthy snacks on hand keeps me from grabbing my husband's bag of chips.

5. Dairy - WW is all about fat-free dairy, which I mostly detest. I opt for reduced-fat or low-fat dairy. It is higher in WW point values, but it's worth it for me. Chose which ever you prefer, but eat/drink dairy every day. I adore Laughing Cow cheese and Sargento light string cheese.

6. Everything in moderation, that is my motto. I have never bought into fad diets that single out one thing. You need to be aware of it all, without focusing on just one thing. Calories, carbs, protein, fiber, fat... However, don't let these things overwhelm you. Here is where I think WW has a great program. It helps me see the overall picture of how healthy a food is without spending lots of time analyzing.

7. Allow yourself small treats of things you really love. I don't believe complete deprivation works - at least for me. Not at all.

And now to be a good girl

After weeks of barely keeping myself reigned in where eating is concerned, I am back to being a good girl.

I have gained about 5 pounds since mid-November. I do not feel too badly about this gain, and I am confident that I can lose those pounds plus about 10 more by eating right and working out.

I was off work today and sat down with my cookbooks and WW points calculator to come up with a shopping list. I came up with my plan of attack for the week...breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Lots of fruits and veggies.

I am feeling back in this, mentally speaking. That is where my biggest battle takes place - in my mind. Of course, I may say differently the second emotional eating kicks in.

I can do this!

I interrupt the regularly scheduled blogging with breaking news...

BREAKING NEWS ALERT! BREAKING NEWS ALERT! BREAKING NEWS ALERT!


Rusty and I went to the gym. Gasp! Wheeze!

I shall now give you a moment to recover from the shock, which I am sure caused you to faint.


*ahem*


Yes, we went to the gym! Feel free to break into spontaneous applause. Thank you. Thank you very much.

We had not passed over the threshold of the afore mentioned establishment in low these many months. But today, today we went. We took is slow, since this is the first time in a long time that we have worked out. Here's to going for a second time this week! We need to go again, especially considering the *cough* two bags of candy corn pumpkins *cough* incident.

Come back next week when the regularly scheduled blogging, Taiwanese Tuesday, returns. I'll try to make it especially scrumptious and drool inducing.

80/20

I read in my weekly WW handout about the 80/20 rule - 80% healthy choices and 20% indulgences. It was a reminder that I needed. When I first started out on WW in May I succeeded by making super healthy choices Monday through Friday, and allowing for some indulgences on Saturday and Sunday. It worked really well for me. I felt like I was suceeding without being deprived.

The last month or so I have been struggling and my weight loss (or lack thereof) has shown it. I feel like reading again about the 80/20 rule helped me remember what worked for me earlier on. I feel like I'm back on track. Woot!

Back in the saddle

I've been remiss for the last two weeks - I haven't been writing down what I've been eating. BIG WW no-no. Today I will begin again. Luckily, I've been keeping mental tallies on most days and I've still managed to lose weight. Phew! But it is time for me to kick my butt in gear once more. I will do my prep work, planning, and thinking ahead. That is a huge part of success for me. I will track honestly and still allow myself treats. Tonight my ILs are taking us to dinner for my birthday. I asked to go to a chain restaurant that has some WW and lower cal dinners. That should make dinner relatively easy.

Breakfast
1 - coffee
1 - orange
1 - wedge of cheese

Lunch
4.5 - 4 small zucchini patties
1 - 1 cup watermelon

Dinner
7 - grilled shrimp with rice
1 - seasonal veggies

That leaves me with 4.5 points for the day. I might eat a birthday cupcake (3 pt) and a couple fries off of my hubby's plate tonight (1.5 pt). And there you have it, 21 points for the day!

I have bean burrito stuff already at work, and will take the leftover zucchini patties and some watermelon to work this week. Breakfasts are already thought out as well. Should be a good week! Here's to more weight loss!

Love letter

Dear French Fries,

I love you dearly - you are one of my favorite foods - but you really aren't good for my curvy figure. You cause me to be less curvy and more flabby. This is not good. I have not met with you since I joined WW on May 1st. I have said no to your deliciousness and I am proud of my new found resolve, but I knew this day would come. I was bound to crave you a little too much one day, and today was that day. I stopped by McDs to just get a diet Coke when I felt you call to me. A small order, perfectly hot and salty, satisfied me as I savored each golden fry. Yum. Oh yum. Oh yum.

Love and curvy hips,
Rach

Killed it

My WW diet that is. Today started with an on-again off-again headache followed by a rough afternoon at work. On the way home Rusty told me that I had left last night's dinner, aka tonight's leftovers dinner, on the stove. Overnight. And all day today. Ugh. So I had to pick something up on my way home and I had left my WW eating-out books at work. I ended up going to Popeye's - fried chicken is so not in the diet plan. The chicken place got our order almost completely wrong. After repeatedly saying that I wanted a spicy chicken sandwich with fruit punch - we got a chicken sandwich but not the right one and sweet tea instead of fruit punch. Double ugh.

THEN, if that wasn't enough, I had to call our cable/internet provider with three different issues. While on the phone with the 3rd person (who was the best helper by far), we had two more issues crop up spontaneously. It's like the Bermuda Triangle showed up in our house! Sheeeeeesh! After finally getting off the phone with the fourth person (who BTW told me that a certain channel would be put back on and it hasn't shown up so far), I decided that I should totally blow the whole thing today with a deliciously decadent chocolate chip cookie. Yum. O. I'll start WW again tomorrow.