Monday, February 6, 2012
It's Not a Diet...
...It's a lifestyle change.
I have heard this said about Weight Watchers for years. Anyone who knows me knows that I have always struggled with my weight. At my heaviest, I was over 300 pounds. That was about 7 years ago. I weigh close to 280 whenever I'm pregnant. My "normal" weight is close to 275. After I had Milly, I became very active by running after 3 little ones. In November of last year, I noticed that the scale had started to move down.
I've tried diets before. I just never stuck to them. I dabbled with Atkins, I drank Hydroxycut and I even bought outdated Weight Watchers books and tried to do it myself. I just never wanted to ask anyone for help. I went to a gym for a season and then stopped when it became inconvenient. Whenever I moved to a new apartment with a gym room then I would tell myself to utilize it. I would go once or twice and then make excuses.
It wasn't until Milly and seeing 260 on the scale that I really wanted to do something about this.
My best friend has been doing Weight Watchers and told me about a January special. I could do everything online. The Points system has changed so I can eat most veggies and fruits to my heart's content for no points. There are phone apps to help track everything. Another girlfriend had a Facebook group where we could encourage each other and exchange tips and recipes.
So I held my breath and joined.
Today begins week 3. I stood on my scale and forced myself to look down. I began this journey at 259. Today I weighed 249. It's the first time I've weighed under 250 pounds in over 10 years. I nearly collapsed and cried.
I'm not going to lie; this is TOUGH. I'm having to stop and think every time I reach for food. My shopping list looks very different. I've given up my 9 - 10 daily Dr Peppers / Pibbs for one Dr Pepper 10 a day. I drink at least 2 bottles of water a day. I'm researching new recipes and learning how to cook differently.
I'm also having to come to terms with the fact that I "eat my feelings". Doesn't that sound hippie-ish and psychodramatic? Basically, when I get upset, I reach for the chips. Now I can't do that. Since I've also quit smoking years ago then I actually have to do something healthy and DEAL with my problems!
It is WAY easier to eat 2 rows of Oreos.
This is all to say that it truly is a lifestyle change. It's making me look at all aspects of my life. I'm better hydrated and that's helped my chronic migraines. I'm trying out pilates and yoga which should eventually be a stress reliever. I'm taking a vitamin every day and I'm making sure that my kids take their vitamins. Drinking fewer sodas and buying more fresh produce has drastically lowered my grocery bill. When I get stressed, I listen to music and read my Bible for direction. I have a whole new group of girls to laugh with when we despair over the Dunkin' Donuts commercials and husbands who eat Jack in the Box tacos right in front of us. We cheer each other on when smaller pants fit and when the scale moves. We encourage each other when things stall or slip.
It works.
I have heard this said about Weight Watchers for years. Anyone who knows me knows that I have always struggled with my weight. At my heaviest, I was over 300 pounds. That was about 7 years ago. I weigh close to 280 whenever I'm pregnant. My "normal" weight is close to 275. After I had Milly, I became very active by running after 3 little ones. In November of last year, I noticed that the scale had started to move down.
I've tried diets before. I just never stuck to them. I dabbled with Atkins, I drank Hydroxycut and I even bought outdated Weight Watchers books and tried to do it myself. I just never wanted to ask anyone for help. I went to a gym for a season and then stopped when it became inconvenient. Whenever I moved to a new apartment with a gym room then I would tell myself to utilize it. I would go once or twice and then make excuses.
It wasn't until Milly and seeing 260 on the scale that I really wanted to do something about this.
My best friend has been doing Weight Watchers and told me about a January special. I could do everything online. The Points system has changed so I can eat most veggies and fruits to my heart's content for no points. There are phone apps to help track everything. Another girlfriend had a Facebook group where we could encourage each other and exchange tips and recipes.
So I held my breath and joined.
Today begins week 3. I stood on my scale and forced myself to look down. I began this journey at 259. Today I weighed 249. It's the first time I've weighed under 250 pounds in over 10 years. I nearly collapsed and cried.
I'm not going to lie; this is TOUGH. I'm having to stop and think every time I reach for food. My shopping list looks very different. I've given up my 9 - 10 daily Dr Peppers / Pibbs for one Dr Pepper 10 a day. I drink at least 2 bottles of water a day. I'm researching new recipes and learning how to cook differently.
I'm also having to come to terms with the fact that I "eat my feelings". Doesn't that sound hippie-ish and psychodramatic? Basically, when I get upset, I reach for the chips. Now I can't do that. Since I've also quit smoking years ago then I actually have to do something healthy and DEAL with my problems!
It is WAY easier to eat 2 rows of Oreos.
This is all to say that it truly is a lifestyle change. It's making me look at all aspects of my life. I'm better hydrated and that's helped my chronic migraines. I'm trying out pilates and yoga which should eventually be a stress reliever. I'm taking a vitamin every day and I'm making sure that my kids take their vitamins. Drinking fewer sodas and buying more fresh produce has drastically lowered my grocery bill. When I get stressed, I listen to music and read my Bible for direction. I have a whole new group of girls to laugh with when we despair over the Dunkin' Donuts commercials and husbands who eat Jack in the Box tacos right in front of us. We cheer each other on when smaller pants fit and when the scale moves. We encourage each other when things stall or slip.
It works.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Change
My verse for January has been written on my heart.
My verse for February is Philippians 4:8
"Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise. You know the teachings I gave you, and you know what you heard me say and saw me do. So follow my example. And God, who gives peace, will be with you."
It's a good verse to write on my heart this month because we have some serious changes happening here in the Dyer house. On Monday, we took Sophie to see a developmental doctor. We've had the appointment for months and I've been hoping and praying to hear "speech delay" and "moderate behavioral therapy" and "nothing time can't fix".
Instead we heard this;
"Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) is one of the autism spectrum disorders and is used to describe individuals who do not fully meet the criteria for autistic disorder or Asperger syndrome. PDD-NOS may be thought of as “subthreshold autism," or a diagnosis one can give a person who has “atypical symptomatology.” In other words, when someone has autistic characteristics but some of their symptoms are mild, or they have symptoms in one area (like social deficits), but none in another key area (like restricted, repetitive behaviors), they may be given the PDD-NOS label."
- Autism Speaks
So now we're reading books and websites about how to communicate with our daughter. We're making appointments with medical doctors to have her records updated so she can be seen by Special Education programs. We're reading other parents' stories and realizing how much they sound like our baby.
There are a lot of tears. There is fear that makes my hands shake. There is a quiet panic that I can't let my extra-sensitive daughter see because now I know how much it can affect her.
So I go to my verse.
I praise God for Sophie's health. She's an active little girl with no motor skill delays.
I praise God that Sophie is good and pure. She loves her family with all of her heart and is keen to our joys and pains.
I praise God for what is true.
I am Sophie's mother. I am the one who carried her in my body for 34 weeks. I am the one who stayed up on the futon in the living room while Sophie slept in the baby car seat, wailing if I stopped rocking it in my sleep deprived haze. I am the one who strapped that baby to my chest with a sling and marched all over the house. I am the one who sang lullabies to her in the NICU. I am the one who sat with a cranky toddler in a government office waiting for my turn to speak to someone about food stamps. I am the one who wipes the tears off of her face when she is scared and the poop off of her butt when she's stinky.
I am the one God gently reminded that this was His baby given to me to care for only a short period of time on this Earth when I was still pregnant. He trusts me with His child.
I will focus on these things and I will feel God's peace.
My verse for February is Philippians 4:8
"Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise. You know the teachings I gave you, and you know what you heard me say and saw me do. So follow my example. And God, who gives peace, will be with you."
It's a good verse to write on my heart this month because we have some serious changes happening here in the Dyer house. On Monday, we took Sophie to see a developmental doctor. We've had the appointment for months and I've been hoping and praying to hear "speech delay" and "moderate behavioral therapy" and "nothing time can't fix".
Instead we heard this;
"Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) is one of the autism spectrum disorders and is used to describe individuals who do not fully meet the criteria for autistic disorder or Asperger syndrome. PDD-NOS may be thought of as “subthreshold autism," or a diagnosis one can give a person who has “atypical symptomatology.” In other words, when someone has autistic characteristics but some of their symptoms are mild, or they have symptoms in one area (like social deficits), but none in another key area (like restricted, repetitive behaviors), they may be given the PDD-NOS label."
- Autism Speaks
So now we're reading books and websites about how to communicate with our daughter. We're making appointments with medical doctors to have her records updated so she can be seen by Special Education programs. We're reading other parents' stories and realizing how much they sound like our baby.
There are a lot of tears. There is fear that makes my hands shake. There is a quiet panic that I can't let my extra-sensitive daughter see because now I know how much it can affect her.
So I go to my verse.
I praise God for Sophie's health. She's an active little girl with no motor skill delays.
I praise God that Sophie is good and pure. She loves her family with all of her heart and is keen to our joys and pains.
I praise God for what is true.
I am Sophie's mother. I am the one who carried her in my body for 34 weeks. I am the one who stayed up on the futon in the living room while Sophie slept in the baby car seat, wailing if I stopped rocking it in my sleep deprived haze. I am the one who strapped that baby to my chest with a sling and marched all over the house. I am the one who sang lullabies to her in the NICU. I am the one who sat with a cranky toddler in a government office waiting for my turn to speak to someone about food stamps. I am the one who wipes the tears off of her face when she is scared and the poop off of her butt when she's stinky.
I am the one God gently reminded that this was His baby given to me to care for only a short period of time on this Earth when I was still pregnant. He trusts me with His child.
I will focus on these things and I will feel God's peace.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Ppppbbbbllllttt!!!!!!
Gideon is the only one of my children who loves stomach zerbets.
He climbs onto the couch beside me, lurches over, raises his shirt with a giant grin on his face and then plasters himself on my face.
His meaning being "ZERBET MY TUMMY OR SUFFOCATE. MAKE YOUR CHOICE, MAMA!"
He climbs onto the couch beside me, lurches over, raises his shirt with a giant grin on his face and then plasters himself on my face.
His meaning being "ZERBET MY TUMMY OR SUFFOCATE. MAKE YOUR CHOICE, MAMA!"
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Prayers and Lessons
I haven't really posted about any resolutions for 2012. There are not too many things I want to do this year. OK, that's a lie, there's a ton of stuff I want to do. This is one of the most important things.
I want to learn a new Bible verse every month.
Now when I say "learn" I don't just mean memorize the words. I want to write those words on my heart. I want to dissect the verse and truly get to the bottom of what God is saying to me through that verse.
January's verses are Romans 8:38-39
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life; neither angels nor demons; neither present nor future nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation shall separate us from the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Now I'll admit that I wrote that by heart and them immediately checked You Version. I left out the part of "nor anything else in all creation". I'm still getting there.
The part that hooked me today is that God never mentions the past. He states that "neither present nor future" will separate us but the past is not in there. One could argue that the past is lumped in there with anything in all creation...but God is specific in His words.
I guess the reason this caught my attention was because there are still parts of my past that I haven't settled. There are people that I still have to wake up and daily ask God to put forgiveness in my heart for them. There are choices that I made that still shame me. There are people I pray over only because God puts them on my heart and I know that I'm supposed to do what He tells me to do. Before I pray, I ask him to search my heart for Black Spots and cleanse me. Then I ask Him to only let me pray with a clean heart. Sometimes it takes a long time. He brings up people that have hurt me. He brings up someone that I used to call my best friend until they cut me out of their life. He brings up people whose lifestyles I don't think are Godly.
Then He always reminds me that I'm not perfect. I still make mistake after mistake. However, just as He promises in Romans, because of the decision I made when I was 10 then I will never again be separated from the love of God. He reminds me that these people need these prayers. They need to know His love. They need His conviction.
So I pray. First for cleansing and then for whoever God brings to my heart.
Because I am convinced.
I want to learn a new Bible verse every month.
Now when I say "learn" I don't just mean memorize the words. I want to write those words on my heart. I want to dissect the verse and truly get to the bottom of what God is saying to me through that verse.
January's verses are Romans 8:38-39
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life; neither angels nor demons; neither present nor future nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation shall separate us from the love of God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Now I'll admit that I wrote that by heart and them immediately checked You Version. I left out the part of "nor anything else in all creation". I'm still getting there.
The part that hooked me today is that God never mentions the past. He states that "neither present nor future" will separate us but the past is not in there. One could argue that the past is lumped in there with anything in all creation...but God is specific in His words.
I guess the reason this caught my attention was because there are still parts of my past that I haven't settled. There are people that I still have to wake up and daily ask God to put forgiveness in my heart for them. There are choices that I made that still shame me. There are people I pray over only because God puts them on my heart and I know that I'm supposed to do what He tells me to do. Before I pray, I ask him to search my heart for Black Spots and cleanse me. Then I ask Him to only let me pray with a clean heart. Sometimes it takes a long time. He brings up people that have hurt me. He brings up someone that I used to call my best friend until they cut me out of their life. He brings up people whose lifestyles I don't think are Godly.
Then He always reminds me that I'm not perfect. I still make mistake after mistake. However, just as He promises in Romans, because of the decision I made when I was 10 then I will never again be separated from the love of God. He reminds me that these people need these prayers. They need to know His love. They need His conviction.
So I pray. First for cleansing and then for whoever God brings to my heart.
Because I am convinced.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Potty is Not Going To Eat You
Look, the majority of the content on this blog is going to revolve around potty training my stubborn 4 year old daughter for a while. I might break it up occasionally but right now her shiny little heinie is pretty much the focus of my days. If you're getting bored then go look at cat videos.
Today was day 2 of Operation Break Sophie's Will or Possibly Pop Her Kidneys.
She came out of bed with the diaper that ate Manhattan. I cleaned her up and left her pantsless. My sister calls this the "Winnie the Pooh" or "Donald Duck" method. Sophie knew what this meant and started getting cranky right away. I offered a potty trip and she fell to the ground howling. I said "OK!" and walked away.
She got up. Stared at me. Looked at the bathroom. I could see her little brain working it out. I didn't care? I wasn't going to make her do anything? What's the catch?
I watched her fight all day. I gave her cup after cup after cup of juice. Finally, I was sorting clothes in the hallway when it hit.
Sophie came SCA-REE-HEEMING down the hallway like she was on fire. Again, I calmly looked at her and asked her if she wanted to go potty. She screamed all the way to the bathroom and I heard clanking, banging, crashes and finally...a small tinkling sound.
The sound of victory.
Granted, she had ripped down my cute little potty chart and peed on it. She was also just hovering over the potty and had peed in / on it. It took 15 minutes to calm her down and convince her that she was not going to turn inside out and die right there on the tile floor. I cleaned everything up and brought out the stickers.
"Stickees?", she said while sniffling.
"Yes, baby! You get to put stickers on your chart now!"
She gleefully put a sticker in the box and another at the top of the chart. Then she came out to the living room and paced around and around. She kept going over to the laundry and bringing me her pants because she knows that pants mean a diaper as well. I knew she still had to go so I asked her again. She yelled as she ran into the bathroom...and then ran right back out into the living room.
It's OK. Mama has Resolve.
After getting everything out of her system, the fight just left her. She sat in my lap, exhausted and worn. She slept for 15 minutes that way. (Me praying the whole time that she didn't pee all over me.) When she woke up...something clicked.
5 more times today, she went to the potty and did her business. This time it was with clapping, dancing and elated stickering. One time, she even ran to me in the kitchen to tell me she had to go. She went to bed tonight with 6 stickers on her chart and a Pull-Up on her butt. She fell asleep in minutes.
I know not every day is going to be like this. Some days will be great. Some days will go through a whole can of Resolve and most of my resolve. Today, however, ended with 6 stickers. I feel like I earned them, too.
Today was day 2 of Operation Break Sophie's Will or Possibly Pop Her Kidneys.
She came out of bed with the diaper that ate Manhattan. I cleaned her up and left her pantsless. My sister calls this the "Winnie the Pooh" or "Donald Duck" method. Sophie knew what this meant and started getting cranky right away. I offered a potty trip and she fell to the ground howling. I said "OK!" and walked away.
She got up. Stared at me. Looked at the bathroom. I could see her little brain working it out. I didn't care? I wasn't going to make her do anything? What's the catch?
I watched her fight all day. I gave her cup after cup after cup of juice. Finally, I was sorting clothes in the hallway when it hit.
Sophie came SCA-REE-HEEMING down the hallway like she was on fire. Again, I calmly looked at her and asked her if she wanted to go potty. She screamed all the way to the bathroom and I heard clanking, banging, crashes and finally...a small tinkling sound.
The sound of victory.
Granted, she had ripped down my cute little potty chart and peed on it. She was also just hovering over the potty and had peed in / on it. It took 15 minutes to calm her down and convince her that she was not going to turn inside out and die right there on the tile floor. I cleaned everything up and brought out the stickers.
"Stickees?", she said while sniffling.
"Yes, baby! You get to put stickers on your chart now!"
She gleefully put a sticker in the box and another at the top of the chart. Then she came out to the living room and paced around and around. She kept going over to the laundry and bringing me her pants because she knows that pants mean a diaper as well. I knew she still had to go so I asked her again. She yelled as she ran into the bathroom...and then ran right back out into the living room.
It's OK. Mama has Resolve.
After getting everything out of her system, the fight just left her. She sat in my lap, exhausted and worn. She slept for 15 minutes that way. (Me praying the whole time that she didn't pee all over me.) When she woke up...something clicked.
5 more times today, she went to the potty and did her business. This time it was with clapping, dancing and elated stickering. One time, she even ran to me in the kitchen to tell me she had to go. She went to bed tonight with 6 stickers on her chart and a Pull-Up on her butt. She fell asleep in minutes.
I know not every day is going to be like this. Some days will be great. Some days will go through a whole can of Resolve and most of my resolve. Today, however, ended with 6 stickers. I feel like I earned them, too.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)