Blessings From Home

Some Thoughts on Dieting

I have never been one to diet...not that I don't need to. I've just always been comfortable with my weight. Usually as long as I could fit into whatever my favorite outfit was at the moment, I was happy.

I was a fortunate soul when it came to being pregnant. Because for some reason when most women gained 30-50lbs, I lost it. How, you may ask? I really don't know. Through all my pregnancies, I've never had morning sickness...oh, I may have thrown up once during each pregnancy, but other than that, I was lucky. I ate healthy, although I did have a strong aversion to several kinds of food while pregnant. And what I craved was healthy food..fruits, salad, veggies, etc. I drank lots of water too and because I wanted my babies to be healthy, I kept the sodas down to a minimum if at all.

So why is it I should treat my body any different when I'm not pregnant. Right now is the longest I've gone without getting pregnant. My youngest is 2 years, 5 months. And although I would love another baby, I don't want to wait until I am pregnant to lose the weight I need to be healthy. My weight has recently hit an all time high, which has really been bothering me.

So what am I going to do about it? Well, like I said, I'm not really one who cares to diet, I've never really done it. I prefer to make lifestyle changes... As of today, I haven't had a soda of any kind in 3 days. This is a record for me. Some other change I will be making....

~I have a 32 oz water bottle, and I am going to fill it up twice a day....oh, yeah, and drink it. lol.

~Other than water, I will have juice/milk and 1 cup of coffee every morning. For lunch and dinner, I will allow myself 1-2 glasses of sweet tea, a staple in this family.

~With every meal and at snack time, I will choose to have some kind of raw fruit or vegetable or a salad with light dressing.

~I'm not ready to give up bread, and I don't think I need to, but I will cut back on how much I eat daily.

~I'm going to start using the kid's bowls and plates to cut back on my servings.

~Right now, I really don't have the time to go walking every day, but I do have a walk away the pounds tape that I may put into good use and that could also serve as some P.E. time for my son.

~I realize a few things about my eating habits...I'm a boredom eater and I give in easily to my cravings. You know, the oh ice cream sounds good and go fix me a pint. I don't think I need to give up my cravings, just don't go dive in head first when one hits. As for the boredom eating, I just need to learn when I'm bored, I need to find something productive to do instead of eating, it's not like I don't have a list a mile long to do.

The main thing I realize I've got to focus on is not my weight, but my willpower. I've got to have the strength to say no to the second helping of whatever we're eating...to use the kid sized plate and portions...to drink my water...to eat some healthy fruits and veggies...to say no to dr. pepper. Because I know the end result will be a healthier me. I will be spending a lot of time in prayer and asking the Lord to walk by my side as I make these lifestyle changes. The first few days, up to a week are usually the hardest to make changes for me. So I know if I can make it through this week, then I will be past the worst of it and things will begin to become habit. I'll keep you updated on my journey. No, I probably won't post my weight...just my achievements. If you'd like to follow along with me in my journey, please just leave me a note. It's always nice to have a friend "walking" along side you on these long and winding roads. Many blessings to you and yours,

Sara

you go girl

{ 08:48, Tuesday, September 11, 2007 } { Posted by AbiBuening }

I never gained during any of my pregnacies either. I too lost weight. My doctor never seemed concerned about it though. I just figured it was because I was over weight before so it never alarmed him. My weight turned into the baby's weight I guess. Only thing I can think of because I was on a strict diet. I had gestational diabetes.
However, in the last three years they diagnosed me with diabetes. I have lost 50 lbs. just cutting back my meal size protions and watching what I eat. My hubby has also lost about 25 lbs. doing same thing watching what he eats and cutting back on protions. You can do it!! Go, Go, Go!!

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{ 09:05, Tuesday, September 11, 2007 } { Posted by Southernangel }

Me and my mom (Quiltercmr) are starting the South Beach diet this weekend :) we were on it before and it worked wonders.. we quit because my dad was out of work for 9 weeks and it got too expensive since he got no pay.

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{ 10:01, Tuesday, September 11, 2007 } { Posted by Jonash2004 }

I decided since I was going to spend (Lord willing) a greater portion of my life nursing or pregnant, I should probably treat my body like I'm pg all the time.

Of course, that's easier said than done!

But I did away with caffine when I was pg with my son and I don't miss it now, I never drank coffee or tea so that wasn't a biggie, etc. We quit buying potatoe chips - we just eat them at other people's houses now! LOL

(Yeah, we go visiting and we're eating chips and drinking pop like piggies but people don't realize it's a once/twice a month thing for us. You can consume SO many calories with this type of food.)

I tend to eat *all* easily accessable food during the day. Now I just don't buy it. If I want cookies, I make cookies. If I want a muffin, I make muffins. For some reason this helps! When we feel like desert, we make it after dinner, and I think the cooking/baking delay helps our meal settle so we end up eating less desert than if we just go from one thing to the next.

That said, I'm going to really have to work at taking of this pg weight. I kept 5lbs after Samuel and I don't want to keep another 5lbs . . . it could get ugly after a while! ;)

Blessings to you!
Ashley

concerning the cast iron question you posted at my blog

{ 02:33, Tuesday, September 11, 2007 } { Posted by AbiBuening }

Seems like the bread was done sooner. And I didn't have the oven on 375 degrees only 350 degrees. I believe it was done in 1 hour. The bread had a golden color all the way around. I was pleased with the outcome. play it by ear (eye) til you get use to it I guess.