Day 9 - A Happy Day

Today is Day 9 of our lifestyle change.

Nothing new on the menu today except for baked sweet potatoes.  I baked a pan in the oven this morning early.  Hubby had one for his lunch without butter and sugar and the stuff that makes them taste so good but so bad for you.   I had more lettuce wraps.  I'm hung up on them now I think.  I'm already thinking about packing some for my lunch tomorrow.  I did add some almond slivers today to the veggies when I was stir frying them in a bit of olive oil.  The added crunch was great.  I'm about to go make a batch of the asian sesame dressing to have on hand.  I just made a very small amount of it yesterday.  I love just a tiny drizzle of it on my salad too.  The sesame oil in it gives it such a wonderful nutty flavor.   We also had a large raw salad for lunch with fresh avocado dressing.  

I have so much more energy today.  I got up early and we've been working on the kitchen all morning.  We've organized cabinets, drawers, the pantry, got rid of stuff we aren't going to eat or use and rid of old spices that are no longer tasty.  The hubby is now working outside a bit.  We haven't even started getting our yard ready for spring.  We need mulch and ferns for the porch and so much more.  There's always so much work to do.  

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend.  It will be over soon.  Enjoy it to the mostest!!!

Blessings

L

Day 8 a Weigh In and Good News!!

I couldn't wait to get out of bed this morning to weigh!  It was dark and rainy here and both of us slept a little later than usual.  Hubby is usually up at 5 no matter what day of the week.  This morning at 7:30 he was still sleeping away.  I got up first to take out the dogs and then came back in and stripped off my PJs and jumped on the scales.  I lost 4 pounds!!!  I'm so glad.  Had I not, I would have been so disappointed.  That's why I decided we were only going to weigh once a week.It's easy to become discouraged because your weight fluctuates a little bit each day.  I'm pleased with 4 pounds for my first week.  I know I won't lose that much every week and I'd rather lose it slowly anyway.  Pretty exciting though.  OH! and the hubby lost 5 1/2.  I knew he'd lose more.  He's much more active than me plus men just lose faster. Sigh!

Today I made us parfaits for breakfast.  Glasses filled with layers of vanilla lowfat yogurt, fresh sliced strawberries and crunchy gingersnap granola.  It was yummy.  Would be very good with most any fresh fruit.  While I was making it I thought about fresh sweet peaches this summer and how good that will be.  The granola I found at Harris Teeter.  We both love granola anyway and this is flavored with ginger which has a little bit of a burny bite to it.  The cereal is really good.

We also made hummus today.  It's one of our favorite snacks.  We love it on crackers, to dip veggies in, spread on a tortilla or in a pita pocket with some raw veggies.  I'll post the recipe at the bottom of this post.  For lunch we had hard toasted ciabata bread spread with hummus and a few carrot sticks and celery sticks.  It was so filling.

Tonight I made one of the best things I've had all week.....Lettuce wraps.  Earlier today I cooked a pot of Uncle Ben's brown rice.  I always cook my rice in broth or stock, not water.  It gives it so much more flavor.  I cooked 1 1/2 cups brown rice in 2 cans of Vegetable broth.  I grated in a small carrot while it was cooking.  When it was done I added the juice of 1/2 lemon and big handful of fresh chopped flat leaf parsley.  I put the lid back on tight and let the parsley steam in.So good.  I'll be making it this way often.  It made a big pot so I can do different things with it.  

Tonight for dinner I took big Romaine lettuce leaves and washed and dried them and then sauteed some julienned veggies.  I made an asian dressing with a few ingredients to put on the rollups.  Topped the lettuce leaf with some rice, veggies and drizzled on some dressing.  They were amazing.  I'll post the recipe below.  I think I could eat these every day!

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Lisa's Hummus

This is the main hummus mixture - you can eat like this or add in other items.

2 cans chick peas (also called garbanzo beans)

drain one can and don't drain the other - you will need some of the liquid

2 heaping tblsp. nutritional yeast (this is not bakers yeast)

2 tblsp. cumin

2 tblsp. tahini (sesame seed paste)

the juice of one lemon

2 tblsp. olive oil

dash of cayenne pepper

Mix well in food processor adding liquid from chick peas as needed to get the smooth consistency you desire.

Add ins

12-15 black olives

1/4 cup onion (can add more if you like)

handful of fresh cilantro

I mix my chickpea mixture first, remove from food processor and then chop the add ins.  Mix in the add ins with the chickpea mixture.  You can eat right away but the longer it's made, the better it is.  

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Lettuce Wraps

Cooked brown rice (can use white rice but brown is more healthy)

fine strips of carrot

strips of sweet onion

strips of red bell pepper

fresh asparagus cut in 1 inch pieces

handful of brocolli slaw

romaine lettuce leaves

Cook the carrot, onion, pepper, asparagus and broccoli slaw in a tblsp. olive oil until starting to get tender.  You want the veggies to still  have some crunch.

Take a romaine lettuce leaf and trim off the hard stem part

Top with a spoonful of rice and then top with the veggies

Drizzle with Asian dressing 

Enjoy as a hand held food

You really could use any veggies you like.  Next time I'll add in some zuchinni and mushrooms and maybe a sprinkle of finely chopped cashews for some crunch

Yummy!

Asian Sesame Dressing - THIS IS WHAT MADE IT SO YUMMY!!!!

Ingredients

• 1/4  cup  vegetable oil ( I used half vegetable oil and half extra virgin olive oil)
• 2  tablespoons  white wine vinegar (I had plain white vinegar and it worked fine)
• 1  tablespoon  soy sauce  (I used Tamari - an unfermented soy sauce)
• 2  teaspoons  sugar (I used a packet of stevia)
• 1/2  teaspoon  sesame oil (I had the toasted sesame oil and it worked fine)
• 1/4  teaspoon  dried crushed red pepper (the kind like you sprinkle on pizza)

Preparation

Whisk together all ingredients

And Here is the Finished Product - So Good!!

Day 7

We've almost made it a week!  One more day and we can weigh!

Today is Friday and Day 7.  At 8:00 this morning we had to be at the hospital to see the Employee Health Director for our yearly health assessment.  They pricked our finger to check cholesterol, triglycerides, sugar, etc.  Then they measure your height and weight.  I really couldn't tell from weighing about my weight loss because of course all scales are different and I was fully clothed including lab coat, etc.  We have to keep our BMI below 30 in order to receive the lowest insurance premiums available to employees.  We both passed, but that doesn't mean we aren't over weight!

Trudge on........

Nothing new with our diet today.  Just ready and waiting for the weekend.

Day 6

Today is Day 6 of our Lifestyle Change.

Nothing very interesting happened today.  Fruit for breakfast, raw veggie salad from the hospital cafeteria salad bar.  It was tough because it was Taco Bar day and it's one of my very favorite meals the cafeteria serves.  I went with my co-workers and got raw veggies from the salad bar along with a few black olives, some sunflower seeds and raisins.  They didn't have any healthy salad dressing that I like so I snitched a little guacamole from the taco bar.  They make the best guacamole. (I'm very picky about salad dressing...not many commercial bottle dressings that I'll eat...they just taste yuck to me!) I've been making avocado dressings this week anyway so it was fine.  I enjoyed my lunch and watching my friends with taco salads.  

We needed to grocery shop again as we were started to run out of fresh veggies and fruits.  We didn't go to the specialty health food grocery store this time but we hit up a big Harris Teeter in Greensboro.  Man, what a store.  We loved it.  They had many of the same organic fruits and veggies that Earth Fare has.  But before we went to the grocery store we needed some dinner.We were both pretty filled to the gills with raw so we did have some bread and orzo pasta. We ordered an appetizer of bruschetta.  Crunchy toasted bread topped with chopped fresh tomato, fresh basil, diced garlic, olive oil and shaved parmesan cheese.  It was yummy and pretty healthy I think.  It was a nice switch.

We were surprised while sitting in the restaurant, just about to order and someone came up beside us and said excuse me sir, but what would you like to order?  We looked up to find my nephew Braxton and his girl Vanessa.  They were celebrating their 1 year anniversary as a couple.  They were seated in the booth behind us.  We secretly paid for their dinner before we left as an anniversary gift.  They are a sweet couple.  He text'd me while we were in the grocery store and was so surprised and thankful for the gift.

That's about it for Day 6.  Tomorrow morning we have our health assessment at the hospital. My insurance company requires it each year.  Fun!  I'm thinking I should have started this lifestyle change long before now. : > )

Time for Confession

Updated at bottom of post

Today is Day 5 of our lifestyle change.  

I have a confession to make.  Late yesterday afternoon both the hubby and myself were having dizzy spells and just overall fatigue.  We decided that maybe we should have something cooked and starchy so we did.  We're not out to make ourselves sick with this and it is a huge change and shock to our bodies so we did what we thought would be best.  I felt a little guilty that I wasn't sticking to my plan but I felt much better after I ate.   We didn't do bad.  We had baked potatoes and dry toast with a huge salad.  Our plan was to have nothing but RAW foods for the first two weeks.  I don't think what we had was bad, just not what I had commited myself to do.

I don't know why but I feel so much more awake in the mornings.  I mean early mornings.  I don't feel lazy and like I need to sleep a couple more hours.  I have been trying to get in the bed earlier at night though.  Maybe that is helping also.  My brain just feels lighter!  I don't know if I've lost any weight or not, but I am starting to feel better.

Basically during the work week we've been doing fresh fruit bowls with a sprinkle of raw nuts and seeds and a drizzle of raw honey in the mornings and raw veggies and salads for lunch.  The hubby has enjoyed the corn salad and raw sweet potato salad in his lunches.  I've been doing celery and carrot sticks and red and yellow pepper strips with homemade fresh avocado dip and black olives. We're drinking lots of distilled water and carrot juice.  

Remember all those fresh veggies and fruits we bought last Friday?  Well they are dwindling. We are out of the grape tomatoes, apples and green onions and we have one more serving of bananas, lettuce, grapes, blood orange, strawberries and blueberries.  I'm thinking that we may need to go to Earth Fare again tomorrow night.  We can find a few organic veggies and fruits at Walmart, but Earth Fare has such beautiful produce and you can find anything you need there. Whole Foods is also great but a little farther for us to drive.

This weekend will be interesting as I have plans to meet up with my sisters for a birthday outing on Sunday.  They are coming to my house and then we will go out to eat and maybe somewhere shopping.   I know I can make good choices in a restaurant though.  I just have to be strong.

Happy Wednesday if you are reading this!!

P.S. I have failed to mention that the heartburn and acid reflux that I was having every single night has been gone since the 2nd day.  I have not had to take the daily dosage of acid control. Praise Jesus!!

Day 4

Ok, so I didn't get back here to blog last night.  I got home late and I just didn't have the energy.

Today, however, is a new day and I feel so much better.  My head is no longer spinning and my sinusitis is much, much better.  I have to admit though, yesterday was a tough day.  I knew going back to work would be a different hurdle.  As soon as I walked into the hospital lobby (my office is located in this area ) the entire place smelled like fresh baked bread.  I hurried to my office and closed the door tightly.  I made it through the day and I slept so good last night.  I hopped up at 5am to fix the hubby's breakfast and lunch to go and I've been pouring over my daily blogs and catching up on them and spending time thinking and praying for sweet baby Stellan.  I so wish she would give us an update.  I'm so worried about that baby.  

Today will be a good day.  I can tell.  I'm going now to have some fresh fruit, nuts and seeds for breakfast and before I go to work I'll have a tall glass of fresh carrot juice.  The hubby juiced again last night.

Have a great day today!

Oh and one more thing.....as I was reading my blogs this morning someething caught my attention on TV.  On the Today show this morning they did a piece on meat eating and the health risks involved.  Just makes me think that I'm really doing the right thing here.

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29840448/

Day 3

Not much time for posting this morning. I'm still suffering with major sinusitis, headache and over all just achy. I'm sticking with the food change though. Just don't have a lot of energy right now. I got up to fix the hubby's fruity breakfast and went back to bed for a couple of hours. I'm really not hungry at all but I did just have half an apple cut into wedges and smeared with a little almond butter. That's a pretty good breakfast. I need to get busy now and get the house straightened up. Soon it will be time to head to work. That's where it will be hard! I'm taking plenty of water to drink and a big salad to have later today with homemade dressing.

I promise to come back tonight and let you know how my day went.

Blessings to all! Please pray for baby Stellan today. He's in ICU.

Day 2

Ok, so yesterday I had the most miz headache ever!! It lasted the entire day. After the celery with almond butter I had to go to bed. We didn't make it to the movie: >(  That was probably best anyway now that I think back on it.  The smell of freshly popped buttered popcorn would have been too much.  The hubby loves him some popcorn.  Today I feel a little better but I'm sneezing like crazy. I really hope I'm not coming down with a cold. I'm not hungry at all.

I'm not a breakfast person at all and YES I do know it's the most important meal of the day. I just usually don't feel like eating til I've been up a couple of hours.  This morning we had a filling breakfast which consisted of sliced banana topped with pecans, walnuts, flax seed and drizzled with honey. It was yummy! The hubby had the same but with two bananas. He's gone to the grocery now to locate some fresh corn for a raw corn salad and some dates. Many of the dressing recipes that I have call for a date or two for sweetening and I forgot to pick those up when we were at Earth Fare. Raw honey is also used for sweetening, but dates also help to thicken stuff. I've been devouring every vegetarian blog I can find and I've come up with some great recipes and ideas to try. I'm honestly having fun with this!!

More later today. I have house work to do!

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Scratch the house cleaning, this is too important!

Hubby found fresh corn at the grocery and now I've created two new dishes and everything is RAW. OK, I didn't come up with the recipes.  I just tweaked them a little.  Both recipes came from the Hallelujah Diet book.

Raw Corn Salad

4 ears fresh corn cut from cob - I know this will be much better in the summer with fresh corn straight from the field, but this is surprisingly very sweet and tender

Red bell pepper - diced small

3 scallions - green onions diced small

About 8 grape tomotoes diced up

2-3 tblsp. fresh basil torn up

1/2 of a fresh avocado diced

Mix all this together and cover with plastic - then mix the following dressing

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

I put it all in one of those dressing mixer thingys and shook it up good.  Instead of putting it all on the salad in the bowl we're going to add it as we serve it.  

Holiday Sweet Potato Slaw

1 large sweet potato peeled and grated on a hand grater

1 small sweet apple peeled and grated ( I used fuji )

1/2 cup fresh pineapple tidbits

1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1/4 cup raisins

Mix together and cover with plastic - then mix the following dressing.

Holiday Slaw Dressing

1/2 cup vegenaise (vegetarian mayo)

2 tbsp. raw honey

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. lemon zest

dash of cinnamon

Whisk dressing ingredients together until mixed well and add to salad.  Cover and let marinate a while before serving to marry all the flavors.

Note: After eating this we decided it's a lot like carrot/raisin salad.  Was very good.  Almost like dessert.

Now I'm thinking about what I can pack us for lunch tomorrow.  Oh! and I'll have to get up early to prepare hubby's breakfast before he goes to work.  I might make fruit salad tonight or he could even do the banana thing by himself.  I don't go in to work til 12 on Mondays and I usually sleep in, but maybe not anymore!

Day 1

Updated:

It's Day 1 of our new adventure. We're so excited! We got up and weighed (naked). We have had our first meal with no cooked food and we've made our first batch of healthy juice. We're on our way........

Breakfast
Fruit salad consisting of
diced fuji apples, sliced strawberries, fresh blueberries, blood orange segments, sliced red seedless grapes, sprinkle of pecans and sprinkle of unsweetened shaved coconut

I whisked up a tablespoon of wildberry preserves (all natural) with a splash of raw apple cider vinegar, a splash of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt and tossed the fruit in the dressing. Served it up in a bowl with the pecans and coconut on top. It was delicious.


After breakfast we made our first batch of fresh carrot juice. The hubby juices quite often so this was nothing new to him, but I've never drank much of it. I just had my first glass and it was so sweet and good. I took a few pictures of the process.

This is our Norwalk juicer. It first grinds up the carrots and
then presses them to extract the juice

The huge carrots have been washed, scrubbed with a brush, ends cut off
and scraped with a vegetable peeler. We used 10 large carrots.

The first juice being squeezed out. The juicer has a hydraulic press
and it gets every drop of juice out of the carrots

This is what the carrot looks like after it's pressed.
It almost feels like wood shavings it's so dry.

Liquid Gold- We got 36 ounces of juice from the 10 carrots

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Lunch

A Huge salad consisting of

Baby romaine lettuce, yellow pepper, red pepper, red onion, green onion, cucumber, sprouts, handful of broccoli slaw, tomatoes, fresh cubes of avocado, celery and a sprinkle of flax seeds.

I made dressing from avocado, lemon juice, a splash of extra virgin olive oil, cumin, sea salt, dash of turmeric and a little water - all whizzed up in the blender. (Note to self:  this would make a great dip for carrot and celery sticks or a great spread for pita pockets or veggie wraps)

It was delicious.  One of the things that I've re-learned is that the digestion of our food starts in the mouth and eating slowly and chewing your food well aids in digestion.  Believe me, with all these crunchy veggies, you have to chew and chew and chew.  It takes a while to eat and it seems more satisfying and filling.  We also don't drink with our meals.  We drink water 30 minutes before and/or after, but not while eating.  Your saliva starts digestion and of course drinking, even if it's water, dilutes the saliva.  

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This evening we had a snack (might be dinner, because I am not hungry!) of celery sticks smeared with a little almond butter with a few raisins pressed in and drizzled with honey. Yummy!  Again a lot of chewing!

Water!  Water!  Water! and More Carrot Juice.

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Today was pretty easy.  The food was delicious.  The hubby has talked a little about cooked food.I think he'll miss cooked food in the morning more than any other time.  Remember! I'm only aiming for total raw fruits and veggies for the first two weeks.  After that we will add back healthy cooked foods.  

I have had a major headache today but it's not anything to do with the diet.  I got up with it.  I slept a little too long last night and I always get headaches when I do that.  I do expect to have withdrawal headaches in the days to come.  Just coming off soft drinks will do that to me.  I was a soft drink junkie!!

Now we're off to see Madea Goes to Jail!

Bountiful Goodness

We did it! We made our grocery store run (Earth Fare) this evening!

Wanna See?

It took a while, but it was fun. It wasn't cheap, but it's so colorful and pretty. Is food pretty?

We didn't buy one thing that isn't healthy. No chips, no cookies, no pasta, no dairy products. We spent $122.22 and I really feel good about it.

Here's what we got!

*Natural Raw almond butter. (have you ever had it? yum! they grind it right in the store. it has nothing in it except almonds. it's better than peanut butter)

*Raw sliced almonds

*Raw whole almonds

*Raw broken cashews

*Raw Sourwood honey

*Raw pecan pieces

*Brown flax seed

*Raw walnut pieces

*Vegenaise Grapeseed oil (this is vegetarian mayonnaise. it's really good. i can't tell the difference. no eggs and it's made with oil from grape seeds. very healthy)

*Gala apples

*Hass avocadoes

*Organic bananas

*Fresh blueberries

*Fresh strawberries (they smell heavenly)

*Broccoli slaw

*25 pounds of organic carrots for juicing

*organic celery

*organic cilantro

*one seedless european cucumber

*garlic

*red flame seedless grapes

*fresh living basil ( oh my gosh! you would not believe how this smells. i love basil! )

*organic kiwi

*organic lemons

*organic limes

*blood oranges

*organic green onions

*organic red onion

*organic flat leaf parsley

*red bell peppers

*yellow bell peppers

*baby romain salad mix

*alfalfa sprouts ( we grow our own sprouts but it will take a few days )

*organic grape tomatoes

*toasted sesame oil

*organic wildberry fruit spread (nothing but fruit, no added sugars )

*organic flaked coconut ( not the sweetened stuff you buy in a can or bag )

Now aren't you anticipating what I'm going to create with all this stuff? I am! I can't wait to get started.

Oh! we changed our starting day to Saturday instead of Sunday. We're that anxious to begin.

Moving Forward.......

I know you probably think I'm crazy...........but I am really having to prepare myself mentally for this change.  It's not going to be easy, I know that.  My bestest friend at work said to me at lunch today "you are gonna be one ill heifer next week".  LOL I hope not, but I'm not making any promises!  I'm still reading the Hallelujah Diet and making notes both on paper and mental notes. The hubby took the book to work today and read some.  We've been reading it together too.  He had lots to say about it when he got home.  He's trying to prepare his mind too.  I think I have a plan now.

* My goal is to lose 30 pounds by the end of June.  The hubby wants to lose 24 pounds.  I need to lose more, but that's my first goal.

* I'm starting the food change on Sunday March 22nd.  

* We will take "before" pictures.  

* We will keep daily food diaries, even when we cheat, and we will cheat!

* My plan is to eat nothing but raw fruits and veggies and fresh fruit and veggie juice and water for the first two weeks.  This will aid in cleansing the colon and digestive system.

* I do plan to exercise, but probably will not start for the first couple of weeks until my body and my mind starts to adjust and gets use to less carbs.

* We will weigh on Sunday only, every week.  The scales will be put away at all other times.

* Probably most importantly I will begin the day with prayer and end the day with prayer.

AND I will cling to this promise found in Psalm 103:2-5

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

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Things I'm thankful for today:

Plans.....

Sunshine

My schnauzer children (even though I've been very short tempered with them this evening)

Forgiveness

Team work!

Sending up prayers today for:

Jamie & cupcake and Mike and Maggie too

Jonah

Nicole's surgery tomorrow

My friends in Ireland (as I typed this I received word that their first concert tonight went great!!!)

Hallelujah for my Health

Have you ever heard of the "Hallelujah Diet"?  I heard about it several years ago when there was a crisis in the life of someone I am very close to.  I began to search the internet for health information and for information on healthy foods that could reduce cholesterol and clear plaque from arteries.Did you know you can actually do that?  I know a person who had blocked carotid arteries who amazingly cleared them with this diet.  The author of this diet (well, kind of, actually God is the author) has many testimonials including that of himself where people have been cured of cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, athritis and many digestive disorders.  It's really not a crazy fad diet, it's actually the original plan for our lives that began in the Garden of Eden.  

My hubby is a vegetarian.  He has been for many years.  I, though, am far from it.  I was raised on fried chicken and country fried steak and gravy and mama's meatloaf.  I don't buy and cook meat very much because it usually goes to waste before I can finish it.  My diet does include many veggies and fruits but I'm afraid they aren't prepared in a healthy way usually.  My plan is to change that.  I plan, as close as possible, to follow the Hallelujah Diet.  If you haven't heard of it or don't know much about it, I invite you visit their website or to get the book.  That is, if you're interested in getting healthy, living a long life free of pain and disease and developing a closer relationship with the Heavenly father.  

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Some of the reasons that I made this decision:

I have suffered from horrendous headaches for much of my adult life.  Lately they have been more frequent and worse as far as the pain and length.  I am ready to be rid of them without medicating.

In two weeks I will be 44 years old and I am already dealing with aching joints, knee pain, back pain and I do not want to lose my mobility to athritis.

I have endured terrible, painful episodes of psoriasis on the soles of my feet for the last 7 years. There have been times that I have not been able to wear shoes and bearly able to walk. Although I have enjoyed almost a full year of soft, smooth feet, free of pain and icky scales, the monster is returning.  Just in time for sandal weather too.  I'm not sure that I can endure it again.  It's very straining on not only my outer body but also my emotional state.  It's embarrassing, almost debilitating at times and I do not want to deal with it again.

I deal almost constantly with depression.  Many of you will be surprised at that admission, but it's true.  I have dealt with it for almost 6 years and there are many things that I could blame for it but I won't bore you with those details.  I am working on those things, all those things that is that I can control and I will beat it!

I lost my father when I was 10 years old and he was only 55 to a massive heart attack.  I lost my mother 6 years ago to lung cancer.  She also went through colon cancer surgery and chemo treatments.  She never smoked a day in her life.  Why lung cancer?  Why colon cancer?  Could it be environment related?  Could it be food related?  Could it be lifestyle related?

I don't have the answers to all those questions, but I keep thinking.......if I can do something as simple as change the way I eat and become healthier and happier.......why would I not want to do that?  

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Things that I'm thankful for today:

A good job

A great, supportive spouse

The original diet plan

Sense enough (I hope) to figure it all out 

Will power (I hope) to stick with it

supportive friends

Oh! and sunshine for the first time in a week!

A Confession of sorts........

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body," 

(1 Cor. 6:19-20).

The hubby and I made a decision this past weekend to make a big change in our lives and that change is the way that we eat and how we take care of our bodies.  We are working towards getting our house in order and that includes the temple.  I must admit that this is not the easiest decision I've ever made. In fact, this is one of the toughest things I've ever attempted.  

I'm starting this blog as a diary of our lifestyle change.  I'm not calling this a diet but a lifestyle change.  Diets may come and go but when you learn to make lifestyle changes, even though we are sure to fall off the wagon now and then, they will be things learned that we will never forget.  

My plans are to share our daily menus and recipes that we learn and try along the way, what works for us and what doesn't work so well.  

Our goal is of course weight loss but also to have healthier bodies so we might live longer, healthier, more satisfying lives.  I don't feel comfortable sharing my beginning weight at this time.  Maybe later, after I'm feeling better about my body.  

It will be a couple more days before we are equipped to begin but we are already preparing our minds and our hearts for a new adventure.  

Encouragement and Cheering is welcome!!!