Sunlight and Wings

I REALLY didn't want to get up and exercise today, but I DID!  I told myself I'd just get up and go to the bathroom.  Then I really wanted to weigh myself.  I took off my pajamas so I could weigh myself.  Then I decided since I took off my pajamas I should just put on my workout clothes.  The next thing I know I'm walking out the door and heading to the gym.

I am always GLAD when I work out.  I can feel my body changing.  My arms feel stronger and firmer.  My stomach is getting flatter (not fast enough, but . . ). I struggle less with being tired.

Today's Tactic is . . .

#6: Get regular exercise, plenty of sunlight, and adequate sleep to reduce sugar cravings.

I have done really well with my exercise this week.  Last week was miserable because the gym was closed two days because of snow.  I've gotten back on track with exercising.  I even enjoyed some wonderful sunlight yesterday.  The adequate sleep could use improvement.  The Olympics aren't helping.  I also have another addition that is keeping me awake.  

I AM ADDICTED TO ANCESTRY.COM!  I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE finding families and getting their names ready for the temple.  I especially LOVE finding babies that died and getting them sealed to their families.  I know those families want their babies back.  

Today while our family read the Book of Mormon we came across this passage.

2 Nephi 25:

13 Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name.

We talked awhile about what, "with healing in his wings" means.  To me it means that all the pain, death, disease, sin and suffering will be made ALL RIGHT by the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I know, for many, things are not ALL RIGHT right now.  Actually, I guess you could say they aren't ALL RIGHT for my family even.  BUT just knowing that someday they will be, heals me 85%.  Knowing that I can trust that I will be made whole gives me strength to carry on with joy.  I want that for everyone!

Three, Four and Five

I'm going to combine numbers 3, 4, and 5.

Eat three regular meals a day.  These meals should include, veggies, fruit, whole grains, lean protein and healthy fat.   I had one of some of those today.  But here was my favorite one.

Chimichurri Steak Salad

Grilled, tender beed marinated in parsley, olive oil and garlic thinly sliced and set atop baby spinach with grape tomatoes, mushrooms, curry roasted potatoes and shaved parmesan cheese tossed with a Smoked Tomato Vinaigrette.  From Capital Ale House.  Can you say, YUMMY!

I got to go out with my girl friends today.  It was so fun.  I haven't been out with friends for a very long time.  

#4. Take a multivitamin and mineral supplement. Chromium picolinate and l-glutamine help to reduce cravings for some people. 

I remember hearing at a Weight Watchers meeting that someone had lost 4 lbs in a week and the only difference they made was taking a daily vitamin.  I don't know if it really helps, but I can get all the help I can get.  I've been taking my vitamins lately, have you?

#5: When you go out, make sure you are not ravenously hungry, especially if sugary sweets will be the only food available. Bring your own healthy snacks with you, or eat before going out.

I take issue with this one.  I hardly ever get to go out and I like for others to feed me.  I think it is better to just look at the menu and make a careful plan of what you'll eat when you go out.  There are so many wonderful and delicious options out there.

Eat Healthy Food

The second tactic for overcoming sugar addiction is to Eat Enough Healthy Food to Satisfy Your Hunger.

There are so many delicious foods out there. Why to we focus so intensely on sugar?  There are all kinds of spices and flavors out there. We really should expand our palates. One of my favorite places to find healthy recipes in Cooking Light.  They really make healthy food super delicious.

In fact, Cooking Light save my marriage.  There was a time when my husband hated my cooking.  I was trying to make healthy dishes and he didn't like a single one.  I wouldn't give up trying to eat healthy and he wouldn't give up on flavor. Then one day, one of my wonderful sisters brought me a copy of a Cooking Light magazine.  I started making recipes from it and my husband LOVED it!  I was happy, he was happy.  Everything was honky dory!  I was even more excited about Cooking Light when I started taking their dishes to pot lucks.  The men at the parties were always pointing to my food and say, "Who made this?"  I decided men really liked Cooking Light.

I've even written to Cooking Light to tell them they should add a subtitle to their magazine.  I think it should read, "Cooking Light: Healthy Food that Men Will Eat".  They never wrote back to me, but I still think it's a great idea.

Here's one of my favorite recipes.

Tomato Pizza with Garlic and Smoked Gouda

I just need to say one other thing.  "American Family Fitness" came out with a commercial about how Weight Watchers (and others) doesn't work because it deprives you.  This simply is not true.  The commercial suggests that you just join their gym and all your troubles will be over.  We all know that diet helps you lose weight more than exercise (although exercise is important).  Weight Watchers couldn't possibly deprive you because most fruits and vegetables are 0 points.  This means you can eat as many of them as you want.

This means you can pig out on fruits and veggies!  So if you're hungry, eat produce.  If you don't want to eat a fruit or a vegetable, perhaps you're not really hungry.

Sisters to the Rescue & Get the Sugar Out

Have I ever told you that I have six AMAZING sisters.  It is one thing to have six sisters, but for all of them to be amazing is unbelievable.  (I also have two amazing brothers).

My post yesterday wasn't that happy, so four of my sisters came to my rescue.  One of them sent me this article.

10 Tactics for Overcoming Sugar Addiction

Then another sister suggested that I just stop worrying about sugar until I get really good at counting my points.

Then two more just told me they were having similar struggles.

After all of that I feel much better.  Thanks ladies.

I loved the article my oldest sister sent me.  It was just what I needed.  I think we should go through each one of the 10 tactics day by day.

#1. Keep sugar and sugar products out of your house!

This is a tough one for me.  I think if I didn't have kids it would be easier.  (it is so easy to blame the kids).  But, seriously, today Bumbles HARASSED me about food all day.  He begged me for ice cream at 10 a.m.  We don't even have any ice cream in our house, but he decided he needed some right then.  Now, does someone with a sugar addiction need to have someone begging them for ice cream at 10 a.m.  I think not.  Then when he realized he wasn't getting ice cream he begged for candy.  I did have a little candy on hand.  I told him he could have some after lunch.  We do have a standing rule that we don't eat junk until after lunch.

He waited patiently for candy.  I got down the bag of candy we had and divided it evenly among the kids.  However, there were two pieces that were left.  I decided to feed them to Tutu, but that meant I had to bite them in half.  Guess where the other half ended up. That's right, in my belly.  That's not that big of a deal because it was within my limit.

So I think that there are times when it is okay to have sugar in your house.  However, there are some sugars that just can't be in the house.  Have you ever (I already know the answer) eaten something sweet that you don't even like just because it was sweet?  Don't let those things hang out in your house.  Throw them in the garbage!

There are some kinds of sugar that if they are in my house I will eat them until they are gone.  Those kinds of sugar are not allowed in my house.  Here is an example of an offender.

Brookside Chocolate - These are the devil (that's what I say about food that I can't resist)

But I can keep sugar and brown sugar in my house.  The trouble comes when I get something to keep the baby happy and it ends up keeping me happy. (if you catch my drift).  I got some of these for the "baby".

Lemon Newton Fruit Thins - BIG MISTAKE

They are tasty, but not so good that they are worth eating.  But I just LOVE cookies so I ate too many.  And, of course, Tutu doesn't even really like them, grrr.

My rule of thumb is that if I pig out on it then it isn't welcome in my home.

BTW, I tracked today!  I also kept to my 20 grams!  This week is looking better already! (Oh, and I got 5 points)

Ups and Downs

Well, it isn't good news.  I weighed in this morning at I had gained 1.8 lbs!!!! My waist is still 32" somehow.  I am not happy with myself.  I had a sugar binge after Winter Celebration.  It took me a whole week to get myself back under control.  I was really upset about it.  I've been brainstorming all day trying to figure out how to motivate myself to get back on track.  I can't decide if I respond better to punishment or reward.  As usual, I'm going to try harder to track my food.  I did a great job today.  I am also going to try to fill in all the boxes for water, dairy, produce, vitamins, oil, and activity.  I did great today.  I still need to drink some more water, but I'll get it done.  I am going to try harder, but I also realized today that there are going to be times in life when we gain a few pounds.  I don't think I could ever expect to get through Christmas or Thanksgiving without gaining a few pounds.  I'm just glad it's behind me and I'm back on track.  I was able keep to 20 grams of sugar today!

I heard something very interesting on the radio on Valentine's Day.  You can read all about it here.

How tell you're in love

Valentine

Today was Valentine's Birthday

She is sitting in front of her Birthday Spiral.  I think it was BD's 4th birthday when I decided we should just make something to put candles in instead of baking a whole cake just for a candle holder.  We didn't even really like cake.  My nephews promptly went out into the woods and made me a birthday log.  We loved it, but outgrew it quickly.  

The Birthday Log

So we upgraded to a birthday spiral.  I was so happy to find they made something like that.  We also use it as an advent spiral for Christmas time (luckily we have no December birthdays).  Now that we have freed ourselves of having to bake a cake the birthday child chooses what dessert they'd like.

Valentine made rice krispie treats topped with Nutella.  She really wanted to make Texas Sheet Cake, but I begged her to pick something with fewer calories.  

We all enjoyed the treat.  I think Tutu and Bumbles enjoyed it the most.

Bumbles with a stache 

Tutu has taste buds on her head

I didn't keep to my 20 grams AGAIN today.  However, the sugar is gone now and I'm getting back on track.  Maybe I can still lose some weight this week.  I got several "words of affirmation" today.  Thank you!  I feel loved.

Words of Affirmation

I'm ready for Valentine's Day are you?

My mother sent these bags to my house so we decided to fill them with 

love and hang them on the fireplace.

For those who know me I'm sure it's no surprise that "words of affirmation" is my love language.  I've been having a hard time only eating 20 grams of sugar a day.  I have thought of giving up or at least just not writing my blog.  However, just when I need it I get a message from someone about how much they enjoy my blog.  Then I feel that I must keep going and I must keep trying for all of you.  Thank you for sending your love to me.  I hope you are successful at sending your love to others tomorrow.  Here are a few pictures of my Valentines.

Super Jack was outside ALL day. 

Tutu has been super fussy since she had a fever last week.  Somehow sitting on the stairs and singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" was the only thing that made her happy.

B.D. working hard when he'd rather be in the snow.  Homeschoolers don't really get snow days.

I Knew It

I have to confess.  I have not been keeping track of how much sugar I have been eating over the last two days.  I knew this would happen.  It seems whenever I allow myself to binge on sugar it is so hard to get it under control again.  The only remedy is to get all the sugar out of my house and bring in lots of fruit.  The fruit is here, but the sugar is not gone.  Actually, there are some kinds of sugar I can resist pretty easily, but there are others I cannot.  One of those would be DONUTS.  I made the mistake of purchasing donuts for my cranky kids, oops. I am determined to get back on track.  What else can I do.

On a more pleasant note, I can now tell you why I went to Washington D.C. the other day.  It was to greet this lady.

Odeta Nishani, the first lady of Albania

She was touring the Temple Visitor's Center for the LDS Temple in Washington D.C.  It is a great place to visit if you haven't been. I can't tell you how wonderful it was to speak Albanian again (although I made many BIG mistakes - I even threw some German in there).  We also visited with the Albanian Ambassador's wife.  When she found out what my last name is, she proclaimed we were cousins.  It was worth the drive to "feel" Albania for a few moments.  I sure miss that place.

Tight Squeeze

Today was weigh in day.  I lost 1.7 lbs and another inch off my waist.  I LOVE IT!  Even with Winter Celebration I was still able to lose a significant amount of weight.  That is almost 7 sticks of butter.  My husband will be home any minute so now I can tell you that he's been gone for a whole week.  I thought the extra stress of not having him around would make it harder to not over eat, but I guess not.

I even squeezed into my size 6 jeans.  They were ridiculously tight, especially on my calves.  I'm so glad to be in jammies.  However, I learned long ago that elastic is not your friend when you are trying to lose weight.  I try to always wear waist bands to remind me that I shouldn't have second helpings.  I hope that soon I'll be fitting comfortably into a size 6.

I can tell you that the temptation to eat sugar has been great today.  I have had this theory that if I pig out on sugar that I will crave it more.  I ate too much sugar on Saturday and now I'm craving it again.  I have to just fight through it.  Today I ate cottage cheese to stop my cravings.  It was very yummy!

Winter Celebration

Here's the spread we had for Winter Celebration.  In the red pot is venison tenderloins that I cooked up in 10 minutes with my special pampered chef baker. I also made Ricotta, Leeks and Walnut Pizza.  I made the Orange and Cardamom Bundt cake,  I also made the macaroons in the jar and the white ones in the front right corner.

There were lots of other cookies and brownies and also a large 4 layer cake.  I didn't count my sugar intake, but I only ate one meal today.  Let's just say I probably won't be losing any weight this week.  However, I'm not going to eat more than 20 grams of sugar daily until Spring Festival.  I really liked celebrating in this way because it's like Christmas.  You just make all the yummy things you want in one day and then it's over.  In fact, my dad wasn't able to come to the celebration because he was working in the ER.  Once the party was over we took all the sugar to the hospital for them to enjoy.  I'm glad it's all out of my house.

We had sparkling water for our beverage.  The cans with paper on the top are sparkling juice, but I didn't drink those.

We were busy making Valentines for a long time. I saw some pretty cute ones.

We couldn't all fit around the table at the same time so there was lots of story telling and talking.  No one makes me laugh as much as my own family.

My mother had the idea to play musical hearts.  When the music stopped you had to do whatever was written on the under side of the heart you were standing on.  There were things like "do 3 pushups", "Sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Start" and so on.

We all had a lovely time even though my mom was ill, my baby was ill, my sister's baby was ill and my nephew wrecked his car in the morning.  I'm glad we all pushed forward and had a wonderful time.

Working

We are so busy working to get ready for our Winter Celebration tomorrow.

Sweets has decided she wants to change her name.  She's Valentine now.
She swept the floor twice today.

Super Jack really likes scrubbing.

We've been working so hard that I earned 8 POINTS today!  I'll make a special post tomorrow and tell you all about it.

Shirmp and Tangelos

Today is Orange Day!  We all wear orange and try to eat thing that are orange on Thursday.  I didn't just come up with this on my own.  I learned this through the Waldorf schooling curriculum that I use.  It is very interesting.  Here's how it works.

Sunday - White Day - the Sun

Monday - Purple Day - the Moon

Tuesday - Red Day - Mars

Wednesday - Yellow Day - Mercury

Thursday - Orange Day - Jupiter

Friday - Green Day - Venus

Saturday - Blue Day - Saturn

In fact, today I was teaching BD some Roman History.  Did you know that there are 7 hills in Rome?  On each hill they built a temple to one of the gods.  Apollo - the sun god, Diana - goddess of moon, hunting, and protecting children,  Mars - god of war, Mercury - god of business and trade, Jupiter - "the father of the gods", Venus - goddess of love.  The seventh hill was where the city was.  You will find in other languages that the days of the week are similar to planets/gods.  In Albanian, for example . . . 

Sunday - the sun

Monday - the moon

Tuesday - mars

Wednesday - mercury

Saturday - Saturn

Thursday and Friday don't match up.  I know they have something similar in French.

The other thing I love about having colors associated with days of the week is that it makes getting my kids dressed super easy.  I can just tell Bumbles, "It's orange day" and he knows what he's supposed to wear.  I have very few arguments about clothing this way.  In fact, I fold their clothes and put them in the drawer according to the day of the week.  They just take what's on top!  My older kids have a little more flexibility.  

Since it was orange day we had these.

Tangelos!

So Sweet and Yummy!

This is my sister who is visiting with us. I loved the way she opened her Tangelo.

And her son who we call Shirmp (and no I didn't misspell it)

Bumbles and I decided we should call Tangelo's God popsicles because they were cold and juicy and dripping all over us.

 

Mitsitam

I went to my favorite place to eat today.  It is the Mitsitam Cafe.  It's the cafe in the National Museum of the American Indian.  There food is so very delicious.  We used to eat there every once in awhile when my husband was doing his internship at the Senate.  Here's what we ate.

Grilled Bison, Cedar Planked Salmon with Wild Berry Glaze, Wild Rice and Watercress Salad, Roasted Celery Root Salad, Chili Roasted Carrots

BD is eating Black Bean, Winter Squash & Queso Fresco Burrito with Chimichurri Sauce.  There is also Indian Pudding with Maple Drizzel and Whipped Cream

Sweets is eating Blue Corn Bread and has a Tre Leche dessert in front of her.

We had a good reason for traveling to DC which I will tell you about later.  Since we were going there I decided to take Sweets and BD to the American Indian Museum.  Sweets is studying Native Americans.  I wanted her to try foods from all the different regions.  We started with the 5 region sampler plate and added a few other dishes.  It is amazing how flavorful this food is.  I have decided I'm asking for their cookbook for my birthday.

Mitsitam Cafe Cookbook

Love

This is my Love banner.  Each month we focus on a virtue from the book Standing for Something by Gordon B. Hinckley.  January's virtue was Optimism.  February is Love (duh!)  I left the top of the heart open so people can leave little love notes in it.  Of course this banner says "Shkurt" because that is February in Albanian.  

One of my readers asked me to explain more about the Family Celebrations we have during the year.  We have a large extended family and celebrating everyone's birthday in turn leads to a LOT of cake.  We decided to cut down on the celebrate and combine some things.  Several years ago my mother started having a Fall Festival.  We used to go a cider mill every fall when we lived in Michigan.  We loved watching the cider press and eating the donuts. My mother wanted to recreate this for us and her grandchildren. Originally we were just celebrating the season.  

Last summer more of my siblings moved to Virginia.  Things were getting complicated because three siblings lived in Richmond and three in the Charlottesville area.  People would be stopping by at my mom's house and try to get everyone together.  We hated missing each other and decided we needed to coordinate better. We had a brainstorming session and decided on a few celebrations we would have every year.  Here's how it breaks down.

Winter Celebration in February - we celebrate all the winter birthdays, play in the snow (if we have any), play basketball, celebrate fruits and veggies of the winter season, do handwork and put on plays.  (this is our first attempt, which is happening on Saturday.  I'll let you know how it goes).  I am taking on the hosting of this celebration

Spring Festival close to Easter - again we celebrate all spring birthdays, celebrate the season. Cookies will be the featured dessert. (we haven't had one of these yet, but I'll update it when we do).  We plan to also celebrate Children's Day (this is June 1st in Albania).  My three sisters and their families who live in the Charlottesville area will host this.

Mother's Day - We have a specific menu that the men prepare for this day.  Chinese Chicken Salad being my favorite part.  We also plan to have cheesecake, berries and whipped cream for dessert.    

Father's Day - We will celebrate with pies and cobblers because our fathers seem to really love those things.

Summer Celebration - to be celebrated before my brother's kids go back to Arizona for the school year.  We go to my sister's house that lives near the beach.  We hang out at the beach then return to her house.  We celebrate all the summer birthday's and my brother's kids birthdays.  Ice cream is the featured dessert.

Fall Festival - celebrated when the leaves begin to turn.  The featured dessert is donuts.  We also have apple and pumpkin desserts.  We had something like a carnival last year.  It was very geared towards children.  We also had a bonfire with delicious food.

We also celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas together.  We are adjusting this as we go. I hope that was enough detail.

Since we are focusing on love this month.  Here's something I LOVE!

One Stick and Two Apples

Today was weigh in day!  I only lost .4 lbs.  It's so frustrating.  However, I also lost another inch from my waist! (I got it right that time, Ben)  I am still happy because .4 lbs is around 1 1/2 sticks of butter.  Since I've started this blog I have lost 5 1/2 boxes of butter!  Also, I have lost 30 lbs exactly, since I started with Weight Watchers.  I still have 16.4 lbs to lose before May.

It has become clear to me (again) that how much I eat has a much greater effect on my weight loss than how much I exercise.  I have also had a little complication with my Activelink.  Apparently, Activelink doesn't record elliptical exercise very accurately.  After reading this I did a little test.  I've been working out pretty intensely on the elliptical, but I still have to run in place for 30 mins every evening to earn 5 points.  Then on Saturday I didn't exercise, but I did walk around Costco and the grocery store.  By the evening, I was at the same point as if I had worked out on the elliptical.  This morning I just walked for 30 minutes on the treadmill and my Activelink gave me much more credit than it does on the elliptical.

I've decided that I'm still going to work out every day that I can.  I am going to lower my goal points to 3 per day.  I think when my Activelink says I've only earned 3 it is really more like 5.  I am going to put more of my energy into TRACKING my food.  I am tired of tracking, but I did it today.  I am showing BD how to track.  He is going to be my tracking assistant because he loves any excuse to use my phone.

Today for fun we had an apple taste test. The apples in the test were Honeycrisp and Pink Lady.

The children chose the Honeycrisp every time.  I picked Pink Lady.  I thought it was MUCH sweeter and taster.  The Honeycrisp tasted watery.  I still love Honeycrisp, but the Pink Ladies were amazing.

BD took this photo of his own beautiful eye.  Those lashes are so unfair.  I love it when I upload my photos and I get surprises like this.