Beginning of my journey to a healthier me.

Recently I have been posting pictures of the food I am eating.  I am aware that some people don't like to see my food pictures, but I am posting them for ME.  They are my daily reminder that I can cook and eat healthy food consistently.  You see I am fat or you could say that I am obese.  In any case I am trying to make better choices not just for me but also for my boys.  I want to get to a healthy weight and be an inspiration to my children.

Unfortunately family genetics are against me.  Most of the people in my family have a weight problem plain and simple.  Some have suffered from weight related conditions.  I want to change my destiny with regards to my weight.  I am just beginning my journey!  I hope you will follow along on my journey to becoming healthier.

My journey is truly just beginning, however about two years ago I decided to cut out high fructose corn syrup.  This is no easy task HFCS are in darn near everything.  Mostly I ended up cutting out soft drinks, unless they were made with real sugar.  Then a year ago my wonderful cousin EJC, reached out to me and told me about an online exercise program she was doing.  I decided to give this program a shot.  I was immediately hooked.  The program was only 30 mins a day, 6 days a week and rotated between cardio and strength.  I was seeing some amazing results.  After hurting myself (not from exercising) and my children being home from school for the summer.  I cut back on the amount of days I was working out.  As you can probably guess I put all the weight and inches I had lost back on and even added more!

This past Christmas I decided that I needed to buy less processed foods at the store, instead of buying bread and pasta from the store I would make them at home from scratch.  I am so happy that I did this.  The homemade pasta and bread taste so much better than the store bought.

Fast forward to the end of March 2016.  My husband came home from work and told me about a talk the doctor for the Air Force Marathon gave at his office about nutrition.  After doing some research we decided that we would try a low carb diet.  Although this diet is a combination of low carb, Paelo and 100 days of real food.  This is definitely NOT a diet, but it is a LIFESTYLE.  We have both lost weight and don't miss the carbs.  My oldest occasionally complains that "He didn't sign up for this" when I go grocery shopping and don't buy any of the junk food or snacks that he and his brother are use to me buying.   

These changes that I am making are not easy, but each day it gets a little easier.

My Wake Up Call!

Have you ever had something happen to you or someone you know that made you stop and think what can I do to change my.... 

I had this happen to me in November.  I went in for my baseline mammogram.  It was over quickly, no big deal.  I assumed that everything was okay.  When I got my results I was shocked.  I had some abnormalities on both breasts.  I went back for a more magnified mammogram and ultrasounds.  I ended up having to have a biopsy done to determine what was going on.  Luckily everything turned out Okay!

This experience got me thinking about my health, nutrition, body composition. Was I helping or hurting myself in my overall health and well being?  Was there anything that I could do to change my health and well being?  I realized that I was not really taking care of myself.  I was no longer exercising, I was eating whatever I wanted and YES I had packed the pounds on.  I thought about this for a few days trying to decided what I could do about it.

I finally decided that I need to make some changes.  I began to look at exercise routines on Pinterest.  I started perimeter shopping at the grocery stores, really concentrated on increasing my water intake throughout the day. My cousin EJ noticed that I was pinning a lot of exercise routines and she reached out to me.  EJ told me about a program that she had found and was really enjoying.  She told me that a new 90 day session was going to begin in January and encouraged me to give it a try.  She set up a group on Facebook for her family and friends to encourage each other while doing the program.

On January 5th, we began Bikini Body Mommy 3.0.  After the initial horror of weighing myself, taking measurements and taking before pictures.  I jumped right in with both feet.  Um yeah, that was not pretty.  Boy did I have a long way to go to get back into shape and to get fit.  After the first two weeks people began to notice that I was slimming down.  I don't mean losing weight, but actually slimming down.  I had lost a total of 7 inches all over my body in the first 15 days.  This was a HUGE motivator for me not only was I seeing a difference in my numbers but my friends were noticing.  At our second check-in day I had lost another 8 inches and lost 1 lbs (I was so excited to be losing inches that I wasn't upset about only having a 1 lbs weight loss.) The third check-in day showed I had only a 3 inch loss and a 2 lbs loss (not bad).  Our fourth check-in day was not a pretty one I had actually gained inches and weight.  

I'm not sure what changed, but I wasn't perimeter shopping as much anymore and was going through the motions with the exercise and  not really putting forth the effort.  I had to change my way of thinking again and recommit to working out.  In the past week I have been able to wear a pair of jeans that I haven't worn in 4 years.  I am noticing that my clothes that were always snug are now loose on me and some are actually just too big for me to be wearing.

This is not easy for me and everyday I have to battle myself to get my workout in and to choose the better food options.  


“To uncover your true potential you must first find your own limits and then you have to have the courage to blow past them.” 
                                                                                                   – Picabo Street

Life Lesson

I hope you enjoy this, it really helps to put things into perspective!

http://play.simpletruths.com/movie/the-empty-pickle-jar/store/

A Friend's Journey With Her Autistic Child

Several days ago a friend of mine posted on Facebook about her journey with her Autistic child.  With her permission I am posting her journey here for others to read and hopefully get a better understand of what some families with Autistic children go through.

So, there is so much more. And we are only three years into this journey, so mine is the perspective of a novice, but for the last day of autism awareness month, I am presenting some things of which I am now aware.

Seven things I have learned since having a child with autism:

1) The world is not kind and it is not just. 
But there are many people trying to change that and when I see they are doing that FOR MY kid I am humbled. If they can do a little, sometimes a lot, for children who are not their own, I know I can keep doing more.

2) My kids are miracles. 
There is nothing romantic about raising a child with a neurological disorder. But watching any child grow and learn is miraculous and that is just as true raising an autistic child as it is for a typically developing one. But attitude matters. And a disciplined attitude can change everything. If I LOOK for his success and open my ears for a new word, a different sound, a more pronounced syllable, I will begin to hear them.

3) Autistic kids are smart. And they can hear you!
He may not speak but he understands everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything. Who knows what he is paying attention to and not in any given moment; but he has the capacity to understand our words and their meanings. He gets upset when we or others speak about him instead of to him. He gets sad when he suspects we are disappointed. Respect his dignity by not underestimating his intelligence. Do that for all kids, in fact. 

4) Autism is pervasive. 
It isn't just that my child doesn't talk and has funny repetitive behaviors. Autism is a syndrome and as it is pervasive it impacts his entire system, including his digestion. Digestive issues and autism have a 30 percent overlap. (There are other overlaps too, most notably epilepsy). But our issue, now, is the gut. Many families choose to try experimental diets for their children to help them feel better. Be patient with these families as they navigate, with much trial and error, this new world. The are not trying to "cure" their kids with strange diets, the are trying to help their children feel better.

5) Autism is expensive.
Insurance doesn't necessarily cover much, if any, of the therapies recommended for autism. And one family may get lucky while another does not. An additional challenge for many families is the reduction in income when one parent needs to reduce or eliminate a job in order to meet the hands on needs of their special needs child. For families who do have more resources, they are quickly dedicated to supplemental services for speech, behavior, occupational and physical therapies. There are often, if not usually, medical issues possibly related to the autism diagnosis. Our children have tremendous potential to be fully integrated and participatory in society IF they receive the intervention they need. Many families you know with children on the spectrum have depleted their savings accounts and are in debt; and others just wish they had the savings to deplete to just give their child his or her best chance.

6) Not all autistic children are treated equally. 
Not all autistics' needs are even recognized, let alone met. Some parents have to spend thousands of dollars on lawyers, advocates and annual testing just to get the minimum level of services required by law. Some school districts bully parents of special needs students figuring they will be worn down and stop fighting. Some districts accomplish this by hiring specialized law firms just to prevent an increase in spending by challenging each and every request for services. School districts are bullied themselves by spending watchers that single out special education budgets, and sometimes single out individual students. Whether a parent is dealing well with his or her child's diagnosis depends greatly on whether that parent has allies or adversaries in the school district. Whether he or she does is mostly a matter of luck and can be dramatically different by region, state and even town. Children whose parents don't have the money to hire a lawyer are at risk for being disregarded.

7) It's a huge job. 
The day-to-day reality of parenting an autistic child is often marked by fatigue and sleep deprivation. Often it is physically difficult. Despite the daily challenges, these parents must always be looking ahead. Issues change, needs change and the medical and educational resources available to a four or five year old may be exceptional but not so great for a fourth grader. Many of our children need a "shadow" or paraprofessional long after the school district is able, willing or required to provide one. Parents must be strong to advocate for their children when things get more complex. Some of us are dealing with dual diagnoses with a child who is far behind in some areas of development but gifted in others. One challenge is to not move too fast ahead but remain realistic about the challenges we must face to advocate best for our kids. If we have the means (which not all of us do) we still must carefully do the cost-benefit analysis between saving money for future needs or front-loading our resources to intervene now.

Bullying Is No Laughing Matter

As a parent of a child who is dealing with being bullied perhaps I am just a little to sensitive.  Today while I was waiting for my children in front of their school, several kids came out of school laughing and joking around, they looked like they were having a great time.  Then I heard one of the kids say (while laughing) "I'm being bullied".  This child's friends responded by grabbing this child and laughing, saying that if said child didn't give them their lunch money then they were going to beat said child up.  There were several comments just like this and lots of laughing going on. My heart broke when I saw them playing this way.  

Unfortunately bullying has become a normal sight at schools today. Children who are bullied go through so many things, some even end up taking their own lives. As a result of being bullied I know that my child has developed a sense of loneliness and feeling of just not being good enough, his stress induced tic has come back, and his grades have dropped. These are all things that we as a family have to deal with everyday, which is not an easy task.

I know that the children on the school yard were only trying to have fun, but I just hope that they never have to deal with being bullied for real.  I would encourage every parent to talk with their child about being bullied and what it means.  I would also stress to parents to talk with their children about what to do it they know someone is being bullied.  Bullying can be stopped if the adults and leaders know that it is going on.

Giving Up High Fructose Corn Syrup

Over the summer I read some information about HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) and decided that we should stop eating anything with this product.  That was harder than I thought it was going to be.  I lasted about a month and then stopped reading labels, mostly because I got too busy and didn't feel like I had the time to spend reading labels at the store and I felt like I wasn't getting the support at home with this change.  This past week my husband read the same information that I had and suggested that we should stop eating the products made with HFCS.  Great Idea!  Now that he is on board with this concept we are putting it into full swing.  This is not going to be an easy change for us but it will be a great change.  

The first step for us is to rid our home of the products that are made with HFCS.  I am not going to throw out these products, however we are going to use up the products that we currently have in the house and then replace them with HFCS Free products.  As a part of this challenge I will not be buying anything at the grocery store unless it is fresh produce and dairy products. The idea behind this is to eat everything that is currently in our pantry and freezers.  This is going to be an interesting challenge.  

I plan to take an inventory of what we have in the house that needs to be used up and come up with some menu ideas for these items.  Check back in a couple of days for my inventory and menu ideas.

Heading Back To School

After much consideration I have decided that I should go back to school and get my Early Childhood Education degree (I have only been teaching preschool for four years).  I have not been in school since graduating from Wright State University in 1997, this was going to be a challenge.  I originally wanted to go back and get my Master's degree in Education, however the university I wanted to attend informed me that because my degree is in Social Work and not Education that I would need to go back to get another Bachelor's degree in Education then I could continue on with the Master's program.  It seems that this university does not offer a Master's level degree for first time licensure teacher's.  UGH, I didn't want to quit my job to go back to school full time for the next 6 years!  

I looked at all my options for the career path that I want to take.  It turns out that to eventually become a Director of a Preschool I need to have at least an Associates Degree in Early Childhood Education.  That is only a two year degree and I can complete it on a part-time basis.  So I enrolled at Sinclair Community College and today was my first day back in a classroom as a student since 1997.

In one of my classes the professor had us pair up and learn about another student and then introduce them to the class.  This was a great way to meet another person in the class, especially since we would most likely be in many of the classes together.  As the students are introducing each other one of them comments that her partner graduated from high school in 2008, the other student corrected her saying that she actually graduated in 2003 and she wished she was that young.  Um hello, I must be ancient having graduated from high school in the 90's.  Listening to everyone it was clear that I am the oldest in the class, I have the most kids, I have the oldest kids in the class and I have been married for the longest time without ever being divorced.  I am even older than the Professor.  I hope I can keep up with all these young people.

Holiday Lights

At least once a week we drive through Lincoln Park and every time we comment on how nice the holiday lights are.  Last night I decided that I would take the boys out to see the lights and to walk around and enjoy them.  The boys were so excited to go, they each brought their cameras to take pictures.

One of the first things that I noticed was that they had Christmas music playing.  We never noticed that touch because the windows on the car are always up.  Watching my boys run around to look at the lights and taking pictures was such a wonderful sight.  MJ said that it was one of the best nights he has had and AD agreed with him.  I think I might have gotten my Christmas miracle, the boys getting along and agreeing with each other.

Here are some of the pictures that we took last night.  If you get the chance, I would recommend spending some time walking around and see the lights.

Elf On The Shelf

Ahh, the Elf On The Shelf!  Was this invented by someone who didn't have children and had lots of time on their hands?  We have been lucky to avoid taking part in this holiday tradition.  That is until this year!

Several of AD's friends have the "Elf", one day after returning home from a friends house AD asked me why Santa hadn't sent our elf to us.  Not knowing how to respond I said that maybe Santa really needed our elf to help out at the North Pole.  I was very hopeful that this would be a great explanation and he would forget about the elf.  No such luck, the next morning AD again mentioned the elf and still didn't  understand why we didn't have an elf to report back to Santa.  So, like any good mother I told my child I would email Santa and ask him why we didn't have an elf.  You would have thought that AD had won the lottery with how excited he got about this.

Now I had a very busy day planned and didn't plan to be at home until the boys got out of school.  There was no time in my day for an elf visit, but an "elf visit we had.  When I picked the boys up from school I made sure that everything I had picked up and done was evident in my van so it would look like I hadn't been home all day.  We even had one more errand to run before going home after school.  I told AD that I had emailed Santa, but I hadn't heard back from him yet.  When we finally got home and walked into the house all I could hear was AD yelling "Our elf is here".  I told AD that Santa must have gotten my email and sent our elf right away.  The elf even came with his own book, which we had to read right away.  

Now every night I have to remember to move the elf to a new location or do it first thing in the morning before the boys wake up.  Well this morning, I was informed that our elf didn't move last night.  UGH!!!! To say the least I had a very sad child.  I finally told him that perhaps our elf didn't want to report to Santa because they hadn't been on the best behavior yesterday.  He told me that today would be a better day so the elf can report to Santa tonight.  Whew, I hope the elf remembers to move tonight.

Here is a picture of the elf in the same location as yesterday. He is sitting on the hat rack with my husbands cowboy hat.

Summer Happenings

I started this entry back in June and just realized that I never published it.

I totally suck at writing my blog, how hard can it be to write what I am thinking.  There have been so many things that I wanted to write about, but I have talked myself out of them.  Why, I have no idea why.  Now summer vacation is here and the boys are home from school for the next three months.  I should have lots to write about, at least I think so.

Here is what's happening this summer for us.  Last week I spent 5 days chaperoning my sons Cub Scout Pack at their local day camp.  These were fun days but very long (about eight hours each day).  Each day the boys did something new and exciting.  The favorite part of the week were the days they got to shoot BB Guns, Sling Shots, and Bow and Arrows.  Every morning when the boys would arrive they would ask if we were shooting something.  I am glad that our pack had these last on the schedule each day so the boys had something to look forward to.

This week my oldest MJ is away at Boy Scout Camp.  We dropped him off on Sunday morning and left him and three other boys setting up their tent and cots for the week.  I hope that they all survive the week in one tent.  I know that MJ was looking forward to camp this year.  He will be working on Rifle Shooting, Fishing, and Canoeing.  Lets hope that he stays safe and dry.

While MJ is off having great fun with the Boy Scouts, AD and I started off the week by going to a FREE movie at the local movie theater.  Apparently Rave Cinemas does free movies for  nine weeks during the summer.  Each week there is a different movie, we plan to keep doing this each week.  AD is also participating in a Wrestling Camp this week in the evenings.  He has been having so much fun learning new moves and meeting other wrestlers.

The rest of the summer should be low key with a couple of fun weeks planned.  There will be lots of swimming at the pool and the local "Beach" at a state park. 

UPDATE: This summer that boys and I ended up doing a "Jar Of Fun".  I read about this in a magazine, and it was a lot of fun to put together and use.  I got a plastic jar and used stickers to put the words "Jar Of Fun" on it and then let the boys put stickers on the jar.  I then had the boys tell me some things that they wanted to do over the summer.  We typed all their ideas in to the computer and then printed and cut them out.  Each morning the boys got to take turns pulling a piece of paper out of the jar.  Whatever that paper had on it was what we were going to do that day.  The boys had so much fun taking turns and seeing what we were going to be doing that day.  There were never any complaints about what we had planned.  It made for a very relaxing summer.

Jar Of Fun

This year for summer vacation we decided to take a long weekend trip instead of a big week long vacation.  This year we went to Bloomington, Indiana and camped at a "Jellystone" campground.  Both MJ and AD were so excited to be staying there.  On the way down to Jellystone we stopped in Indianapolis and visited the Indiana State Museum (we used our Boonshoft Museum membership and got in for free).  We had fun looking at all the interesting exhibits.  On our way home we went to the Wonderlab,The musuem of Science, Health and Technology (again thanks to our Boonshoft Membership).  This was a fun museum with lots of hands on science experiments for the boys to do. 

Home Sweet Home

Boo Boo and the boys

Yogi and the boys

Summer came to a close for us with AD's very first trip to King's Island.

 I would say that we had a wonderful summer and are sad to see it come to a close.  Both MJ and AD have asked if we can continue to use the "Jar Of Fun" during all of their breaks from school.