Sometimes I look back at something and wonder why things had to be that way. Thing is, it isn't necessarily because I wasn't trying hard enough. God has a plan and maybe I'm supposed to have it harder than others for a reason. Not saying that my life is more difficult than everyone else's. By no means. Just that in some areas, it isn't always or hasn't always been easy. This may be a good thing. Having to work harder makes one appreciate the results more. I can struggle, and, perhaps, inspire others who struggle. Of course, maybe this is only the beginning. I don't know what else he has in store for me yet. If I listen, maybe one day I will figure it out. Problem is sometimes I'm dense. I am often a horrible listener. Sorry, gals. I do hear you, honestly!
What I failed to mention last time is the gap between believers in Keto and those who think it is unhealthy. I have heard several doctors, like Dr. Berg and Dr. Berry, strongly support it. Others, like my doctor, would prefer I do a modified version. So, is Keto healthy? I guess it depends on who you ask. Those who have heard of it, maybe even thought of trying it, know that it can be difficult to get used to. I found that once you get over that hump, of giving up some of those things you may have loved, like bread, pizza, most fruits, it isn't that bad. I feel like I could reasonably eat like this long term. I am fat-adapted, as they say in Keto terms. That basically means that my body has successfully gone from burning carbs to burning fats. It has definitely helped me lose weight without feeling like I'm starving. Many other "diets" restrict your calorie intake. I believe I am eating healthy too. Sure, I eat more butter than I used to, but I am not eating sugar. Some studies say that eating butter, especially from grass fed cows, is good for and even essential to our overall health. I normally only have coffee for breakfast, a meat of some sort, with veggies for lunch, maybe a little cheese, and a healthy dinner that I cook for my entire family. Sometimes, depending on what I make, I will make them a side that I cannot, actually will not, eat, like noodles, rice, or potatoes. If I feel like it, I may make a side with cauliflower or zucchini for myself, but lately I've been eating mixed greens or just cucumbers. Guess what else has happened? I have a ton of energy during the day, most of the time. I exercise at least once a day and feel that I am getting stronger and fitter. I am well on my way to reaching my goal. By the way, a goal, in my mind, is something to strive for, to perhaps even surpass. Goals also change as we approach them, so my goal will likely change in the near future. I am my biggest motivator. I want to be here for my kids, do whatever I want or they want to do recreationally (within reason!), and just feel like I can do anything. Sounds lofty maybe, but I was a Marine, and nothing should get in the way of a goal like that. I had to tackle hormone issues, of course, which seemed to be the toughest adversary I'd ever faced. Beat her down without mercy! Keto did, plus my unfailing efforts exercising almost daily. For those of you who don't include weight training in your routines, you should. I do both, but I am sure it is the weight training, which for me so far has only been body resistance exercises and no actual weights, that has made the difference. I am now challenging myself to do extra push ups after my workout and am currently doing 70 something with each workout. My current goal is 100, which I feel is totally doable in the near future. Every time I do push ups, I think of my drill instructors telling me to get down and do push ups until they were tired. Makes me laugh now but back then I thought it was unfair. Now I drop down and do them until I can't. It's mind over matter. The key to success is consistency. When I got out of boot camp, I could probably do 100 push ups with little effort. True story. They tortured us but it paid off. Now I torture myself, hoping it pays off in the long run. I'm betting on it.
So, yes, I have lofty goals, but so should you. Don't sell yourself short. You are so worth it and your children deserve a healthy, fit mama. I want to encourage those of you who might be struggling to try something different, go a little further, make it a life-long project, to be the best you can be. The road may not always be easy, but, man is it worth it! I think mindset is key. If you really, really want to change, find what works and keep at it. This goes for all areas of your life. I have other areas that need improving, and with God's help, I will work on those too. After all, our physical body is not the thing that ultimately matters. My spiritual side is needing some fine tuning. With this, I am a work in progress. However, I know that, "With God, all things are possible." (Matt 19:26)
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Taking Care of Yourself Can Be A Challenge Worth Taking
Being a homeschool mom can be grueling. You have to find time for yourself, because there will always be a million things that will need your attention. I fell into the trap of not taking time for myself, and paid the price. It doesn't help when you are older and have a lazy, wreckless metabolism either. So, this year, I dedicated myself to taking care of me.
On January 2nd, I started Keto. Why, you ask, would I torture myself to a life of few carbs? Well, when all else fails, you go for the other path. I've tried the usual low-fat, lower calorie way of eating, and guess what, it didn't work. They say when women get older and are reaching ripeness that things get more difficult. Things like staying in shape and constantly gaining weight no matter what you do make life unpleasant. Seemed to be the case with me and I wasn't happy about it. Who would be, right? So, I decided to try something new to see if I could reverse the damage. It was and is a different way of thinking about eating. What Keto does is takes the fats you consume and have naturally in your body and converts it to energy. How it does this is by greatly reducing the carbs, the sugars, in your diet and increasing your intake of fats. Your body wants to go to the sugars first, which will curb the fats being burned. If you can't burn fats, you can't lose weight. Even though I had more than enough fat to be burned, my body wasn't ever seeming to get around to them, because of the carbs, which my body wasn't processing efficiently enough. Now, I keep my carb intake very low. I have cut out most breads, pasta, grains, beans, fruit, some high sugar vegetables, and increased intake of good fats, like extra virgin olive oil, butter, dairy, avocado, coconut oil. How can this be good for you, you ask? Well, I am not a scientist but it seems to be working. Of course, it is a bit more complex than just eating more fat. You have to have enough protein as well, but not an overabundance. You also need to stay hydrated, which means drinking plenty of water. When I first started keto, I found that I was incredibly thirsty. I drank so much that my husband asked if I was maybe drinking too much water. I said, "Is that possible?" Perhaps, but I was only giving my body what it was telling me it needed. Now, I am drinking a bit less but it is the main thing I drink every day, as it always should be for everyone. Our bodies are 60% water, after all. I find this interesting, as the Earth is roughly 70 % water as well. It appears that to be healthy, we need be be mostly comprised of water! What else do I eat? I usually have some form of protein, a meat, fish, or eggs and couple it with veggies, mainly greens or cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc. I also have reignited my love for cucumbers. They have been a go-to food for me. I also add in cheese at meals or for snacks. What would life be without cheese in it? I hope to never find out! I average 2 meals a day but occasionally I just eat dinner. I am usually not as hungry if I balance my food choices properly.
With this change in diet, I also reignited my exercise regimen. I restarted the program Body By You that I tried last year in the fall, but stopped because of a nagging knee issue. I am happy to say that I am still doing it, and reaching the end of possible exercises. This program gives you 5 groups of exercises, of which you start with the most difficult one you are able to do for about 8 reps without failing. Each day will include 4 of these exercises and you follow the number of reps and sets for whatever cycle and week you happen to be in, working every major muscle group with each day's routine. If you are doing it consistently, you should continue to be able to move up to the more difficult exercises. Out of the 25 exercises, I am at at least 19 in all groups. I want to move on to other exercises, routines, but I thought I'd do this to see how far I could go. The one exercise group has pull ups as #25. I am a little below that with assisted pull ups, but I have done some unassisted. I am not ready to do all my sets with no help yet though! Being a Marine, I wouldn't want to quit though, right? So, I continue. I am feeling stronger and looking better, so says the hubby. I am able to do push ups easily once again and I used to really hate them. Now I do them for fun. Fun? Yes, that's right. I said fun. I like to use our push up bars to get an even deeper exercise. I also usually combine this workout with time on the elliptical. I will normally do at least 20 minutes. I am looking forward to better weather so I can take my workouts outside. I may even take up running again, something I used to absolutely love.
You may wonder what kind of results I've had with all of this. I guess if they weren't very good, I wouldn't even bother to tell you, huh? I hesitate because to say what I have accomplished is to also say how much I wanted and needed to lose. How far the mighty had fallen! No, I was never mighty and I always have had a slower metabolism, but after 40, and especially after having my youngest child at 42, things went south more and more each year. Depressing! I finally said, "Enough is enough!" and started this journey. Next year, people, I will be hitting the dreaded 5-0, and my goal is to be 50 and fabulous. I am on my way. I know some of you may be saying I am already fabulous. Thank you! But I mean in mind AND body. I have lost, drum roll.....just under 25 lbs. I am floored and thrilled by this, but in some ways depressed by it. I should not have waited for so long to change my life. I am feeling better, feeling stronger, and happier with things in general. I have rediscovered my love of exercise. I am motivated by my results to this to keep it up indefinitely. I am often asked how I can not cheat or be tempted, because I have not cheated even once since starting. I guess I am focused on my goal. Thinking long term. I want to be the best me I can be and be around for as long as I can for my husband and my kids. Plus I want to enjoy life more and cheating may give me temporary joy, but knowing I'm impeding progress will lessen that joy. Once I get to my goal, I may slacken the reins a little and occasionally enjoy some things I have been denying myself, but I am not sure I will ever go back to that old way of eating. That is what many people mistakenly do when they lose weight. They gain it back! Keto is definitely different and can seem difficult, but I think it is worth it.
On January 2nd, I started Keto. Why, you ask, would I torture myself to a life of few carbs? Well, when all else fails, you go for the other path. I've tried the usual low-fat, lower calorie way of eating, and guess what, it didn't work. They say when women get older and are reaching ripeness that things get more difficult. Things like staying in shape and constantly gaining weight no matter what you do make life unpleasant. Seemed to be the case with me and I wasn't happy about it. Who would be, right? So, I decided to try something new to see if I could reverse the damage. It was and is a different way of thinking about eating. What Keto does is takes the fats you consume and have naturally in your body and converts it to energy. How it does this is by greatly reducing the carbs, the sugars, in your diet and increasing your intake of fats. Your body wants to go to the sugars first, which will curb the fats being burned. If you can't burn fats, you can't lose weight. Even though I had more than enough fat to be burned, my body wasn't ever seeming to get around to them, because of the carbs, which my body wasn't processing efficiently enough. Now, I keep my carb intake very low. I have cut out most breads, pasta, grains, beans, fruit, some high sugar vegetables, and increased intake of good fats, like extra virgin olive oil, butter, dairy, avocado, coconut oil. How can this be good for you, you ask? Well, I am not a scientist but it seems to be working. Of course, it is a bit more complex than just eating more fat. You have to have enough protein as well, but not an overabundance. You also need to stay hydrated, which means drinking plenty of water. When I first started keto, I found that I was incredibly thirsty. I drank so much that my husband asked if I was maybe drinking too much water. I said, "Is that possible?" Perhaps, but I was only giving my body what it was telling me it needed. Now, I am drinking a bit less but it is the main thing I drink every day, as it always should be for everyone. Our bodies are 60% water, after all. I find this interesting, as the Earth is roughly 70 % water as well. It appears that to be healthy, we need be be mostly comprised of water! What else do I eat? I usually have some form of protein, a meat, fish, or eggs and couple it with veggies, mainly greens or cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc. I also have reignited my love for cucumbers. They have been a go-to food for me. I also add in cheese at meals or for snacks. What would life be without cheese in it? I hope to never find out! I average 2 meals a day but occasionally I just eat dinner. I am usually not as hungry if I balance my food choices properly.
With this change in diet, I also reignited my exercise regimen. I restarted the program Body By You that I tried last year in the fall, but stopped because of a nagging knee issue. I am happy to say that I am still doing it, and reaching the end of possible exercises. This program gives you 5 groups of exercises, of which you start with the most difficult one you are able to do for about 8 reps without failing. Each day will include 4 of these exercises and you follow the number of reps and sets for whatever cycle and week you happen to be in, working every major muscle group with each day's routine. If you are doing it consistently, you should continue to be able to move up to the more difficult exercises. Out of the 25 exercises, I am at at least 19 in all groups. I want to move on to other exercises, routines, but I thought I'd do this to see how far I could go. The one exercise group has pull ups as #25. I am a little below that with assisted pull ups, but I have done some unassisted. I am not ready to do all my sets with no help yet though! Being a Marine, I wouldn't want to quit though, right? So, I continue. I am feeling stronger and looking better, so says the hubby. I am able to do push ups easily once again and I used to really hate them. Now I do them for fun. Fun? Yes, that's right. I said fun. I like to use our push up bars to get an even deeper exercise. I also usually combine this workout with time on the elliptical. I will normally do at least 20 minutes. I am looking forward to better weather so I can take my workouts outside. I may even take up running again, something I used to absolutely love.
You may wonder what kind of results I've had with all of this. I guess if they weren't very good, I wouldn't even bother to tell you, huh? I hesitate because to say what I have accomplished is to also say how much I wanted and needed to lose. How far the mighty had fallen! No, I was never mighty and I always have had a slower metabolism, but after 40, and especially after having my youngest child at 42, things went south more and more each year. Depressing! I finally said, "Enough is enough!" and started this journey. Next year, people, I will be hitting the dreaded 5-0, and my goal is to be 50 and fabulous. I am on my way. I know some of you may be saying I am already fabulous. Thank you! But I mean in mind AND body. I have lost, drum roll.....just under 25 lbs. I am floored and thrilled by this, but in some ways depressed by it. I should not have waited for so long to change my life. I am feeling better, feeling stronger, and happier with things in general. I have rediscovered my love of exercise. I am motivated by my results to this to keep it up indefinitely. I am often asked how I can not cheat or be tempted, because I have not cheated even once since starting. I guess I am focused on my goal. Thinking long term. I want to be the best me I can be and be around for as long as I can for my husband and my kids. Plus I want to enjoy life more and cheating may give me temporary joy, but knowing I'm impeding progress will lessen that joy. Once I get to my goal, I may slacken the reins a little and occasionally enjoy some things I have been denying myself, but I am not sure I will ever go back to that old way of eating. That is what many people mistakenly do when they lose weight. They gain it back! Keto is definitely different and can seem difficult, but I think it is worth it.
Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
I recently revisited the blog scene, mainly because I thought it would be a fun idea for the kids in my writing class to start their own blog. I completely forgot about my old blog, this one, from the year I started homeschooling. A lot has happened in that time, as you can imagine. I now have 2 boys who I homeschool. The oldest is now about to finish 5th grade and my youngest is finishing kindergarten. I find that a lot of what I went through with the first one, I also experienced with the now kindergartner. Only now it is more difficult because there are two of them to worry about. Fortunately, the older one is somewhat independent. That helps a lot. Every little blessing helps when you are homeschooling.
If I were to summarize my years of homeschooling so far, I'd say that every year has had its own challenges. I am out of the deer in headlights stage, that first year, and feel fairly confident in what can be accomplished. Some things never change, though, like my kids' dislike of school work. Boys! I would love to teach a kid that loved school! I must say that my younger boy is doing pretty well with reading and actually said today that he likes reading the most of all his school work. I was a bit surprised by this admission. When we first started the year, he'd want to do math first and always would want to do his reading lesson last. Admittedly, he struggled early on with reading, although he seemed to want to know what things said. We faltered quite a bit the first half of the year and I wondered if anything was sinking in at all. After Christmas, I started to see a change. Things were starting to improve. It was like things were finally clicking for him. Recently, he told me he had something for me that I was "really gonna like." Once we were finished for the day, he handed my a paper that he had written on, a paragraph about himself. While it wasn't perfect, I understood what most of it said without having to ask him, and it was done with sentences but no punctuation. I was floored! Yes, I am one of those mothers who cry over stupid things and this made me tear up. We haven't technically worked on writing sentences, although we have read a lot together. One on one time is very important at this stage and I found that All About Reading, the curriculum I used for both boys, works if you can stick with it. I wasn't sure with either of them early on, but after the first year with both, they were decent readers. That is my one triumph for the year because I feel that if I at least can teach my kids to read, the rest will come along. Reading, I think, is the foundation to a good education. If they can read, they can find the answers they need to anything else.
Finishing up this update, I find that absence does make the heart grow fonder. I stopped writing this blog before maybe because I was too busy to keep up with it or maybe it just grew stale. Not enough viewers (followers) perhaps as well. But I told my writing class today that they just need to write. Even if you don't think it's good, just write. I also like to say that "Writing is a contact sport." Putting it down is what counts. Write now, edit later. That can also be said of homeschooling. What we teach today may not sink in or seem to sink in. If you never teach it, it won't ever have the chance. They may complain but eventually, I hear my words come back to me and I smile. I am doing something right.
If I were to summarize my years of homeschooling so far, I'd say that every year has had its own challenges. I am out of the deer in headlights stage, that first year, and feel fairly confident in what can be accomplished. Some things never change, though, like my kids' dislike of school work. Boys! I would love to teach a kid that loved school! I must say that my younger boy is doing pretty well with reading and actually said today that he likes reading the most of all his school work. I was a bit surprised by this admission. When we first started the year, he'd want to do math first and always would want to do his reading lesson last. Admittedly, he struggled early on with reading, although he seemed to want to know what things said. We faltered quite a bit the first half of the year and I wondered if anything was sinking in at all. After Christmas, I started to see a change. Things were starting to improve. It was like things were finally clicking for him. Recently, he told me he had something for me that I was "really gonna like." Once we were finished for the day, he handed my a paper that he had written on, a paragraph about himself. While it wasn't perfect, I understood what most of it said without having to ask him, and it was done with sentences but no punctuation. I was floored! Yes, I am one of those mothers who cry over stupid things and this made me tear up. We haven't technically worked on writing sentences, although we have read a lot together. One on one time is very important at this stage and I found that All About Reading, the curriculum I used for both boys, works if you can stick with it. I wasn't sure with either of them early on, but after the first year with both, they were decent readers. That is my one triumph for the year because I feel that if I at least can teach my kids to read, the rest will come along. Reading, I think, is the foundation to a good education. If they can read, they can find the answers they need to anything else.
Finishing up this update, I find that absence does make the heart grow fonder. I stopped writing this blog before maybe because I was too busy to keep up with it or maybe it just grew stale. Not enough viewers (followers) perhaps as well. But I told my writing class today that they just need to write. Even if you don't think it's good, just write. I also like to say that "Writing is a contact sport." Putting it down is what counts. Write now, edit later. That can also be said of homeschooling. What we teach today may not sink in or seem to sink in. If you never teach it, it won't ever have the chance. They may complain but eventually, I hear my words come back to me and I smile. I am doing something right.
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