F...is for Facebook

Facebook, yes that's right, the popular old social network.  I spend a fair amount of time on my Facebook page(s).  How about you?  Mainly, I go there to check on how my family and friends are doing, to read new updates on certain situations, injuries, surgeries...etc.  

 Now, I know that others use Facebook for other things like dating and some other not so savory things, but that is not why I use Facebook, nor do I really approve of that sort of thing.  It's a great site to keep in touch with family and friends that live far away and or you don't see very often.  I have family in Alaska, California, Kentucky and even back east that I can keep in touch with, and some just a few miles away, either way it is a great way to stay in touch. Are you on Facebook? If so, what are some of your reasons? Blessings and God Bless.

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I feel it not. I believe in God even when He is silent. *Written on a wall in a concentration camp*

© 2012 Shannon M. King. This publication is the exclusive property of Shannon M. King and is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws. The contents of this post/story may not be reproduced as a whole or in part, by any means whatsoever, without consent of the author, Shannon M. King. All rights reserved.

Food and Exercise Journaling

Let me start by just saying ugh...

My Daughter just turned 11 and we celebrated her birthday with cake, ice cream, and pizza...all of these have either lactose or gluten in them...yes I paid for it, silly me, when will I learn?

So just to be completely honest with myself...I can no longer eat/drink milk products (except hard cheese which has no lactose) and no more bread/wheat products.  I am sad, because I love these foods.  I just cannot keep hurting myself in good conscience. (Insert sad face here)

Yesterday I ate...

Breakfast (Don't judge) 4 piece chicken nugget 
1 Cup Strawberries

Snack 
1.5 Cup Watermelon

Lunch
4 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
5 tbsp Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing
Salad


Dinner
:0( Pizza
:0( Cake
:0( Ice Cream


Exercise
Jogging 40 minutes on mini trampoline
Cleaning house


Water
8 (8oz) Cups


So even though I ate a crappy dinner I still stayed over 100 calories below my goal...At least I can smile at that.


Let's hope today is much different...no make that...Today will be much better. Please feel free to come by and leave me a comment or some good advice...Thanks and May God bless you abundantly.


I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I feel it not. I believe in God even when He is silent. *Written on a wall in a concentration camp*
 
© 2011 Shannon M. King. This publication is the exclusive property of Shannon M. King and is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws. The contents of this post/story may not be reproduced as a whole or in part, by any means whatsoever, without consent of the author, Shannon M. King. All rights reserved.

Journaling My Relationship With Food and Exercise

 

I am continually striving to use the tools I have acquired over the past few years in regards to exercise and diet.  I thought it would be nice to document my journey as it continues, with you.  

Over the years I have learned that you cannot hope to lose and keep off unwanted pounds if you are going to just diet...because a diet is a temporary fix to a permanent problem.  Learning to eat properly and exercise is a life long solution to keeping off unwanted and unhealthy pounds.  I am constantly reminded by my body that it needs to be fed healthy food in the proper portions and get regular exercise in order to run properly and optimally.

 

Whenever I take a "break" from eating the right foods my body pays...every time.  This is something you would think that I would have learned by now...but, no!  I seem to conveniently "forget" when I see that delicious piece of chocolate cake, or scrumptious slice of my niece's Cherry Cheesecake.  However, it only takes a few minutes for my body to pay the price...including...cramps, gas, diarrhea just to name a few. 

In the last couple of years I have started to realize that my tummy troubles may very possibly be related to gluten and lactose intolerance. For years I have had I.B.S. but I am slowly learning that it may be more than that.  When I eat bread, or pasta or cereal I get cramps, etc...When I drink milk in particular I get the same symptoms...gas, cramps, diarrhea and just a horrible stomach ache. I have been working at eating low carb, low sugar and cutting out milk and most gluten.  This means I eat a lot of fruit, veggies and lean meats.  It has been very difficult giving up grains and milk since I absolutely love bread, cakes, milk etc...I mean who doesn't love a great double chocolate muffin from Costco? Me, Me Me !!!

All that being said, I am on a continuous journey of learning to eat properly and exercise more regularly.  I just recently turned 40 and so far it has been fabulous but also it has made it even more evident that in order to stay healthy in body and mind I have to work hard at eating right and I have to be consistent in my exercise. So I invite you to join me and as always I would love to hear from you regarding your own struggles with these issues.

So this will be my journal entry for the last few days:

Breakfast is as follows...

2 Eggs Scrambled 
1/2 ounce of Cheddar Cheese 
2 tsp. Tomato and Green Chili

Coffee with Creamer

Lunch is as follows...

1 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast 4oz
2 Cups of Salad Greens
4 Tbsp of Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger Salad Dressing 

Dinner is as follows...

Same thing as lunch or...

3.5 oz of Lean Hamburger
2 Cups of Salad Greens
1/2 oz of Cheddar Cheese
2 Tsp Tomato and Green Chili 
1/2 oz Yellow Tortilla Chip Crumbles 

Snacks are as follows...

Jello Sugar Free Pudding Cups
Grapes
Strawberries
2 Tbsp Light Whipped Cream 
String Cheese
Lots of Water Throughout the Day

*Exercise is as follows:
*Jogging on my mini trampoline 30 minutes

This is just what I have been eating these last couple of weeks, and I do realize it is not too varied but again I am dealing with the whole gluten and lactose issues so it is a learning experience and like in life this is not a sprint but a marathon. So come along and remember to share with me what you are doing, who knows you may learn something, as well as teach something to me. 

 I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I feel it not. I believe in God even when He is silent. *Written on a wall in a concentration camp*

Life is Good

Hey friends and family, I feel the need to check in and let ya'll know what is happening in my life and with this blog...

First as to what has been happening in my life, here goes...I have been having a wonderful sabatical you might say, just resting and relaxing, doing some studying of The Word of God, and I even had me a wonderful weekend vacation catching up with some old family friends in Washington. 

The rest and relaxation was much needed and I can safely say the depression is over...Praise Adonai...as for the studying of The Word of God, I am finding that when I go back to the Bible I find peace and solace...and whole again.  When I am away for too long I start to feel there is a hole that slowly grows, and I feel as if I am missing an integral part of...me!

This last weekend I spent with old family friends, in fact you might remember how we re-connected through this blog...anyway..it was a blast, we went into Vancouver and walked around the saturday open-air market, (that was an experience) then we went into Portland and found us some food carts on 23rd and had us some lunch. We also found our way to Voodoo donuts but the line was looooong, like around the building long, so we took pictures and I promise to post them as soon as I can get them onto my computer.  There was swimming and walking and some good food.  My friend is a wonderful cook and such a sweetie, she went and got me some tamales to bring home to my boys who did not get to go.

So that brings us here to today...I am not going to promise you that I will blog every day or even every other day...I am probably not going to be doing many or any of the Meme's...I would really like to devote my blog to uplifting others, and to bring Jesus and joy to my readers.  That being said, I am human, I will mess up, but I will do my best with God's help to lift up and edify my brothers and sisters, friends and family, and to bring God's Word to the masses, so to speak, in my own way.

Thanks to all of you who have stuck by me and for your words of love and encouragement, blessings to you all. 

Here is a wonderful picture of Miss Molly with a new friend she made in Vancouver this past weekend...Pepperjack the Gecko!

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I feel it not. I believe in God even when He is silent. *Written on a wall in a concentration camp*

Update

I thought it was time to update on my weight loss status.  I am still at 20lbs down, but I wanted to let you know how I have been doing it. 

I found this great website calorie counter it is a blessing.  You can track everything you eat, all your exercise and weight loss trends.  It truly is amazing. 

Over the past few months I have learned to only eat what my body needs, not just what I want.  I used to eat whenever I wanted with little regard to whether I actually needed to eat.  Now I eat when my body is hungry, I eat to live.  I no longer live to eat.  It is very freeing to be able to say what I just said. 

My day usually start with coffee, and then moves on to food.  Sometimes I will choose to eat fruit in the morning, like an orange.  They are sweet, have fiber and seem to make my morning even better.  There are times I will have two eggs scrambled with salt and pepper, then I put it on toasted sandwhich thins...they are only 100 calorie bread thins.  This makes a good breakfast!  For lunch I will have a huge salad (just greens) and a boneless, skinless chicken breast, with Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing, only 35 calories for 2 tbsp.  Dinner is something similar to lunch. 

I do buy snacks, but they are the healthy snacks.  For example; Laughing cow cheese (35 cals), special k bars (90 cals), a hersheys nugget w/almonds (1 @40 cals), a half cup of low fat cottage cheese (80-100 cals), these are all healthy low fat snacks that won't undo all your hard work.  One other thing I just love to snack on is good old Edemame (soybeans), I buy a bag of frozen and when I am in the mood for something salty and yummy I thaw some out and snack on those, now that's what I'm talkin' about!


I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I feel it not. I believe in God even when He is silent. *Written on a wall in a concentration camp*

F is for Food

Food is my friend, but not always.  Sometimes my friend gets me into trouble. Friends are supposed to be helpful and nice, but food can be the exact opposite sometimes. I love food, whether it is a hamburger and fries, or tacos and burritos, or even some of mom’s homemade lasagna. It doesn’t really matter, I just love food.



For those of you who read my blog even semi-regularly, you know that I am on a weight loss journey. I am learning how to eat the proper portion sizes, and what 1500 calories actually look like, and also how food does not have to be my enemy. Earlier I said that food doesn’t always behave like my friend, this is what I meant by that. I eat for a myriad of reasons. For example, when I’m sad I eat, when I’m mad I eat, when I’m happy, sick, and sometimes even hungry I eat. I don’t know about you but in my house with 4 kids, there is a lot of food to choose from. I have no willpower, if it is here, I will eat it. That is why food is not always my friend.


BUT…


I have learned this last month or so that I can live and even feel good on 1500 calories. Amazing, isn’t it! I don’t crave the doughnuts or pizza as much as I once did. I love salad and chicken with Paul Newman’s low fat Sesame Ginger dressing, as well as fruit and milk and cheese. Food is good; you just have to know what a serving size is and how much you should eat for your body to lose weight or to stay the same. I have had pizza night as well as Easter dinner with homemade rolls and still lost 2 lbs…this system works, you just have to know how to work it! Finally I am getting the hang of this eating to live thing and I am very happy knowing I don’t have to live in bondage to food. I want my new motto to be…I Eat to live, not live to eat. Have a blessed day ya’ll, I’m off to have me a salad.

Don't forget to go over to tossing it out and have a look around at all the others in this wonderful challenge, there are a lot of very talented writers to look through on Arlee Bird's sidebar.