Juice Diet

        So, last week Dexter and one of his work friends decided to do a juice fast. I jumped on board with the idea a few days later. We decided on a 10-day nothing but juice and water fast. I'll admit - I was extremely nervous about it. I mean who wouldn't be? 10 days of not eating a single item of solid food. I didn't mention it to anyone at work - for fear that I was going to back out before I even started. Dex could tell I was apprehensive and he recommended we watch "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" on Netflix. It's a documentary about a man who does a juice fast for 60 days and then helps another man do the same for 60 days. Joe Cross (one of the guys in the documentary) lost 80 lbs! The other man, Phil Staples, lost 200! What is even more amazing to me is that after almost two and a half years - they've both kept it off. So that motivated me even more. Obviously, the juice diet isn't for everyone, but for me it was the perfect solution to jump start my weight loss and healthier eating habits, as well as test my willpower. I figure, if I can make it through this juice fast then I can have the willpower to avoid fast foods, caffeine, and soda, as well as keep my intake of sweets as a treat and not an all the time thing. So for me, this works. Anyone who is interested in the diet, should check out the documentary. Like I said, it's on Netflix and I'm sure you can find it other places online.

        I started the diet on Monday, weighing myself that morning to get an idea of where I was starting out. My initial weight was 164 lbs. At 5'1, that put my BMI at 31.0. Which put me just barely into the obesity category. That motivated me even more. Originally, I had decided not to weigh myself every day, but come Tuesday morning, I couldn't resist. I stepped on the scale to see I had lost 3 lbs in one day. I was amazed and even more motivated to continue. 

        Tuesday evening, however, I had a big breakdown. I was hungry, tired, and overall miserable. Plus in my juicing experimentation, I had made 2 horrible tasting juices in a row and I was done. Honestly, I was ready to quit at that point. But, Dex convinced me to sleep on it, even saying he'd take care of both of the children's bedtime routines if I just wanted to go to bed at that instant. So I did, and I found myself in bed before 8pm.  

        Wednesday I woke up renewed and made myself a strictly fruit juice for breakfast. At that point, it was less about the nutritiousness of the juice and more about the fact that I had to have a really good tasting one if I was going to continue this thing. I made myself a really healthy lunch juice to take to work, adding in ginger to help the taste. It quickly became my favorite addition to my juices, along with orange. The two flavors meshed perfectly and were able to cover up some of the tastes I was less enthused about with ease. I found myself excited about the diet again and kept it up. 

        Thursday evening, I realized my anniversary ring was about to fall off my finger. Before I continue, a little back story on that. After the birth of my daughter, I was unable to wear my wedding and engagement ring as it was too snug. I had gained 80 pounds with her, and had only lost 30 of it. Being 50 pounds heavier than when the rings were purchased, they no longer fit. But, I was determined to lose the weight and didn't want them resized. Instead, I wore a cheap band until I could get them back on. I was just squeezing back into my rings (albeit not comfortably) when I got pregnant with Tristan. My rings went back into the jewelry box and I was pretty upset about it. For our anniversary that year, Dex surprised me with a beautiful anniversary band, in a size and a half bigger than my wedding ring. The great part about this was that I would be able to wear it on a different finger afterwards, as my ring finger on my right hand tends to a little larger. So, the realization that my anniversary band was about to fall off, had me running to my jewelry box to retrieve my wedding set. Slipping it on, I was almost in tears when I realized it fit again. After only four days, I had accomplished a goal I'd been unable to meet in almost 3 years. This pumped me up to continue on.

        Now, it's the end of day 6, and I feel great. This morning I weighed in at 152.6, almost 12 pounds down from my starting weight on Monday! Even better, this lowered my BMI to 28.9, back down into the overweight category instead of obese. I'm pretty excited and can't wait to see what the end of day 10 will hold for me! I am also finding that I have tons of energy. I am working out every day willingly and I feel pretty good about it. 

        Now, I know I need to adjust my eating habits for afterwards, so that I don't just gain all the weight back. So, for the first 14 days after the fast, I will be eating a raw food diet. I plan to juice every morning for breakfast pretty much permanently, as I've found some pretty tasty combinations for my breakfast juice. I will then be going vegetarian. I will also be cutting out all fast food, all soda, all caffeine, and limiting my sweets intake to once a week. We will also be eliminating all bleached and processed flours and any prepackaged meals. I also plan to continue to work out daily, and have even set a goal of doing a local 5k in October. I want this to be the start to a new, healthier me. So wish me luck on the rest of this diet, and I'll post some before and after pictures at the end of the 10 days. I can already see the difference now, so I can only imagine what it'll be like Wednesday.

I'm BACK!

Sorry I've been gone so long! I'm hoping to update once or twice a week. I had to write a paper this week on a life changing event, so I thought I'd share it with you:

The Diagnosis That Changed My Life

I was staring at my daughter, Riley, in my husband’s lap, not hearing a word the doctor said. I could hear the ticking of the clock, the subtle sound of breathing from Riley’s sleeping form, but I couldn’t concentrate on what Dr. Dayal was saying. The only words in my head were from the beginning of the visit. “Your daughter had a stroke. There is extensive damage on the left side of her brain.”
Two months ago, this all began. Riley was 14 months old and just starting to walk. Her pediatrician said that she was a late bloomer. But then she actually started walking. It wasn’t normal. She was dragging her right leg. Combined with the fact that she didn’t use her right hand almost ever, we found ourselves on the way to visit a neurologist, Dr. Dayal.
“I am concerned with the way she uses her left side. I think it was very wise of you to bring her in to see me.” Dr. Dayal said that Tuesday morning. “I want to send her for an MRI to take a look at her brain.”
It didn’t sink in at first, but reality certainly slammed into me the morning of the MRI. 15 month olds do not sit still for 45 minutes. My baby was going under anesthesia. She was scared of the doctors and the mask. She was hungry because I couldn’t let her eat for 12 hours before the procedure. I couldn’t explain to her what was going on; she was too little to understand. But I was convinced everything was okay. She was fine. She was just slow at figuring out this mobility thing. I was wrong.
My husband tapped me on the shoulder, a concerned look in his eyes. “She wants to show us the scan. Come on.”
I followed him silently to Dr. Dayal’s office, still in shock. Her office was bright and cheery, decorated in soft yellows and greens. But all I could concentrate on was her computer screen. She already had the scan up on the screen and I was greeted with an image of Riley’s brain.  There was a big black blob covering a great portion of the left lobe. It looked intimidating. It looked really bad.
“This black area on the left side of her brain is where the stroke affected her. The damage doesn’t look new however and since she had a normal birth, I suspect it happened sometime during your pregnancy.” Dr. Dayal was pointing at the screen as she talked. “If I hadn’t met Riley previously and just had this scan to go on, I’d say she’d never walk. The part of the brain the stroke affected controls the motor skills and parts of her memory.”
“Can we fix it?” I asked her, grateful that my voice wasn’t betraying the panic I felt inside.
“All of the black you see on the scan is empty space. The brain tissue that was there died and it isn’t there anymore. It won’t grow back.” I think she saw the distress in my face because she quickly added, “She’ll probably be in physical and occupational therapy for most of her life, but she should be able to live a normal life.” I couldn’t quite comprehend it all at that moment. Long term therapy, brain damage, it was all too much to process. I felt like I was at a complete loss.
And that’s when everything changed. I went from having a healthy baby girl to having a baby with a disability. We saw 7 specialists trying to figure out the cause with no success. We started physical and occupational therapy once a week. She started wearing a leg brace at night, and later on, during the day. But throughout this process, I’ve learned some things. I am strong enough to handle whatever life throws at me. We take one day at a time in this household, and our lives revolve around our children.
I am grateful for every single thing my daughter learns how to do. I am grateful every day that she is in my life. Her disability only brought us closer as a family and we cherish every moment with our children. She continues to amaze her doctors by doing things they thought she’d never be able to do. She’s running, jumping, talking up a storm, and with her brace is pretty much caught up with kids her age. At only 4 years of age, she has taught me a lesson I hadn’t learned in my own 24 years. I can accomplish anything I set my mind to, just like she has.

I'm Learning A Lot

       I have started my New Year's Resolutions, as well as one that I didn't post about before that will affect the whole family. We aren't eating any fast food for a year. After that, we hope to make it a New Year's Eve tradition and still not eat it the rest of the year. I hope we can stick to it.
      I have been doing my reading every day.  Right now, I am in Genesis for my bible reading and am only reading 2-3 chapters a day. It's very manageable and non stressful. The only problem I've had is that since this is not my first attempt to read the Bible all the way through, I have read the first half of Genesis quite a few times. I am learning new things however, since I do have a nice guided reading book on my Kindle that is asking questions and making observations about what I read, things that I wouldn't think of ordinarily. I am also doing my daily devotionals (by myself and a couple's one with Dex) and making an effort to pray more. I am also reading A Woman After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George on my Kindle and it's filled with amazing advice and information about becoming a better Christian woman and living life the way God wants me to. I have to go pick up a notebook on my lunch break, to keep notes about the books I read this year and practical applications to my life. I want a quick reference to what I should be doing to help guide me even after I read the book. I was suggested the book by Chrystal, a woman on babycenter on Tristan's baby board. I am loving the suggestion so far and will have to ask her for another after I read some more Elizabeth George books!
        I am definitely starting to feel more at peace with my life and less stressed since I have been doing this. I worried at first that I would be putting too much on myself with my goals. I thought it would make my postpartum worse to get up even earlier in the morning and to hold myself to the responsibilities of reading this and reading that, but it's actually turned out opposite. It's getting easier and easier every day to get out of bed 30 minutes earlier to read. I think I actually less tired than when I used to sleep later! And it's only been 4 days! I am also finding that I am more relaxed and pleasant throughout the day, although I definitely still have my moments, and unfortunately most of the time I end up taking it out on my husband :( I am also learning to recognize sinful behavior and have stopped myself from doing things on quite a few occasions already. I am excited to see where these choices lead me and hope to be a much different person this time next year!
       Finally, before I have to run off to work, I have started changing my morning commute radio habits. I used to listen to 106.5 in the morning or some sort of hard rock CD. Now I find myself listening to either Elevation Church worship CDs, Pastor Steven's sermons (I'm starting way back to the first sermon that is on his Podcasts), or 91.9. I feel so charged up with good energy when I get to work too!
        I'll expound on this more later, right now I have to get out the door or I'll be late for work!

New Year's Resolutions

          I have some resolutions this year. I am going to call them goals because I feel like every time I make a "resolution" it falls through. I have quite a few this year, as I have broken them down into specific things rather than generic resolutions like "lose weight" or "grow spiritually". So here goes:
1. Lose 20 pounds by Tristan's first birthday.
2. Lose 15 more by the end of the year.
3. Read the Bible in a year.
4. Pray every day if not multiple times a day.
5. Read one book a month that helps me grow spiritually. (example is "A Woman after God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George which I am currently reading.
6. Do a daily devotional EVERY day!
7. Do a couple's devotional EVERY day.
8. Try to blog more often - it's a good way to reflect on my daily activities.
9. Create at least one piece of jewelry a week.
10. Finish my website for jewelry making by Tristan's birthday.
I'll keep everyone updated on my progress!

Strep Throat!

So I have strep throat. Went to the doctor yesterday with a sore throat and a headache and no voice. My throat wasn't TOO bad, but since I've got the little ones, I figured I'd better get it checked out. I fully expected the doctor to come in and tell me that I didn't have strep and to go back to work, lol. But it was positive and I started antibotics. I can't hold the babies until tomorrow just to be safe, but I want to soooo badly! I miss my little hugs, kisses, and cuddles. I've pretty much been in bed since I got back from the doctor, but I have to get up in a little while and get dressed to go to the WIC office to take Tristan. I know what you are thinking - "BUT you are contaigous!" That is true, however, since I made the appt I have to be the one to take T to it. And I waited 2 and a half MONTHS for this appt. If I reschedule, I'll probably have to wait another couple of months. So I'm going. But Dex is going with me, I'm still not touching T. I wouldn't be so insistent on it, but I stopped breastfeeding when T turned 5 months old. I didn't realize how much it was stressing me out until I stopped. And, since T has been on formula, he sleeps through the night. Now, I still believe that breastmilk is the best thing for a baby, but mommy also needs to be happy. And I wasn't anymore. So I'm done. However, formula is freaking expensive! So I need WIC.

Other good news - Riley got approved for disability. So she now has Medicaid. I am so relieved. Now I don't have to stress about her physical and occupation therapy bills and all of her specialists visits. This has definitely been a great blessing. Not sure how much money we will be getting yet, but the biggest thing I wanted was the insurance. Our insurance isn't the worst in the world, but this is much better!

Hectic Life

So things have been pretty crazy around here with the addition of a new munchkin. I have made some progress in my jewelry making but not a ton. I have a website now but it's not completely finished. I have made 3-4 pieces of jewelry but I should be doing more. It's just been a massive change having two children instead of one. And things are only going to get more crazy. Tristan is rolling over now so he is starting to get mobile. YIKES!
Riley isn't napping at school and is being disruptive to the other kids. I don't know why she is acting like that. The only thing I can think is that they are letting her get away with it. She is pretty good here at home for the most part. And when she does misbehave, she gets in trouble. The only time she doesn't listen is when she doesn't think you are being serious or that you will follow through on punishment. I don't know what to tell them other than to make sure she knows you are being serious!

Dexter and I started p90x Tuesday and I am soooo sore. I feel like I have jelly legs some of the time and just want to lay in bed all day. But that's counterproductive! Right now, Tristan and I are cuddling in the bed while Dex takes Riley to therapy. I was going to go but I decided to be a lazy butt and stay home. I love that he lets me take time out and relax! He's so good to me and I can't believe we've been married for almost 4 years! I am also in shock that we have 2 kids. It's been 4 months, but it's still so shocking to me to think about the fact that I am a mom of 2. It feels like just yesterday that it was Riley being born. I am so sad that she is this big already! I'm trying to enjoy Tristan as a baby as much as possible. It very well may be the last time I get to experience that. Just typing that makes me sad, but I am not sure I want to go through pregnancy and having a baby with 2 other kids to look after. It's why I got an IUD (Mirena). I want the option to have a kid later without having to worry about daily pills or getting shots. I can have worry-free birthcontrol for 5 years. or if we decide to have another, I can take it out sooner. So far I LOVE IT! Haven't had a period since August and it's great.

Well, Tristan is getting fussy and it's time for him to eat and take his morning nap. I think I will join him in nap time!

Bad blogger

I've been a bad blogger, I haven't updated in forever. Tristan Micah Mason is here! He was born at 2:51pm on June 6,2010. He was 8lbs 15oz and was 21 inches long. I love him to death! My jewelry and writing ambitions may have to be postponed a little until he starts eating less frequently. Breastfeeding is going well but he eats every 2-3 hours so I don't have much time. Looking for an app for my iPhone to write, since I have a Brest Friend pillow and it allows me to feed him hands free. Will be back later with more, but Tristan is crying and duty calls:)