Diet Pulpit

Today is my Angelgirl’s 12th Birthday!   It seems like yesterday she was just toddling around.

We woke her up this morning singing Happy Birthday and brought her breakfast in bed: a french toast bagel with a candle in it and juice.   She can pick what ever she wants for dinner tonight and we have some presents ready for her to open.  Her “party” won’t be until next weekend.   The original plan was for her to invite a few friends to lunch (she picked the restaurant) and to go see a movie - but there isn’t anything at the movies she wants to see.   So last night we came up with an alternate plan - Laser Tag Party.  We stopped in and made the reservations, they do it ALL, including giving us the invitations.   I am thrilled.   This is th easiest party we have ever had.  They provide the pizza, the ice cream cake, arcade game tokens for each child (12 invited guests are the minimum), and 3 games of laser tag.    I took at look at Oriental Trading for goodie bag items and picked out 4 things that light up (to go with the laser theme sorta of) - yo-yo like toy, pen that is worn around the neck, bracelet and flashing star bouncy ball, and some neon colored bags to put it all in.   I spent the little extra for overnight shipping.  I’ll top it off with some candy and the bags will be done.

This birthday and the next couple (until her 16th!) are going to be on a smaller scale then past parties we have ad, because last year’s 11th birthday was HUGE .   We had the Biggest, Best, Most Awesome Harry Potter Birthday EVER (link to post about it with links to photos and tons of info. on the details)!  It took over a year to plan.  We rented the firehouse hall and invited 22 kids. The party lasted over six hours.  We had lots of adults helping out and all were costume.   We had the 3 Broomsticks Inn (set up at the bar) with refreshments, awesome decorations (including two cauldons with rising mist, 5 foot blow up magical wands, a large variety of Harry Potter movie posters, and Hogwarts musuem that contained some of collection), every one got to shop at Diagon Alley (tons of shops set up on tables, each guest shopped for items using wizard coins they received when they arrived), 9 magical classes, a wizard tournament, a huge feast, tons of games and prizes, a BIG Hogwarts castle birthday cake, and the day ended with a trip to Honeydukes (a table set up like candy store) where every one received a huge bag of wizard candy and got to sample treacle fudge and other goodies.  It was definitely a once in life time experience.

This year’s birthday is going to be lots of fun too.  I can’t wait to get home and start celebrating with her.

Tags: birthday, family, harry potter

 ”I refuse to think of them as chin hairs.
I think of them as stray eyebrows.”

-Janette Barber-

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Yup, the eyebrows are definitely starting to drift downwards. LOL

Tags: growing older, humor, quote

You’ll have to excuse my tummy grumblings for a few days. 

Today as promised I started back on the Medifast Diet.  Which means lots of tummy grumbling, a bit of grumpiness and a low grade migraine!   The first three days are the hardest, but hopefully the hunger will ease up and become bearable soon.  At least the cravings haven’t kicked in yet.   Last time after the initial three days, I was fine. 

So far today I’ve had 3 packets and 1 bar of protein meals , I have one more I can have but I will save that for after dinner so hopefully I can get to sleep without being too hungry (total 550 calories).

For dinner I am having a  frozen portion of plain fish (150 calories) and a half bag of frozen broccoli (75 calories).  Add the 50 calories from the morning coffee with sugar free creamor and the today’s total is: 825 calories.

Before any one gets in an uproar, I’ve been on Medifast before (last fall), my doctor approved it (she even sells it in her office).  And my doctor and cardiologist both approve all the diet plans I use and say that under 1000 calories is just fine for me (for my age and activity level).

It’s feeling good to be back on a strict plan after a few weeks of being so so.  I was letting my weight gain (for no apparent reason) since January start to get to me and I know I was tasting a bit here and allowing a few more calories in over there.  I was allowing myself to fall into the trap of thinking - “if I’m going to gain weight from eating almost nothing, I might as well eat something.”  Of course that will only lead to more weight gain.  So now  it’s time to shake all that off and move forward. 

It doesn’t matter if I continue to gain water weight (most likely from inflammation or perhaps the heart), I know I will keep my calories low and stick to the plan.  Who knows maybe I will lose a little.

Yes I know the actual scale numbers don’t matter.  Trust me, I have no delusions of ever being “thin”.   But for those folks who haven’t read the past posts about my medical history, I have congestive heart failure and carrying around 247 lbs is not healthy.   I simply want to get to a healthier weight, where I can move more easily, breath more easily, and not fall over dead from climbing a simple flight of steps.    I think that is a reasonable goal.

Sorry if I sound grumpy, but I’ve been at this for 2 years now and I know it’s still a long road ahead, and I’ve heard all the concerns and advice over and over and over again.   Regular diets do NOT work for me - I’ve tried every single one.    After decades of trying to lose only to end up gaining a lot more back, it’s not always easy to keep explaining the same things over and over again.   (On my weighin summary page you can see the entire up and down saga, and there are links near the top of the page to two posts for diet history and medical history overview.) 

I can do this, I will do this, and I will achieve my goal of living healthy to 100 and beyond!    

Tags: diet, dieting, fatblogging, hunger

The Winner of the Guess My Weight Contest is KHYLE (blog Entrecard Contest) for his guess of 245 lbs.  Prizes awarded:  I rounded up the prize to an even 500 entrecard credits and sent them on their way.  I added his link to our blog village here and will write his review on my blog Entrecard Favorites this week (update: review is HERE).

My actual weighin weight for Saturday was 247 lbs.  Which was another gain. (packing on another 4.5 for the week).   Since Friday I have been ”off the wagon” since my family wanted to treat me for Mother’s Day which unfortunately involved food.  For the past two years I have said NO and never allowed them to cook for me, but I have been at a low point since gaining so much back for no reason these past couple of months and I let my weakness get the better of me and decided the heck with it, I’m going to enjoy the entire weekend.  At least I know some of the weight gain was from Friday night’s meal (and not just the unexplained “water” weight I have been gaining since January).  I’m sure I have gained a ton more since Saturday because I also had an awesome Mother’s Day breakfast of PB&J french toast, strawberries with whipped cream and bacon, followed by an afternoon nap, 2 pieces of Godiva chocolate, and a lovely dinner of chicken, rice and broccoli in cheese sauce.  Since there were leftovers, they are being eaten today.  I’m not going to bother weighing in again though until Saturday.

My taste buds haven’t been this happy in over two years.  So I know I will need to beat back the fat cells and cravings that will now be in full force due to my indulgence for four days.

However, Tuesday bright and early it’s back on track BIG TIME.  I’m going to use up the leftover Medifast meals I have from when I tried that diet method last fall.  I think I have enough for about 2 or 3 weeks.  I plan on being on this until I go away in early June to Womon Gathering (a four retreat) where they serve 3 vegetarian meals.   I don’t expect to lose anything being on Medifast (it didn’t work before), but I am hoping that it will kill off cravings at least and reduce the enormous hunger (which is almost constant now) that has returned.  I’m sure I’ll gain weight over the four days I’m at Womon Gathering because there will be three meals served that I can’t control what goes in to them and being outdoors  a lot is going to really kick in the hunger even more then usual.  Plus there is going to be a lot of walking and activities, so I will definitely swell up more.  But this event is too awesome and I’m looking forward to it, so I’m willing to pay the price on the scale.

Medifast is a medically supervised diet, that is bascially 5 packets that you add water to for five meals a day, with a small lean protein and plain veggie meal for dinner.  Calories for the day are just under 1,000.   Which is still a bit to high for me, but at least it’s a start to getting back to my 800 to 900 a day.  Besides I hate waste, and this way I’ll use it all up and be done with it.

And who knows I might be surprised with some weight loss.  After all everyone else who uses this program loses 5 to 10 lbs a week on it.  My doctor even sells it in her office and highly recommends it.

Any way that is the plan for the next couple of weeks.

Going to stay positive, going to stay focused, no matter what!  

Tags: blog contest, diet, fatblogging

I can’t believe I have been blogging for a couple years now, and I haven’t blogged about the day I became a mom! I’ve mentioned it here and there, but never did a post dedicated to that wonderful, awesome day. In celebration of Mother’s Day, I’d like to share the best day of my life with all of you.

Background: When I was about 20 yrs old I had a cervical cancer and had to have a hysterectomy. When Teacherman and I were married Sept. 1991 we knew we were going to adopt and started looking into agency as soon as possible - most required that we be married a few years, but finally we found one that counted our years of living together towards the requirements. At first we tried adoption here in the U.S. but it can take 10 years or longer, and we were already almost 40 so ten years was not an option. We also applied for open adoption, where our photo and bio were placed in a notebook to be looked over and someone could pick us. We had two opportunites where we were considered but both times the birth mothers picked someone else, and emotionally it was very difficult to handle. Then we heard of China adoptions. We went to an introduction meeting and within five minutes Teacherman and I looked at each other with smiles and we knew we were going to be parents in about a year.

Oct. 20, 1996 - After a long, roller coaster ride of a year with mountains of paperwork completed, tons of letters of recommendations from almost everyone we knew and barely knew (including local police, bankers, neighbors), lots of home studies and parenting classes the big day was finally HERE. We had travelled half way around the world to an awesome country and were now standing in a room with 9 other parents-to-be with our hearts pounding and the biggest smiles ever on our faces.

Where motherhood began - Zhanjiang, China

Silver Seas Hotel, Zhanjiang, China - where we stayed

The Harbor, South China Sea, Zhanjiang, China

Zhanjiang Social Welfare Institute - where the babies are cared fod

(Note: I wish I had more photos, but back then I didn’t have a digital camera, so our photos would need to be scanned. These photos are from the Zhanjiang Kids Org photo collection.)

Our translator told us the babies would be arriving any minute. We could hear the “aunties” (foster mothers) lining up in the hall, my hands started to tremble with excitement. Once every one was ready Dur (our group’s mentor) called out #1 and our name, and the first auntie came in carrying a sleeping baby. As she placed our daughter in my arms I just cried and smiled, my heart felt like it was going to burst with so much joy and love. Teacherman cried too but managed to hold on to the video camera. I managed to remind him to film the others too because we knew we would want to have it recorded for later. Words are totally inadequate to describe the atmosphere in the room, but I’m sure you can imagine how awesome it was, like being in a delivery room times ten. Within in a few minutes ten new families were formed, babies were having diapers changed, aunties were being given the extra baby clothes we brought for donations, and within another few minutes we were all piled in the bus waving goodbye, every one smiling and eyes filled with tears. Some of the aunties cried too, happy but sad to see their small charges leave.

We all went to our hotel rooms to begin life our lives together. Angelgirl curled her little fingers around her daddy’s pinky and grabbed his nose. She has been the center of his world ever since. I couldn’t stop staring at her, and the smile on my face was from ear to ear.

The following week of official paperwork, travelling within China to complete all the necessary steps, visiting the hospital for the requried physcial checkup on all the girls, our trip to the U.S Embassy for their passports, all passed in a blur. We had 1 day of site seeing where we visited a beach and a lovely temple. No one minded at all that our days were spent mostly in hotel rooms, small offices, and crowded on a bus, because no one took their eyes off their daughters and no one stopped smiling the entire time. Even the plane ride home (over 20 hours) went by blissfully.

We arrived home Oct. 30 (my birthday, which actually lasted two days that year because we crossed the international date line). A friend of ours picked us at the airport and whisked us to our house, where my family and a few other close friends were waiting for us with a welcome home banner and cake. Angelgirl took in everything calmly and checked out everyone who held her.

From the moment she was put into my arms, my life has been blessed and filled with joy each and every second. She turns 12 this week, and it amazes me how fast times flies by. She will always be my Angelgirl no matter how old she is, and I will never ever forget the joy and love that began that moment she was placed in my arms.

Wishing all the moms out there an awesome Mother’s Day!

Tags: adoption, China, family, mother's day

GUESSING IS NOW CLOSED FOR THIS CONTEST - we have a winner, I’ll get a post up later today with the announcement. Thanks everyone for stopping by and taking a guess. I think we all had fun - so I hope to this again - perhaps as a monthly contest.

GUESS TO WIN!

Today is the first weighin beginning my THIRD year of fatblogging and being on my journey to get healthy and live to over 100+ (and drop a few pounds along the way).  I want to make my weigh day a FUN day for all my readers. So leave a comment and guess what my weight is TODAY!   I’m not going to tell you if I lost or gained (but as a quick look at the past weighins will show you it could be a little or a lot either way). 

The person who comes the closest without going over will win a PRIZE!

Prize:  permanent link in my blog village, a blog review right here on the Diet Pulpit, and if you are an Entrecard member Entrecard credits equal to double my weight.

Deadline for guessing Monday a.m. (say about 3 a.m. which is when I generally get up and start dropping).

Good luck!

Tags: blog contest, diet, weighin

No it’s not a the titlte of a follow up movie to the The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - just a silly title for a blog post about my week.

What a whirlwind week. It’s nice to just take a pause, gather my thoughts, and catch my breath.

First an unpdate on my sister. She is doing ok, but hasn’t regained her memory yet.  She is still about 10 to 12 years behind in her memories from the concussion she has from her fall last Friday.  The doctors say it could be four to six weeks before the brain fully recovers.  (For those who want to read more details the post about it is HERE.)

Teacherman (my awesome hubby) had gotten me a gift card for Lord and Taylors for Christmas last December, so I could get some new clothes since I had lost so much weight.  I know he meant well, but I totally hate that store and would never ever stop in any store that is that expensive and fancy.  I’m am a Kmart or Walmart gal when it comes to clothes.  I like my clothing soft, comfortable, toss in the washer and dryer and don’t have to think about it kind of stuff.  Besides I’ve gained half the weight back so I definitely would never ever buy clothes now any way, especially nothing expensive.     He finally mentioned it the other day, and said he understands how I feel.  I gave him a big hug and said how much I totally appreciate the thought.    The problem is I can’t return the card and anything I buy using it, I won’t be able to return because they won’t give me cash.  So, I have to buy something - it’s for $200 and I don’t want to waste it.   The plan is for all three of us to go this weekend.  I figure with moral support I can face getting through the door of the store without breaking out in hives.  I don’t even own anything nice enough to enter that store so they will just have to look down they snooty noses at me with my stretch pants, tshirt and sandles.   I’m not sure what I’ll get, but I do need an umbrella and perhaps I’ll splurge and buy a purse too.  Normally I would never spend more then $10 on a purse, but mine is falling apart so I could use one.  I am hoping there is a sale at least.  I think I’d pass out if I ever paid full price for anything at a store like that.  I’m guessing the umbrella and purse will be about $100 bucks total  *shivers in disgust* - so I will probably have to find one or two more items.   I’ll probably check out the sheets and towels.  Those kind of things area always nice to have a few extra around for overnight guests.   Hopefully I won’t break out in a rash from shopping there and I’ll be sure to let you all know what I end up getting.

The weekend starts off for me extremely busy.  Angelgirl’s Girl Scout Troop is having their big event tonight to earn their Bronze Star - a lot of the girls and their moms from other troops come as invited guests.  I have to dash over there as soon as I leave work (Angelgirl is already there).   All the mom’s for our troop have to be there to help out.   I am looking forward to it, but I know being on my feet and doing all the deocrating, helping with the arts and crafts, etc. is going to be exhausting for me and I’ll be resting most of tomorrow with lots of aspirins to recover.   Teacherman and Angelgirl are making me breakfast on Sunday (yes, I’m going off the diet for one day and maybe even on Saturday too!).  Angelgirl asked me what I wanted as a present for Mother’s Day, and I asked for her help in taking some photos for my other blog (Stir the Cauldron)  - she knows how to work the digital camera, whereas I usually just take blurry shots.  I have dozens of tarot cards that I want to blog about and I’m hoping to get at least half or more of the collection photographed for future posts. 

I’ll have to remember to post about how I became a Mom, traveling half way about the world and having Angelgirl placed in my arms.   **smiles**    Perhaps that can be Sunday’s post.

I want to wish all the mom’s out there an early Happy Mother’s Day and hope you have an awesome weekend.

Tags: family, life, personl

*** CANUCKLEHEAD ***

Canucklehead was the Winner of my very first blogging contest: What Do You Want To See More Of?  One of his prizes is a coveted blog review by me, Lady Rose, the famous “Queen” of fatblogging - so without further ado, here is my review.

What can I say about a blog with a tag line “Where common sense comes to die” written by a Canadian gentleman, who enjoys beer (”his wife is pregnant so he’s drinking for 3″) and “who may or may not own a chicken.” The first thing I will say is, go visit!

A visit to this blog is an adventure. With a little exploring you’ll find jokes, videos, even a Canucklehead Shootout game.   You’ll find posts about the Canadian Code, Canadian Bacon, and yes even Canadian Porn (linked provide so everyone can find this post right away), and posts that you might think are porn such as this one Massage Pants, but are really just odd and fun to read.  Canucklehead writes about his life, beer, his family, drinking beer, his observations, and also the Beer of the Year.

I rate this blog 5 pitchforks (but I mean that in a good way) - my ususal highest rating is 5 halos, but some how halos just didn’t seem to appropriate in this case. 

So pop open a beer, kick back and ”drop” on over to CANUCKLEHEAD.

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NOTE: All reviews are done for free.

Tags: blog review, humor

Would you really want to know? 

I watched a news story yesterday about DNA testing and how they can test for genetic markers for diseases such as Alzheimer’s. I’m sure over time medical science will be able to test for more and more genetic markers. Having a genetic marker means having the potential to develop the disease, not a guarantee but a very, very, very strong possibility.

I asked myself would I want to know, and I’m not sure. I don’t like surprises. I like being prepared. So I think I would want to know. But before I did, I’d want to be sure that I was prepared for whatever information I might get. I would want to use the information, no matter what the results, so I could live life every day to the fullest, so I could be sure all my affairs were in order, that I hugged my loved ones every day and made sure they knew how much I love them.

After thinking it over, I decided, it doesn’t really matter whether or not I know the future or results of genetic testing. We all know the ultimate end to our life story, though not the details or the when. So why not appreciate each day and live our life as best we can be, whether we know the future or not. Knowing doesn’t improve the quality of life, only we can do that.

What choices will I make today? What smiles, hugs, or helping hand can I give today? Would these choices be different if I knew more details of what lies ahead?

Tags: health, medical tests

I’m very excited I won three prizes! 

The winners were announced at The Winner Party post for the BIGGEST one-of-a-kind Hochstadt.com party contest.  There were a ton of prizes, and there are a lot of happy winners.

Here is what I won:

 ”Lady Rose won 1 month of Pat King’s (Fitness Life Club) Premier Health Coaching Package, a One Buck Wiki page at SiteHoppin.com as well as a 10 cards account at SendOutCards.com.”

Pat King is an awesome gentleman and I’ve had the pleasure of chit chatting a little with him now and then since I joined Entrecard.   I am really looking forward to having a whole month of coaching.   Of course, I’ll be blogging about the whole experience.   I sent Pat an email to make arrangments.  I am hoping to start the weekend after my trip to Womon Gathering in early June.

I have never won anything before and it’s the perfect best prize for me too.  Just in time to kick off the third year of my quest to get healthy with a big boost!

A big thank you to everyone involved in the Hochstadt Party Contest!

Tags: blog contest, prize