Sharing Rambling, Resources and Recipes for Learning in Life

Sharing Rambling, Resources and Recipes for Learning in Life

Category: Health

EducationFaithHealthRamblings

The Key to this Journey is the Definition!

By Audrea2 Comments

I have not written for a while before today because when my weight went up during my weigh in and a LOT of stressors came into play with work, I just wanted to stop. I continued working on this journey. I prayed for dedication, direction, peace and strength and I continued. That alone is a huge victory even though I couldn’t and still don’t really feel it! Sometimes, simply NOT stopping is a HUGE step forward.

It has been in this time of stress, feeling like a failure and battling discouragement that I have come to realize, through God’s direction no doubt, that I must understand that this is a JOURNEY. And guess what journeys can be fun and light and spectacular! AND they can be hard and dark, uphill and tough. BUT they are never short.

I may not get to my goal weight before I go back to school in the fall! That’s a huge bummer to me. I really wanted to check this off my list before the additional time constraints and stress of the beginning of the year. However, school will always start again. Life will always bring stress and hard and mess. It will also always bring joy and light and refreshment. And, I have to learn to journey through it all. So, whether my path is uphill or down, lighted or dark, I just have to keep walking and praying and choosing the joy and peace of Jesus! This journey will likely always seem long until I get to heaven and realize that it was short compared to eternity. That can be a comfort, but even that cannot be my sole focus. Because God has placed me here and told me to live today and then He will give me an easy yoke and light burden.

HealthRamblings

Why no meals should be skipped on this journey!

By Audrea2 Comments

A few days into this newest journey towards treating my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit and gaining health through a healthier relationship with food and getting more exercise, I had a meeting. That meant I just had time to eat a few pieces of celery and some cottage cheese right before I headed out the door. Not the most filling lunch I’d had so far on this journey, but it’d be okay I told myself. After all it would mean fewer calories that day and that would help with the lower weight part of the journey!

Of course I was wrong!! When I got home about 4 hours later, I was super hungry and ended up snacking and tasting as I made dinner. My snacks and tastes more than equalled a meal and I still had a full dinner. My calories may have still been okay. I’m not sure because I didn’t enter my food that day. However, the most important problem with the lack of lunch was that I could tell I wasn’t controlling my snacks and tastes, my hunger and sense of deprivation was.

So, I may NOT skip meals. If something beyond my control happens and I have to go for awhile without eating, I have to plan my next meal accordingly and eat according to the plan. This is not so much in order to control my calories, but to control my control. Anytime I am not in control of my eating, I am out of balance! So, staying well nourished is key on this journey!

FaithHealthRamblings

Should this Journey be Indulgent or Not!?!

By Audrea2 Comments

So in exploring this journey as a healthy walk towards Jesus through the life He’s meant for me to live, I am taking a more laid back and baby steps forward approach. Therefore, NOTHING is off limits. That fact goes back and forth from being freeing to paralyzing to derailing! Today I am discussing the idea of whether or not a journey to having a body that is disciplined and trained to be a temple for the Holy Spirit should include indulgences or not. Now, I am not talking about having some fruit for dessert! I mean true indulgence of ice cream or chocolate or cake or something arguably not even a little bit good for you like Dr. Pepper!!

I think that in view of our ability to enjoy food and gain more from it than nutrients that it is OKAY to have some indulgences. There is a key though that I think can make a difference between indulgences that glorify God and indulgences that derail both our goals and even our relationships with Him. I am not at all saying that our relationships with Him would be permanently derailed, but that the wrong kind or time of indulgence takes it from enjoying a creation of God to elevating food to an idol.

Yesterday was kind of a rough day after my less than successful weigh in on Wednesday. So, I think that it was a dangerous time to indulge! Because I was rather down it made it very easy to allow food to be a comfort and then that comfort could take the place of God where He should be in His role to complete me and order and direct my steps!

So, when you are in a good frame of mind and you have been working hard and following the set of guidelines that you and God have set up for your good health and wellbeing, INDULGE! Do it gently, slowly and focused so that you can enjoy the pleasure God has sent you through your indulgence.

HOWEVER, if you are down, sad, frustrated, defeated or struggling in any other way. It may be wisest to skip the indulgence. Turn to God with any and all of your feelings and emotions! After all, He is the only one who can heal and help!!

I think I could have indulged well yesterday evening given a better frame of mind. As it was, I know that I indulged beyond what my body needed or what was best for my goals. I knew that my body needed a chocolate chip banana muffin as an indulgence instead of ice cream to “keep things going”. So, I made that healthier choice for the added fiber and whole foods. That was good! But, I also had a bite or two or three of ice cream as I made my daughters’ bowls and a spoonful of peanut butter to go with it. So, in reality, I should have had one of those indulgences, not both and neither in addition to the two tablespoons of chocolate chips I had earlier in the evening. Since, I was still disappointed from my weigh in, I had received stressful information from work and I am struggling with how to best support my husband through some stressful situations he is dealing with himself, indulgence in a quick sand! So, in light of all of these stressors, prayer would have been my best and healthiest indulgence! There was nothing wrong with the foods I ate, the problem comes when I’m eating them to feel better!

HealthRecipes

A New Breakfast

By Audrea2 Comments

In an effort to “Eat food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants” as suggested in Michael Pollan’s books, Food Rules and In Defense of Food, I stumbled upon a new “recipe”. I put recipe in quotations because really it’s just a mix of some veggies and eggs and Flat Out Bread that I had on hand. BUT it SURE is tasty!!!

1 Flat Out Fold It!

1 jalapeño pepper seeded and diced

1/2-1 small yellow summer squash diced

2 eggs

1/2-1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/4 cup baby spinach

1-2 tablespoons salsa

So I sautéed the jalapeño and the small yellow summer squash in a skillet for 3-5 minutes until they begin to soften. Then I cracked two eggs into the pan and scrambled it all together. Then I spread mayonnaise on the Flat Out bread and topped that with 2-3 tablespoons of the eggy yumminess. I next added baby spinach on top of the eggs and topped it all with a tablespoon or so of salsa! Absolute veggie filled creamy magnificence!! So delicious! If you don’t like the heat of jalapeños I am sure it would be delicious with bell peppers as well! What are you favorite veggies to add to scrambled eggs, I’d love to hear!

FaithHealthRamblings

My Journey to the Temple; Small Victories Pave the Way to Success!!

By Audrea2 Comments

So far on this current journey toward the temple I have experienced several small victories. I am thankful and blessed by each one. I am attempting to relish them so that I can remain thankful and forward focused when I experience small or even large set backs.

The first set of victories may not at first even appear victorious. The first was asking a friend of mine to walk this journey with me with weekly visits and weigh ins. She has lost over 100 pounds through eating well and exercising!! She is currently working on maintenance, embracing the fact that this is a life long journey and taking a break from her scale because their relationship wasn’t healthy anymore! She agreed to meet with me! That knowledge alone helped me lose 1.6 pounds during the last week of school amidst baccalaureate, graduation, graduation parties, end of the year responsibilities and end of the year teacher gift preparation for the girls’ teachers! That was ahuge victory to me and I am SO grateful to her and God for helping me accomplish that loss during a time when fitting in exercise was not an option!!

Since we’ve been done with school, I’ve exercised every day (except Sunday). My plan was to take the weekends off, but I had time and motivation to get a workout in on Saturday and I did. Another small victory that felt HUGE!

We were all done with school on Thursday, May 23rd. The girls had been asking to go to the local library ever since the school libraries stopped loaning books in order to get ready for their annual inventories. So Friday, I took the girls to the library for them and I to get some books. One of the books I checked out was Michael Pollan’s, Food Rules. In it he talks about the “rules” which he says are more like guidelines of eating. One of them is the idea of eating to satisfaction rather than fullness and that has been working well for me the last couple of days! Another victory for this girl who hates feeling deprived or hungry!

So, with each small victory I gain a little more confidence that MAYBE I am truly on a life-long, forward-moving journey and road to the temple within my body and outside in heaven, my ultimate destination. Perhaps even my eating and weight and body composition can be sanctified!! After all, ANYTHING is possible with MY GOD!

FaithHealthParentingRamblings

My Journey to the Temple

By Audrea1 Comment

I am currently focusing again on health, well being and of course weight. However, in light of wanting a “forever fix” and having two adorable young ladies watching me, whose body image I want to cultivate instead of warp, I am trying to take a different approach than I ever have.

So, since one of the biggest motivations behind continuing to try to navigate this road and balance of life, motherhood, work, busyness, tiredness, weight and exercise is to truly treat my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, hence this title. I don’t want to just look a certain way or weigh a certain amount for myself. And it can NOT be in order to achieve some one else’s standard, because then, I will never succeed. I am on this journey wholeheartedly again, because I am not okay with where I currently am. However, I could convince myself that where I am is not that bad and that it is just the unavoidable consequence of birthing babies, getting older and having no time to myself! Yet, God has given me a higher calling than that that says just okay isn’t good enough. That calling is in the form of the command to treat my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19-20). It also comes in the form of being the momma of two little girls. It is the second form of this calling that compels me to find a different way than cutting out food groups or counting every calorie. My girls will watch everything I do and learn things, whether I am trying to teach them lessons or not. And following a specific, limiting diet and losing and gaining the same 20 pounds endlessly are not the lessons I want them to learn.

So, I start/continue this journey, trying to stay heavenly minded and find a healthy, long-lasting relationship with this fuel, gift, pleasure and temptation that we call food.

One of the things I am striving for is balance. I need balance in the ability to exercise around caring for the girls. I need balance in being able to eat all things. I need balance in this peculiar idea shared in Michael Pollan’s book, Food Rules, of “all things in moderation, even moderation”.

So far in this newly started summer break things are going well. I’ve been able to work out every day except Sunday which is what I wanted to accomplish. I’ve been able to embrace the idea of being done eating when I’m satisfied versus full (again from Pollan’s book). And I am even enjoying the accountability that I have set up with a friend who has successfully navigated a HUGE journey to the Temple herself.

It has been VERY tempting NOT to share anything about this journey publicly! I mean, based on past experience, I’m going to fail. BUT, accountability is supposed to help and sometimes just knowing we’re not alone helps us move forward. So, I’ll share and hopefully propel myself forward and maybe help someone who reads this and maybe hear from you when you read it and that WILL help me!

HealthParentingRecipes

Weggles

By Audrea4 Comments

I am trying to plan out my meals for the week. I feel the best when I eat a diet as full of whole foods as possible. I have recently been reading about the idea of doing hash browns in a waffle maker. So, today when the girls went to visit and craft at the neighbors, I decided to try a new concoction for my breakfasts this week and maybe the girls would like it for some of their mornings as well. I have christened this concoction Weggles for the base of eggs and the use of the waffle maker.

Here is the recipe for my invention:

6 eggs

5-6 medium potatoes shredded

1 Tbsp powdered Garlic

1-2 cups spinach

1/2 cup mushrooms (I used canned mushroom pieces from Aldi)

2-3 Tbsp bacon grease (I would think you could substitute coconut oil)

1 tsp sea salt

I mixed it all together and then scooped about 1/3 cup of the mixture onto a hot and greased waffle iron. I smooshed/smoothed it out and then let it cook. It took longer than typical waffles and the longer you leave it the crispier the outcome. I really like the flavor and combination of potato and egg. My oldest really likes it (in fact she keeps getting in trouble for sneaking bites, right now), my youngest gave them a passing grade, but not a very enthusiastic pass.

HealthParentingRamblings

Respiratory Relief

By Audrea1 Comment

My youngest daughter has struggled with congestion and snot, literally from the day she was born. When she was tiny, I often wondered if it was because we had her at home and maybe the midwives were not as thorough, as the hospital had been with our first daughter, at sucking out all the gunk from joining our world. I then wondered if it had to do with the rate in which my milk would come down while she nursed. It was so much faster and so much more than I had had with my oldest that maybe that was causing the problem. I mean it certainly caused more spitting up than I had had with my other daughter. Then I thought of dairy and so cut all dairy out of my diet and that seemed to help her some.

Even so, she had ear infections, runny noses and then croupy coughs for almost all of her infancy. I knew they weren’t nearly as chronic as a lot of other kids, but it was so much more than I was used to. My oldest has had one ear infection and that was just this year at 6 years old. Once my youngest could blow her own nose it helped A LOT. The snot didn’t get the chance to sit and grow infected. However, she continued and continues to struggle with allergies. She’s taken prescription Zyrtec, we’ve used Vick’s vapor rub, she’s taken Benadryl for days on end. Then the last time she had a lot of drainage even those medications didn’t seem to help dry it up.

So, I tried essential oils. Many they would help her be able to breathe better and be able to sleep without constant coughing. But, still nothing dried up her drainage. She has outgrown much of her sensitivity to dairy, but continues to be prone to seasonal allergies and irritants like pets and smoke (cigarette and even wood). After reading on their website and finding a large variety of their oils at our local drugstore, Teasley Drug, I tried some of Northridge Oak Oils Respiratory Blend. It not only helps her breathe more easily, but I truly believe it dries up her drainage. I am SO thankful to have something to help her that doesn’t make her sleepy or hyper or have any other unwanted side effects!!

HealthParentingRecipes

Homemade Toothpaste

By Audrea1 Comment

As promised, here is my follow up on our toothpaste making adventure! And it was an adventure with 3 helpers 6 and under. My youngest sister and I partnered together to get the ingredients and make this homemade toothpaste from the Weed ’em & Reap website. Then we launched our pioneering adventure with the help of my 2 daughters and her daughter. We worked to measure out the ingredients and let the ladies pour. We tried two different mixing methods (her blender and my mini food processor). We stopped half way through to have everyone try it and decide whether or not we wanted to double the batch. And we doubled it and we’re using it!

We did not have the Essential Oils on hand that the recipe calls for so we added some ground cinnamon for some flavor. We also decided to add some turmeric after reading that that is a natural tooth whitener. Ours came out much thicker than we expected, especially after reading all of the comments about watery mixes. We left it thick since that would be similar to if we decided to leave out the coconut oil and water (we included both) to make tooth powder.

She has been using the toothpaste, but still follows with her straight baking soda that she’s been brushing with for years. Her children just ran out of their tube of toothpaste (thanks in large part to a trip into the toilet during morning brushing time!!) and have just started using it. They are not sold on it.

My daughters and I have been using it since we made it about 2 weeks ago. They aren’t completely sold on it either and every once in a while they still ask for their strawberry toothpaste. I didn’t let them finish their “regular” toothpaste before switching! But, if told that their strawberry toothpaste is an option, but won’t make their teeth white like the new toothpaste the will choose the new. And, it’s true!! Both girls would have some yellow build up on their front teeth even right after brushing and they don’t now! I think my teeth are whiter than they were before, although it’s not a startling difference and my husband can’t see it! Also, although my tooth sensitivity is not completely gone, it is reduced and that is a HUGE deal to me. It’s a huge deal not just for my own comforts sake, but also because it means it might be strengthening the girls teeth and that is my BIGGEST goal!!

So, we will keep using it. I do want to work on the consistency next time because I think it will be easier for them to use and it might also help it last a little longer. Since it is so thick and is taking getting used to, I and Daddy are doing a lot more brushing than we used to do. Although, that may pay off in cleaner teeth, too! Overall, this is a big success. It was SUPER easy to whip up and I’m SUPER excited to get more oils from Northridge Oak to help with flavoring and perfect the consistency to get even more buy in and enthusiasm from the girls!

HealthParentingRamblings

To Fluoride or Not to Fluoride; “That is the question.”

By Audrea1 Comment

I was recently asked by one of my sisters whether or not we choose to “get” fluoride for our daughters at the dentist. I told her that we do because up until we moved into our recently built house we had well water (I miss it SO MUCH!!!!!) and so that was the only fluoride the girls got. Also, our oldest has had major issues with cavities. Our youngest, although, much better than her sister has still had way more than her mother (I’ve never had any and feel so inadequate to support the girls on their journey through all this dental work). So, since our girls never had fluoride in their drinking water and up until recently, due to age, never had it in their toothpaste, I figured the little bit painted on their teeth at the dentist’s wouldn’t hurt and might help.

My sister then followed up with questioning me about why fluoride is bad. I had to reply that I didn’t know. I just remember, as does she, hearing from various natural food and other natural/herbally minded folks we were raised around saying it was bad and should be avoided, filtered out of water and refused at the dentist.

So, of course, I had to look it up! I have NOT done excessive or even a lot of research on this yet! What I have read, though, says that topical application is best at helping with dental health. This is what happens at the dentist and mostly what happens with your toothpaste since you spit it out. Given this fact, along with our girls current struggles with cavities or dental carries, we will likely continue to “get” fluoride at the dentist. I do hope to help and possibly remedy some of our daughters issues with homemade toothpaste and diet. I am working to add more vitamin K rich foods in their daily eating and hope to soon try making our own toothpaste. I’ll let you know how the toothpaste thing goes! I’m cautiously optimistic!!

Effects from ingesting fluoride, however, are not so happy or helpful! Ingestion is what you get from fluoridating water and minimally from toothpaste. The toothpaste part is my own thought on the subject. I just think that once you put something inside your mouth, it is unlikely that you will actually avoid all ingestion. Too much fluoride, the definition of that amount can be debated, does all sorts of fun things like messing with your thyroid function, weakening your bones and ligaments, and actually discoloring your teeth by causing those interesting, super white spots that some people have.

So, my personal conclusion for our family, is that I want the fluoride filtered out of our water. If in fact is in there. That will be one more thing I will have to investigate. And I want to continue to give the girls toothpaste without it. I plan to continue to let the dentist paint their teeth with it, at least for the time being. That may change either as I research fluoride more or they “grow out” of their dental weaknesses through food and homemade remineralizing toothpaste AND God’s loving intervention! After all, if it is the right minerals and the right foods that “fixes” their teeth, it is definitely HIS intervention! I really want to continue working through, researching and understanding this with balance in mind. However, I also don’t want to help the girls’ or my teeth by harming the rest of our bodies.