Beautiful Wednesday

Beauty is very important. Did you know that God is referred to as beautiful in the Bible? This verse blew me away, when I first read it.

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
---- Psalm 29:2

This verse blew me away! We are to recognize his beauty! Wow, I find that so beautiful and it shows that beauty is important, even to God. We are asked to worship his beauty of holiness!

When we gain weight, sometimes we think we can't be beautiful anymore. But we still are.

I remember being 19, and 165 lbs, and just hating myself for being so FAT! If only that nineteen year self could have got a message from her non-165 lb self that said, "hey you, you're being ridiculous!"

My point is that women are taught by our society to hate themselves if they are not perfect. (And the point is, no one is perfect.)

One of my sets from Polyvore

Let me be perfectly clear. I do want to lose some of the fat I have accumulated, because I want more energy. I find that too much fat is slowing me down and affecting my life. HOWEVER, I DO NOT believe that having this fat should make me hate myself or put myself down. Would I like to be smaller? Yes, but not because I'm terrible the way I am. I do accept who I am right now. I don't reject it.

Being fat does not stop me from being beautiful.  I am a beautiful woman. Period.

Wednesday is going to be the day I focus on beauty. By beauty, I mean body acceptance, fashion, self-worth and even the beauty of nature. Because beauty is important.

Just for Fun! An set from my Polyvore -- All Plus-Sized. Beautiful!

Just havin' fun by prairieprincess(hardly on)

Nutrient Tuesday: Whey Protein

Images by in pastel

Note: This is my Tuesday entry, even though, technically, it's early Wednesday morning! 

Well, y'all! (I get that from reading a lot of blogs from you Southern ladies!)  If you go to my blog often, you will have noticed some changes in the look of the blog. Please bear with me as I do a bit of experimentation! In case you're wondering what all the tabs on the top are for: these are the topics that I want to write about.

I would love to hear your feedback as to whether or not these are topics you would be interested in reading about. I would this blog to be a place of learning, as well as a place that I chronicle my weight loss. I guess I can't rid of the teacher in me!

Another reason for choosing daily topics is that it will help me organize ideas, make the whole blog seem more organized overall. I don't know about you but I find I have thousands of ideas, but it's hard to pin them down into something that doesn't seem completely erratic. I need to be "tamed," so to speak. (I give credit to Joanne at JoanneFaith.com for the use of this term.)

I have a pretty good idea what topics I would like to cover, but it's not written in stone at this point, and I may be tweaking it in the next while. My format is something I want to work on, too. I don't know if I should mention the daily topic in my post title (as in "Nutrient Tuesday) or just focus on that topic, without the heading. Again, I would to hear your feedback. I have been exploring different blogs that I enjoy, and trying to come up with the plan that works best for me, and my style.

Whey: What Miss Muffet ate (along with curds)

So, on Nutrient Tuesday, I want to focus on some aspect of nutrition: either a healthy food, or a particular nutrient that is important, or perhaps a supplement that is good for us, or even just some general nutrition information. I will share from my own knowledge, and from some of the sources that I study and read.

Today, I would like to talk about whey protein. First of all, I am a big user of whey protein. It is one of the foods I eat consistently when I am on the weight loss path. I use it a smoothie that I try to eat every morning. It is a protein source and I find it fills me up.

I just started back on these smoothies again, and I love having them for breakfast. For me, I find that I tend to be very lazy about breakfast, so this ensures that I actually do eat a good breakfast.

I was delighted, then, to find out that a new study, done by the USDA, shows that whey protein does help in weight loss. This study confirmed my belief. The same website, ByronRichards.com, gives five more articles that tell of the benefits of this food.

Benefits of whey protein include reduction in diabetes occurences, prevention of insulin resistance, an increase in thermogenesis (calorie burning), and lowering of cholesterol.

I think whey protein may be the reason that my health is not worse than it is. The doctor said that my blood sugar and all hormone levels were good. Perhaps whey protein has helped me stay healthier, in spite of all my extra weight.

The whey protein that I usually eat is from a company called Natural Factors. I get it from my health food lady. (We have one place where we always go.)

These products are also available on Amazon. Just so you know, I am an Amazon Affiliate, so I will receive a very small commission from any products purchased from this site.

        

Monday Moves -- New Running Shoes -- ASICS

Oh my goodness, girls! I got new shoes, and these are not of the high heel variety. No, this woman who never wears running shoes, just bought two pairs and my, oh my, were they pricey!

I just paid $250 for shoes and sports socks and I feel good! I went to Sport Chek, and the guy there (he was the manager) knew his stuff.

I was totally honest with him and told him I needed something for high impact because I had gained a lot of weight and was starting to walk, and it hurt like crazy. He listened and then went on to explain why I was hurting so much, and how to fix it. Wow!!

I am so glad that I bought good shoes. I know it will be completely worth the cost. I spent $250 in total! I've never done that but I have no regrets. These are tools for getting my health and life back.

My movement goal for this week is to walk five times, for at least an hour.

ASICS Kayono 17 Gel

This is what I bought:




--------------------------->>>>>>

ASICS Gel 160 Training Shoes

And I also bought these:

I Burned 819 Calories Last Night!

Calorie Differential Report

Hi! I am trying this blogging thing again, after a day of Blogger not working for me. Arrrgghh! Has anyone else had this problem?

So, I just wanted to say "yay!" Last night, I walked five miles and burned 819 calories. I am so, so happy! You know, it actually felt good to walk. My lungs were starting to fill with air, and I was hardly out of breath. And I enjoyed the fresh air and flowers and yards.

And in case you are wondering what that cool looking picture is, just beside you <<=====-. That is a screen picture of my report from Sparkpeople. The report shows the amount of calories I ate versus the number of calories burned, for the day. And there were more burned. Yay!

I just went back to SparkPeople, after two years, and actually tracked my exercise and food yesterday. I also wrote a little blog in there. Doing that was a sign to myself that I am committed to do it, this time.

Sparkpeople is such a good site. It has a food and exercise tracking program and gives you reports about everything you can imagine. It has a home page for each member and TONS of support. Best part of all: it's free!

So, I am feeling good today. I am committed to making this work. I will post again soon. Thank you so much to those of you that reached with your support on my last post. I am going to respond to the comments in comments section soon. Take care!

About Starting Over

This is me.

Well, I am going to change the purpose of this blog slightly. This is a new blog, and I have been trying to figure out the best things to write about. As you know, so far, I have just been writing about writing itself.

Upon reflection, however, I have decided to open this blog to make it broader. What will I write about? I will still be sharing, but rather sharing of my journey of life: what I learn, what I see. It's too confining for me to write only about writing, so I desire to open it up, and include other topics, too. So, all that was just a warning. We are leaving the "write only about one thing zone!" Beware!


So, let's leave that zone, and talk about starting over. I remember saying to one of my friends one time, "I just wished I could start over."

She then said, "yeah, me too, but you can't."

Well, I found her answer kind of depressing, but she was right, in a way. We can't really start over, without carrying over the consequences of what we did the day before. It will be there. It has become reality.


Let's say, for example, we want to lose weight (something I am trying to do right now). We cannot simply start over, and then all the weight is gone. We live with the choices we made in the days and years before, and if those choices led to weight gain, we are stuck with the consequences.


What we can do, however, is to do differently today. Or tomorrow. Even if we messed up again today, by eating a big amount of junk, we can "start over" tomorrow. And we can forgive ourselves for the mess, and start eating healthy.


And that applies to everything in life. Even if we got into an unfortunate job; if we married an non-compatible person, or we neglected to spend time with our kids, we can do differently today, or tomorrow. We can start looking for a different job, we can find ways to connect with our spouse, we can go throw a football around with our boy.


The Scriptures say that "his ... mercies are new every morning." Lamentations 3:22-23


God gives us new mercy every morning, and we can either take advantage of it, or keep bemoaning the terrible choices we made yesterday. There is always hope, as long as we are alive!


For more on my weight loss journey, see my blog, 100togo.
For more on my faith walk, see my blog, Prayers to my LORD.

Fabulous Links

I promised you pictures of the newly updated study, and it's almost ready! In the meantime, however, I am going to share some fabulous links. These are sites and blog posts that I appreciated over the last week. Have a look!


First of all, I just "re-discovered" an old favourite website that I used to go to, years ago. The site is called "Get Organized Now," and it is fantabulous! The creator of the site, Maria Gracia, offers a wealth of resources for getting everything in your home and life in order. I have used some of her free resources, and found them to be excellent. She also offers products that you can pay for, and a newsletter. Have a look, if you want a "one-stop" organizing shop.

I also read a great article on transforming a back yard, from Hubpages. Check out the before and after pics on this rather unattractive yard, becoming a stunning space: Backyard Transformation.

Finally, some eye candy from Better Home and Gardens: Bedroom Storage Solutions. I have to say I love those slide shows. This one shows some very creative ideas for storing things in your bedroom.

Enjoy, and sorry for the delay on the pics. I did promise them next, but also did not want to wait too long for a post.

Physical Work Benefits

Physical work. Sometimes we do it, even when it's not formally classified as "exercise." That has been the case for me, the last couple of weeks. Last week, I helped to decorate for the graduation at the school, where I was teaching part-time. The four ladies and I first walked over the school (about a twenty-five minute walk) and then decorated for most of the afternoon. This was very physical, and I was tired by the end of the day. Not formal exercise, but I was still active.

Before that, on the weekend, I was painting my study, for a day and a half. I was exhausted by the end of the second day. Again, not formal exercise, but still calories were being used; I know that!

And then quite a bit of housework, which involved a lot of running up and down the stairs, bending and moving. Does this substitute for working out? No. Is it better than doing nothing? Definitely. I choose to rejoice in my small victories, and keep going forward.

My eating? Well, overall, better. I did have junk food a couple of time, but haven't really been binging. I did eat dessert three times, during the end of school, during grad, and then a last staff lunch. I don't usually eat dessert; so I know those are added calories. I have been eating pretty healthy at home, with reasonable portions, mostly.

As well, I have started to make protein shakes again, which are super-healthy. And a miracle? My husband has been on the shakes, now, for about two weeks! He suddenly started asking for them, and I was so surprised. God is good!

So, that's a quick update on my status. How is your week going?


"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."
--Psalm 118:24

Constant Content -- New Place to Write

I am excited! I just signed up for "Constant Content," and am currently working on my first article. This site is quite different than the revenue-sharing sites, such as Hubpages, or Squidoo. This site offers a straight up payment for articles, which are bought by real clients.

Their reputation is one of being very strict in their guidelines, which I would consider to be a good thing. The stringent requirements can only help me improve as a writer, and show me any blind spots I don't see, when writing completely on my own. I view this an excellent opportunity to have an editor see my work, and to make some cash.


The beauty of this site is, that you don't have to wait for some random people to search for article, but rather, business people go there specifically to find content for theirs sites or publications. I like the directness of this model.

Rates are set by the writer, with Constant Content taking a 35% percent commission. From what I have seen, rates seem to average around $20-$50/article. You also have the privilege of deciding what kind of rights you would want the buyer to have to the article: usage rights (to be used once), unique rights (used only by that one client), or full rights (kind of like ghost-writing.)

I am going to go ahead and write some articles for this site. Like I said, my first one is now in draft. I am going to leave it for a bit, and come back to edit, and finish it later in the day.

If you are interested in signing up for Constant Content, you can sign up here. I will disclose that there is a referral system, which means that if you were sign up through me, I would receive a 5% commission, taken from the Constant Content share. You would still retain your 65%. You can look here, for more information, or maybe even to sign up, like I did!

If you do end up trying out the site, I would love to hear how you make out. I will also post updates on how it goes for me. Happy Writing!

Setting a Foundation

This morning, I had to remind myself of why I have undertaken this journey: the journey to lose weight. I have taken this journey because I am laying a foundation for the future. I do have other dreams and aspirations, but without a healthy me, these will not happen. Taking care of my body and my home are the foundations of building a life.

image -- foundation by Samdogs (Flickr)

From these basics, flow anything else that comes from  a life. My life has been always lived the other way. I focused on career, and the outside world, at the expense of my body. It's not that I didn't try, but I unintentionally neglected my physical body and home, at the expense of serving others and the community. This was a form of self-abuse, and has eventually led to me being a hundred pounds overweight.

I want to take care of this body, because this body is the thing that takes me from place to place, that houses my soul, my spirit, and dreams.