MUF-ing right along

My diet and weight loss journey isn't something I've blogged about at all, I don't think, but it's something that has been an ongoing battle for me since.... well.. since having children 14 years ago. I've tried every 'diet' out there, Weight Watchers (lost 20 pounds and my cholesterol shot through the roof), Atkins (who can eat like that for life?) South Beach (still better, but yikes.. low energy levels) Lean for Life (probably do-able, but I just wasn't at a place in my life where I was able to do it consistently and I always felt deprived and hungry). Now, the latest craze to hit the diet world is the Flat Belly Diet based on the idea of eating MonoUnsaturated Fats at every meal (4 400 calorie meals per day to be exact). I looked at the foods that are good sources of MUFA's (olives, olive oil, nuts and seeds, avocados and dark chocolate) and decided I could live the rest of my life eating one of those at every meal. Now, my day doesn't really lend itself to 4 meals a day, so I've cut the 4th meal into two 200 calorie snacks (which works better for my life) and I think it will be ok... we'll see. Yesterday was my first day trying this and here are my observations:

1. When it was time for my 10:30 snack, I wasn't starving.
2. I almost couldn't finish my lunch.
3. Afternoon snack was satisfying and I didn't eat dinner until 6:30 (normally I'm ravenous by 5:00)
4. None of the food in the concessions stand was temping to me last night (that may be due to the fact that I'm entirely sick of the smell of popcorn, hot dogs and nacho cheese)
5. My attitude about food is better, my attitude about most things in general is getting better all the time (I don't attribute all of that to the diet, but not feeling hungry and headachy sure helps my disposition).

So.. this is something I can live with. I'm hoping it works as well as it's supposed to.

Have a MUFAlous weekend!! :)

Slogging

I don't know if it's due to the extremely high temperatures a week ago (70's and 80's) followed by the extremely low temperatures this week (the high yesterday was 13) or exactly what it is that has me down, but down I am. I think of all the things I could be/should be doing and I have NO motivation to do them. I try to eat more healthy foods and end up sabotaging myself by the end of the day. I feel like I'm walking up hill through freezing molasses with a 50 pound pack on my back. Everything about me feels heavy right now. My head, my heart, my body, my mind, my very soul all feel weighed down. I need a break. I need some levity. I need some aspirin.

Still Healing

Time will heal all wounds it's true, and things are better every day. I was listening to pandora radio this morning and the song "Thank You" by Alanis Morisette came on.. and some of the lyrics really struck me...

Thank you terror
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you frailty
Thank you consequence
Thank you thank you silence

How about me not blaming you for everything
How about me enjoying the moment for once
How about how good it feels to finally forgive you
How about grieving it all one at a time

The moment I let go of it was
The moment I got more than I could handle
The moment I jumped off of it was
The moment I touched down

The Bible says to give thanks continually. I'm not sure I ever thought to thank terror or frailty or consequence or disillusionment like the song says.. but those are all things that brought me to where I am. For the most part, where I am is a good thing. I still get lonely, I still get down, I still feel overwhelmed.. but that's normal isn't it? Doesn't everyone, no matter what their situation, feel those things at times? I'm so fortunate to have God's presence, the love of an amazing man, my family, and great friends to help me through those times when I feel overwhelmed. You all know who you are.. and I thank each one of you for the role you've taken in my healing in the past year. I'm not 'done' yet.. but I'm so much better. I've come a long way baby!! :)

Second Half

So, today I officially started the second half of the school year. My classes are much smaller than first semester, with the exception of digital video production (23 on the roster), which apparently I've already scared two kids out of (they were thinking this was going to be a class they just goofed off in I guess) So, all in all, things should be much less stressful for me curriculum wise this semester, which is good because things will really ramp up for FBLA and the Class of 2010 for me this spring. *whew* I love it when things are less stressful than you anticipated them to be.

2009 Goals

Ok, I'm sure the blogsphere is filled with New Year's resolutions posts. But, just so I have something to look back at and say It all started here.. These are my goals for 2009. The overall goal is to take better care of myself.. the specific steps are:

1. Drink more water. (I'm horrible at staying hydrated and as a result have horrible headaches and I'm sure I'll feel better in general if I drink more water.)

2. Take my vitamins. (Again, I'm terrible at doing this, and need to start taking better care of myself in general, afterall, this is the only body I've got!) :)

3. Drop some weight. (I'm not going to put a number on it, because I'll get obsessive about it and start sabotaging myself.. but in general, I'd like to weigh less than I do now.)

4. Read fun books. (Last year I read probably 5 or 6 self-help type books, which was fine, but I miss reading for the enjoyment of it rather than for self-improvement).

That's about it.. :)