An Old Fashioned Diet

I found this old writing by a man named William Banting. He lived in the 19th century, and suffered with obesity. His article is probably one of the first records of someone losing weight in modern Western society using a low-carb approach. It's so interesting to read how he dieted and lost his weight. I found this pamphlet sweet and endearing. Old men are cute anyway, but old men from the 1800's... ADORABLE!!! Enjoy!

On Corpulence by William Banting

Children Learn What They Live

My mom has a little laminated card on our fridge. On it is this poem:

Children Learn What They Live:
If a child lives with criticism,
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
He learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance,
He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement,
He learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise,
He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
He learns justice.
If a child lives with security,
He learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval,
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
He learns to find love in the world.

Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Lessons to be Learned...

When I was little and had made a mistake, the first person I would always run to would be my mom. I knew that her love for me was completely unconditional, and that no matter what I had done she would help, guide, and teach me to make things right again. In fact, there was a song that she would always sing to us kids when we had done something wrong, had taken ownership of our mistake and were truly repentant. Here's how the song went:

Take three steps forward and one step back, and you've made a little progress.
Take three steps forward and one step back, and you've started on your way
Take three steps forward and one step back, then one great leap ahead.
Now look around see how far you've come; it's hard to believe where you've begun.
Take three more steps plus an extra one.
And you've come a long, long way!

This song has been so helpful to me as I've grown and changed and made many, many mistakes over my teenage years. This song is especially helpful to me now. I want my body to react to things in the "normal" way, and it's just not happening. I think that especially when I was in Denver it was difficult, because FOR GOODNESS SAKE THESE PEOPLE ARE RELATED TO ME, and yet I'm so different.

I need to learn to accept me for who I am, with all my short comings, and weird health things, and everything...and try to be happy with that person. It's a long and arduous journey with many steps forward and backward, but I know that God will be with me along the way, and with the support of my incredible family and friends I can do it.

So, I've just experienced a few steps back, but as Anne of Green Gables says: Tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it. God willing, tomorrow I will take a step in the right direction!

Here's to tomorrow!! :)

Baby Steps

Boy oh boy! Isn't life just crazy sometimes? Phew. I feel like this is one of the first moments in a long time that I have just been able to breaaaaaaaaathe.

School has just been insane. Because of my unexpected trip to Denver and my over-achieving, I can take on anything attitude, I gave myself a course load in school that was just too much for me. School has consumed my life in the past few weeks. Generally when this type of thing happens EVERYTHING falls by the way side-- relationships, health, piano, exercise, emotional stability, sleep-- and I would look and feel like a total mess. I think, however, I am finally beginning to grow up and learn and change, and it is so wonderful. Although most things have been neglected, the most important things have not. Sure, exercise, piano, sleep, and an obsessive conscientiousness over what I eat have not been as consistent lately, but I have not taken out all my feelings of stress and anxiety on the people that love me most.

I am so thankful to God that He forgives and allows us to repent. There are still sooo, so, sooooo many things I need to work on, but it's encouraging to see a little improvement!

Menu Plan Monday

What an insanely crazy month it has been!! My parents were out of town for two weeks, my grandmother passed away and i was out of town for five days, my mom is gone this weekend, my parents are leading a marriage retreat in two weekends, I am behind.. waayyy behind in schoolwork.. does the list ever end?

The good news is *drumroll please* our wonderful, grassfed cow arrived early this week, and now I have plenty of yummy, nourishing, nutrient dense meat at my disposal. This is a huge load off my mind. We usually receive our cow in September, and had run out of beef in July.. needless to say I was paying exorbitant amounts for my meat, and am so glad to once again have a freezer stalked with affordable, pastured meat.

My eating plan is going pretty well. I have messed up a couple time, but I'm doing okay, and beginning to feel a bit better. I hope it lasts!! I'm running dangerously low on veggies this week, but I really want to use up what I have before I make a veggie run.

SO.. my plan for this week is:

TO DO: Cook Ground beef

Monday:
Breakfast-leftover steak
Lunch-ground beef and green bell pepper
Dinner-ground beef, celery, and cucumbers

TO DO: Cook Turkey
Defrost Roast

Tuesday:
Breakfast-ground beef
Lunch-turkey, cucumber
Dinner-Roast, mixed veggie salad


Wednesday:
Breakfast-eggs
Lunch-Roast, tomato
Dinner-ground beef, bell pepper, onion

TO DO: Take out Pork Chop

Thursday:
Breakfast-ground beef
Lunch-Roast, cucumber
Dinner-Pork Chop, mixed salad

Friday:
Breakfast- eggs
Lunch- leftover Pork Chop, leftover salad
Dinner-Shrimp, homemade salsa

TO DO: Cook Ground Beef

Saturday:
Brunch-Ground beef, celery
Dinner- Salmon, onion, celery

TO DO: Take out Roast

Sunday:
Brunch: Ground beef, bell pepper
Dinner: Roast, mixed salad

For more menu planning ideas visit Organizing Junkie

NEW BOOK!!!!!

I finally got Dr. Weston Price's Nutrition and Physical Regeneration!! I am so excited!! I will be reading and sharing my findings with you. YAY!!! :)

I like blogging...

I've decided that I really like this whole blogging adventure. Even if I am the only person to ever read a word written in this blog... I like knowing that I am proclaiming my goals, struggles, and anticipations to the world. It keeps me accountable. Anyway, I just thought I'd throw that out there...