Gone primal... DAY 2

I've been intrigued by the theory of Paleo/ Primal eating and lifestyle for over a year now. After doing some research and convincing Papa Bear to do a 21 day challenge with me, I ordered Mark Sisson's books- The Primal Blueprint 21-Day Total Body Transformation & Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals cookbook. I happened to receive an Amazon.com gift card for my birthday so that covered the cost of the books!!! :) (Thanks to my wonderful brother!)

On Saturday, I went though the kitchen cupboards, fridge, & freezer and removed all SAD (Standard American Diet) foods. I now have a tote full of unopened foods to donate & threw out 2 garbage bags of "food". As a family who struggles financially this was a bit difficult, but in the end I felt FREE of all of that junk. We are not a family who eats a lot of chips, soda, ho-ho's, etc... but I found many of our packaged foods had sugar, high fuctose corn syrup, and grain in them. A paleo diet consists of meat, eggs, fish, fowl, vegetables, nuts,some fruit. It does not include sugar, grain, legumes, or beans, and limited starchy veg. Some people include full fat dairy.

I did some major grocery shopping. It is important to buy organic, pastured, hormone free...

That's just a bit on the diet portion of this challenge. I will keep you posted.

Anyone else gone paleo??

Do you have a Prayer Journal?

Do you keep a prayer journal? This is something I am going to start. I attended the Hearts at Home conference about a month ago one of the speakers, Connie Johnson, shared about her prayer journal and being intentional about our prayer. The HAH journal can be ordered at http://www.heartshoppe.com/hearts-at-home-prayer-journal.html. However I am going to try to just make my own. She followed the ACTS model, but added another S.
A- Adoration
C- Confession
T- Thankfulness
S- Supplication
S- Silence (listen to God)
Within her journal she keep lits of things to pray about and people to pray for, but what I found really special was she was able to keep track of answered prayers. This made the T- Thankfulness part very easy. Thank God for all of the prayer He has answered- large and small.
I would love to hear about your prayer journals. Please share.

The Best Weight Loss Plan for Me... and maybe for you too!

So over the winter I battled with some major changes. I struggled with depression & anxiety, and gained some very unwanted weight. This was extremely tough, because over the previous 15 months I had lost over 60lbs and still had not reached my goal. I was really beating myself up about this and it was bringing me down in a major way. Has this ever happened to you?
Well, SPRING is here and I am already feeling more motivated and self-controlled about my eating. I have been logging what I eat on www.fitday.com, which I find super helpful!
I previously lost that weight following a diet called UltraLite. I did this with the direction and help of my chiropractor at the time at AlignLife (www.alignlife.com). Basically it is a ketosis diet, that requires you to weigh and measure all of you food and has specific allowed foods along with 4 packets per day of drink mix that helps you stave off cravings. This was a great plan for me and I learned so much about my body and using food for fuel and not for any other reason. At AlignLife they also weighed and measured me weekly so I was really kept accountable and encouraged. I wasn't able to work out with their personal trainer but I know those who did had great results.
For over a year I had been really dedicated to working out at my local Gold's Gym www.goldsgym.com. I loved the Body Pump & Body Flow classes and also just really built up my cardio endurance. LIFE happened and we were sharing one car for a while and then this and then that and I got out of the routine. NOT GOOD.
Well, I am getting back into it. Along with the logging my diet on fit day I have been back to the gym. Just 2x so far this week, but it's better that before. It is like I suddenly have my "eye on the prize" again.
Are you feeling more motivated now that Spring has sprung? Is anyone reading/following Made to Crave?
I will post an sample of what my daily diet/ exercise consists of and my stats soon. Please share your too!
God bless!

I think I may have "hit rock bottom":

This evening, I found my self at the mall with my 7 year old son (Brother Bear). He had his heart set on trading in some Wii games and using some money he had saved to buy a Wii game he had recently played at a friends house. We first went to Game Stop in a nearby town... they didn't have the game he wanted, but told us that the Game stop at the mall in another city about 20 min away did have it. So, being he was spending his own money and I rarely get to spend 1:1 time with any of my kids we decided to venture to the mall. Brother Bear didn't even know what "the mall" was. (That's how rarely we go there.)
As we walked through the mall I felt eyes on me. It wasn't the "is someone checking me out" eyes, or the "isn't her scarf cute" eyes, either. It was the "she should be on an episode of What Not to Wear" or "let's nominate her for an Extreme Makeover" eyes. What have I come to... I was wearing an oversized hooded sweatshirt which I received for free when I was a Special Olympics coach which says "high school girls bowling" and has a picture of bowling pins. Paired with that I had on very ill fitting out of style jeans. Why do I even own these jeans?? Good question! I purchased them at a church that was having a garage sale and everything that fit into a bag was $1. They wear an 8petite so I stuffed them into the bag. Oh my!! My shoes were not much better- some grey wannabe Uggs from KMart very worn with white stains from the winter salt. No I did not have my jeans tucked into the boots, but that might have helped! LOL.
As if my attire wasn't bad enough I realized that I had only brushed my hair that morning and not taken time to style it at all. I had no makeup and am pretty sure that I didn't even wash my face this morning. Actually now that I think about it I hadn't even showered since Friday night!!! It is Monday evening! It has also been a few days since I took some time to pluck those unwanted chin hairs or wax my upper lip. YUCK! I'm not sure if I should keep going here. I had brushed my teeth twice today, but surely had coffee breath.
I recall the days in Junior High & High school that I spent hours in preparation for going to "the mall". I had to have the perfect hair, outfit + shoes + accessories, & makeup.
What have I become???
Well, I will tell you as soon as we arrived home and I helped Brother Bear to get started playing his preowned Wii game (Mario Striker). I practically ran to the shower. I took my time & I even shaved my legs!! When I got out I did a facial mask and used anti-cellulite lotion & yummy smelling lotion. I brushed my teeth. I'm starting to feel much better.
I felt like it had been a good day. I got quite a bit of housework done, ran some errands (yes- dressed in the same attire!), enjoyed time with Sister Bear, Baby Bear, & Brother Bear, prepared and cleaned up 3 meals and snacks... but when I felt those "eyes", which were probably only my own I realized I need to take time daily taking care of MamaBear (Me!).
In Joy!
mamabear

Heritage Farmers Market - LocalHarvest

Heritage Farmers Market - LocalHarvest

Plan to Eat

I'm entered to win 1 of 5  one-year memberships at PlanToEat.com ($39.95 Value Each) from keeperofthehome.org and savingnaturally.com. Get entered here:  http://bit.ly/eJ2286

Win a $100 Graham Gardens Gift Package

I'm entered to win a $100 Graham Gardens Gift Package from keeperofthehome.org and savingnaturally.com. Get entered here: http://bit.ly/fhVMKt

Enter to Win a "Naturopathis Care Package"

I entered to win a "Naturopathic Care Package" by Naturokits.com from keeperofthehome.org and savingnaturally.com @ http://bit.ly/hOCxA9

Spiritual Gifts Inventory

Have you ever taken a spiritual gifts inventory?
I just did this week as part of an amazing sunday school class Papa Bear & I have been attending. I'm not sure why I have never even heard of taking one of these before. But I was excited to find the results.... opps minor distraction by Baby Bear. I will contue this post a little later.:)

A New Year... a better, less anxious mama

After many years of bouts with anxiety and depression, I finally scheduled an appointment to discuss these issues with my primary doctor. The appointment was yesterday morning.
My 3 little cubs were with me at the appointment with me... and they were acting wild!! I think the doc was in awe at the amount of energy our sloth brought into that tiny room. He actually asked "Are they always like this?"
Any way, my issues have been going on well before I had kids, but my recent change to being an at home Mom full-time, has been a major adjustment. The anxiety has been overwhelming and eating right, exercise, etc weren't enough. I've been dealing with a lot of guilt, too. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to be with my kids at this time in our lives and I was just so stressed, tired, and overwhelmed, I felt like I wasn't doing a good job at all.
My doctor perscribed Celexa (actually I'm on the generic version- Citalopram). I took the first dose last night before bed. I did have some trouble sleeping. At one point my right leg was shaking. But it only lasted about 30 seconds and stopped. My brain felt odd, and my thoughts were really racing. However, I did get some sleep and don't feel odd this morning. Praying this might help me be a better me and a Mama who doesn't ever yell again!