We are still on it here is what has been going on

Ok, so let me catch everyone up on the last week or so. It is truly a difficult concept but I learned my expectations and patterns of thought  means absolutely nothing to anyone outside my head. If I impose some sort of vengeance or punishment on someone, it is completely possible they won’t have any idea and it will have been in vain. Ok, I learned, I get it, and now I will peacefully move on.


Over the past three weeks I hit a total block with my weight loss I was stuck yo-yoing the same five lbs. and I was ready to go postal in my most unbuddha like demeanor. Today I had an epiphanal moment. I stopped half of my diabetic medication a few days before that. So, everything I have been doing did not go south and I can put a stop to the “come apart” I had planned. I have adjusted to the change and I am now dropping weight to my delight.

I hope Kim puts an update up soon, she is doing so well. We will be adding some new pictures to the blogs very soon around the first of April.

I am trying my hand at homemade chili Verde I have the base of several recipes and I will doing this Friday. If anyone has advice I am open to it.

spicy corned beef and cabbage

Ok everyone, here is something Kim and I came up with for St. Paddys day.

Things you need:
1 quart home made chicken stock (it does not have to be home made but that is the best)
1 leek sliced, rinsed, then diced
1 onion diced
3 large carrots sliced into rounds
4 stalks celery diced
1to4 chipotle peppers in adobo diced (very hot)
2 table spoons of olive oil
2 lbs baby red potatoes cut in half
1 can corn
1 can kidney or black beans
1 head of cabbage
1 corned beef that has been boiled for 3 hours in water with it's seasoning packet cooled and cut into chunks
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon fresh ground coriander
1 table spoon kosher salt
1 palm full of dried oregono
1 cup dry red wine
1 table spoon of worshtishire sauce don't mind the spelling you know what I mean
1/2 a can of tomoatoe paste

Directions:
sweat onions, carrots, leeks, celery, and chipotle and salt in the olive oil in a large pot

after 10 min. add tomatoe paste cook another 5 min.
add red wine and worshtishire sauce, chili powder, pepper, oregono, coriander cook another 3 min

add corned beef, corn, potatoes, beans, cabbage and cover with stock.

cook about 30 min untill potatoes are fork tender it is hot but really good
optional add 1 table spoon of sour cream to your bowl cools it down a bit

Some times you have to remember the scale is only one way to tell how your doing

So, yesterday was a prime example of how far I have to go. I have been going to the gym working the elliptical and doing great. I for the first time got on the treadmill and attempted to run……..ok now stop laughing. I found that it is much more of a work out and I felt like it was my first time in a gym. It was uncomfortable and I was not coordinated at all. I have something to focus on and work at. I will be a runner before the end of this leg of my journey. I have has some frustration the last little while. I hit a brick wall with my weight loss been a yoyo for the last two weeks and it can be hard to see. On the other had I reduced my diabetes medication and my blood sugar has been awesome every morning. All so my spikes right after I eat are under 200 that rocks. I am wearing clothes I could not have contemplated a month ago. I will be spending some reflection time on things I can do to make my eating even better and practicing this running stuff. I know this is only a number issue and will resolve itself soon.




I am thankful for Kim helping me stay focused and putting up with grumpy me when the scale gets to me. I am thankful I have friends like Jinksie that are doing this with us. I am fortunate I get to have this experience. I feel great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

baby steps

I don’t need to know. I don’t need to find some altruistic meaning. I don’t need to hold on to bad, hurt, painful, or vengeful feelings. I can turn poison in to medicine when the need arises. Some of this may seem hard to swallow, but let me put this in context. I am meeting with my mother on Saturday, for the first time in around 3 years. It is not my place to have an expectation of anyone one else. I can let them be them and do my own thing. I hope someone can use this some how.

Hey here is some thoughts, ideas, and advice from me and Dr. Oz

The first thing we should talk about is points of weight loss success by Dr. Oz.


1) Do not wear stretchy cloths. It hampers your ability to monitor if you are putting on a few extra pounds.

2) Do not keep fat clothes they offer you the ability to go back to old ways. At least you will have to think about it when you would shell out for a new wardrobe again.

3) Plan your meals don’t walk in the kitchen unless you already know what you are going to eat.

4) Chew your food at least 20 times. The more you chew the more it stimulates your brain and make your eating experience more pleasurable and complete.

5) Never ever eat out of a vending machine

6) Never eat when standing or in a car. It does not allow for a relaxed or focused eating experience and you will want to eat again.



The next thing I will cover is this. I cannot go through days without clear goals. I need to know what things I need to accomplish because if I don’t I can find a lot of time to do absolutely nothing ha. It is part of the learning discipline. I can choose not to do things but I should be conscious of what those things are.

It is also important for me to always know what my causes are. What I mean by this is knowing what the bigger picture is. It is important that Kim and I are finding ways to have a productive and healthful relationship and that we are always growing as partners. It is important that I do things that make the world a better place even if in my small ways. It is important that I am always aware of my priorities and making life decisions that support them. Everyone has different lists and things that are important to them. I am just beginning the journey to take who I am organize this into a strong foundation and grow a future I in the past would not have thought possible.



I am grateful that people who love me will remind me of what I am working on if I get off track. I am grateful that I feel so good lately. I have hope and gratitude that my program at work will continue to improve and grow.

Slow and steady wins the race...

How many times have you heard the saying "Slow and steady wins the race"?  Personally, I've heard it used thousands of times I'm sure in my 33 year existance.  I guess I didn't really understand what that meant until recently. 

Watching TV you cannot get away from all the fad products out there offering "help" for weight loss. Cleansers, burners, gadgets, and services that will ship food to your door!  Really???  I say it's all crap!  With a little effort, each and every person out there can do the exact same thing.  Yes, it takes will power and it takes research. It takes being prepared. It also takes patience.  Slow and steady.  Doing what Dawnna and I are doing, you are not going to lose massive amounts of weight immediately.  (Although, in the 2.5 months we have been doing this, she has lost 45 pounds and I've lost 30.  I think that's pretty impressive.)  The fads out there might help for a minute, but utlimately once you start shying away from it, the weight comes back.  The secret to keeping the weight off is making a lifestlye change.  Once you stop taking pills, or shots, or starving, or whatever...you have to change your life to keep off the weight.  That's the secret.  There are no magical pills.  It all boils down to determination and making sweeping changes to your lifestyle.

~Kim

Hello Everyone

I know I have been not posting as much as I would like the last couple of weeks. We have been crazy busy at work. Hopefully it slows a bit next week. Kim and I are doing great. We feel good, we are happy, we are not getting stressed over the little stuff. I must say, one of the things that is helping me stay focused is sharing what we are doing and giving other people hope. It is funny how even though you can look around and see others having the same challenges you can feel so very alone in your own challenge. One of my goals in this healthful experience is to at the very least offer anyone with these types of goals the option to not be alone. We share triumphs and bad days, recipes, and life. It seems to me that it makes bad days not so bad and good days that much better. Just the way I experience it. Share if you have something to share.

Way to Go Honey

Ok, Everyone Here is a Kim comparison. As you can see the first one was taken 2/2009 the other was taken yesterday. She has been rockin it out no matter what. She has put up with me and had surgery and has lost 30 lbs in just 2 months. As she put in her post last night there are staples you should keep in your home. I believe there is another list that is just as important. The "what not to keep in the house" list. Even if you allow yourself to have these things on occasion it is important that they not be in your home, sanctuary, face during a moment of weakness before you have the chance to really way the pros and cons of the decision you make. Some of the things on our list are:

Booze (it will steal your will power)

Unhealthful pastries

Candy

Unhealthful bread

Anything not allowed on your daily menu

Cigarettes

We only buy a ½ gallon of milk at a time so we don’t over indulge or be wasteful

Unhealthful frozen foods (some would say none of it is healthful but it does serve a purpose)



What we really try to do is find healthful ways to have our old favorites. We do this with things like smartone deserts, keeping sugar free jello, and peanut butter and chocolate fiber one bars.

If you have any feed back or things you would like to know or just a question leave us a comment we would love to hear from you.

A list of staples..

In every household there are things that are must haves or staple items. When you are eating healthy that couldn't be more true.  So we have decided to list some of the staple items that make this journey easier and healthier for us.

Our List

• Sea Salt and Pepper Quaker snacks
• Pickles
• Green Beans
• Crystal Lite
• Coffee
• Sugar free coffee creamer
• Cinnamon
• Homemade chicken stock and marinara
• Small red potatoes
• I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
• Olive Oil
• Bananas
• Fresh fruits and veggies
• Sara Lee 45 Calorie delightful bread
• Kellogs 100 calorie crunchy fruit bars
• Fiber One 90 calorie bars
• Sour cream and ranch packets. 
• Measuring spoons and cups

Cleaning out the closet....

Today was a big day for Dawnna and I.  We went through all of our clothes.  More specifically, the clothes we had put up because we were to big to wear them.  I can't believe how many things we had that I had forgotten about!  An even better feeling is trying them on and everything fits....YAY!  It's like Christmas day. 
Now we just have to get rid of all of our fat clothes.  This is an important step.  We both feel that if we keep them we might set ourselves up for failure.  This is not an option. We have both done very well and feel very proud of where we are today! 

Priorities

One of the things I notice over the last couple of months is that my decision making has changed. This journey will never just be about losing weight but rather creating a trifecta of discipline, balance, and peace. Up to now I have been a person who goes where the wind blows. I can adjust to anything. To some degree that is good however I did this with no type of boundaries or with limits set to the moon. What I am noticing is I am being mindful now of if going to a place, or restaurant is going to fit in to my new found life style. I was listening to a show on NPR (I drive Kim nuts with some of this stuff) they were talking about defining your priorities, and understanding how that effects your decisions. Most people get over whelmed and thing start to suffer if there are more 5 to 7. What are your priorities? How are they working for you? Do you understand how they affect your life? My top 5 are as follows:


1) Me

That means my health, my peace of mind, advocating for myself in the world, and accountability for myself and impact on others

2) My relationship with my partner

Making decisions based on our life together, how I can affect her happiness, having tough conversations to get to the root of what we need to work on, love, respect, and fun

3) Work

Am I doing my job, how can I improve, if my staff are lacking how am I not being effective and how can I change that, how can I make the best of challenging situations because this field is full of them, and what can I do to improve others situation for me being there

4) Friends and Family

Am I the friend I should be, helping when I can, celebrating, and being a shoulder when those times are in order

5) Finances

Am I taking care of my responsibility, Am I staying out of situations I can’t afford, and how can I prepare for our future

I will tell you now that there is still work I have to do on some of these. Some things are continuous and will be an ever changing path like being in a relationship. You never get to a place where you stop learning or experiencing, or stop developing or your relationship will end. This is my thoughts on the subject and another way I decide what is important.

how far we come and how fast we return

This is the difference between 1/30/10 and 3/1/10 not bad

So, I must talk about a reality for a moment. No matter how well you do in your trek to be healthy or healthful the fact is you will have a bad day. I do not mean an allowance day, not a treat day, just a bad day. Sometimes things can become over whelming and I have a tendency to want to eat comfort food. This is not the comfort food that makes eating healthy ok it is the comfort food that brought me to 350 lbs. The fact is, one day of that does not negate the last two months of work I have put in. So here is a way to see the results. I have decided when these days creep up that there are two things that are important. First I still have to account for what I do and eat no matter how bad it is. Second I have to learn from this experience and figure out why I had that reponse and how to change it next time. Let us see if it works, more to come later off to the gym.