Tending Our Gardens

Ten Pounds!!!

2008-02-20T16:32:00.001-08:00

I did it! I crossed the ten pounds lost mark. Woohoo. I feel so svelte. ;)

I had a thought when I hit eight pounds, and then my weight started going back and forth for a week. Eight pounds. That's what Chris weighed when he was born. It was hard to believe how heavy eight pounds could be when I was pacing the floors with those eight pounds not wanting to be anywhere but in my arms.

Now the same amount of weight that I had been carrying around on my body, not being able to put that down either, was gone.

What amazes me though, is not the concept of carrying around a newborn on my frame, but that really, I'm walking around with an extra eleven year old hanging off my bones. No wonder I get tired and cranky. Boy, I'll be glad when I am rid of that.

Having one eleven-year-old is enough. :)

CLA

2008-02-12T19:57:00.000-08:00

I was driving down Dupont Blvd. in last month, and a "health/nutrition" store had a big sign advertising CLA, "breaks down belly fat." I really thought that was interesting. Because one of the best sources of CLA is grass-fed beef (conjugated linoleic acid).

CLA is important. It is a type of omega-6 fatty acid that we cannot produce ourselves. It has strong anti-oxidant effects, and it has also been shown to keep people from accumulating fat. They believe it also regulates insulin production and prevents diabetes. But do you know the # 1 best source of it?

Meat.

Actually, let me be specific. Grass fed meat.

See, when animals such as cows are fed grain-based diets rather than the grass that they are meant to have (with a few grain seeds here and there in the grass), the CLA in their muscles and organs disappears very quickly. That mean that even cows that are finished off with grain lose the CLA that was there only a few weeks before.

Through history, we've eaten comparatively lean meat from animals that mostly ate grass, and one of the benefits that we got from it (besides Omega 3 fatty acids as well, healthy protein, fats that didnt have toxins stored in them, etc.) was that this special fat kept us from getting fat.

So this "nutrition" store, instead of pushing good nutrition from animals that are eating what they are supposed to be eating and that are treated well and given lots of free space in clean pastures, instead, they tell you that you should by a synthetic alternative in pill form, and all will be well (and really all this place was was pills, packages, and powders).

"Better living through chemistry" might sound right, but it almost never is - not where nutrition is concerned. Most synthetic forms of vitamins have been shown to cause cancer in relatively low doses. Often, the nutrient itself is not accessible because it needs to be paired with something else that it naturally occurs with in well-grown foods. When CLA alone is given to animals, there has been higher rates of cancer.

There are things that we humans can improve upon over nature. God gave us the ingenuity and the desire to do so...but messing around with basic diets -- giving ruminants grain instead of grass, or worse, soy, meat products and things I don't want to even think about is wrong. Not letting animals have sunlight is wrong. Not giving them room to move is cruel. God did not make these animals to have that kind of life. And when we treat them that way, it is only natural that the end result will be that we are deprived of important nutrition when we deprive them of the basics that they we're intended to have.

2008-02-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've hit a few goals here....

The Hawaiian Cruise enabled me to finally ditch soda. Having it cost $56.00 for 7 days to be able to order a soda made me feel just peachy about going to water and iced tea. After a week of it (despite hauling a wet 12 pack of Diet Coke around half the island of Maui during a monsoon), I didn't give in, and that made it a lot easier to not have any the rest of the vacation, and then since I've been home. That had been a struggle because Soda has always been my 'comfort food.' Pepsi (regular Pepsi) was drank in my family instead of water. I have often been able to give up soda for a couple of months, but return when I get sick....I think I am on a better role now. I've really learned to like iced tea (regular and herbal), and the herbal kind that has hibiscus in it has incredibly rich flavor (like Tazo's Passion).

Now, for Lent, I finally managed to eliminate sugar and wheat from my diet. I've found the devotional aspect, and focusing on how it is a commitment that I've made to God, and that He is giving me the strength to do it has helped. And I know that it is His will that I be healthy, and be able to enjoy the gifts that He has given me. My weight and health have gotten in the way of that. God is good. He wants good things for me. It hasn't been easy though. But I feel better and have lost 4 lbs. since Ash Wednesday.

Exercise hasn't gone as well, but I have at least found an indoor video that I kind of like. It is Body Sculpting with Gilad, and it is on FitTV. He's not cheerleaderish, which I detest, and it is outside in Hawaii....which gives additional good feelings and motivation. I kind of want to try the bellydancing show they have. I've also watched a couple of episodes of Blaine's Low Carb Cooking....the breakfast episode has a few different ideas for breakfast that I am going to try, including a ham and zucchini hash - zucchini, especially if you take off the skin, has a tendency to absorb other flavors, so it doesn't taste like zucchini. :)

Light and Flaky Fish

2008-01-29T08:18:00.000-08:00

A lot of what I know in the kitchen I owe to the Food Network. And most of that is from Alton Brown. I used to never fix fish because I'd invariably overcook it.....but then came poaching.

Poaching is when you cook something at a relatively low temperature in a liquid. It is EXCELLENT for any kind of white fish (the family favorite is Tilapia). And you can even cook it this way quickly from a frozen state.

First, the liquid. For poaching, you can use water, you can use juice, you can use wine. I use chicken stock.

Second, the pan -- you can do this in a saute pan with a thermometer clipped to the side so that you can tell the temperature (or A.B. says you can kind of tell when it is the right temperature because the liquid kind of quivers, but no more than that). Or, I found that my electric skillet is perfect for this.

So you put the liquid in so that it almost covers the fish....less than an inch is needed, and heat it up to around 165 degrees. Then you put the fish in. Then you let it cook for about ten minutes or so, until it is white and flakes a bit if you scrape it with the fork.

The other beauty of this method is that theoretically, you can keep something at 165 degrees and it will never overcook. It won't dry out, it will stay warm....so it is low maintenance -- something nothing else in my family is....

So then you serve it with salsa, maybe rub a little coconut oil on it, some lemon juice, and some steamed veggies, and you are set!! A really good dinner in less than 20 minutes.

Done....

2008-01-19T14:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't make my weight goal for Hawaii. But in many ways, that was okay. I would've liked being a little more svelte, but Hawaii, I found was a lot more forgiving with the body types than California. In California, everyone goes to the beach even if you didn't have the perfect body, but there is always this overriding feeling that you SHOULD have the perfect body. In Hawaii, there are people of all shapes and tummies....and it seems so much more accepting of that. Oh well, the one thing being overweight does is it helps me resist the clothes shopping temptation -- but I did get one cool dress. You'll see it in the Spring, I'm sure.

But, my trip actually did help me purge myself of soft drinks, thanks to the cruise line policy of free water, iced tea, coffee, and juice...but for soft drinks, you had to purchase a card that cost $7.00 a day, and you had to pay for the whole week in advance. Put in the terms of $50 per person...there was a heck of a lot of other things I'd rather have for $50.

After a few days, my mother broke down and bought a 12 pack of Diet Coke for her room (and I had to carry it around Maui in a veritable monsoon while we were waiting for the bus to take us back to the pier...it is a miracle that box stayed in one piece that whole time...it was soaked and so were we), but by then, I was doing fine on water and iced tea. The next week at Ko Olina, Jeff bought a cup that we could get fountain drinks with, but we mostly stuck to iced tea. So at least the first big goal that I had...to get off soft drinks seems to be successful. Even returning home, the idea of getting a Diet Pepsi doesn't have the appeal that it did, and fast food restaurants don't sound as good to me, either.

I did at least manage to keep my weight stable, which I am amazed about with all the food on the cruise ship. But I stayed away from the dessert table and ate a lot of meat, fruit, and vegetables (and sushi....that's better than dessert!!). There were a few milk shakes and amaretto sours, I'll admit. When we got to Ko Olina, I did pretty much all the cooking, and that was mostly meat, veggies, and a ton of pineapple and kiwis (great price at Costco!). On the last day of the cruise, I walked into the fitness center for a seminar on detoxing and realized that I could've really done well by doing 20 minutes on the exercise bikes every once in a while, but I forgot that at Ko Olina as well, but did a good deal of swimming.

With that out of the way, I can either go toward exercise or adjusting the diet more (with fast food not sounding as good, that will be a bit easier). And speaking of that, it is time for dinner. Tonight, I finally defrosted a wild caught salmon fillet from Albrights and am going to see what it is like.

My Chicken Recipe

2007-12-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

I have been getting requests for quite a while for my chicken recipe, so I thought I would blog it here.... And another thing, I do this with all kinds of meat -- whole chicken (breast side down for moisture), any kind of beef roast, and I roast this way (on top of veggies) with other kinds of meat (pork, lamb) as well, but may skip the Emeril's. It is a one pan food and the meat flavors the veggies so deliciously. It takes about 10 minutes of prep at most, and the rest of it the oven does! Leave out high carb veggies, and this is an EASY way to low carb. Make a lot of veggies, and then throw them in with some stock and puree (or don't) and add whole milk or cream and you have a great soup, too!

RPW's Fantastic Amazing Chicken

a bag of chicken quarters

vegetables, cut up (usually I use at least celery, onion, carrots, garlic, and maybe potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, cauliflower, etc.)

oil that will tolerate medium to high heat

Emeril's Essence seasoning

sea salt or kosher salt

Set oven for 500 degrees

Cut up vegetables into large chunks. Put into roasting pan and apply oil liberally and sprinkle with salt.

Lay chicken quarters over the vegetables, apply oil to them liberally as well, sprinkle with salt, and liberally apply Emeril's Essence spice seasoning and massage into the skin of the chicken.

Put into oven and roast at 500 degrees for 30 minutes (to get a crisp skin (oh my goodness) and hold in the moisture.

Turn temperature down to 350 degrees and roast for another hour.

Notes:
I use Amish chicken that I get at my meat market. It is healthier and more flavorful, but not as costly as free-range.

oil: I use a mix called Mary's blend that is a 1:1:1 ratio of coconut oil, sesame oil, and olive oil. It has the metabolism benefits of coconut oil, the heat tolerance of sesame oil, and the flavoring of olive oil -- and it keeps the coconut oil liquid. This recipe can be found in Nourishing Traditions or in Eat Fat Lose Fat, both by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig. The oil keeps the veggies from burning up as well, and don't skimp on it. Fat is actually good for you, and helps you absorb the fat-soluble vitamins (like A) in the veggies. Go one better, and put butter on the veggies when you are done. It IS good for you.

Emeril's Essence: This is the stuff he puts on food when he yells "BAM." The recipe is here. You can also buy it in the grocery store, and in a big container at Sam's Club. It does list "other spices" which often means MSG or other really bad for you preservatives. However, I have never gotten around to making it. With the amount that I use, I probably should.

I Did It!

2007-11-26T18:51:00.000-08:00

No, I didn't make my weight goal, in fact, I am .2 heavier than my starting weight...but I did it.

Something in me snapped, and I gave up Diet Pepsi. After months of going up and down on it from sometimes 6 or more per day to down to 2 and then back again....I decided that my stomach didn't feel good, it wasn't helping me any, and my talk of weaning off of it was a joke...so I just stopped.

Tonight when I go to bed, it will be four days.

I've been using Emotional Freedom Technique to help fight the cravings, that I learned when I went to Mercola's clinic. It is one of those things that struck me about most of what the clinic had to offer -- it felt "New Agey" but at the same time, there really is nothing anti-Christian about it. And the counselor that helped me with it combined it with good Bible verses, and I've learned to do that. Again, I don't know why it works, but it does.

I used this technique here.... to start out with, and I've had no headaches, I've jonesed a bit for a Diet Pepsi, but then again, I've had 35 years of being taught "if you're thirsty, have a Pepsi." I haven't stayed away from caffeine per se, because I have had a tea at night (with milk and a little honey), and I've had a vanilla chai latte or two. Honestly, the aspartame and the preservatives are more of a concern to me than just the caffeine.

In reality, this really is the first step that I needed to take. I couldn't sit there and continue to read about all of the things I should be doing, and taking steps to do so -- things like eating more vegetables, foods that have enzymes, etc...and working hard to do so, when I knew I was putting half a gallon of toxins in my body every day as well. It was the 800 lb. gorilla in the room with me every time I talked myself through all the other stuff.

I've done it before. I did it when I was pregnant, and once for Lent when the palpitations from the withdrawal sent me in panic to the emergency room.... and then when I went to the clinic and managed to lose 25 lbs. But then after 3 months without it, the nutritionist that I had said on the phone over our last appointment "now don't ever have a Diet Coke ever again."

I wasn't ready to consider "ever" then. All the changes that I made had been based on one day at a time. It freaked me out and I practically dashed out the door to Hucks to get one. I think I am more ready to look at this and say...this stuff is bad for me, I want it out of my system. 36 years of living off of this stuff is enough.

Fat or thin, I couldn't kid myself that I wanted the best for myself when I was still drinking the stuff. It's my first act of love, and I am viewing it that way, even if there is no weight loss associated with it.

Sick, sick, sick

2007-10-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Since I got home from training, I may have only cooked once or twice. There is a question on the survey that I give that asks "How many vegetables do you have per week, not including french fries or potato chips?" As if to mock me, each person seems to answer 5-6 or more.

I have been able to tell the difference in how I feel. I've never watched that movie "Supersize Me," but I've heard about it - about how the guy only eats fast food every meal for a month and chronicles his descent into lethargy, depression, illness, weight gain, etc. These last couple of weeks, I certainly have felt it, and being away from home the last few days at the pastor's conference cinched it. We are all sick. Miserably sick. It is amazing how bad I feel, and I don't think I was completely aware of how much better I was feeling.

So, at least now I have meat in the fridge and some veggies and fruit. I have a pot of soup on the stove, and more in the works.

I don't think my goal of 200 will be reachable before Christmas, but I am hoping for 215...which means 15 lbs. Right now, I just want to FEEL better.

The Last Week or So

2007-09-24T10:55:00.001-07:00

I bet you can tell from my silence that the last week hasn't gone so well. I really need to think through what I do in busy times and adjustment times, because I readily fall into old habits. Hormones don't help.

I think I found what the metformin does when dealing with insulin resistance. Because it helps the sugars get into the cells more easily, when it is not there, the body struggles to access energy, and so massive sugar and caffeine cravings ensue...especially at PMS time. At least that is my experience.

I know you and I both have kind of treated the metformin like it is optional and not a big deal, since we're not diabetic. It's not like its life or death. (not to mention the side-effects are not great and I hate pills, and I really WANT to be capable of getting my body back in shape and well again without it) But diabetes is life or death and we're right there waiting for it to occur. That realization came to me a couple of days ago. Time to call and refill that prescription. Sigh

RPW

Quite a Week

2007-09-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, it was fun going and getting you from Kentucky! But my weekend was already spiraling downhill on the organization front, so it has been quite a week of trying to play catch up, which also means that food was also in survival mode.

Overall, though, I only gained back two pounds. I managed to keep under the 230 mark, which is kind of a personal success for me, and while I haven't particularly behaved this week (fast food, restaurants, lots of Diet Coke, and chocolate, but dark chocolate (do dark chocolate Milky Ways really count, though? On the down side - candy bars have never really been an issue for me, so this is a new crutch. On the plus side, I've never really made it a point to look for dark chocolate before...and while Milky Ways definitely do not count as far as "good for you chocolate" (its only 45 % cacao), seeking out dark chocolate is still a somewhat healthier alternative, and so maybe getting a Dove bar (like I did last night) and only eating one square every once in a while (which I didn't do last night) would fare better. :)

I think what has helped is that I finally pushed Jeff into getting the bike he's always wanted. He finally found one he loves, a simple little Schwinn cruising bike, for $100, which is what my parents gave him for his birthday. He usually waits to spend birthday money until he finds out how we are doing budget-wise, and there is always SOMETHING that we need, that I made him go get it. Luckily, despite the fact that he is 7 inches taller than me, we have the same inseam, so the bike fits me, too, and I've been having fun riding around our parking lot with the kids. Since I've been doing that, I've seen the scale stay under control, and today, I hit 227.0!!! I haven't been able to pass that since I've started trying to lose weight again...so despite what I would like to rationalize, diet alone isn't as easy as both diet and exercise, and riding with the kids almost makes me forget my throbbing thigh muscles and my inceased heartbeat, things I typically want to shy away from.

A Few Things To Make It Easier

2007-09-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

That is great that you are getting (quite a bit) of walking in. I've been at my parents, too, but diet-wise, that hasn't gone as well. There was minimal damage though (I stayed under the 230 mark), and I'm back in the loss category again! As you know when you return here, thanks to the floods a couple of weeks ago, we are having a mosquito infestation the likes of which are unfathomable to the average person. When I walk out in the garage, ten of them are on me. We have mosquito netting over the rabbits, and avoiding the outside. I SO want to get my raised bed garden built so I can have veggies into the Fall. I think I am going to build it in the basement and then take it outside and take my chances with getting the dirt and the fertilizer (God bless bunnies) in it. Know anyone else who is O- in case I need a blood transfusion when I'm done?

It rained again today, I hope that it doesn't prolong the agony.

Now, not many people enjoy kitchen gadgets better than me. If I didn't already have a good man, I'd so go after Alton Brown. I like the geeky type....the only things Alton really has over Jeff are that he likes motorcycles and he cooks. ~~Both are in the habit of leading a one-sided conversation for a 1/2 an hour at a time~~. But he's agnostic..so that's a deal breaker. But I'd like to think he'd be a confessional Lutheran if only he knew about us!

Above, are my new purchases, and they are helping considerably, on the veggie front. The red thingy I picked up at Meijer. and it has a screw-on lid and easily fits in the fridge. I keep it loaded with veggies, and sitting on the table. The kids eat them because they are there, and so do I. The tomatoes on the left are a particular favorite for me right now....the guy at the Salomon Farms farmers market called them snack tomatoes. They are bigger than a Cherry, smaller than a Roma tomato. I'm saving a few seeds from those

The big bowl is my new salad spinner. Like you, I'm not a salad fan, but it does help to have it all prepped and dried, and it lasts longer. I just eat a small plate of it before lunch and dinner and hope it starts getting easier. This one, I put mustard greens in with the iceberg lettuce. Not too much, because Jeff hates bitter lettuce, but this was peppery and has a kick. Even he likes it.

Then there is the little vinagrette bottle next to it that I picked up at Ikea for homemade vinagrette. Wow, I never thought that it could be that easy. A little mustard, some olive oil, and some of the sherry vinegar that Alton Brown swore that I needed to have in my pantry that I haven't used (duh...I've never been big on vinegar). It's actually pretty good. This little guy lightly drizzles everything on so that it isn't overwhelming.

So these have helped. At least so far.

Walking.....

2007-09-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

That's what I've been doing. I've been spending the week with my parents in Kentucky, and I've gone for several walks up the hills around my parents place. Usually about 20 minutes, and I do get winded, but not nearly like the last time I tried to do these hills. I'm surprised at how much difference it makes to be carrying 20 less pounds. I've never had such a big loss that happened so quickly and without my noticing (or trying!), so it's really different for me.

Today we walked a mile around the track around the football field at the local high school, taking about 18 minutes. I didn't really feel that at all, but mom was done. We also needed to get back home before the morning school traffic started, but it was a good walk. There had obviously been a football game recently, as the place was absolutely TRASHED. I have never seen anything like it. Apparently, everyone just leaves their food and drink containers where they happen to fall. We had to kick 2 lanes clear of trash so that we could walk! On the up side tho, we found a quarter, 2 dimes, a nickel and a penny on the track, so we made a profit. Even after I spent 35 cents at the gas station for a large cup of ice!

Another healthy thing I'm doing - drinking lots of ice water. I'm certainly not ready to say I'm giving up my diet Coke, but I've had very little of it in the last month. Mostly I miss it after meals, because the bubbles have always seemed to help with my digestion. I have some mineral water at home which seems to be a decent substitute.

Otherwise, I've been working on eating lower carb. I'm not actually counting carbs - but I have a general idea of counts, and so when I do eat much carbs, I work on having more protien at the same time. I usually end up having a sandwich once a day, so I don't have any other grains or processed things besides that. I've been having vegetables and fruits, so that rounds it out.

Where I Usually Fall, At the Very Beginning

2007-09-05T14:29:00.000-07:00

Generally, when I start restricting my diet, I get sick. Within days I have a terrible cold.

When I get a cold, it always starts with draining down my the bck of my throat, the mucus gets thicker and thicker, and my throat gets more and more sore, and the only thing I can do is turn to what my husband claims is my true mother's milk - Pepsi. Now, in the past, that was worse, because it was real Pepsi, because I couldn't stand Diet. Health-wise, that might have been better, given the controversy around artificial sweeteners, but it was a disaster for counting carbs (which I don't do anymore). Along with that, I don't feel like I can cook, so its back to fast-food row.

This time, I haven't gotten sick. There is only one thing that is different. The fact that I am drinking kombucha and kefir...at least once a day. I've felt symptoms coming on (like the air that I am breathing is cold), but the next morning I'm fine. And this is usually the time that I get sick anyway, with the weather being so goofy.

(oh, by the way, I've gotten better at determining when to stop the fermentation process on both...I don't drink them as tangy as the ones I've given you.)

Putting it out there...

2007-08-31T08:35:00.000-07:00

It's funny in a way, how often we end up at the same place seemingly by chance. Separated at birth indeed. We've made several attempts at "tending our gardens" together, and we do have challenges in common, but in the end I think we are just different enough in our approaches and lifestyles that this online idea just may be the ticket. (It is funny that we talk online as much now when we are 5 miles apart as we did when we were half-a-continent apart!)

When you mentioned the idea of a blog or team blog about our weight-loss and health issues, I had been mulling that idea over myself. One of my favorite knit blogs, "Poor Miss Finch" has a longtime "Health Group" on her sidebar where she tracks her progress (and at times lack of progress.) I've always appreciated that, and the accountability it provides. I thought, "Hmm, actually posting my weight on the internet...well, that should be incentive!" So thank you for inviting me along on this blog!

This has pretty much been a life-long struggle for me, and apart from my 2-year success with Atkins, it has been a struggle I have lost. I am convinced (reluctantly) that low-carb is going to be the key, but I'm hoping for a level that is not QUITE as restrictive as Atkins. We'll see.

While for me, a very big goal is weight loss to be thinner and happier about how I look, health is also a big concern. I've watched my father deal with diabetes and heart disease over the last few years, and he actually hasn't taken it that seriously. There have been a lot of changes he's not willing to make. Four weeks ago, when I saw him in the recovery area after triple-bypass surgery, I saw a place that I do not want to go to.

I have high blood pressure, rising cholesterol and hyperinsulinemia. If these things are not controlled, I'm facing diabetes and heart disease as well. And while my permanent public age is 28, my biological age is 48 and it is time to stop pretending that "there's plenty of time for that healthy stuff when I get older."

I tell dad that he's a better diet plan than Atkins - the worry and stress of the last month has resulted in 19 lbs. lost. I had no appetite (that NEVER happens to me!) and when I did eat, often I had an upset stomach, so not much got absorbed. This is not a healthy approach to weight loss, and I have no intention of continuing. My appetite is returning, so now is the time to make healthier choices.

Another key for me is exercise. I hate it. Really. HATE IT. Waah. Time to get over that as well. We're doing a lot more walking around our house these days. Dad takes several shorter walks during the day - mom and I go for longer walks in the evening. I've also done some "stair-master" (who needs a machine when you live in a 3-level house??) Once my lower body gets past the sore and cramping stage, I'll look for upper body stretching and strengthening. Back in the days when Atkins was my diet, I was also working out and that made a great difference as well. I could even wear sleeveless shirts!!

Between the job struggles of a couple of months ago that left me functionally without health insurance for a couple of months and the stress of the last month, I need to get a doctor's appointment soon to check up on things. My blood-pressure medicine was barely controlling my bp, and he indicated if it didn't do a better job he would like to change it, so I'd like to see if that is needed. I've also been off the insulin resistance med, so I'd like to see if he wants me to back down to the initial dose again.

So, that's the plan for now. Doctor visit, low(er) carb diet, exercise.

To Begin

2007-08-30T19:10:00.000-07:00

The other night, I was thinking that maybe it might help to just put everything "out there" instead of just refering nebulously to the weight on the scale so without really saying what it was. I don't really even let my husband watch me weigh myself. Maybe that is the wrong approach. And that it might really help to show when I was successful, when I was struggling, and to be able to talk about it. Also, maybe the fact that I am putting it out there might help me drive by Taco Bell, or get my dishes done so that I can cook. And maybe the fact that I don't always succeed will help someone else, too.

Last time I was trying to lose weight, I put my celebrations on my blog (lost 2 lbs.!!) but not my struggles, my thoughts, or my frustrations. So I thought this "thinking out loud" process might help. I'm glad you decided to come along, DK. While the path we choose to get to our goal might be different, the problem (hyperinsulinemia, among other things), and so much else is the same. After all, we were separated at birth.

Only a certain amount for me is about the weight loss. I am also journeying down the counter-cultural path that I have been on somewhat ever since I found out that my family has dairy allergies. I don't think I ever realized how much milk was ingrained into our culture until then. But being counter-cultural is nothing new for me. How much more counter-cultural can you be than to marry a pastor??? Then there are things like breastfeeding for years instead of months and deciding to homeschool. But in the last couple of years, I have had a whole new line of thought opened up to me regarding nutrition that started with Atkins (fat is not bad, what a mind-blower!) and has continued to move beyond that to learn about how cultures have eaten before our industrial age...and it is fascinating. I'm trying to bring some of the things our culture has lost back into our family, and use it to make me healthier and thinner too. So if I mention these things, these are part of my journey. They don't have to be a part of yours.

Hopefully, it will be fun. Since we generally talk online (even though we live five miles away), maybe we can support each other more easily online, too!!!!