Save the planet...K?

So I don't agree with everthing here, but I heart this picture...




I'm planning on having more then 2 children. However, I try pretty hard to do things that are good for the earth. The better we are to the earth, the better the earth is going to be to us :-)

The joruney to wellness.

I don't make new years resolutions. Not ever. However, my path to weight loss happened to start January 1st. It really had nothing to do with the start of the new year, but rather with the end of last year.

I've always struggled with my weight. For years it would slowly creep up on me and I'd do some diet and lose. Almost 5 years ago my diet tactics stopped working and I gained 40lbs. I couldn't figure out why I wasn't losing. I was super tired all the time and wasn't eating very much. Yet the pounds kept packing on. After a few visits to my doctor, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease. It sounds scary, but it's really just a thyroid that doesn't work the way it should.

Medication helped for about a year. I wasn't losing weight, but I felt better. Then I decided I wanted to try to treat myself with eating better and being more active. I cut out fast food and started taking loads of vitamins and drinking "Super Food". I didn't drink soda, but I ended up cutting out all caffeine; coffee and tea (both of which I love!!) and stuck to lots of water. My thyroid levels started to even out and I felt good. The weight still wouldn't come off. In fact I gained another 10lbs.

The last couple of years I haven't been so good. I haven't gained weight or lost weight, but I haven't been the most committed to my health. I discovered low carb dieting. I started a few times and lost weight both times. But was never committed for more then about a week. I was stressed out and I tend to eat comfort carbs. Most people believe that low carb is really unhealthy. However, I stay away from high fat foods and try to eat lean proteins. I also eat move veggies then they say you should, but I'm not cutting fresh foods out of my diet. Cutting white flour and sugar is one of the best things you can do for your body. Really!

So, being committed this time, I started Low carb. 12 days later I'm down 16lbs. I feel good, my clothes are getting a little bit big. It's been great. I'm really committed and it hasn't even been hard for me this time. Last night I made Matt some organic whole-wheat pasta and sauce and some chocolate chip cookies. I had a bite to taste it, and had no desire to ruin my diet by having another one. I think I'm just ready. Normally a bowl of pasta wouldn't last 5 minutes in front of me.

Next week I'm starting an intense aqua training that I'm excited about. Hopefully that will help me to lose weight and get some endurance. and hour a day 5 days a week. 2 days of intense aerobics, 2 days strength training and a treading class. I'm taking every Sunday off and eating carbs and resting. Last Sunday I was really nervous about taking a day off, but I didn't over do it with carbs and Monday morning I was back to low carb. So I think I'm OK!!

I'm excited to be thinner then I am, but seriously, I just want to be healthy again.

Falling of the face of the earth...

I must admit. Days like today, I just want to fall off the face of the earth. My day has been great. Everything around me is quiet. I enjoy the silence more then anything. I hate the pollution of sound. I don't really want to fall off the face of the earth. I just want people to forget that I exist for one day. Today I have unanswered and unread e-mails in my inbox, I have a host of missed calls and at least 5 voice mails. Most people know me to hate cell phones. There is always a friend that complains that they can never get a hold of me. I rarely apologize for it-- though I tend to apologize for everything else.

You see, everything has become so urgent. Cell phones have just added to the stress of life. Sure, they're convenient, but I think that we risk the position of being at each others beck and call for that convince. I don't mind being there for my friends. I'm sure most would agree though, that 99% of cell phone calls are not super important. I never want to be the person that relies on my phone so much that I'm lost without it. I'm probably the only person under the age of 80 on the face of the planet that still writes names and phone numbers into a book.

I just want one day where I don't feel that nagging anxiousness when the phone rings. I just want quiet. I want to go outside and hear nothing more then birds singing and trees blowing in the wind. One day enjoying something that doesn't have a plug on it or batteries. Playing cards or writing (actually using a pen) or doing nothing and having no expectations.

Oh what my dream would would look like. If you called me today. I'll get back to you tomorrow!

Simple=healthy?

I love the Internet. It opens me up to a world of information that I would not have otherwise. Matt and I have been thinking a lot about organic living. Now, even though this is a growing trend, most people don't understand that the benefits are not just for us, but for the health of the earth as well. I firmly believe that the rise in cancers and other diseases is a direct cause and effect from what we eat. Hormones and pesticides are killing us and are contaminating the earth. We're growing our food with poison...

There are a lot of Christians that believe we can rape the earth of it's resources because of the return of Christ and that we might not be here very long. I say that is a very poor way to treat something that God created for us. I want to tread lightly on earth. I don't want the generations that follow me to have asthma and cancers harder to treat then the ones we already have because Christ "might" return before then.

I want a garden more then anything. Gardens are simple. You plant a seed in the ground and you water it and it grows. No need for fertilizer or weed killers. I want home grown tomatoes and carrots and zucchini. I want healthy foods you can eat without worrying what you're putting into your body.

I have to say, Matt and I are starting off very slowly in trying to live more organically. One reason is because we live in an apartment. No room for a garden. :-( Plus it is more expensive and with just starting out, we don't have the budget. However, we do buy free-range organic eggs, Hormone free, organic milk -- though we ran out and Matt had to buy what s-mart had, not organic (!!) Oh well, we're trying right! We have lots of fruit stands, so I try to buy locally grown produce as much as I can. Sometimes even though it's not "certified" organic, things are still grown using organic methods -- with compost and good watering, not chemicals. We occasionally find deals on organic meat, but we don't eat a lot of meat. I make almost everything vegetarian. Matt doesn't care as long as it tastes good. I am making chicken and rice soup for dinner tonight though...

I'll be posting more about organic living later :-)

Why do I want to be invisible?

I've been thinking about this question for months. It all started when I was flipping through channels one night when I couldn't sleep. There was a motivational speaker on the public television station. I stopped to listen for a brief moment. The man repeated all of the lines you always hear. It was "shoot for the stars" "never give up" "reach for your goals" "leave your footprint". While I don't completely disagree with those statements, I'm confused by the fact that they were used so generically.

That night I didn't get much sleep. In fact I laid there wondering why I was so content with my simple life. To tell you the truth, I questioned myself a lot in those wee hours. I thought a lot about Jesus between thoughts. Did Jesus shoot for the stars? The answer was no. Of course I'm not saying that Jesus didn't do remarkable things during his life. It's obvious that he did. Even with the amazing things that Jesus did on earth, the most remarkable thing about him is that his life was remarkably simple. He didn't have status, he didn't have money, he had some friends and some enemies. Jesus loved people. I mean love in the sense of action. He loved people without return. He loved people that no one else had ever loved. That love for maybe a few hundred people all together in a few different towns made a big impact on the world. Jesus didn't have to shoot for the stars. He just had to love people and that's what he did.

I want to live an intentional life. I want to love without reservation. I don't want to leave footprints. A footprint is something you see on something that has been stepped on. I want to leave gentle hand prints on those I come across. I don't want to stand out because of a outfit I'm wearing or a car that I drive or the house I live in. I want to stand out to to a stranger that I hold the door open for at the gas station, the mom that needs a break from her kids, the friend that needs to talk or the animal that was abandoned.

I don't care about how big my TV is or what brand my shoes are. It's not important to me. I just want an ordinary life. I don't see anything wrong with that.