Fearfully & Wonderfully Made

Aaagh. I really want to eat and it's past 8. I'm really wanting to get some trail mix. But I wrote this... so that I wouldn't eat... and I will go and drink water instead.

The 3 Major Healthy Components for Health: Omega-3 essential fatty acids , "good" fats that have been shown to have heart-healthy effects. Each tablespoon of ground flaxseed contains about 1.8 grams of plant omega-3s. Lignans , which have both plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities. Flaxseed contains 75-800 times more lignans than other plant foods. Fiber .  How to use: There are a variety of ways you can add Flax to your diet... you can add it to smoothies, yogurt, oatmeal, cookies, muffins, pancakes, waffles, bread, salads, cottage cheese and fruit, burgers or meatloaf as a healthy filler. You can even use it to substitute oil and eggs in baking recipes. Use the flaxseed whole or ground (flaxseed meal) Also be sure to try flaxseed oil. I also enjoy this in my smoothies, salad dressings, using it when I sautee veggies, etc. But I did hear that if you "heat" it up it can lose it's value (don't know the truth on that one). The health b

I was really somewhat proud of myself tonight. I enjoyed a salad and then had some stromboli... but I didn't go back for seconds. I ate slowly and purposefully... and it was delicious. We were celebrating the birthday of a dear friend of ours. I did enjoy a piece of the chocolate, chocolate cake.... and I finished eating before 8. I haven't been tracking what I eat physically but more mentally in my head. I want to get back in the habit of writing it down! I've been making some small changes... I hope they add up to big success!

The world seems to me a very undernourished place. Having too much of the wrong food... and just plain not enough food will create malnutrition. I have felt the guilt of having such an abundance of food with the knowledge that others are starving... or worse... watching their children starve. This is a horrible reality that people face every day. BUT OVEREATING WILL NOT FILL OTHERS EMPTY BELLIES . You wouldn't think in this country of abundance that we would struggle with nutrition... but we do. We tend to eat a lot of empty calories... things that lack vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. We tend to eat the wrong kinds of fats, carbs, and even protein. A startling trend is how much we consume calorie wise in what we drink... whether in our lattes, our gatorade, sodas, and even juice... we as Americans consume a lot of calories in our beverage choices. I was thinking through some changes that could potentially help. 1.) Eat what you have . I don't do well with this one an

Questions to ask myself before I eat... Am I... HUNGRY? ANGRY? LONELY? TIRED?

I have recently made a commitment with a friend that I would not eat after 8. It's not a legalistic thing. It's just we both find that we tend to want to munch after 8. It's a great principle that I'm trying to stick to. I have set an alarm on my phone for 7:45 p.m. to remind myself that I'm not going to be eating in 15 minutes. This gives me time to eat a snack (usually a piece of fruit) in case I'm hungry. A nice cup of herbal tea is also another nice way to end the evening. Sometimes it's hard and I find that I have to drink a lot of water to get rid of the hunger pang. Another way to fight "temptation" is to brush my teeth and use mouth wash. I don't want to have to brush my teeth again and this is usually a good cue to my body that I'm done with food for the night. It feels good to tell myself "No!". In addition I find that I feel better upon waking in the morning.

I love eggs. They're such a wonderful protein. I enjoy them scrambled, fried, & over medium. I love them hard boiled and I enjoy adding them to my green salads as well as turning them into egg salad sandwiches. Mmmm. Add a little paprika or cumin depending on the dish. Eggs are my friends. Lately when I go out to eat and am eating breakfast items I order hardboiled eggs as part of my meal. I eat one then and save one for later to add to a salad. I love my egg slicer. It makes things quick and easy.

A part of me... a rather large part, at that, is tempted to say that I'm a failure! In some ways that is true. I have not been very successful in going down on the scale. BUT what I have been successful at is maintaining the same weight. This might not seem like a big deal but for me that is HUGE. I usually find that after a few months after having a new baby that I stop losing weight and start gaining. And I have not done that! I have held fast. I've been up and down a few pounds for the past, oh, about 6 months. BUT, I have not added 20 + pounds to my frame. And that, my dear IS SUCCESS! I'm excited though to move forward. I have recently (as of a few days ago) completely stopped nursing. There were a few reasons for quitting... and primarily they were for my health... The disadvantage is I "lose" all those extra points I got for nursing. The plus side though is that I know exactly the amount of points I truly have for each day. There's no if, and or