Tick, Tock....

Time is passing so slowly on this fast. 8 days feels like a great accomplishment, but to think I have to go the whole month of October without eating seems like FOR.E.VER!

I made it through the weekend without freaking out, so I am now giving up on the notion that I will go nuts at some point. I'm going to push that expectation out of my mind, and just move on.

I remain steady. My hunger level is still pretty low, and on most days (except for being out in the heat yesterday) my energy level is pretty normal. I have continued exercising daily, but I did have to give up the 2 hour exercise fests that I had mapped out in my schedules. On those days, I noticed a major decline in energy...go figure!

One cool side effect about fasting, is the weight-loss. :0) I have lost 8lbs in the last 8 days of fasting, and combined with my pre-fasting weight-loss, I am down 15 lbs since camping.

The "excitement" of the fast has worn down a bit, and while I am not necessarily hungry, food is sounding good. :0(

Last week we went to the mall, and Rick and the kids shared some Panda Express...my temptation meter immediately spiked to a "10". I've always enjoyed me some processed Orange Chicken! :0)




We later went in to Wal Mart (WHAT!?...I know!), and when Bea & I were browsing through the girly section, I was surprised to find myself enticed by the Easy Bake Oven treats.




And on Sunday, I couldn't help but to long for the family's dinner of a "Tombstone" frozen pizza. It wasn't even a DiGiorno! The crust didn't even rise! The sauce was almost an orange color! But it still looked amazing!




These next few days will provide MANY opportunities of prayer. I am going to the Padre Game on Thursday afternoon, we have my Uncle's memorial on Saturday, and we are going to a wedding on Sunday. All normal reasons to eat...and to eat a lot...and to eat a lot of tasty food.

One thing this fast has taught me though, is that I can say "no" to food. I had convinced myself that I couldn't go to work without sampling a treat (or 3) out of the community candy dish. I have failed to resist the "buffet" of wonderful breakfast dishes at our MOPS meetings every time I have tried to in the past. And who doesn't eat at a wedding!? Sometimes that is the only reason I stay longer than I want to at a wedding...CUT THE CAKE ALREADY! ;0)

In my research of liquid fasting, it was said that this is a great way to eliminate your poor eating habits. To take away your tendency to binge. During this time, your mind (can be) transformed into removing those temptations. I'm praying that will be the case for me. In the mean time, I am making a mental list of all the things I feel like I am missing out on, and I have told my husband that on October 31st he can find me parked in a booth at Pizza Hut all day! :0)

(No one get nervous, I know I can't eat food like that right away...unless I want to pretty much die from an upset stomach!)

I'm alive and well...

In non-food-related-topics...

We had our 2nd MOPS meeting today, and it went really well. The summer required a lot of planning and preparation...a.k.a work. But now that MOPS is in session, I am seeing the fruits of my labor! We have MANY brand new ladies that have never been to our MOPS group before, I have an enthusiastic leadership team working with me, and the church has been incredibly supportive. I am blessed. :0)

Home Schooling is going great. No real complaints here. Wyatt hasn't "gagged" during school since our first week back in session. However, in the last 2 weeks, he has taken on the new trait of fake sleeping/snoring. I much prefer that though...he stops when I tell him to knock it off...where the gagging episodes were a "whole thing", and it invoked a physical reaction in my body (I have a sensitive gag reflex). LOL!

One reason why I love not having a DVR "contraption"...Survivor premiered this past week on Wednesday. However, on Wednesdays we don't get home from Awana until 8:15...after the show already started. If we were a family that had a DVR system, I would just start watching the show after I put the kids to bed that night, and just fast forward through the commercials, and get the episode watched that night. BUT, since I have to tape it on the VCR, it occurred to me, to save the shows for Rick's random nights off of work, we would put Bea to bed on that night, and have Wyatt stay up and watch it with us. Partial-Family-Survivor-viewing-night has been a lot of fun so far. And I'm excited to see that the show is doing a better job of "blurring" out the unmentionables...if you know what I mean. ;0)

Alright, I can't do it, I can't not talk about food on Chubby Diaries...

I'm in day 3 of the fast, and so far so good. I haven't had a single headache, and I would put my hunger level at a "2" during most portions of my day. (It becomes a "3" when I am laying on the couch during the kids nap time, watching an infomercial on some random cooking contraption, hahaha!) I am convinced that based on the information I read online, that my detox I did after camping, combined with a straight week of dieting and exercise, has conditioned me for the fast so far. And also considering that I had previously never skipped a single meal in my life (obviously, lol), I know that the Holy Spirit is answering my prayers of "mercy".

A couple of sites I read said that days 2 and 3 were a nightmare, and my pastor shared with us that days 5 and 6 tend to be the hardest for him. I'm feeling good about days 2 & 3, so I am anticipating a rough weekend??? My energy level has been great, (in fact I felt high on Monday evening after not eating all day...shout out to my sister Anna who got that annoying "giggly" phone call), and I have continued to do my daily exercises that are on my "schedule". :0)

The thing that I am starting to realize though, is how much "food" is a part of my (our) daily life. I'm honest when I say that I haven't been all that hungry...However, I will occasionally get bored, and that is when I could throw back some of the kid's animal crackers or something. Food is the answer (for me at least) to so many of life's feelings...hunger, boredom, exceptionally emotional (good or bad), etc. This has been an eye opener as to how often food is/was the answer for me. This realization has been added to my prayer list during the remaining 37 days.

We are 7.5% done with the fast...not that anyone is counting, LOL!

Why are thousands of churches all over our nation fasting until October 30th???:

http://www.prayandact.org/

Lord, hear our prayer.

Well, I had been going back and forth in my mind all week as to whether I should share the following or not...but I have decided to. (No, I'm not pregnant. lol.)

My church, and MANY churches across our nation are entering into a 40 day fast tomorrow...which will end on October 30th. The purpose of this fast is to pray for our Nation...in hopes that our foundational morals would return, and God would do a work in our homeland. Specifically, that life would be restored in the form of making abortion illegal. That marriage would be restored to allowing only one woman and one man join in a legal union with each other. And that our Religious freedoms would be restored to where our Forefathers declared and intended them to be.

If you are interested, you can read more about this Fast & Prayer on the following sites:

http://www.prayandact.org/

http://manhattandeclaration.org/the-declaration/read.aspx

My reasoning for not sharing this, is that I didn't want this fast to be about me.

However, I have been very active in my blogging lately, and since I am still deciding on what I am going to do with my blog during this time, I didn't want my possible absence to be misconstrued as I was "falling off of the wagon." I can't decide if I will take a "leave of absence", or find a humble way to share this spiritual journey on my blog. Hmmm...???

I will ask for your prayers though. I have never done a fast from food. I have always been pregnant or nursing when the rare call to fast has arisen, and I have elected to fast from the TV or soda, or something like that. But this time, I am out of excuses. :0)

Lets do this! Lets Rock! (Can I pull off, "Lets Rock"!? Hmmm.)

7 Days of Dieting...

Yesterday marked 7 straight days of dieting, and exercise on most of those days. I lost a total of 6 lbs this past week. It's not the most I have ever lost in a week, but I'm still pretty proud of myself...more so that I actually stayed on the diet a whole week! :0) Throughout these past 7 days, my struggles were fairly manageable. Today they were not. I was fighting temptations all day. I never did give in, but I'm spent.

I walked another 4.5 miles at Lake Murray again today...this time with my dad...and the kids of course. :0) We had a sweet time catching up on life, and both littles were quite pleasant. Maybe it was the bribe of a Tootsie-Pop Grandpa had waiting at the finish line for them???

Today's eats...

Breakfast- 2 servings of Vanilla Almond Special K (1-1/2 cups)- 4pts

Snack- Fruit Smoothie- 5pts

Lunch- Chicken Salad Sandwich with Cheese- 7 pts
Animal Crackers- 2 pts

Snack- Animal Crackers- 2 pts

Dinner- "One Dish Stuffing and Chicken" WW recipe- 9 pts
Green Beans- 0 pts

TOTAL DAILY POINTS- 29 Points

Cookie Monster...Monster Cookies

Oh my word. So I went to Target late this afternoon to do our regular grocery shopping (which I have discovered that I forgot to put that activity on the schedule all week...there's some editing that needs to be done)...and in normal "Elizabeth life" I typically would end my trip to Target by visiting "Food Avenue" (did you know that that is the food court's actual name?) and purchase a "Monster Cookie"...or 2. Seriously, they are the best cookies ever. The base is some sort of peanut butter oatmeal cookie combo. But in addition to that, the soft chewy cookie is LOADED with chunks of chocolate, peanuts, and plain M&M's...DE-LISH! As I was paying for my groceries, I was contemplating my cookie ritual. Initially I told myself, "No." But then I thought to myself, "Hmmm. How many points can this cookie really be...3...maybe??" So Beatrice and I venture over to Food Avenue. I ordered her her standard bag of popcorn, and since there was not a line forming behind me, I was brave enough to ask what the nutrition facts are on the Monster Cookie. The kind gentleman handed me a brochure that was packed full of all of the nutritional information on all of their products. Would you believe the Monster Cookie contains 480 calories!?!? That is 10 whole points!!! I couldn't believe the calorie counts on most of the items they sell there! No Monster Cookie for me...well, for however long I can stay on this diet. :0)

I shook things up a bit this morning. I was supposed to do my 2 hour workout, but earlier in the week, a girlfriend (shout out to Deana!) asked me if I would like to walk at the lake with her. We used to walk Lake Murray ALL.THE.TIME. But we haven't been in moooonths! I couldn't resist. We had a great walk, and despite Beatrice's constant crying, we managed to have a good time socializing as well.



Today's Schedule...

Friday- No Work

• 6:30- Wake-up
• 7:00- Breakfast & Bible
• 7:45- Prep for workout
• 8:00- Circuit Exercise
• 9:00- Neighborhood Walk/Jog
• 10:30- Fix Lunch
• 11:30- Nap time- work for mom and/or Trisha?, eat lunch, work on MOPS stuff?
• 2:00- Kids Snack
• 2:15- School time
• 4:00- Play with Wyatt & Practice Piano
• 4:30- Play with Bea
• 5:00- Prep dinner
• 5:30- Eat dinner
• 6:00- Clean up house
• 6:30- Bath time
• 7:15- Bible & Bed time
• 8:00- Time with my hunny :0)

Today's Menu...

Breakfast- Cornflakes- 4pts

Lunch- Chicken Salad Sandwich- 8pts

Dinner- Finished off the Lean Pockets that were given to us (Shout out to Carrie!) 5pts

Dessert- Fruit Smoothie- 4 pts

I only consumed 21 points today which is 5 below the minimum I am supposed to have...but when I wanted a snack, my cupboards and fridge were still bare, and by the time I got home from Target, it was dinner time. As it turns out, I could have had a Monster Cookie today, and still managed to stay in my points range. But I'm glad I didn't. It's a slippery slope. ;0)

My clothes are fading...FAST!

(A note to my hunny...)

WANTED:

* 3 Pairs of workout pants- Size: Chubby
* A new package of socks- Style: No holes
* 3 Sports Bras- Design: No stains

I'm starting think I can only survive on my good looks for so long, LOL! I have worn the same 2 sports bras for the last 5 years, and they are losing their stamina. 2 out of the 3 workout pants I own have finally given out in the thigh area this week. And, we don't need to go there with my sock situation. LOL! Here's to praying for bigger paychecks and smaller bills this month. :0) "Mama could use a new pair of shoes!"

Today was a pretty good day with the schedule. I'm really embracing it. I haven't been a schedule person since Wyatt was an infant. When he was born, he was nuts, and so I became nuts, and the only thing that made me feel like I had ANY control in my world was that I had this schedule typed out. Rick, Wyatt & I "respected" the schedule. My family thought were were CRAAAAAZY, but when they watched him, they were kind enough to honor the schedule too...well, except for my mom...she's a rebel. ;0)

But when Bea joined our family, I had the privilege to stay at home full-time, and all schedules went out the window. I was relishing in our freedom! :0)

As I have mentioned, things have been feeling nutty recently, and once again, I am finding comfort in the schedule. I'm not sure why I didn't do this sooner.

Thursday- With the Addition of Playgroup

• 6:00- Wake-up
• 6:30- Breakfast & Bible
• 7:00- Get ready for the day
• 7:55- Leave for Piano
• 9:00- Home from Piano, pack lunch for park day.
• 9:45- Leave for the park
• 12:30- Home from the park & nap time- work for mom and/or Trisha? eat lunch, work on MOPS stuff?
• 2:30- Snack time
• 2:45- School time
• 4:00- Walk/Jog Neighborhood
• 5:00- Prep dinner
• 5:30- Eat dinner
• 6:00- Clean up house
• 6:30- Bath time
• 7:15- Bible & Bed time
• 8:00- Blog? Work?

The diet was just OK today. It's not that I fell off of the wagon. It's just that I had some "big ticket" items. My friend (Shout out to Katie!) made me her DELICIOUS "Katie's FAB Tuna Pasta Salad" (she calls it something else) for lunch...and it is loaded with incredibly healthy ingredients...whole wheat pasta, carrots, grape tomatoes, hearts of palm (ever tried those!? Me neither...not until this meal, and I LOVE them!), celery, and of course, tuna! However, this ADDICTING dish (I have consumed this entree 3 times in the last 6 weeks, and that is not often enough!) also has 2 debilitating ingredients...mayo and pesto. :0( If I were to have eaten my full portion, it would have taken 10 whole WW points!...I ate 8 points worth. LOL!

In addition to that, when we got home from the park, during the kids' nap time, I made chocolate "muffins". Yes, I lie to my children on occasion. They are really cupcakes, but without the frosting...I didn't want to be asked, "WHERE'S THE FROSTING!?" I was stoked to read that 1 "muffin" is only 3 points...that's totally doable! Until...I tasted some of the batter. (I really need to be supervised during things like this...my kids need to be there to lick the beaters for me, lol!) This wasn't just your average Betty Crocker cake mix. My mom had brought me Williams Sonoma's Dark Chocolate Cupcake Mix...it was a.ma.zing. In the end, I consumed 8 points worth of "muffin" product.

With that being said though, my total points count for the day was 30 points. It's within my range. However, I can't be shocked if I don't lose weight tomorrow, HA!

Today's Eats...

Breakfast- 2 servings of Honey Nut Cherrios (1-1/2 cups)- 4 pts

Lunch- Katie's FAB Tuna Pasta Salad- 8pts

Snack- "Muffins"- 8 pts

Dinner- Homemade WW BBQ Chicken Pizza, 2 servings (seriously, one cannot just eat 1 serving of this...YUM!)- 10 points.

I'm sure there are nutritionists crying all over the world about the types of food I consume...I'm sure there are readers noting that I am not eating the proper servings on the food pyramid...sorry. :0)

In LOVING Memory

My Uncle, and more importantly, my Godfather, Marc Beverly, passed away yesterday afternoon.



He was an amazing Godfather, and my siblings often told me how envious they were that I got him for a Godparent. He always made me feel so special. He would bring me (and only me) gifts to family gatherings. When I was I was younger, he would always find me at our (large) family parties, and come sit next to me, and ask me how I was doing. We have a LOT of funny people in our family, and he just might be the FUNNIEST! He tells a hilarious story about a dog needing to wear a hardhat on his construction site, and he had a deep love and appreciation for "Fog Horn & Leg Horn" cartoons. When Jenni & I were in elementary school, my mom was struggling financially, and she sent us off to the desert for the summer to be with my Uncle Marc and my cousins on a moments notice. I was scared. I was extremely in-tune with my mom, and I wasn't going to be with her during what I felt was going to be a hard season. However, my Uncle Marc and my cousin Ramona (cousin Luke was a teenager, and too busy to hang with his younger girl cousins, lol) couldn't have been more welcoming. I would experience many more occasions in the future, but this was my first opportunity to witness the joy of being in a tight-knit family. They rallied behind us, and cared for Jenni & I during this time. I will be forever grateful for that summer.

My grandparents passed away right around the time I was born, and as the oldest sibling (and brother) in an Italian family, he became the head of the family. He believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and read the Bible. In his final weeks he asked us to be praying for him, and he often requested my Godmother, Aunt Carrie, his ex-wife, to read the Bible to him...his favorite passage was Psalm 23.



Uncle Marc,

The family won't be the same without you. I will miss you terribly. I look forward to reuniting with you in heaven. I thank you for always supporting me. I thank you for always being a listening ear. I thank you for your encouragement and support last year when Rick was having a hard time. I thank you for co-signing on my first car when my own parents wouldn't. I thank you for making me feel so special during those awkward adolescent years. But most of all, thank you for being an example to all of us on how to continue to operate as a loving caring family.

I Love You,
Your Goddaughter


(Pictured on the far right)



(Pictured with my cousin Kelene)



(Pictured with my mom, middle, and Auntie Veronica, left)



(This is him earlier this week, with all of the siblings...he is supposedly "awake" in this picture)