Day 2 of Love Your Greens

It is late so this will be short post.  Since it was nearly 80 degrees out in Oregon today we had our smoothie in the sunshine.  It was a Sweet Kale smoothie.  It was our first experience with kale.  I was really not sure about this one because I have been told it is very bitter, but I took the advice from many on Facebook to freeze it first.  We blended about 2 handfuls of kale with apple juice and water.  I had already frozen an apple and added that because the recipe called for more apple juice than I had.  And then blended 3 bananas.  It was enough for one meal replacement size for me and split with the other 3 girls.  We liked it very much.  It was very sweet- maybe next time less banana and maybe try a tart apple.  The blender had a tough time with so many bananas and the kale wasn't quite as mashed up as I would have liked, but still we were able to suck it all through a straw. 

Weight: 146 BMI- 28
How do I feel?  I love drinking the smoothies.  I am still very excited about it.  I got to tell my mother-in-law today and of course she is very supportive.  With all this extra fiber I have to be honest that I am feeling a little gassy, but that is no reason to quit- so watch out people.  Hopefully my body will adjust.  I feel a little more energetic, but that is hard to judge because it has only been 2 days. 

See you tomorrow with another update. 

Here is the Big Day! Day 1 Love Your Greens 30 Day Challenge

I am so excited!  I want this to do be more of a lifestyle change than just 30 days out of my life to eat greens.  I might not make a smoothie EVERY DAY after this but I am going to consider putting them in my weekly rotation.  

First of all I have some questions to answer.  What do I want to accomplish?  Why am I doing this?  I want to attempt to reverse my pre-diabetes and start my road to a more healthy lifestyle.  Although I truly would not mind loosing some of the weight at least 10 pounds at this point couldn't hurt.  I will be at least chronicling the weight (this is me being very vulnerable) and trying to observe the changes in my body over the next 30 days.  I am doing this because it sounded like fun.  I love smoothies and I like spinach- why not mix it up?  Also since I have been a regular visitor to 100 Days of Real Food that is where I discovered the challenge, I thought I could learn a lot by participating in a challenge.  Before this I had never heard of the Unconventional Kitchen and have been thrilled and encouraged in this journey. 

Day 1
Weight- 147 lbs.  BMI- 28
Since I like quiet morning (A LOT) and my baby has VERY sensitive ears I decided to wait on the smoothie till lunch.  Plus I promised Ariana she could be a part of this.  Although I had never originally planned on getting my children involved they seemed more than willing to participate so I will have to update my list and buy more produce.  Ariana already plowed through 2 pounds of strawberries this morning so good thing I have 3 more pounds (1 in the freezer and 2 more in the fridge). 

The first smoothie was suppose to be a basic green smoothie.  I also want to point out that this is my very first GREEN SMOOTHIE!   So we used a large handful of spinach and about 1 cup of water blended it nicely.  I have an Oster blender that was my husband's before we were married so I am unsure as to how old it is.  I hope it will make it through all this challenge.  After the spinach and water were blended we added some frozen fruit- half a banana, a whole frozen orange that had been frozen in sections, and a few spoonfuls of pineapple.  The blender took a few tries but with the help of the poking down spatula it blended nice and smooth.   We did not add any extra sweeteners like honey or agave.  It was delicious.  My girls drank it all before I even had a taste of my own.  My only ever so minor complaint (and this is EXTREMELY minor) was the orange's pulps made the texture a bit strange, but that was easy enough to get over.  The whole time we were drinking the smoothies the baby was eying it so I guess I need to get her her own smoothie cup (the kind with the straws).   My oldest, Hermione, has really stepped it up and has seen the change in our eating habits.  She asked me today, "So if we are trying to eat healthy, what do I eat at birthday parties?"  I told her it was okay to have treats sometimes but when we go to parties we eat one small slice of cake and small scoop of ice cream and if there is candy you do not need more than 3 pieces.  I am trying to be reasonable and I do not want to be a snob by making my child bring a her own healthy snack to other parties.  I can understand if kids have allergies but mine do not so we try for moderation as the goal and be thankful and grateful for all the work that goes into party food.  Going to see if I can get my husband to try one over the weekend.  By the end of this challenge hopefully everyone will have their picture in here drinking healthy green smoothies!  

Hermione, age 5, and Ariana, age 3 drinking a Basic Green Smoothie 

Whole Foods and 30 Day Love Your Greens Challenge

First of all this is for my benefit because I need to see it writing down.  I have decided to start my journey on whole foods and a 30 Day Challenge called Love Your Greens.  It seems that every time I start to write something or find a direction for this blog I get turned down another path and then another and then the Internet goes down.  I can't seem to be consistent in any of my challenges or to even write here as if it were a diary or a dear friend.  But I think I have found something that has me fired up- at last!

I have been in a constant struggle between buying cheap food and buying healthy food.  I thought maybe JUST maybe I could find a "healthy" medium.  Well I wouldn't exactly say I failed or succeeded, but I did come to a conclusion- I would rather our families' money go toward healthy food now rather than medication and pharmaceutical companies in the future.  My family history has me pegged for Type 2 diabetes and I have some how always felt that I would die of heart disease.  Plus I work with a lady in Preschool Sunday School who has Type 2 Diabetes and I saw her feet.  Let me just say I will pray extra hard for her and if I can prevent that from happening to me I will (though she seems to think it just "happened" to her- like there was no way to prevent it- though I also shouldn't judge because I don't know her complete situation, but I digress).

Right now I am honestly not too concerned with my weight.  I know I weigh too much and my BMI is 28 so not the best.  I am more concerned with health and nutrition.  I have thought and thought and thought about exercising and I just can't let the guilt keep getting to me.  I have physical urticaria- translation I get hives when I exercise.  My histamines go crazy when I do any repetitive physical activity.  This is a whole story in and of itself, but the fact is I have to plan my exercises very specifically because I have to take a pill before I exercise at least an hour before or I will want to scratch my skin off.  In my season of life I just can't get exercise in.  If I try for the morning the noise wakes the baby.  If I try at night or in the evening I miss much needed chores and time with my husband.  If I try to do it when I have "free" time that better be a lot of free time so my allergy pill has time to kick in.  All that to say I am focusing on cleaning up my diet next I will try to add in exercise but that probably won't happen until my youngest is 2 1/2 or so.

Another reason I thought I should take this on is because I am not formally homeschooling and my personality type or just me in general needs someone to teach or to learn from or a project.  Nutrition has become a huge part of my life because every pregnancy has come back with positive tests of gestational diabetes.  I think my first step into this was using the Eat This, Not That book, which has had updates every year since I first read it.  I used it has a basic guideline for shopping but not much beyond that until I watched Food Inc did I seriously start to question things.  Plus my endless Internet searches that led me here, here, and here- these are just the ones in front of me, I am sure there are many more I could dig up.  This has been an on and off journey for about 4 1/2- 5 years I am now making it formal.

I am willing to make the time and financial sacrifice it will take to be healthy.  I am not going to go all RiddleLove  on you (though at times those meal plans look amazing).  Trust me- I am as real as it gets.  I don't soak my grains.  I can't make my own whey.  I don't own a grinding stone to grind wheat berries into flour.  My husband is a youth pastor.  Our family lives on less than $2,000 a month- praise God it comes with a house (so money doesn't go straight to rent).  I am on WIC and have currently applied for food stamps.  I go to the food bank when things are extra tight, which often ends up being about every 3 months.  I am a real person trying to use what I have been given.  I wanted to show you I am not snob, I am not trying to sell anything.  I want people to see they can change too if they want or just inspire those who are working hard for better food choices and education.  It hurts me a little that I have sign up my child for free lunches at school knowing that a lot of the choices are not the best, but that is where we are and I am praying for some change to come to the food industry.

The challenge doesn't officially start till May, but we were so low on groceries and since we are taking FPU classes (another thing I could potential blog about) we have a small wiggle room for the food budget.  I wanted to see what I will spend on this challenge and say how I am feeling.  This was the ingredient list for the first week:

 Week 1 (Days 1-7)
3 C liquid of choice (almond milk, coconut water, milk, etc.)
6 oz 100% apple juice
6-12 C greens of your choice
1-2 C kale
4 bananas
1 orange
1 lime
1 bunch of green grapes (wash and freeze these)
1 small container raspberries
1 pineapple (cut, cube, and freeze or buy ones already done for you)
1 lb strawberries (freeze these if you have a high-powered blender)
1 C fruit of choice (strawberries, oranges, pears, pineapple, apples, etc.)
1 inch of ginger root
1 small avocado
optional: 1 bunch cilantro
2 Tbsp raw cashews AND ¼ C cashews or almonds
Sweetener of choice (honey, dates, agave, stevia, etc.)
Ice


Here is the run down.  I am using water that is FREE.  I also have to add, unless it is bought by accident, which does happen when I am not careful, none of these are Organic that I am aware of, but I figure it is better to do this challenge and clean out my eating habits than to do nothing at at all, right?
 
Apple Juice- I bought the concentrate because it just happened to be convenient Roth's $1.88
Spinach- Rainbow Foods aka Grocery Outlet $1.99 (I am not sure of the size but it was a big bag)
Kale- Grocery Outlet $2.99
Bananas- now this was a crazy find, in our neighborhood we have what is called an Economy Grocery store for items that are past expiration dates but SOMETIMES also sell decent produce.  I promise not ALL the bananas were black.  They were just a little spotty.  I flash froze them right away.  They will work for sure.  I got 3 bunches for .55 a pound.  The receipt is really very hard to read so I am not sure of the total.  Next time I will try to pay more attention so I will guess.  A bunch of bananas is usually around 2.5-3 lbs.  I am going to say $4.12 on 15 bananas (there may have been a few more or few less my kids tore into a couple right after we got home and before I could count them).  I think I have enough bananas for the whole months worth or at least pretty close.
Oranges- also at the Economy Grocery but I forget the price so I will use the price I got a bag of some at Safeway as well for $3.88 (a Usave coupon)
Lime- Economy Grocery .50
Green Grapes- Safeway (ouch) $7.22
Raspberries- Roth's (this one hurts not just because they are expensive but because I have a raspberry bush but they are not in season right now and I ran out of all the ones I froze)  $5.99 for a tiny container 
Pineapple- Economy Grocery I decided to just use canned even though that may be frowned upon.  .65 a can- I think.  Let's just say $2.00.
Strawberries- Safeway $2.99 BOGO (2 lb. total) so that or oranges can be used for my extra fruit
Ginger Root- did not get that, just going to skip that this go around and if I have some powder stuff I will throw it in
Avocado- .50 at Grocery Outlet
I did get a small packet of almonds at the EG for .85.  I did not get cilantro or coconut oil.  
Honey- $3.69 (wish I could get this naturally and organic but alas it was at Safeway)

TOTAL:  $38.25 

So I guess it looks like close to an extra $40 weekly to add to grocery budget.  God can do miracles!  Let's do this! 

I don't want to forget to give a shout out to Unconventional Kitchen.  They are the ones putting on the challenge.  It will be great.  I can't wait to see what will happen.  My daughter, Ariana, is really excited about it, too. 
 



 

Trim Healthy Mama

Growing Home has a give away.

Welcoming Challenge

Right now I am reading so many different commentaries, theology books, and Bible studies my head is spinning so if I said all jumbled it is because I am having a hard time keep track of them all.  But today I will try to tell you what I have learned in my Bible Study on Luke.  I am on Luke 9 and was asked how have I been welcoming my family and friends like Jesus.  It was a tougher assignment than it first appeared.  Here is my answer.

I want to be more like Jesus, but fear and sinful nature hold me back.  How do I welcome people?  The frank and honest answer is- I don't.  People scare me.  It is a lot of work to talk and think of the right thing to say.  I judge too quickly.  I take criticism too personally.  I am so selfish.  I come before the throne of God begging for the opportunity to "welcome them" like He did in Luke 9:11. 

As a stay-at-home mom I have a million and one excuses as to why I can't welcome people.  It hurts.  What do I say?  Where do I start?  How can I stop apologizing for the state of my house?  I don't even want to mention the rejection.  Who wants that? 

I was recently introduced to a TV show called The Middle.  On the show one of the main characters is a teenage girl named Sue Heck.  She is use to rejection.  She gets it- a lot.  She has tried out for every club and sports team imaginable, yet she keeps going.  She keeps trying out.  Her joy is barely diminished.  It is a weird inspiration for me (I watch too much TV), but an inspiration none the less.

I think of Sue Heck.  The smile she has IS contagious (there is an episode where she tries to prove this but again fails miserably because people can't see it or are creeped out by it).  But moving on, I think of her as I try to reach out.  Challenging myself to just talk to others.  It doesn't have to spiritual or debate worthy.  It doesn't have to be memorable or emotional.  And surprise, surprise- it doesn't have to be about me!

Please pray for me as I work on this whole "welcoming them" challenge.  Jesus knows what He is doing with me.  I know there is a path just can't always see it. 

Loving It

Today I am really loving it.  Loving the morning, loving the green tea, loving starting a budget (we have finished our 3rd lesson in Financial Peace University), loving being an adult, loving reading God's word, and loving being a part of the family of God.  I had been dealing with a taste of bitterness at the beginning of the year having to dig through my fantasies and pull out who I am and not who I want to be like or who I want to copy.  I want to be me- whoever that is and embrace the now. 

Since the internet went down right around Christmas time and did not return till around the end of January I missed my regular interaction with my favorite Bible study site Good Morning Girls.  I will keep promoting them because they are so refreshing and down to earth.  It is reading from the word.  It is studying and digging deep.  It has lead me to want to wake up early (5:30 in the am) just to start the day.  I admit I am not always as faithful as I would like to be because sometimes my children have a cold or the baby is teething and that requires an all night nurse.  But God gives the grace and you just start over again when you feel rested and well.  After missing out for so long it was hard to just jump right in again, but I am back.  I am starting the Luke Bible study and I am SO EXCITED! 

One of the contributors to the Bible study started off with a quote from The Jesus Storybook Bible author is Sally Lloyd-Jones.  It gives me chills and makes me tear up every time I read it.  I highly recommended reading this book to your children or even to yourself.  It helps to answer, for me, the question as to why is the Bible so big?  Why didn't God just leave us John 3:16 and be done with it?  It changed my reading of the Bible dramatically.  I am forever grateful that my sister-in-law gave this gift to my girls and we have read it through at least 3 times already.  

“No, the Bible isn’t {just} a book of rules, or a book of heroes.  The Bible is most of all a Story.  It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. 

It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne ~ everything ~ to rescue the one he loves.  It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life! 

You see, the best thing about this Story is ~ it’s true.  There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. 

The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. 

It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story.  And at the center of the Story, there is a baby.  Every Story in the Bible whispers his name. 

He is like the missing piece in a puzzle ~ the piece that makes all other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.”

Okay...and a Surprise!

Left things a little hanging last time and was not happy that my attitude was so poor.  I am just suffering from blogger's remorse and (let's be honest) I am jealous of all the other moms who have money to blow on $100 sweaters and $3 coffees and even the ones who have a ton of kids and make it work on tight budgets. 

I have returned to my favorite Bible study form and Good Morning Girls.  It opened my eyes to my anger and bitterness.  I had originally decided to go back when they started a new study because I had missed so much since the Internet went down in November, but I was so down in the dumps about my spiritual life that I just said, "What the hey I will just jump in the last week and keep going with it because it couldn't make it worse- right?"  I feel so much love and peace right now.  I will have to keep up on my own studies somehow if the internet goes down again.  Because I am getting an attitude check and feeling so motherly today I will share something that I have yet to write down yet-

LUCY'S BIRTH STORY

I have not shared one of these in blog form before because, well, mostly because I love telling the story and once I write it down then I don't feel like have to keep sharing it any more, but you don't understand how much I LOVE birth stories.  I have read quite a few on blogs of strangers and of course books and from friends, but I have only written down Hermione's (my first born) story in her baby book and I don't think I could EVER forget Ariana's story.  Since this one is the freshest I should share and I hope you enjoy it if you like birth stories as much as I do.  Here goes-

I was exactly 37 weeks along on a cold  Monday, December 5.  That morning I went to my appointment to be checked by my midwife.  It was all routine and she said I was fine.  She asked me if I had been feeling any contractions, but like I had told her before and because of my previous births I can not ever be sure because I (apparently) have a high tolerance for pain.  She looked at me a little suspicious and let me go on my way.  I didn't feel particularly uncomfortable or even ready, but this is how I know it was a Monday because that is shopping day.  I did, however, feel the nesting rush because I was shopping like a mad woman.  It was so close to Christmas and I thought if this birth was any thing like the others it would be a complete surprise but would probably happen this week so I better get food, presents (not anything fancy just some stuff if that didn't get done), and pjs for the hospital (I had yet to bring my own clothes to the hospital).  This took up the whole day.  Thankfully I was doing all of this sans the children except for the one resting (at least I THOUGHT she was resting) in my belly.  I also remember posting on my status that morning after my appointment at 11:15am:  "not foreseeing much productivity today..."  I had posted that because I was a little tired from feeling so busy but knew I HAD to go shopping or everyone would starve if I wasn't there to cook.

So I had been shopping and walking around all day.  I get home and need to relax.  I don't remember what I cooked for dinner- probably something gross from a box like Hamburger Helper or something.  I sat down with the family and told my husband, "I feel really weird."  At this point I think Lucy had clearly "dropped" in to my pelvis because the weirdness was a very low tightening around my belly.  This weirdness continued through dinner and I did not make much of an effort with reading bedtime stories.  All this time my husband was very nervous but that didn't register at the time.  I was really focusing on the strange feeling that was neither painful or necessarily uncomfortable just "weird". 

Right after bedtime-8ish?  I started to become concerned.  I had had many friends have false alarms and I didn't want to go to the hospital only to be sent back so I began researching Braxton-Hicks because what else could this be?  I was extremely restless and tried to relax and watch TV.  I drank a lot of water and paced the hall way.  Then when I went to the bathroom around 10 my body released much waste that was when I knew I was having or going to start having contractions.  It happened that way last time. 

Now I am a little fuzzy on the details here but these are the little things I remember.  My husband watching me like a hawk when I wasn't in the bathroom.  Watching the clock and trying to time the contractions- was that two minutes or 10?  I remember the contractions being shorter but there wasn't much of a break in between.  I remember it actually hurting a little bit so I knew this was real.  I remember trying to say we should go to the hospital but having to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes and being really aware that I could ah hem *defecate*, excuse me, in my new pajamas kept me from making the message clear.  My husband had returned with someone to watch the little ones while I returned from the bathroom.  Finally, we left the house a little after 11:30.  

I love laboring in the car.  I don't know why but it doesn't hurt as much.  When we got nearer to the hospital we had a small argument as to where we should park that I laugh about now (I don't know if he does).  He wanted to park in the main area while I wanted to go the emergency entrance.  It wasn't as funny at the time.  I was now in fairly serious pain and continually feeling like I had to do a deuce.  Well when we got registered at Santiam Memorial Hospital they said they had to clean up the room.  It wasn't ready yet!  Ahhhh!  Okay, so I ran off to the bathroom because well you know... and came back just in time for them to take me to the room.  My water broke in the doorway.  I said to my husband, "I am NOT getting rid of these new pajamas, but you can throw away the slippers."  The nurse was calmly, TOO calmly, setting up the little bed, while I stripped and immediately lay on the bed.  The bed was situated just so that I could see the mirror and could tell that it was time to push- I could see a head coming out of my body!  Could no one else see that a head was coming out of my body?  I could hear a voice in my head saying or screaming those things but no sound was coming out of my mouth.  No one seemed to be looking and the midwife wasn't in the room.  The nurse had her back turned but my husband was some how clued in by his EYES.  "Um, the head?  The baby? Coming?" my husband seemed to be saying somewhat urgently.  The nurse whipped around and only mildly surprised helped deliver Lucy as the midwife walked in just in time.  It was just one big push that I made no sound during which my baby came in to the world all beautiful and squishy and healthy.  The midwife recommended that if there is a next time I just camp out at the hospital.  Lucy was born only 5 min. past Midnight on Tuesday, December 6, 2011- 5 pounds 13 ounces.