Weigh In & What will I bring to the altar

(altar near Goleen in Ireland)

This week I read a post by one of my SWSM sisters and it has been on my mind ever since. Bear with me as I have inserted some of her post and will give my take:

Collateral is something you put up and get something back in exchange. But it can’t be just anything, it must be something with a price.

That is pretty clear and really to the point.  I have been thinking about what I want for my health and fitness.  I want to be good and FOREVER!  I don't want to keep going back and forth 50lbs.  I do know that it is okay to move back and forth 5lbs or so.  But not much more than that.  But the honest to goodness question I have to ask myself is what am I willing to give up?

I knew that would not be a question that I could just flippantly say, "I can just not eat this or that."  The answer I would have to come up with would have to have substance and "intervention of prayer" to really be worthwhile.  And it had to have actions and a partner.

Those two parties become us and the Lord and just as the Lord put himself upon the alter and sacrificed for us, our collateral is what we must be willing to put on ‘the alter’ in a sense to receive the blessings we are seeking. And the more we are willing to put forth the effort to plant our seed of faith the stronger our faith can grow.

How could I make a sacrifice that would '=' that of the Lord's?  Who am I kidding, there is absolutely, NOTHING I do or sacrifice that could scratch the surface of what the Lord has done.  NOTHING!! So this is where I give up right?

What a blessing it has become for me to take my goals on developing a healthy lifestyle and care for my body to the Lord in faith. He has helped me make my changes more lasting as I have strived to involve him on a spiritual level. I still have my down days, but my consistency over the long haul has increased over the years, and the gap of down days has decreased. (i.e Which has equaled a healthy weight zone more consistently over time).

God wants us to be healthy and to take care of ourselves. It is encouraging to find the following promise by President Benson as we take exercise our faith in doing hard things. President Ezra Taft Benson said, "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.”

It may seem awkward and you may be tempted to think that exercising and eating healthy regularly isn't really collateral. And to also think that it doesn't seem like that big of a sacrifice, I mean come on ...Jesus sacrificed himself for us. BUT we aren't Jesus, and IF that is what you struggle with, i.e not being consistent, finding it takes a lot of mental effort to start, and if it is easier to sleep in and leave out a workout than to develop the drive or faith to say, 'hey I getting my butt out of bed to workout, this will be my collateral to you Lord, please help me develop the faith in following through more than just today'. HE WILL give you the ability to make the change you seek.

So what is my collateral (my sacrifice with a price to the alter)  for the blessing I seek.  Getting up every morning at 4:50am to workout.  Really looking at my food and asking 'will I bring this to the alter.'  Making choices that benefit my family too.  They are already helping me so much.  Especially Aiden, if I go to Chick fil la he reminds me to get the grilled chicken and a fruit bowl.  "Mama, we don't get the fries, because fried stuff is bad for you."  And to top if off he gets the same thing.

My Stats
                   Last Week          This Week

Weight:         228                     229.5

What's for Dinner: Cheese Steak and Peppers

So it's not all that healthy, but for father's day....that's what he wanted and so that's what he gets.

To make this is very simple:

I used sliced roast beef from the deli.  Crockpot it for about 3 hours on low (just added water).  Sauteed red, yellow and green peppers as well as white onions.  Then on a 100% whole wheat and rye roll layered the meat, Havarti cheese, peppers and onion and organic Dijon mustard and....

TA DA!!!!

...meal fit for a king....or the greatest dad.

...there are all kind of dads...our boys got a good one!!! Happy Father's Day David.

I have yet to meet a man, whose love for his children and family, just keeps me in awe like the man I was blessed to have as the father of our sons.

David is the kind of father any boy would love to have as a parent.

He teaches them about hard work and persistence.  How to be have fun and be responsible.  He even teaches them how to be mischievous and not get into trouble for it.  He teaches them that family is #1 and nothing else comes before it.  How to put things in the proper priority and respecting what is right, even when you disagree.  He teaches them out to love and how to honor priesthood.

I never knew there was a man out in the world who did that until I watched David. 

Our boys are lucky and blessed.

I choose the right!!!

Happy Father's Day Baby! You are the right man for the job!!

I know some will think it odd, but I honor my father.

He is as flawed as any man and in some cases more so, but he is my dad. and...

I love him.

As time has aged me and him, I see his struggles and I know that there are consequences for actions we all must pay for and sadly he is and will have to pay.  But I will love him still.  I forgive him for not being the father I wanted or needed, but I thank him for loving me unconditionally.  For teaching me what I really wanted for my children.

Yes, he is a very flawed man, by his own choosing, but he is my dad and I love him.

(Aren't we all flawed)

Happy Father's Day, Pawpaw!  I love you.

Pawpaw & me in 1975

Weighing In on things

Everything is going fine and I am just taking it one day at a time.

My Stats
                   Last Week          This Week

Weight:         228                     228

Height:          5'3"                       5'3"

Hips:            47"                         47.25"

Waist:         40"                          39"

Thighs:        27.5"                       28.5"

  

 Arms:         17"                         17"

So the inches are making a move.  That's great and I feel really good.  It was really neat last week to meet another SwSM at the gym.  I hope to have the chance to meet the rest of you lovelies.  Keep up the hard work and know we are all here for you.

Stop...and just take it all in.

For the past few days we have been going full throttle around here.

Alex getting and going here. 

Aiden needing to be there.

David scrambling to meet this deadline

and me...

Me trying to keep schedules straight and in order.

Well this morning I started to get the craziness going and decided to mow the lawn for Alex.

Really, the mower has been acting up since we helped out a neighbor, and I didn't want Alex to have to get hurt if something dangerous was really wrong.....actually, I have secret love for mowing the lawn and David has been denying me my weekly fix.  He's been tell me that I keep doing "his job."

But, back to why I am writing this post.  As I worked on the mower I looked up and there, just gloriously bathing in the rays of the sun was the rose bush David planted for me several years ago.

This picture is not altered in any way, other than making it square.

This is my favorite of all the roses we have.  It is a tough one at that.  It has struggled over the years.  It is the smallest and has had the hardest time, but it still gives us its all every year.

This made me smile and I then looked at the rest of the roses Dave has planted for me and they all are beautiful.

I have found that in the hustle and bustle of doing this and that, I have neglected to just let the beauty all around me come into me.  I am so grateful for the love of my Savior.  I am so blessed beyond anything I can imagine.

To make sure that I get the message Heavenly Father allowed me to see this message a friend wrote on facebook.

''What you do now, determines your happiness throughout eternity... '' --- David O McKay

How awesome is that!!!

Now I will make it better.
Now I will laugh with my kids.
Now I will put on my rose-colored glasses.
Now I will not have excuses.
Now I will say sorry.
Now, I will take responsibility for my actions and consequences.

What's for dinner this week? How's about Tandoori Chicken and Curry Rice

The taste buds were looking for something out of the norm and India was call out to me as I went shopping last week.  The last time I ate Indian food was....at least 9 years ago at an India restaurant that has since closed, but I do remember that it was different and good.

So here's my stab at something I have heard was really great.

Tandoori Chicken

I served it with a simple Curry Rice and Green Salad (to add a little more color).

It is a spicy dish....not hot, just a lot of spices.  LOVE me some spices. I really loved just mixing all ingredients of the tandoori together.  I felt a little exotic just for a minute.

The boys loved it!  It was a great conversation over dinner.  We talked about India...what little I know of it and how beautiful the people are.

This is definitely a re-maker.  This was a recipe from eatingwell.com

I will sure be using them again. 

Whaaaaaaatttt!?!?

I was so shocked by the to 4.5lb. weight loss that I actually had to capture it.

Wow!!  What a difference a week makes.  I feel so good and I am moving in the best direction...

of being healthy and strong.

I have learned this past week that exercise is KEY to my weight control. I am so grateful to my morning workout buddy Sherri.  She and I hit the gym 4 days a week at 5:30.  We are so there for one another and I hope we can keep each other strong.  Alex has gotten into the morning routine with us also, so I thank him too.

My Stats
                   Last Week          This Week

Weight:         232.5                     228

Height:          5'3"                       5'3"

Hips:            48"                         47"

Waist:         42"                          40"

Thighs:        28.5"                       27.5"

  

 Arms:         17.25"                    17"

 Chest:        45"                         45"

This is very motivating. 

I need your help if you are reading this.  I am looking for suggestions for goal rewards.  For every 10lbs I lose I want to reward myself....I'm due for a reward!!!! Yea!!

I want to reward schedule and start marking them off.  Please I don't want food rewards, but if that is all you can think of tell me anyway.  I want positive make me feel good that I did it rewards.  Leave me a comment please.

P.S. I need to add Thank you to MFP ladies.  I and completely moved by your support and inspiration.

Lovin' my Body!

I just did it!!! I just registered for the Wasatch Woman "love your body" 5K down @ Thanksgiving Point.

I've done a 5K before and I loved it.

If you want to join me, go ahead and register and let me know that you did.  I'll look for ya.

What I think I am going to love the most about this, is the fact that it is GIRLS ONLY!!

I have really grown to love the sisterhood of womanhood and this just seems like a whole lot of fun with womanhood sisterhood.

I am excited!!!!

Let the countdown begin.

I am dedicating this to all of my Shredding with Simply Me sisters and me. 

We can do hard things!!!

What's for Dinner? Stuffed Meatloaf

I don't make meatloaf a lot around here.  Only because it is a wonder to me.   But I have decided that I would give it a try, but if I am going to make this, it just can't be the ole log of meat and ketchup.

NOPE! Not for me I want to experiment with this.

So we start with meat.

We have been buying our meat from Circle V Meats through a friend of ours.  I love it and the price is right.  Just in my experience with them, the meat is super lean, so you actually get meat and not fat.  The other plus is that the ground beef meat comes from 1cow, not the usual 5-6 you find in a package at the grocery store. But hey, I also say use what you can get your hands on.

I really don't have to force my kids to each veggies for the most part, but I still,  in my meatloaf I like to get as many veggies in it as I can. 

It is so important to me anyway that my kids try new things often. So my meatloaf is just never meat and bread crumbs.  These are just some ingredients you can have in a meatloaf.  There are so many more varieties, so I just say let the imagination go wild.

One of the many ways that I make a meal (which just so happens to be usually the way I make a meal), is I allow most of my senses to get involved with the process of making whatever it is I am cooking.

Sight- Color is so important.  If is is bland looking and not interesting it does nothing to excite the desire to eat it.  In this particular meatloaf, we have the bright orange of the carrots, the rich red of the sweet bell pepper and the vibrant green of the spinach.  Next we have smell. 

Smell- I try really hard not to add any additional salt to my cooking.  So what that means, is I have to spice it up.  And I don't mean hot!  Here we had garlic, Mrs. Dash Salt-Free Tomato Basil Garlic seasoning,  Egg Beaters Southwest Style egg substitute and steak sauce as well as Italian seasoned bread crumbs.

Touch- I love to touch my food when I am cooking.  It is truly a hands on event for me.  I mixed the meat and all of the spices, eggs, bell peppers, carrots together. Mushing it all together with my hands for about 3-5 minutes. 

I then rolled out the meat on freezer paper and shaped it into a rectangle and layered with mashed potatoes, carrots, & spinach.  With the help of the freezer paper I rolled it into a log.  Topped with some ketchup and bake for an hour and a half.  And I let mine cool for about 30 minutes before cutting.  If you don't your filling will fall all over the place.

I made this last night for my family and there were no leftovers.  Luckily I made enough mixture to have two loaves and  great meatloaf sandwiches today.

Unexpected and welcome results

I have not had the best of week in the mental/emotional category at all.  I will admit that I was crazy nervous about today's weigh in.  But I knew i had to do it.  I had to face whatever the outcome would be for my poor choices. 

Well, I was pleasantly surprised. 

This just proves to me many things. 

One- We are harder on ourselves than anyone else in our circle.

Two- I am a weak thing.  I let stupid stuff knock me off my path to my goals.

Three- I need to reward myself for my accomplishments.  I suck at this!! 

FOUR- This is a hard thing and with hard things you, we, I

can't do it alone.  We need each other for the encouragement and the pick ups and the most important

setting us me straight!

...about that.  Thank you so much for the encouragement, the pick up and especially the setting me straight talk.  I needed to hear it and appreciate it, so much.

So now....

My Stats

                   Last Week          This Week

Weight:         234.0                     232.5

Height:          5'3"                       5'3"

Hips:            49"                         48"

Waist:         40.75"                       42"

Thighs:        28.5"                         28.5"

  

 Arms:         17"                           17.25"

 Chest:        45.5"                         45"

So here's to a new week full of deliberate right choices....I hope.

What's for dinner & dessert

I am no Julia Child or B. Smith, but I love to kick it in the kitchen.

A little while back I got a bug in my bonnet and wanted to show some of the stuff I cook for my family.

Here are just a few of my creations:
(click on the links below to see holy goodness!!)

Grilled boneless pork loin and mashed sweet potato w/ honey and walnuts
Baked Salmon drizzled w/ a balsamic reduction and asparagus
Pot stickers w/ sugar snap peas and mushroom
ok so the above link won't take you to this dish at first...stupid computers...after you see the salmon just click next and you should be able to see the pot stickers and some other yummies!!
Blueberry Mango Crumble Pie

My kids even get into this with me...this is what Alex made for dinner one of those nights and it was healthy and delicious.
Grilled Chicken-Bacon Pesto Linguine with grape tomatoes
the same thing is happening with this link also...dumb computer!

I am one who does not like to cook from a cookbook, although I have a kitchen cupboard shelf packed tight with Martha, Betty Crocker, the skinny blonde lady who makes semi-stuff.

I like to get in my kitchen and just do it!!!

Well, I haven't posted many more pics since those days, but I am feeling the itch again.

I am hoping that you would like to see what's cookin' in my kitchen too.  I am going to try and make things that are healthy, delicious and fun to look at...nobody wants to eat ugly stuff.

But don't knock the ugly....that stuff can be great!!!

I like all kinds of stuff, especially spices.  I like to cook from ingredients that you can find anywhere, but I also like to adventure out into the exotic often. 

So don't be surprised...

If there is something I make you that you want the directions on let me know.  Once I get a "catalog" of the different dishes, I will eventually create a page where you can just go to an see everything.

This will be fun and me and my family, I'm sure. 

To get this started on (Monday)
I'd like to ask you to leave me a comment, down below, with one ingredient that you would like to see used in one of my meals.

It can be anything, even exotic, but I have to be able to find it and it can't be ridiculously expensive....
after all I will be serving this to my family.

(I promise I will tell you the truth of how it tasted to me and the family)