Family Dill Blog

Well weigh in was Monday. Gotta say, I was pretty proud of myself! Biggest reason was for loosing more weight. But actually, I think it was bigger than that.

I messed up points a few times, so that wasn’t good. However this is the first time I didn’t berate myself for it! In fact I joked about “falling into the wagon”(food), rather than “falling off the wagon.” I was so happy in fact, that I just thought “oh well”, and started from where I left off.

What a joy and blessing that has become! I wasn’t depressed, I wasn’t angry and I didn’t feel like a failure. Could I have lost more weight? Maybe, but I figure any loss is better than a gain. I’m trying very hard to cut back on my pop drinking, I’m making better food choices and I’m happy. I’m even trying new foods for a healthier me.

I think my family is trying a little harder too. But what choice do they have after all I do the majority of the grocery shopping and food making.

Along with my Weight Watchers program, I’m looking at a new one called “The Lord’s Table”. So while I’m counting points, I’m also learning about how God wants us to be. After all God says our body is a temple, and should be treated as such. So now I also have a helping hand from the good Lord! I will keep you posted on those results as well!

Until next time, keep making healthy choice and remember the body is a temple.

Oh my gosh, I can hardly believe that my first officially weigh in is today! I had some tough days and I did dig in to my weekly points, but actually still had some left over. I believe that’s the first hurdle. I still enjoyed all my favorite foods. Even participated at the work pot luck. But I think I told you about that already.

I found that if I take two pieces of string cheese and add that to baby spinach and salsa salad, I have a great fulfilling meal. My snacks have been carrots, tangerines, and apples. Okay I confess a little chocolate and even some popcorn thrown in there. Man they were good. Oh and don’t worry, I got my pop into! We all know how much I love my pop! Or should I be calling it soda? Anyway, this is a big day.

I also went and had the toe x-rayed per dr.’s orders. So now I’m thinking I might not have an excuse any more to not work out. But on the other hand maybe I still have to be in this shoe thing and I can milk it a little longer.

I’m also sure you’re thinking, common spill already did I lose the weight? Hmmm,well, wether I did or didn’t the outcome will be okay. Remember, I’m taking baby steps on this journey so even small losses are good.

So here we go, the scale reads 1.5 pounds lost, and the X-ray’s read 10 mores days in a boot, then alternating to a shoe as much as my toe will take it. So I guess this means take toddler steps, I got this. I know what I can change, so it’s time to up the auntie and continue to improve.

I’m very proud of me!

It’s amazing the way life is laid out. When your born you depend on your parents. They provide everything you need to survive. As you get older its your parents, the church, extended family, friends and educators. Suddenly you reach a point where you feel like you can make it on your own. As you age, you begin to realize whats really important.

As I look back over my life, I fit all the steps. As I grow older, I still need all those people, but I need God more. The poem “Foot Prints In The Sand” is my reminder of where God is during all those tough time.

My resolution is still holding strong, I almost weakened this last Friday. It was a rough day at work, I read an Email wrong from Doug, only to have him text me later with disappointment. I almost went into negative feelings and anger. Then a light bulb appeared above my head. I noticed my inspirational plaque I have on my desk. Jeremiah 29:11 was there, along with Psalm 20:4 and 32:8.

Jeremiah 29 talks about God knowing your plans. Psalm 20 talks about how we are given a desire in our hearts and then succeed at it. Psalm 32 talks about how God will teach and guide us. Believe it or not it was like my burden and stress was lifted and I could go on. No tears, no anger, no frustration. Just that feeling of peace and thankfulness. That has never happened to me before. In someone ways I believe God was talking to me at that time.

I was feeling the pressure of Doug being gone, a job that’s not my dream job, and then reading the mail wrong and feeling I was in trouble for that mistaken email. Not to mention just learning how to work through my depression and heal. But amazingly, A few short minutes later and I’m back to feeling that everything was and is going to work out!

I’m back on track, and still holding that resolution of taking it day by day and step by step. Again I am strong, I can do this!

Well the first week of the new year has passed us by! How many of you have broken your resolutions already. Lets see, 1,2,4 8,10 yikes, don’t want to keep going, I might embarrass myself, not sure I can count that high.

What’s that you asked? My resolutions? I still have mine. After all I’m learning to take each day as it comes. I’m following my trusty guides. Has it been easy this week? Yes, nothing major happened this week. In fact it was all good. Only had to work three days, and my sons friends came in from out of town to say hi and hang out. What a blessing that visit had been.

The only thing that really challenged me, was Sunday night’s dinner. On Saturday night the kids and I planned Sunday dinner and everyone was in agreement. Well I started making Sunday dinner and the boys informed me they were going out to dinner. My first reaction was anger, but I smiled and told them to have fun! Then my daughter looked at me and said “how rude!”Now, I’m just frustrated but started talking to her about it. In the end I was okay with them leaving. All I would need to do was freeze a little of the dinner and keep some for left overs. It really was no big deal. In fact it may have been a blessing.

Blessing you ask? Giving me that weird look. Yes a blessing. What if they didn’t like it and threw the food away? What if there’s an unknown allergy to some ingredient? Worse what if I didn’t make enough and they wanted more? So yes to me it was a blessing!

Well I have made it in this new year, staying true to me. I didn’t make up unrealistic expectations, to only fail and become angry and depressed. Then all those negative thoughts come back!

I have really worked hard since September to have positive thoughts about me. I have worked really hard at remembering the only one I have to impress is me! Armed with that knowledge God is my pilot, Jesus is my co-pilot, and the Holy Spirit is my flight attendant. I’m on a very safe flight.

In closing, thank you Doug for sticking with me through the good and bad times, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health. Through your journey with God, I’m learning to walk beside The Lord, not in back or in front.

Put one foot in front of the other……..baby steps baby, for one day it will be Bigfoot!

Ok so I know I’ve said I would look forward and work each day one step at a time, but to inspire me, I looked at my Weight Watchers history. I figure if people can go on nation wide tv and show their weight, I could blog about mine. Besides not many people read this, but maybe one day they will and I can inspire them.

Here’s a little background. I’m five feet tall. Depending on who is checking my height, you can add a 1/2 inch to an inch. Crazy I know. Any way, when I started my journey it was June 6, 2011. My first weigh in put me at 168.4. Man I was embarrassed! I looked at some old pictures and can actually see the weight now. But I didn’t at the time it was happening. I didn’t even realize I was buying larger sizes. I’m sure that’s true of many people.

Well I continued to count points and attend the Weight Watchers Meeting. By July 4th just shy of a month from starting I lost 5% of my weight. A milestone with Weight Watchers as they too aim for baby steps. It’s never healthy to lose too fast. Success leads to motivation and by September 5th, I had dropped 10% of my body weight. I couldn’t be happier and people started to notice and I almost dropped a pants size! Then Merry Christmas to me, on 12/26/2011 I was down to 144.7 and one pants size. 23.7 pound lost, incredible!

Think about two bags of sugar, or two bags of flour, that’s what I lost! I was thrilled. I was rocking it. Then, I’m not sure what happened. Many changes were starting to take place in my life and I didn’t Handle it well. Like many before me, and many yet to come, the way I dealt with feelings was by eating. Eat when I’m happy, eat more when I’m sad , eat again because I’m bored. It’s one of those addictions that people over look.

So when I weighed myself on the scale, to really start counting again I weighed in at 155.5 not to bad from where I started. I’m still 12.9 pounds from where I began, but 10.8 pounds from my greatest success.

My plan of attack is to only shoot for those extra 10.8 pounds! Then start looking for my goal weight, which was determined by my Doctor when this all began. So you may ask, what my goal weight is. I’m happy to tell you. I’m shooting for 128. That’s just 27.5 more pound to shed. See why I only want to aim for that 10.8. Once I reach that goal I only have 16.7 pounds to go, which I can break down into smaller goals.

Again I will still keep my chin and continue day by day. I will reach my goal, I will be in my high school pants size. I will live long enough to see my great great grandchildren. I hope you are all there with me. By the way, Weight Watchers is real food and foods I enjoy. Moderation baby!

Wow! Gotta keep myself accountable. If I keep it real and put in writing I would be lying to everyone.It’s like being at a Weight Watchers meeting. So here we go…..

I started counting points on Monday. I’m allowed 26 a day and if needed an extra 49 for the week I can pull from. So Monday I did barrow a few extra points, and then a little More on Tuesday. Wednesday, I way over did it! Pot luck day at work, oh the smells and temptation! So Thursday pushed to stay with in the 26 points. Success! Although I “feel” hungry, I’m sure I’m not. More like board.

I won’t weigh in again until Monday morning here at home, we will see if we lost, stayed the same or gained. Either way I’m keeping my chin up. I use to beat myself up about making mistakes, but no more! I’m human I will make mistakes, life will go on and I will just start again where I left off!

I’m glad I have a blog to sound off on! Go me!

I’m going to lose weight, I’m going to keep it off. I’m feeling good about me! Watch out here I come!

Over a year ago I started Weight Watchers with some friends at work. Although I didn’t get to my goal weight, I did lose 20 pounds. All that and no workouts. Imagine how much I really could have lost if I had only worked out.

Then came some tough news. I lost my motivation, and didn’t care. Now I’m back up there in weight all twenty pounds. Thank goodness, it’s not more. New problem adding to this mix, medication. What do you suppose is a common side effect? You guessed it weight gain.

Ok so now I had an excuse to gain weight and the holidays were here. Who could resist all that food? I’m sure I could name more excuses, but a reality hit when I found my jeans getting to tight and no longer owning my fat pants of the past. I couldn’t even fit in the workout pants I bought to work out in. But wait there’s more! I have a broken toe, so can’t lose weight now right?

WRONG!

I can count points that’s a start! So that’s what I did starting on January 7 th. All I can do is take it one day at a time. So if I go over points, that’s okay we’ll start again. My mind is healing, my body will heal to.

I’m hoping this blog will keep me stay accountable for my food choices. Here’s to a new me in 2013!

Well the first week of the new year has passed us by! How many of you have broken your resolutions already. Lets see, 1,2,4 8,10 yikes, don’t want to keep going, I might embarrass myself, not sure I can count that high.

What’s that you asked? My resolutions? I still have mine. After all I’m learning to take each day as it comes. I’m following my trusty guides. Has it been easy this week? Yes, nothing major happened this week. In fact it was all good. Only had to work three days, and my sons friends came in from out of town to say hi and hang out. What a blessing that visit had been.

The only thing that really challenged me, was Sunday night’s dinner. On Saturday night the kids and I planned Sunday dinner and everyone was in agreement. Well I started making Sunday dinner and the boys informed me they were going out to dinner. My first reaction was anger, but I smiled and told them to have fun! Then my daughter looked at me and said “how rude!”Now, I’m just frustrated but started talking to her about it. In the end I was okay with them leaving. All I would need to do was freeze a little of the dinner and keep some for left overs. It really was no big deal. In fact it may have been a blessing.

Blessing you ask? Giving me that weird look. Yes a blessing. What if they didn’t like it and threw the food away? What if there’s an unknown allergy to some ingredient? Worse what if I didn’t make enough and they wanted more? So yes to me it was a blessing!

Well I have made it in this new year, staying true to me. I didn’t make up unrealistic expectations, to only fail and become angry and depressed. Then all those negative thoughts come back!

I have really worked hard since September to have positive thoughts about me. I have worked really hard at remembering the only one I have to impress is me! Armed with that knowledge God is my pilot, Jesus is my co-pilot, and the Holy Spirit is my flight attendant. I’m on a very safe flight.

In closing, thank you Doug for sticking with me through the good and bad times, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health. Through you journey with God, I’m learning to walk beside The Lord, not in back or in front.

Put one foot in front of the other……..baby steps baby, for one day it will be Bigfoot!

Happy New Year! 2013 has arrived and the predications of the world ending in 2012 was once again wrong. How do you like R.E.M.’s song now? ” It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!”

2012 for me started with challenges and thoughts of my life ending. No I wasn’t sick and thinking I was going to die. Rest assured I wasn’t suicidal either, but my candy coated world dissolved. Much like any sugar being used for beverages and treats, the flavor remains, but is unseen. Oh the drama of it all!

I helped my husband and son, move to one location. I moved my daughter to another. Even moved myself to a different location from the rest. So we are a family, living separately. There was no thoughts of separation from the marriage, or thoughts of selling my children. But looking back, it might be worth selling the kids. 2012 was to bring us all into a new journey. With most journeys, you have no idea where it will lead or how it will end.

The past year brought us to a new state, a new home, new jobs and new friends. It brought us an understanding of the importance of family, medical insurance, food pantries and state aide. It taught us the importance of a strong community and church. It taught us how to over come the rough spots, and still find the good during those times. It allowed us time to begin building our faith in God.

So that candy coated world, is symbolic to the house built on the sand, beautiful yet temporary. While the house built on the rock stands firm both in beauty and in strength. Now, slowly I will begin building my house on the rock.

2012 went out with a bang. Bonus at work, moved to an unsupervised floor, won an IPad for my daughters Christmas gift, and was named employee of the month. The grand finale of 2012, was breaking my big toe. Yet, thankful that was all that happened.

Lets bring on 2013! My only resolution, is this. I will start this journey with my arms wide open, my eyes wide open, but the mouth closed. Don’t want to swallow any bugs you know. This journey will be filled with happy, yet sad times, anger, frustration and understanding. It’s a chance to begin anew. I will take each day one at a time and be thankful for each and every circumstance.

I’m ready for the journey to begin. Who’s with me? I know our guides for this journey will be God, Jesus the son of man, and the muse of the Holy Spirit!

In this last thought, I wish to say thank you Josh and Shannon for being a great example of Gods love for us, and the strength that the spirit offers each and every day.

Let 2013 begin!

Christmas, it’s a time of pretty lights, pretty packages, family get togethers ,Hallmark movies, claymation movies and midnight church services. It’s children looking for Santa, his elves and flying reindeer. It’s the joy of gift giving and receiving. I must not forget, the cool Christmas windows in department stores. Even famous parades. The list goes on.

As a child I looked forward to Santa and gifts. In my teen to young adulthood, just the gift. When I became a parent, it meant giving my children the best memories of the Christmas season. Today as my children get older, and my age climbs, Christmas has changed. I’m actually seeing Christmas in a new way. Christmas really does have magic and miracles. I never thought I would see the day, when my Christmas list was more about giving than receiving.

We forget that Christmas, at least to me, means the promise from God that all my needs will be met. It’s the wake up call, to let go of the past, focus on today and leave the future in Gods hands. Before my diagnosis of depression, I had doubts that Christmas would be enjoyable. After all money’s tight, my family is 189 miles away, I work a lot of hours to make ends meet. Would there be a tree? Would there be gifts? What kind of food would we have?

Well my questions where answered. In my old life, I had three trees. When we moved I had to put one in storage, and get ride of one. Yet my four foot tree remained here, which now stands with ornaments and lights a glow. There a gifts under the tree, food in the freezer and my family is driving 189 miles to spend the day with me on Christmas.

Once again my needs were met. Christmas really isn’t about the gifts or trees. It’s Gods true love and his gifts for all of us, should we accept them. May God continue to bless you and your friends and family. I know God will continue to love and provide for me and my loved ones. Merry Christmas!