Hope & Help for the Holidays

The "title" of my blog REALLY comes into play during the Holiday Season, I'm noticing!

Each of the three words/concepts seems to take on a WHOLE 'nother dimension when sharing the house and mealtimes with additional people - of all ages, sizes, needs and preferences.  For today, I'm working on LOVE while giving up some POWER
 and maintaining SELF-CONTROL. 
(Can anyone relate????)

This is challenging,

but I can and WILL do it

with the help of God.

Holiday Appetites

In anonymous: Jesus' hidden years and yours, by Alicia Britt Chole, these words grabbed me last night as I read them.  How I needed them!  Particularly in this holiday season with its appeal to my appetite!

The second thieving rationalization that causes us to underestimate temptation in the area of appetite...says, It is better than...

In this lie, we abdicate our responsibility to discipline our appetite by convincing ourselves that what we are doing is the "lesser of two evils."  So we listen in silence to a slanderous rumor, but at least we did not start it.  We punish someone repeatedly in our thoughts, but at least we are not doing it with our fists.  We fantasize about impurity privately, but at least we are not engaging in it physically.

This kind of reasoning almost makes it seem as though we are doing God a favor by sinning, as though he should be satisfied or even proud that we are not doing something worse.  But when tempted in the layer of appetite, the question we need to ask ourselves is not, What is this better then?  but "What is this feeding?"  Whatever we feed will live to tempt us another day.

How ABOUT that last line?  

Whatever we feed will live to tempt us another day.

By the way, the FIRST "thieving rationalization" is 

"it is just until....."

as if today doesn't really count or that we will deal with the issue later.

"Today always counts," she writes.

"If we fail to deal with issues today, they will deal with us tomorrow."

Scaling Back

 Yesterday I wore the SAME skirt I was wearing in the sidebar picture a few years ago.

That was one of my goals, and I've achieved it.

Today (and the past week or so) the challenge to live 

with intention and will to eat well and wisely looms large!

VERY large.

I am leaning heavily on my bathroom scale

to keep me on track while everything around me says,

"Take!  Eat!"

(Weren't those the words of the serpent to Eve in the garden????)

So for awhile, I will weigh daily while rejoicing in the freedom and success that

Fast-5 eating has brought to me in 2012.

How are YOU doing?

A recent splurge - and dream come true!

Let the Good Times Roll!

The first of several Christmas parties and events happened last week.  We enjoyed a buffet meal and Christmas show at Bear Creek Farms (outside of Geneva, IN).   The weather was beautiful; we strolled outside and around gift shops, etc. between meal and show.

Once again, the Fast-5 eating plan was PERFECT for the day.  I simply switched snack and meal, enjoying a couple slices of a pear earlier in the afternoon and eating small portions of most anything I wanted at buffet-time!  I chose an apple/walnut dessert with a scoop of vanilla icecream on top to finish the meal.

I LOVE this season and, thanks to a decision last February, I can fit into several outfits hanging in my closet waiting for festive occasions such as these!

. 

Calorie Calculator - Check It Out

SO helpful - 

this Calorie Calculator!

I was directed there by someone on the Fast-5 facebook page.

It gives some quick and helpful information about how many calories

are necessary for weight loss, maintenance, etc.

based on personal information you enter.

Check it out!

Doing What I Can...

He knows what a wretched machine you are trying to drive. 

Do what you can. 

One day He will fling it on the scrap-heap & give you a new one. 

 (C.S. Lewis)

Thanksgiving 2012

My first Thanksgiving meal while enjoying the Fast 5 lifestyle!

Nothing was off limits.  Turkey & stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy, sweet potatoes,

cranberry cream salad, cheesy hot veggies, rolls, and pies!

Lots of pies.

Two of my siblings and their husbands, 3 nieces & nephews,

 my mother and father at the table...

 Our meal was followed by aThanksgiving Trivia Quiz & Game Time.

 (We're great at table games!)

Counting my weight loss and health as MAJOR blessings this year

and praying the same for anyone who reads this.

Vacation Choices

The Fast-5 Lifestyle was ideal for our week's vacation!  I even lost a pound!  When the mealtimes of others were outside my "eating window",  I enjoyed a glass of water or cup of coffee along with the table company and conversation.   At restaurants, I chose salmon or fish.  On the train, I snacked on a Braeburn apple and some almonds.  Food just was not the focus - which meant more time and attention to spend on people and experiences.

Fast-5 = No food off limits.  How weird is that?
Fast-5 = Eating only during a 5-hour "window".

Have Your Cake & Eat It, Too!

Pumpkin Roll!

If you take two steps forward and one step back, you’re still getting someplace.
Don't give up the moment you slip up. Press on!  

This quote in Motivation to Live Well today came at a very good time for me.  I DID slip up a time or two this past week.  Sugar IS my nemesis!  A discussion about this with Myra earlier this week helped strengthen my resolve to control my intake of sugar.  I am determined to maintain the weight I am currently enjoying if I have to write and remind myself here EVERY week!

That being said, I DID enjoy a piece (or two) of the pumpkin roll I purchased from my favorite Amish baker and served at a small gathering we hosted Saturday night.  I ate it during my Fast-5 "window--so counted myself successful while enjoying a special treat.  Just proof that you CAN have your cake and eat it, too!

Live Well

From Today's Motivation to Live Well (in my sidebar) today:

Live not in what has happened, or fear of what may come tomorrow. 

Live Well in the here and now, and treat this as your defining moment.

That's pretty much my goal today.

I'll "open my Fast-5 window" at 11:30

when I meet a friend for lunch at a Chinese restaurant.

It's a little earlier than I usually eat, 

but I'm thankful for the flexibility of this lifestyle

that lets me enjoy an endless variety of food 

without calorie counting or measuring, etc. 

Yesterday I had a craving for something sweet.

Unfortunately it "hit" after my window had closed.

I resisted the temptation and enjoyed a cup of

hazelnut cream decaf coffee instead.

I'm REALLY glad I didn't give in to the urge.

I feel stronger and healthier for having made that decision.

 

 

A Lifetime Challenge

Only now would I be "courageous" enough to again admit to writing this book.

Published by Victor Books, then a division of Scripture Press,

it was one in a series of Bible studies for women.

Self-discipline has always been an area of challenge for me.

Once again, I've achieved a goal in the weight loss department.

But it's only the beginning.

The book has been out of print for quite awhile, and I had kept no copies for myself.

I stumbled on this one awhile back in a thrift store, brought it home to put on a bookshelf,

and occasionally pull it out to remind me of where I've been, where I am,

and that some challenges are for a life-time!

Maintenance Strategy

Monday - a grilled pear salad.  With goat cheese, bacon and currant vinaigrette dressing!

It was the major part of my eating for the day.

An hour of thrift store shopping with a friend preceded it;

lovely conversation accompanied it.

It was SO good that I'm thinking of repeating the salad

when we go out for a mid-afternoon dinner today!

Hovering around my 135# goal and planning my

Maintenance Strategy are the focus of my healthy lifestyle efforts these days.

135#

If my goal weight is 135#, then I am HERE!

I began Fast-5 on February 6.

I know that I weighed at least 180.

SO....

that's losing 45 pounds in about 8 1/2 months.

I plan to ease into "maintenance" the first week of November

while continuing Fast-5.

It has worked well for me in areas besides weight loss

and I'd like to continue those benefits into the next phase of my life.

I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do that, 

but I have a couple of weeks to figure it out.

I'm open to suggestions.
(I'm wearing an "old" dress that's been hanging in my closet
just WAITING for me to arrive at its size.
Feels so good!)

Enormous!

 I'm anticipating some healthy eating

after being gifted with this ENORMOUS sweet potato!

Autumn is a great time to enjoy soups made of combinations of

all KINDS of vegetables! 

Candles, Centerpieces, Company

This centerpiece welcomed guests Saturday evening 

and another full table at noon on Sunday.

By managing/adjusting my Fast-5 "window"

I was able to enjoy my frozen pumpkin dessert, some hot cider

and ALL of the foods that everyone else enjoyed.

I'm SO thankful for this way of eating.

By the end of this month, I expect to be at my goal of 135#, 

so I'm beginning to think about my strategy for November.

How are YOU doing in the area of healthy living?