The ups and the downs

Since I am sharing some of my weight loss journey with you I thought I should share the not so great news right along with the great news. With Halloween, my daughters 8th birthday, soon Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. I need a new plan. In the past few weeks I have put on about 5lbs. That's not earth shattering or anything but for someone who has always struggled with my weight it is a red flag. It's just a reminder to me that I can't let my guard down. But at the same time I can't start into this Christmas season knowing that I will not eat any of those special once a year treats. So I thought I would share my plan to make it through the holidays.

For me the low carb thing seems to work the best. I have been unsucessful at other plans before. But the true of the matter is that I am addicted to carbs. They are my biggest weakness. So I found on things like Weight Watchers I would just eat all my points in "junk" because that's what I really wanted. But with low carb I really had to just say no to everything white/yellow and that did the trick for me. Now that I am done (for now) with the losing part I can add those back in on a small scale, but still avoid them when I can (ie don't keep them in the house). So my plan is that when I am home and cooking for myself and my family I will stick with a high protein, low carb (meaning only fruits and veggies, no breads, beans, or pasta....no matter what color it is) foods. Then at a holiday function or dinner I will allow myself protein as far as the food goes, and I will induldge in a treat. Notice I said a treat and not "all treats". With my running (I am aiming for at least 10 miles a week, with 1 long run a month). I should be able to keep things under control. That's going to be hard. That means when I bake something for the girls, I will remove it from my house ASAP. I won't make my treats days before I take is somewhere or I will want to eat it. I won't keep plates of it around the house. I will cook right before each holiday. If I am giving it as a gift I will make it the day before (or day of), giving it to that person.

So that's the plan. I don't want to come through this time of year with an extra 10lbs. I already want to lose another 10-15lbs once the holidays are over, if I add to that it will just be that much worse. So here is to a happy healthy Christmas season!

Celebrating Christmas

Every year at this time I get just a tiny bit frustrated, and I know it's a silly thing to get frustrated about, but it still bothers me.

As a family Nick and I decided not to teach our kids that Santa is real.....he's not. I know some people don't think it's a "lie", but I don't tell my kids that Barney is real, or that The Beast (as in Beauty and the Beast)is real, so why would I tell them Santa is real? Why would I tell them that a big fat man sneaks into our house in the middle of the night? Why would I tell them that Santa brings them toys? I really don't get it. We have wonderful memory filled Christmas' with our kids. We give gifts to each other, we buy gifts for others, we buy gifts for those who don't get any other gifts. We put up a Christmas tree, we read Christmas books (including those about mythical Santa), we watch Christmas movies (inlucing those about Santa). We look at Christmas lights at night, we bake Christmas goodies etc.... The ONLY difference is that we just don't make Santa a part of it (other than the books and movies). In fact I go one step farther and we research how other countries around the world celebrate Christmas (they don't belive in Santa either). This year each week leading up to Christmas we are going to learn all about one country, bake their Christmas dishes, and desserts, make their tradisional Christmas crafts etc.....

During Christmas we put 100% of our focus on Jesus' birth. Yes I know that this wasn't really the date of his birth, but it is the time that the church has set aside to celebrate. We read the advent, we sing Christmas songs, we read from the bible, we talk about the birth of Jesus and the meaning that has for us. It's a very special time for our family. We give gifts to each other and others because the wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus. We read the story of St. Nicholas and the impact that he had on others.

We make it about Jesus and giving, and love, and family, not about a big fat man who sneaks into our house at night. I know it sholdn't bother me what other people choose to do with their family, just like I hope they don't have options on what I do with my family. I just get sad when I here Christian families get so stressed because their kids are starting to not belive in Santa when we have a truly wonderful reason to celebrate apart from all of that. And I just find the statement "If you don't belive you won't receive" so very very sad. Belive in Jesus and receive his love, and his mercy, and his blessings, don't encourage your kids to belive in something false.

Off my soap box........