Without Thrive

Last Saturday I went to a Thrive class at my local center.( If you don't live in NW Georgia you will not have a local center but you can go to the Thrive website to learn all about the program and even join for yourself. The online community is awesome and you will find tons of support for your lifestyle journey.) So anyway, at the meeting we had a guest speaker Vince. He is a Thriver and has done an amazing job losing weight. He brought up something that hit home with me. Instead of having "before" and "after" pictures he had "without Thrive" and "with Thrive". The reason behind this is because Thrive teaches you how to change your relationship with food and make a lifestyle change. It isn't a diet, so once you get going with it you will want to stay with it forever. There are steps and once you reach your goal weight they teach you how to eat to maintain that weight but you are still eating healthy. So I am going with Vince's way and calling my "before" Without Thrive. I really meant to get these up a while ago as I've not been on my journey for a month but I just haven't had time. However, these were taken at the beginning and I wanted to share them here so you can follow my journey and help keep me on track.


I don't know what happened with the lighting but Hubby did his best. You can definitely see that I can stand to lose some weight, even in the blurry pictures. Here is my starting weight:
215 pounds! I remember when I hit 200 and I wanted to hide in a closet and never come out. I think at my very heaviest I was 220 or 225. Now the 215 is on my very unreliable home scale. At the doctor's office I was 218 so I normally say my beginning weight was 218. And now I will share the really really embarrassing stuff: measurements. I didn't think to measure my arms and calves but I'll share the measurements I took.
Waist: 46.5 in Hips: 51.5
Thigh: 27 Chest: 49.25

Why Thrive?

I recently started the Thrive Weight Loss program. What I like about it is that they teach you WHY you eat certain foods in certain combinations. It isn't a diet, it is a lifestyle. It really is just a matter of looking at food differently and making wiser choices. I've only been following the plan for 3 days but so far so good. I decided that since all my other attempts at weight loss has failed miserably, I want to share this new venture with the blogosphere. Maybe by sharing my journey with everyone, I'll be more diligent in staying with it.
Today was my first "hard" day. I have wanted a Coke all day. And I have them, in my fridge. Ice cold. Laughing at me. I open the refrigerator to get the water and those glistening red cans call out to me. Really. They do. I have been strong. I have drank my weakly sweetened tea and my water. I've even found some Crystal Lite that I like but those glistening, ice cold cans of soda continue to mock me. But they won't win. I know they won't win. I know this because the 1st thing you do in the Thrive system is find your WHY. Why do I want to lose weight. Why do I want to put myself through the misery of having a can of soda mock me. Well let me tell you...this is my why.

I want to look like this again. Or as close as a 33 year old me can look to the 17 year old me. It's not just about looking like that though. I remember how it felt to be like that. I had ENERGY. I mean real energy. I could walk everywhere I wanted to go without feeling like I was going to DIE. Come on, you know the feeling. When you go outside and it feels good to exercise. I could even RUN and RIDE A BIKE. I don't even like saying those words anymore. My kids want to go on bike rides and I don't own a bike. I don't want to own a bike. It hurts to ride a bike. I mean it makes me miserable. Running, now that's a whole 'nother story. I've never been a runner. It has always given me headaches. I mean I could run around the bases in a baseball game or chase someone a short ways but no running track or anything for me. I don't want to run races or marathons though I just want to chase my kids and get them out as they round third base. Or make a touchdown in family football. I want to be similar to the 17 year old me again. But that isn't my only WHY. There is another why and it has to do with this dream I've had for many, many years. I want to be pregnant. It isn't just the desire to be a mom, I have that and I love it. I love my boys and would love to adopt more but I feel like I missed out on something special and important. I want to experience motherhood from the very beginning. I have PCOS and so that make gaining weight very easy. It also makes losing weight very hard. But the best "cure" for PCOS is losing weight. I am also at high risk for diabetes and heart disease. I already have chest pains and have even been to the hospital because of them. I've had an Eco, Ekg and stress test. So far everything seems ok but it scared me. That was 2 years ago and I have gained weight since then. I want to be around to see my children grow up and have children of their own. I want to be able to play with my grandchildren. And I want to have more children. Whether the Lord leads us to a larger family through adoption or conception, I want to be able to play with each of those family members. When Youngest was a baby I could hold him an carry him all I wanted to. Now babies get heavy faster and I have to pass them off to other people even though I don't want to. I get tired just tying my shoes or bending over a few times to pick up things on the floor. I am not happy this way.
So WHY THRIVE? Well I THRIVE to be Healthy, Happy and HOT! Do you Thrive? Why?

Why Not Me?

Have you ever found yourself feeling all alone even though you supposedly have a ton of friends? I know I have. I know others who have. Sometimes you are even a member of a very good church but still you feel like no one is there for you. You hear about or read about friends who are having lunch with other friends. You witness people inviting other people to lunch. Sometimes you see church members invite new visitors to lunch and you wonder, why have they never invited me? I've thought a lot about this. I have felt this way myself many times and yes, sometimes it is true, we really are alone. Yet, the more I thought about it and the more I prayed about it the more I realized that it is really a self-inflicted position. Now, before you stop reading and click away from my site hear me out. How often do you truly show yourself friendly. Do you invite others out for lunch or over for lunch? Do you seek out people to talk to after church or on the phone. When you are having a conversation with someone do you easily get your feelings hurt if they don't agree with your point of view?
I have tried reaching out to some people who I felt could become my friends but quickly was made to feel like they didn't really want friends, they wanted carbon copies. If I didn't agree with their schooling choices, it was a debate instead of a discussion and I left the conversation feeling like I should have kept my point of view to myself. If we differed on a biblical principal, then surely it was my fault and after a while I just felt like the relationship was too hard to keep up. I didn't cut that person out I just tried to limit the conversations and contact.
I have been made to feel bad for inviting others out or over also. Nothing is directly said it is just the little hints and sideways comments that make it known you've done something wrong. I am an outgoing person. I like to make friends. I do invite people over or out, yet it isn't often that it is reciprocated. So am I doing something wrong? Do other people really like me but are so busy they can't have friends. Are they just shy? I may never know the answer to those questions but I do know one thing.... I still choose to be happy and keep trying.
There are times at church when we have activities coming up and volunteers are needed. I try to volunteer. I don't have a car but I am still more than willing to help in any way I can. So I have gotten hurt feelings before because even though I have volunteered I'm not given any tasks. We seem to have a certain group of GREAT workers that do pretty much everything. That is fine with me, it really is. I love all our workers but I do sometimes wonder why they asked for help. I'm not the only "new" member of the church to feel this way. We don't want to take over we want to join in. I think sometimes it is hard for them because they've always been the do-ers and so now it is habit. Again...do I pout and stop trying? NO. How can we sit back and complain if we aren't doing all we can to show ourselves friendly? I will still volunteer the next time they ask for helpers. I will still invite people over or out with us. Why? Because I am an outgoing person and I enjoy making new friends. I may not get a friend from every effort but new friends are made. I know you have to be willing to give more than you expect to get. If you can't give more than you expect to get then your not going to be able to be a good friend in return. People want friends to be easy to have relationships with. They want someone who will listen to their needs as much as talk about their own.
Sometimes it is hard to be a friend but if you can't be a friend, if you don't try to be a friend, then really can you complain about not having friends?
If you don't volunteer at church, if you don't contribute ideas, if you don't participate in activities, then can you really complain about not being involved or included?
What's your thoughts?
I will re-invite those that I enjoy keeping company with, even if they don't reciprocate. I will keep volunteering when the Lord leads. Eventually they will see that I am faithful and that I am friendly and they will come around. I can only do my best and choose to be happy no matter what.

House Swap

I don't know what it is about being at someone else's house but it makes me actually desire to clean. I mean I want my house to be clean and I love it when it is, but the actually doing it part I struggle with. We are staying at my sister-in-laws for a few days to keep her children while she and her husband are on an anniversary trip and I have done a GREAT job keeping her kitchen clean. I even mopped, and I don't mop. Hubby usually does the mopping around our house because it hurts my back and shoulder but he does it on the weekends and I really wanted to mop SIL's kitchen last night as the finishing touch of the work I did so I did. I love the smell of Pinesol too. I mean I could do one of their commercials I like it so much. Maybe it was easy to want to do the dishes here b/c she has a beautiful, large kitchen. Or maybe it was b/c I had access to her dishwasher (which I don't have at home). I don't know what it is but it was actually enjoyable and I'm excited for them to come home to a fresh clean kitchen.
I've always been weird about cleaning at other peoples houses though. It is just a habit that as soon as I get done with something I want to clean up whatever it is but at my own house, I have the "I'll do it in a minute" mentality. It makes no sense to me. I mean I cooked last night, my family plus her two boys ate, and then I had to do the dishes. That is the exact same as at my house but for some reason, here I got up immediately from the table and cleaned up. Then after Hubby got home and ate I immediately got up and cleaned the final dishes. WHY NOT AT MY HOUSE? It really makes me mad at myself. I should be just as excited to have the house clean for Hubby to come home to as I am to have the house clean for SIL and her husband to come home to. So I think we should do a show called House Swap where a few ladies get together and swap house cleaning for a day. I mean think about it, you leave your house messy and smelly and come home to a clean aromatic home. Each lady would use her own cleaning supplies and that way you would come home to "new" smells and it may entice us to use different cleaners ourselves, when we discover theirs work or smell better than our own all time favorites. Plus it would help us to know how to clean our "hard to clean" areas because one of the other women is bound to know a trick or two. I know I'm weird and it would never actually happen for me but still, I can dream right. And that would probably only happen once a week so we would still be responsible for the day to day humdrum that I always "can do in a minute". Oh well, for now I am going to sit back and enjoy the smell of PineSol and listen to the wonderful music of a dishwasher running. Yes I meant to say music, when you don't have a dishwasher that sound is music.

Howdy

Hi blogosphere. It has been a while. Not sure I remember how this thing works but I am going to try to get back into it. I have been busy busy busy trying to change my life around. I'm not wasting as much time on Facebook and have cut out several of their sites games. Man you can really get sucked into those things. I'm only doing 1 now but may give that up before long. Need to be spending more time in the Bible and with my family. The house remodeling is coming along slowly but some think we are crazy to still be working on it since our mortgage company has us in foreclosure and doesn't seem very willing to work with us. We've been in review for modification since November... but I say we already had the supplies we might as well use them. I mean we are living here and I want to be as comfortable as possible plus due to a water leak one of our bathroom floors is about to fall through and since the other one was torn apart b/c of mildew and mold when we first bought the house, we have to get one of them working properly.
Anyway, that's my crazy life.. more coming soon.

Hickory Farms for Christmas

Everyone loves receiving gifts and when a gift involves gourmet treats, even better! Choosing gifts that present beautifully and are as equally delicious proves valuable to many Moms when stressed for time and ideas. Hickory Farms is one retailer who combines these components and then some. Hickory Farms' gifts, a holiday tradition for nearly 60 years, provide a wide selection of signature sausages and savory cheeses in beautifully packaged boxes and baskets. Most of us can remember receiving Hickory Farms at some point in our lives, and the fun of carefully opening it and incorporating the delicious items into our holiday traditions. Whether that means serving the high quality foods to guests or enjoying them with your family, Hickory Farms believes that traditions matter, making these products a long-standing classic gift. Hickory Farms makes gift-giving even easier this year, by featuring five signature gift boxes, using eco-conscious packaging, ranging from $16 to $100. Once again this holiday season, Hickory Farms will donate $5 from each Party Planner Gift Box sold* to Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry Campaign, a national nonprofit that is ending childhood hunger in America. Additionally, Hickory Farms provides free military shipping to military APO/FPO addresses on select products, allowing our troops across the globe to share in holiday traditions. Visit hickoryfarms.com to learn more about these two opportunities as well as the variety of gift boxes available! We love Hickory Farms and it is a gift I have often given. It is especially nice to give to the men in your family that you just don't know what to buy. With the large selection and specialty items available I am sure you will find the perfect gift for everyone on your list. I was provided with a gift basket from Hickory Farms through Mom Central for my participation in this review capaign.

Lawry's Complete Meals Seasonings

As a busy mom, I am always looking for quick and easy ideas to serve great tasting meals. With Lawry's four new seasoning mixes I have found a quick and easy answer to the question "What's for dinner?". Each package is an exciting meal idea that quickly turns ordinary chicken, beef or pasta into a delicious meal the entire family will love.

The new varieties include:

• Asian Style Beef & Broccoli – This easy to prepare stir fry meal will remind your family of their favorite Asian restaurant. The dish combines beef, broccoli and seasonings with a hint of garlic. Serve it over rice for a complete, satisfying meal.

• Chimichurri Burrito Casserole – Lawry’s gives the Burrito casserole a new twist with this traditional Latin American sauce. With a few simple fresh ingredients, mealtime just got a lot more exciting.

• Mediterranean Sundried Tomato & Garlic Chicken – Add a taste of the Mediterranean to your family’s casserole. This easy to bake casserole combines chicken, pasta, tomatoes and Feta cheese for a flavorful meal any night of the week.


• Tuscan Style Chicken Marsala with Garlic & Basil –This effortless version of a restaurant favorite comes together on your stovetop with just a few fresh ingredients. Flavorful garlic and basil gives this meal its own Tuscan flair, perfect for serving over pasta or rice.

So far our family has tried the Chimichurri Burrito Casserole and the Mediterranean Sundried Tomato & Garlic Chicken. We LOVED the Burrito Casserole. The recipe on the back of the package called for black beans which we didn't have so I substituted the refried beans but other than that I followed the directions exactly. The tasted to us like Enchilada's. They were delicious served on a bed of lettuce with some sour cream. They even tasted good warmed up the next afternoon for lunch! We've had this meal twice already. The Tomato's and Chicken was good also but not as good to us as the Burrito bake. We will make it again but we have decided to substitute the tomato's it calls for with a mild speghetti sauce just to see if it helps some. It seemed a little bland. The Feta cheese was delicious on it though. I am eager to try the other two flavors also but just haven't gotten around to getting the ingredients I didn't already have on hand. I would highly recommend these as a quick meal and will even be serving them to guests.

If you would like to try them out for yourself or give them as a gift for Christmas then blessing abound! One of my lucky winners will receive a gift pack including a marinating dish and all 4 of the new seasoning packs.

To enter just leave me a comment telling me your favorite quick and easy meal. Beware I may email looking for the recipe though. :) Contest will end on Nov. 26 at 9 pm EST.

The Lawry's product, information and additional gift pack to give away were given to me by Lawry's through MyBlogSpark.