Scale: Slave to? Or Accountable To?

 Weightloss.   Everywhere you turn you see ads for quick and easy weight loss.   Pills, shakes, creams, and even laser therapies.  If you have followed me at all, you know I have struggled with my weight since our daughter got sick the first time.   I know I am repeating myself, but I am a major stress eater.  Knowing and understanding your eating habits and eating triggers is critical to success in weight loss.

Fast forward to this spring.   Gyms had been closed for three plus months.  Our business has been drastically affected by this pandemic as well.  That was a recipe for disaster for me.   Food for comfort, beer and pizza, wine, chips and so much more.   The latest health issue in our home if our son hurting his back over a year ago during off season baseball training.  That is another story, but let's just say, unsupervised weight training with young high school athletes is a REALLY bad idea.  He has struggled a lot and missed a lot of baseball as well.  The masses of tests, emergency room visits and so much more has been stressful to say the least.

We trusted so many people and medical professionals to figure out what was going on with his back.  The answer?   I don't know.  His tests are normal.  We finally turned to a long time friend and person trainer Jason Ivesdal.  Jason is the perennial student and is always studying and learning to better service his clients.   Our son started training with Jason and working on building back his strength and mobility.  Of course then COVID hit.  there was no more training with Jason for over 3 months.  But, this isn't about our son.  I always went along to our son's training sessions with Jason.  Jason and I would chat about a lot of different things during those sessions.

One very emotional day for me, I said to him with tears in my eyes, "I can't be like this anymore, I need your help to lose this weight for good.".   His simple answer, "I will help you."

I will write more about the process later, but right now I want to talk about the scale.   I have been a slave to the scale for many years.   If I had a night of beer and pizza, I would step on the scale the next day.  I would get frustrated that the scale would go up significantly and it would take me days to get back to where I was.  I would get frustrated and say things like, "I won't ever be able to eat normal food again.  Every time I eat normal food I gain weight."  "I'm never going to get to my goal weight."  In the past the scale would make me feel like a failure.  It was not a healthy place for me to be so obsessed with the scale.   

The scale does not always reflect where you are in a weight loss journey.  There are other considerations.  For example:   Are you retaining water?  Do you have food allergies?  Are you working out and building lean muscle mass?   The scale is only one piece of a larger wellness puzzle.

So, I changed my focus.  Now I am excited to step on the scale and don't concern myself with how much it goes down. I am looking at the scale as a tool to help keep me on track.  I am learning what foods and what things make the scale go up slightly.  That way I can adjust my "normal" eating habits to not eat those things as frequently.   I also purchased a new scale.  This one has an app (doesn't everything) associated with it that lets you visually track your progress.  As an accountability tool, I make adjustments if I see the scale go up.  This will help me ultimately from rebounding and gaining the weight back.

My scale was also not accurate.  So many home scales are NOT!  That didn't help my cause.  So I decided to splurge on a new scale.  Withings Body Scale

                     

Who would have ever thought I would be excited about a scale?   This bad boy does all this:

• Tracks BMI & Weight Trends
• Up to 8 Users
• Wi Fi Synchronization
• Daily Weather Report
• Works with Multiple Health Apps
• Has a Baby & Pregnancy Mode (I am way beyond that but great for expectant Mother's!)

The hardest thing for me over the last few years is to remember that I AM Worthy.   This is a struggle for so many women.  I have lost weight and regained it more times than I can count anymore.  I know I have said this before, but it is time for ME.  Time to be healthy.  With all the craziness of this pandemic, it is even more important for people to care for the bodies God gave them.  Eat healthy, exercise, get plenty of sleep and have a strong spiritual life.  That will help you stay healthy even through a pandemic!   I will write more about healthy living, but don't fall for quick weight loss scams.  Pills, shakes, etc.  They are not sustainable unless you want to continue purchasing and using those products for the rest of your life?   No gimmicks, no cheats, real food and exercise (full disclosure, I started with shakes, but there is a good reason for that - I only did them for 21 days). 

You are worth it.   I am worth it.  If you need to talk with someone about this, I am always available.

This post contains affiliate links.  If you purchase a product through an affiliate link I make a small commission at no cost to you.  This small commission keeps my husband happy when I spend too much time on things like this.  Thank you for your support!

DIY Thieves Household Wipes

Since the start of Covid people are much more conscious of cleaning and sanitizing surfaces.  At our house we have been using Thieves household cleaner for virtually everything.  No toxic fumes, smells great and has been proven successful in killing many little nasties in your home.  An even larger bonus is it is safe for children and/or pets.  Let me tell you from experience, teach your children EARLY how to clean and get them involved in the cleaning process.

The Clorox wipes and other similar products have safety warnings all over them.  I don't want to use products like that.  Over the years we have slowly moved to more plant based and natural products in our home.   With the lack of disinfecting wipes available during this pandemic it made so much sense to make our own!   You only need 4 things.

1.  Large roll of paper towels.  We like Bounty.   Of course you can purchase these at the grocery store but if you prefer to shop from home?   Bulk Paper Towels

2.  A bottle of Thieves household cleaner.

3.  A small container.  We like this one:    Favorite Container 

4.  Water

Directions:

• Cut your roll of paper in half.   
• Place it in the container.
• Mix In Bowl 2 Cups Water & 2 Capfuls Thieves Cleaner
• Pour the Water Mixture Over The Paper Towels

Voila' you are done.   Let the towels soak up the moisture.  Once the towels are wet you will be able to remove the cardboard tube from the center.  Our recommended container seals tightly to help keep moist.   Open the lid and pull wipes from the center!   Super easy.

On the go?   Pick up some of these refillable baby wipe containers and add a few of your paper towels to this for a portable option.  Wipe your hands, wipe down shopping carts and much more! 

Portable Wipes   

Thieves household cleaner can be used for many cleaning tasks in your home.  This product is highly concentrated and will make you MANY bottles of cleaning solution at a fraction of the cost.   Notice we only used 2 capfuls in the recipe above.  Here are recommended dilution ratios.

This post contains affiliate links.  If you purchase a product through an affiliate link I make a small commission at no cost to you.  This small commission keeps my husband happy when I spend too much time on things like this.  Thank you for your support!

Pandemic Gardening - Weeds Be Gone!

My Mother had beautiful, well tended gardens.  One of her best friends, Florence also had beautiful gardens on a large gorgeous wooded lot.  I remember as a child, going with my Mother to her home for lunch in the summer.  We would arrive there, walk down the hill to the screened gazebo (this is Minnesota after all and home to killer mosquitos).   I called her Aunt Florence because we spent so much time with them as a family it didn't seem right to call them Mr. and Mrs. Felber.  So they were Aunt Florence and Uncle Harvey.  Yes, I am that old that we called adults Mr. and Mrs. not their first names.  Inevitably, when we would arrive, Aunt Florence would be on her hands and knees at the edge of the garden.  She wore her big floppy hat and was always pulling weeds, digging in the dirt, moving plants to various places in the garden to create her version of beauty.  We always began with a tour of the garden.  The joy and the love Aunt Florence had for those plants was contagious.  She would point out new growth, beautiful blooms and talk about changes she was making to those gardens.

Her table was always impeccable.  Beautiful white floral table cloth and of course a vase of beautiful flowers in the center.   The table was set with beautiful china and all the silverware was placed to appease Miss Manners.  Sandwiches, iced tea with lemon and always a lovely home made pastry for desert.

 We have had the opportunity to do a lot more with our house and our yard this year.   Our neighbors are probably very thankful.  Unfortunately our son was unable to play baseball this summer.  This is probably the first summer in 14 years that we have not spent the majority of the summer on a ball field!

So, our backyard was a DISASTER!

We have a large back bed that has become completely overgrown with grass mostly.   Let me tell you it is A.  Ugly, B.  Hard to mow.  

This year I have taken the time to do much more planting and "playing" in the dirt.  Actually weeding the front beds so that our front yard actually looks decent.

Now on to the backyard.   The first thing we are tackling is that large back bed.   We are a toxic chemical free home as much as possible, so killing weeds safely is a real challenge.

Here is a testimonial from a friend that tried it.

Weed problems? Oh my gosh does this stuff rock!

Do you love our planet? Little changes add up to BIG changes!

Harsh chemicals like Round-Up sprayed on the cracks of the driveway and sidewalks DO make their way into our water supply - where we then ingest them.

Angela ordered this for me the other day and oh my gosh the weeds are just GONE! I believe she sprayed it on straight and 24 hours they were already withered!

I will be taking before and after pictures.   The plan is to spray tonight.   We will then bring in a load (or two) of black dirt.  Nothing like some manual exercise with a shovel and wheelbarrow!

                                                

Here is a link to purchase your own:    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07W9HX3MV/ref=as_sl_pc_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=lhanken-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=4d984cf15d2aa0e59b2fdd1d209ae600&creativeASIN=B07W9HX3MV

During these crazy times, we are always looking for ways to naturally boost our immune system.   Vitamin D has been shown to naturally boost your immunity.  The best way to get Vitamin D naturally is through sunshine!    

Here is a great article on how gardening actually can make you HAPPY.   https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/antidepressant-microbes-soil.htm

Working in the soil is good for the soul.  You often hear people describe their garden's as their happy place.  Beautiful shades of green, gorgeous blooms of varying colors.  Gardening also is a natural stress reliever.    Being present in the moment while gardening naturally reduces stress and anxiety.  I like to say a prayer, thanking God for his amazing beauty while gardening.  Listen to the birds, the breeze in the trees.  It can be very calming.

I know the summer is almost over, but get out in your yards, dig in the dirt.  Plant some fall plants.  Be joyful in the moment.