An Epiphany and Operation Healthy

Morning, y'all! 

Just wanted to share an epiphany I had a bit ago. I just got home from the gym, got showered, and this little thought dawned on me. What is it, you ask. Well, let me tell you ... 

I feel AH-MAY-ZING! 

Yeah, that's it. Just that little thought. After hitting the treadmill for 45 minutes (with 10-15 of that running in intervals) and doing 20-odd minutes of bis and tris, I feel magnificent. Well, after my shower, that is. 

Isn't it funny how moving our body just for an hour can remind us that we're alive? 

This is an epiphany for me because I am very much about experiences. I like to taste, see, and feel all that life has to offer. This explains my love affair with food. 

I have, at times, felt that a piece of chocolate cake or some really good cheese enchiladas were going to make me feel amazing. Big surprise, they didn't. I might have thoroughly enjoyed their consumption, but I know I felt bloated and tired afterward. 

After working out, I feel energized. Now I know why that darn Denise Austin is always so stinkin' peppy. 

"Exercise gives people endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands." Quick! Name the movie. 

Now, I am in no way endorsing prohibition when it comes to sweet treats and savory delicacies, but I am noticing that I need to create a better balance between my love of food and my love of feeling strong and in control. 

So, this is the perfect segue into my newest endeavor. This is the point at which my husband would roll his eyes because I am "always" off on a new endeavor, according to him. While it might be true, this endeavor is serious.

I'm calling it Operation Healthy. It's in response to my PCOS that is kicking my butt and my general lack of attention to being healthy over these past several years. I'm getting together a plan, which includes scheduled workouts, eating dos and don'ts, and motivation to be a healthier me. 

I'll share more on it later today, if my little monster will allow me to blog. 

Anyone who's with me, say "Aye!" 

Get out and move your body today! I promise you'll feel better! 

Double rainbow ...

Because I feel like the veil is being lifted on this doggone cold I've got, it's a "double rainbow" kind of day. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here you go. You can thank me later. Take the next six minutes of your day and watch these two videos. Trust me. The first is the infamous "double rainbow" discovery, while the second is a remixed "double rainbow" song. You have to watch the first to fully appreciate the remix, which. is. awesome. Enjoy!

When you're finished laughing, which could be a while, continue ...

Whoa! What does this mean? 

I must humbly thank our friends Mark and Joanne for introducing us to the infamous "double rainbow" videos after we saw this double rainbow on our last day vacationing with them in Kauai. 

Cheers to double rainbows and today!

31 Days of Natural Nutrition ... a blogging challenge

Hello there! If you're visiting for the first time, scroll down to read the first post in the 31 Days of Natural Nutrition series. I'm linking up with Nesting Place on this challenge.

31 Days of Natural Nutrition: Day 2 ~ Fun Food Finds

31 Days of Natural Nutrition: Day 3 ~ Why Organic?

31 Days of Natural Nutrition: Day 5 ~ What NOT to do (aka why there was no Day 4)

I like numbers. I like challenges. I like making goals and meeting them. I like nutrition and have become very passionate of late about what my family eats. 


SO, I have decided to hop on board for the month of October's 31 Days of ... challenge hosted by Nesting Place. I actually found out about the challenge via the (in)courage community, which is an amazing online community for women. If you don't know about it, check it out. We need all the encouragement and support we can get as women. 


The 31 Days of challenge is a challenge where you choose one topic to devote your posts to for the entire month of October. I didn't have to give my topic more than a moment's thought because it's been on the forefront of my mind over the course of the year and this is just the kick in the pants I needed to get it going full force. 


My topic is 31 Days of Natural Nutrition. Why natural nutrition? First off, I have a love affair with alliteration, so the word choice was only natural. Pun intended. Secondly, I have been on a journey this year to strip down our food choices in our home and restore our diet to natural, traditional, wholesome foods. It has been a roller coaster ride for me, as I'm a foodie without necessarily the most distinguishing of palates (cheese puffs, anyone?). 


I've begun to explore what real food is, not just foodstuff or artificial filler. It's been no picnic and most days I feel guiltier for what I'm eating than what I'm not, but progress has been made and we're the better for it. We started by joining a local co-op where we get mostly organic produce, as well as locally farmed meats, cheeses, natural body and household products, and more. It's been fantastic so far, and I've learned so much about food. The funny thing is I realize there is still so much yet to learn. 


Over this month, I will strive to share what healthy, natural nutritional choices we've been making in our home, what we've steered clear of, and ways we have benefited. This will come in the form of recipes, food finds, and definitely some what-not-to-dos if I know myself and my propensity for all things junk food. 


It's high time we clean up our eating around this house. Our bodies are temples to the Lord and I'm feeling the push to polish this temple and make it shine for the Lord's glory. 


I hope you'll join me on my journey and throw in any healthy, natural tidbits, recipes, helpful hints, etc., that you would like. I can use all the help I can get. 


In the immortal words of Cosmo Kramer, "Giddy up!" 


*As an aside, this is all-too-fitting timing given the fact that I crashed my truck into one of those poles (you know the ones that guide you around the drive-through) at McDonalds yesterday afternoon on the way to pick up my natural, organic produce from co-op. Nice. Intervention accepted. 

I'd like to thank the Academy ...

Oh, sorry. Just practicing my acceptance speech for when I win the award for Most Inconsistent Blogger on Earth. It's been a month since I blogged. Really? No wonder I've been so uptight. All these thoughts balled up in my head and no pounding on a keyboard to let them all out. 

Every time I come to my blog, it makes me think of this:

Now I want to go watch Billy Madison. I L-O-V-E that movie. Shampoo good. Conditioner better ... Stop looking at me, swan! 

Anyway, just dropping by to say how lame I am in all aspects of life lately. I totally fell off the wagon on my eating plan. OK, I didn't just fall off, the wagon darn near killed me by running me over after I fell off. It really is that bad. I've got the few extra pounds to show it. 

I'm not feeling well, not eating well, and not working out. I feel like Chet in Weird Science. You remember? This guy:

Alas, tomorrow's a new day and I am more determined than ever to morph out of my Chet-ness into more of a Kelly LeBrock-ness (circa 1985, of course). 

I'm hoping to awaken tomorrow feeling well, refreshed, and ready to attack my "spare tire" with a vengeance. I've discovered a new mantra that I am going to put on a loop in my brain, as well as print out and post on every surface I come in contact with (especially those involving the finding and consumption of food): 

"Don't trade what you want most for what you want at this moment." 

Done. I'm over trading feeling good in a sleeveless shirt for a doughnut or being able to fit in my ballet skirt for an enchilada. Seriously. 

I would appreciate any and all encouragement I can get in this endeavor. I like food. A little too much. But, you see, me and food, we're on the outs. I can't hang with grease, processed, or fried vittles like I used to. I gotta spend some well-deserved time with some fruits and veggies to make me lean and clean again. 

If you happen to have the pleasure of being around me when I experience an episode of weakened self-control (which are sure to be many), please do me a favor. First off, make sure you're not within arm's or leg's distance 'cause I might want to hurt you. Once your outside the boundary, kindly remind me of my mantra and what I'm working toward. Just be sure to say please. 

The Dreaded "D" Word

That's right. You guessed it. Tomorrow, I'm going on a DIET. Ugh! I abhor that word. Really. Whoever invented it should be ... well, I'll save the end and maintain my ladylike charm. 


This isn't just any old diet though. I'm actually excited about this diet. Scratch that. I'm excited about this new eating plan, which will be a better label for my purposes. 


You see, I have something called Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS, for short). I have been asking for a diagnosis from my doctors for darn near four years now, so I was finally relieved to have the diagnosis confirmed a few months ago. If you know anything of PCOS, it ain't good. If you have PCOS, I'm sorry for you, and me. It causes fertility problems, cycle problems, and a host of other unsightly and downright embarrassing symptoms that no woman should have to deal with. Ever. Period. To put it bluntly, PCOS makes you a hot mess. 


Here's a good example all my girls reading this can relate to. Take two women: let's call them Fiona and Vivian (two names I downright love). Say Fiona and Vivian eat the same exact diet for a month. You'd think they would both either maintain their weight or gain roughly the same amount of weight, right? WRONG! You see, Fiona has PCOS. Thus, Fiona can actually GAIN weight while Vivian (who is PCOS free) will NOT gain weight and may even LOSE weight. You're screaming it with me, right? How unfair! Unjust! Downright awful. That, my friends, is PCOS. It caused me to gain 20 pounds in one year. I kid you not. PCOS causes insulin resistance (much like a pre-diabetic state), so those of us who are blessed with it have to be super-cognitive of what we eat. 


Herein lies the need for the new eating plan (the aforementioned "diet"). In seeking a natural remedy for my PCOS symptoms, I stumbled upon this wonderful book The Natural Diet Solution for PCOS and Infertility. This book is chock-full of explanations about PCOS, the foods we eat, and how it is all intertwined to either help or hurt those of us with PCOS. If you have PCOS, I would recommend you get the book (it's available online as a PDF) and read it promptly. I devoured the book in one evening and it's nearly 500 pages. Good stuff.


The new eating plan starts tomorrow. So, if you have the pleasure of interacting with me face to face, I'm pleading for some grace this first week (if not for the entire month, depending on how well I adjust). This eating plan is like the Full Metal Jacket of eating. There is no cutting corners, there is no cheating. It's strict as Mommy Dearest. It allows mainly fruits, vegetables, lean meats, eggs, and some nuts and healthy oils. That's it. Here's what it doesn't allow (I hope my keyboard doesn't short out from all the tears that fall as I type this): processed foods (of any kind), grains, soda (of any kind), and, here's where my heart actually aches: DAIRY. No dairy of any kind. No milk. No yogurt. No butter. NO CHEESE! Oh dear Lord, spare me the agony. A life without cheese? What kind of life is that? It's nearly unbearable. 


As I regain my composure, I realize that man does not live by cheese alone. Or was it bread? Heck, they're both good, so it doesn't really matter. I must remind myself that I'm doing this to heal my body, to bring it back to a more natural state of being so that it can function properly. There are so many foods I CAN eat on this plan, it's ridiculous. So I will focus on that. I'm actually excited to toss out the processed foods, as we've been eliminating those bit by bit for a while. And the soda needs to go, too. It's unnecessary. 


I'll be going this plan for a month, to start off. Then, if I feel ready, I can reintroduce some foods here and there (obviously not the processed ones though, or the soda). I'm resting on the notion that I will be energized and feel empowered by fueling my body with nutrients and vitamins instead of processed "foodstuff." I have heard great things about the restorative properties of this diet, so I am looking forward to those. 


I'll be making many new recipes in the next month, so I'll be sure to share those that succeed and might be pleasing to someone else's palate. I'll also report on how the plan's healing properties are working for me in case someone would like to try it for themselves to alleviate their own PCOS symptoms, or just in an effort to be more healthy. 


If you have any healthy eating tips and/or recipes that fit the bill, please send them my way. I can use all the artillery I can get for this war. Seriously. I'm a foodie, so this is not going to be easy. But it will be worth it. 


Wish me luck!


God bless,
Miss K

Drilling down

It's been a while since my last post. Forgive me, for I've been doing a lot of thinking (which I'm guilty of too often) and soul-searching. Many things have happened recently that have jarred me and turned my proverbial snow globe upside down and shaken it up. Fortunately, this was just what I needed and now that the snow has settled, I'm feeling ready to press on to my goals.

I came to a huge realization after I had some time to mull over my last post. I recalled that I am not me apart from God. God created me. He made me who I am, with every nuance and peccadillo. Feel free to utter "Duh!" right now because I already duh'd myself. Sometimes the simplest things are right in front of our eyes. 

By holding myself hostage to self-loathing and despair, I was telling God, "You did something wrong when you made me." "I'm a mistake." Don't you know that's an insult to God? How dare I tell my God, my Creator, that He made a mistake when he made me who I am? Whoa! I'm just unbelievably thankful that He's a forgiving God because that is not a slight mistake. It's like a slap in the face. And I need to take it back. Immediately.

You see, God made me in His image. He made me just the way I should be and uniquely from everyone else on this planet. The truth is, because I have not taken care of myself the way the Lord has commanded me to do, I am reaping the pitfalls of my lack of care. It says clearly in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

I am being disobedient. Ouch. Perhaps that's why I hit the rough patch I did. To come to a realization that I need to change. I need to get back to honoring God and treating my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, instead of as a landfill. 

With that, I need to recognize that I cannot do it by myself. I need the Lord's help. I need his guidance to get me back on track. Why is it so hard for us women to admit we need help? Oh boy, does pride come before a fall! 

I've been privy to situations recently that are coming across to me as gentle nudges from the Lord that this life is a gift and to treat it with care. Tomorrow is not promised. Things can change in an instant. I need to make the best use of my time while it's here. No more messing around; it's time to get to business. 

If anyone reading this has felt or feels the same way and needs a reminder that they are a unique creature, here's one of my favorite pieces that lives on my refrigerator as a reminder.

Just think, 
you're here not by chance, 
but by God's choosing. 
His hand formed you 
and made you the person you are. 
He compares you to no one else. 
You are one of a kind. 
You lack nothing 
that His grace can't give you. 
He has allowed you to be here 
at this time in history 
to fulfill His special purpose 
for this generation. 

~Roy Lessin

Blessings,

Miss K