"InGREEDients"

Let's begin with recognizing that life is good!  I have made some life affirming, lifestyle changes and I'm feeling really good about it.  Looking back two months ago, I was nearly 10 lbs heavier, not sleeping enough, nor eating well.  I've tried the cayenne pepper cleanse in the past as part of an attempt to change my physique 'cold turkey' but ended up suffering from a migraine late into the second day only to be assuaged with a greasy take-out pizza.  So, that wasn't for me.  What seems to be working is the Colin Firth Diet Club incentive program that my husband developed especially for me.  For every 5lbs I lose, I will earn a new DVD movie to add to my Colin Firth collection.  This may not sound like much incentive to many people, but Colin Firth is my favourite actor - especially in romantic comedies!  So, John's ingenious idea just may end up saving my life - or at least prolonging it.  Is there anything more romantic or sweet than that?  Well, John just happens to be my true life Mark Darcy!  Never before have I had more determination or passion to change my situation!

As you know, I've been reading "Wheat Belly"  - well I've finished it now and wow!  Davis really makes you think about what you are putting into your body.    I do believe that wheat may be the cause of common ailments that include obesity, diabetes and heart disease.  That being said, it is hard to eliminate something from your life that has been part of nearly every day of your existence.  One of the first solid foods you are introduced to as an infant is wheat cereal.  Your first finger food was likely Cheerios.  The bakery department at your local grocer is expanding just like the yeast or leavening agent in all the dough they produce!  I tried a 3 day wheat-free diet the week before last, and I will be doing it again this coming week.  Cutting wheat completely out of my diet may come eventually but I'm going to work my way up to that - or at least heavily cut back on the amount I consume.  This book was a great read and I'm glad that I purchased my copy so that I can continue to refer back to it from time to time.  It has become my bible for the past month and is adorned with little yellow stickies where I found important information.  OK, I finished the book and raved about my discoveries.  I have to admit I was a little stumped when in the last chapter, Davis contradicts what a lot of diet books tell you.  He says that it's ok to eat as many nuts as you want (as long as they are RAW nuts!), when diabetics are told not to consume more than 14 nuts.  Why don't the doctors tell you that little tidbit of information?  I never knew there was a difference before - but this week I made sure I bought some raw almonds!  Even eggs and cheese appear to be ok to eat!  So now giving up wheat doesn't sound that bad after all - does it?

A new family moved here from England last month and I've become friends with Amanda.  On Tuesday I treated her to a new place that opened up downtown called Serendipity Tea House.  I have a weakness for scones with clotted cream along with a pot of tea!  When I was younger, my mom, grandmother (who was British) and I used to drive to a little town called Shakespeare just to go to Harry Ten Shillings for tea and scones - what fond memories I have of those times!  I've been known to drive John mad when travelling in the UK or Ireland, traipsing all over the countryside on my quest to find the perfect scone, and yes, it has to come with clotted or Devon cream and jam!  Serendipity was a hidden treasure!  We had difficulty finding it, but in the end it was well worth it!  We had a lovely time and the tea and scones were divine!  I just love the name Serendipity - it conjures memories from the movie Serendipity starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale - another great and timely romantic comedy for the holiday season!  Just please don't begrudge me my little serendipitous indulgences (scones)!

On Wednesday, I went to Curves and I'm proud to say that I was down to 145 lbs!  So, that's the next notch on the incentive plan achieved! 

But, you will remember my previous post entitled "Just Incases" - Aurelia's line in Love Actually in the scene where Jamie (Colin Firth) proposes?  John said he wants to have two weigh-ins that reach the goal 'just incases' there is a little weight fluctuation so "The Importance of Being Earnest" will have to wait just a little longer!  John actually had to order that DVD in advance and it arrived earlier in the week but I told him not to even open the package, that I didn't want to see it or know where it is until I earn it!  And...just as well because on Friday it was hovering just slightly above 145.  As you can see in the photo, the bar is sitting in the middle, but on Friday it was floating closer to the end.

John had the day off on Friday so I convinced him to try Serendipity for lunch.  We shared a turkey sandwich and scones with a pot of tea.  Yummy, yummy, yummy!  Then I had to come back home and work on a cake order.  The weather turned colder, and the snow started to fall a little vigorously.  I walked down to pick the kids up from school.  They were thrilled with this first real snowfall of the year and played outside for hours after they got home.  Jakey even shovelled the driveway and proceeded to do the sidewalks as well.  He's a good lad!  John has been suffering for about a week with a bad cold.  He was supposed to go to Buffalo for the weekend with his buddies but didn't feel up to it and since Youth Group was cancelled for Matthew due to the storm, the kids asked to watch a movie that night.  Well, I had a perfect movie in store for us all that I picked up at the library called, "InGREEDients".  

Yes, this was the perfect movie to gather around on the big comfy couch together - all of us.  I guess the kids had something more fun in mind, but I suggested we watch this relatively short movie together and they could watch whatever they wanted afterwards.  "InGREEDients" is a movie made by David Burton, a Registered Nurse and filmmaker.   Every family should view this movie!  I thought it was important for the kids to watch and understand why Mommy is making dietary changes for the family - that what we think may taste good, is actually harming us.  If I ventured to make these lifestyle changes just for myself that would be very selfish of me.  It would be as if I was running toward victory and leaving the rest of the family in the dust!  I don't want that!  What I do want, is for John and Matthew and Jacob and Kristen and I to be holding our hands together as we cross the finish line to a healthier lifestyle and accept the victory- TOGETHER!!  "InGREEDients" informs us of what trans fats are, and talks about the food industry and FDA guidelines for nutrition labels.  For instance, a food labelled Trans Fat Free may not be what it appears.  Regulations stipulate that food products only have to list the quantity of trans fats if they are 0.5g or more per serving.  So if a product has 0.49g of trans fat per serving it can legally be labelled trans fat free.  Be wary also of the suggested serving sizes because they might reduce the serving size to fall into the less than 0.5g category, thus being labelled trans fat free.  Remember to read all the ingredients and avoid hydrogenated oils!  I'm telling ya - thinking about all the loopholes the food industry is able to leap through can really start a fire burning within me!   Kevin Conwell, a Cleveland, Ohio Councilman said, "We are digging our own graves with our teeth" which pretty much sums up our reality today.  Conwell talked about how there were more deaths from heart attacks than homicides, but we don't focus on the heart attacks because they aren't violent deaths.  Sometimes I get frustrated when I look around and see all those 'wheat bellies' and know that they are probably not doing anything to help themselves.   Come on people - do it for your family, do it for YOU!!

This movie had a major impact on our family.  Most surprisingly with John!  The following day he went to the grocery store to buy ingredients to make our spaghetti sauce - and I think he was hoping to load up on some snacks as well - when what to his wandering eyes should appear, but trans fats, trans fats nearly everywhere!  He came home with salt free canned tomatoes instead!  Bravo!  A proud moment!

Yesterday after returning from Matthew's robot competition in Georgetown, we invited Carla, Steve and Chloe over to enjoy our homemade spaghetti for dinner and some rounds of Five Crowns!  I even brought out the Dubliner cheese - after all, Davis, author of "Wheat Belly" said it's ok!  We really have wonderful friends and I am forever grateful to have them in our lives!

After a three week hiatus, we were back to church this morning.  Singing carols that were so uplifting, along with the baptism of a beautiful baby girl brings everything into perspective - especially during this busy holiday season.  Viewing the lighting of the Advent candle reminded me of the book I recently read called "Dear Deb" by Margaret Terry.  This book is a compilation of stories Margaret wrote to her friend Deb while she was dying of cancer.  One story, entitled "Candle Love" struck a particular chord with me.  It involved her older son questioning the distribution of love now that his younger brother had arrived.  My kids are forever claiming that I love so and so, more than them so when Margaret writes about how she lit the candles to demonstrate how her love (light) doesn't burn out I wanted to borrow her wisdom to show my kids as well.  However, I can never seem to find the right candles when I'm out and thinking of it, and I was getting tired of having to continually put this little lesson on hold, so instead I decided to bite the bullet and just read the story to them instead.  So all three kids - pajamas on, teeth brushed - climbed up on my bed and we snuggled together as I read them this very meaningful bedtime story!

Now I will go and have some apple sauce with ground flax seed.  Tomorrow is another day - my monthly weigh-in at Curves, a new DASH diet recipe for dinner...sweet dreams Colin - I earnestly await my next movie!