Still Giving Thanks!

Yesterday was a wondeful day of Thanksgiving in our family. There's nothing like the joy of taking a day to enjoy your blessings.

One of my blessings is to live near my mother, and two of my sisters and their family. And on top of that, we all get along fabulously! The littlest cousins range in age from 8 to 17 and they all find common ground to enjoy each other. I actually have a grown neice who is a cousin to my children, but who seems more like an aunt because of the age difference.

Yesterday we added my aunt, my son's girlfriend, and a co-work of my neice and her six-month-old son.

It was a glorious day!

Yet even in the midst of that day, I remembered another Thankgiving that wasn't so joyful. It was the first holiday after my niece Christa died in a car accident. Her absence at our table was painfully evident. We missed everything about her in greater measure that day. Time has softened the pain, but it is still there.

I remembered an article that Carole Lewis wrote for the "P31 Woman" magazine a few years ago. In it, she wrote about the months and years following the death of her daughter Shari. She also wrote about how thankfulness changed her life. Carole wrote:

"At the time of Shari’s death, I never dreamed that thankfulness might be one of the things God would use to heal the huge void left in my heart. I know that people grieve in different ways and that everyone is different, but I have come to believe that being thankful in the midst of a tragic circumstance is the key to moving toward healing."

Carole found healing as she took the time to write down specific things she was thankful for in the middle of the pain. She even said she believed God spared her from going through three of the typical stages of grief (denial, anger, and bargaining) because of her thankfulness.

The Bible reminds us one wonderful reason to be thankful - and is God doesn't change and His promised will come true:

Hebrews 12:28-29, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."

I'm not sure where you are today in this Thanksgiving weekend. You might find it very difficult to write down even one thing to be thankful for. But here's one thing I've learned about life - if you are still breathing, and those you love most are still breathing, there is still hope and something to be thankful for. No matter what the circumstances of your life are like.

Today, I pray God's blessing of peace and thankfulness rest upon you and your family. May God reveal your many blessings to you in great measure.

Love,
Glynnis

P.S. My gym is closed today so I went on Wednesday afternoon to weigh myself. The scale showed a loss of .5 pounds. So I'm claiming that this week! 161.5.

Bad Habits and Friday Reveal

As I begin this journey to a healthier body, I noticed a few bad habits that need to be broken. The first has to do with what my niece years ago called BLT's. That means "Bites, Licks and Tastes."

Now I have to confess, this is a huge problem for me. I am absolutely one of those women who plans my trip to Costco around when the samples are out. Of course I tell myself that it's only to make sure I like it before I buy a caseload. The reality is I'm there to eat lunch. Even if I've already had lunch.

My problem actually started at home. Here's an example. Last Saturday we had leftovers for lunch. One child had pizza - I had a bite. One child had beanie wienies - I had two bites (to make sure it wasn't too hot, don't you know). Another had a chili dog - another bite. By the time I fixed myself lunch, I wasn't hungry, but ate anyway because I only had a few bites.

So bad habit number one is to stop eating BLT's.

Bad habit number two is not drinking enough water. When I'm thirsty, I turn to coffee, tea or Diet Coke. I know I drink too much non-water fluids. The other day, my 17-year-old son called me on it. You see, I have cut way back on my Starbucks drinks, and one day I went to open a second Diet Coke. Josh, said, "Mom, you shouldn't replace Starbucks with two Diet Cokes." I was actually impressed that he was intuitive enough to notice, and kind enough to mention it.

So now, I make myself a glass of ice water, and use a straw (which fakes me into thinking I'm drinking an Iced Caramel Macchiato). Maybe I should just save a Starbucks plastic glass and use that. Oh goodie, that means I need to buy a Starbucks! Just to get the glass.

Bad habit number two is to reduce the non-water drinks I drink.

Well, now for the Friday Reveal: 162

I actually think my scale was off last week. Because it never showed 162.5 again. Today I went to the gym and used their professional medical scale.

Bad habit number three is to stop celebrating with pizza parties and cheeseburgers when I think I've lost 2-1/2 pounds.

Have a great day!

Love,
Glynnis

Every Careless Word

I was working on some devotions today for January, when I came across a scripture that spoke volumes to me. You know how it is when you've read a verse many times and think you've learned everything from it. But then at other times, God takes a spiritual highlighter and tells you, "Honey, there's lots more for you to learn!"

So, here's the thing. I was writing on criticism from others and how to deal with it, when God redirected my thoughts. Seems He had a message for me in Matthew 12:34-37:

"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings
good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil
things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to
give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be
condemned."

I think I might have stopped reading this passage after verse 35, and I missed that whole part about having to give account for every careless word spoken. So as I'm writing about others being critical, God really wanted me to learn about my own critical spirit and words.

Boy oh boy, I'm going to have a bucketful of careless words when I stand before God. It makes me even more thankful for grace, and even more committed to watching my heart and tongue.

I pray you have a careful-tongue day!

In His Love,

Glynnis

How Not to Eat

Warning - some may find this post not completely politically correct. But it was funny y'all.

Having read many books about how NOT to talk about weight, we have always focused on healthy eating in our house. Now that I have two daughters, I choose my words with great care, and don't talk about losing weight in front of them. However, a few things have changed with my son in wrestling, and having to "make weight." Which could be the source of much ranting and raving from this mother, but I'll try to refrain.

So with me taking on this challenge, and Dylan the wrestler being much more disciplined than I am, our awareness of healthy eating has heightened.

Saturday night we went to see the UFC pay-per-view fight at a local restaurant. (this isn't the politically incorrect part so I apologize if I offend you twice) Our family is quite involved in this sport and I'll tell you more another time. But we were at this restaurant and a lovely young lady sat across from me. She was training in mixed martial arts, and her athletic body reflected her dedication. Her eating did too.

She ordered a thin-crust pizza and ate one slice. One. Slice. You heard that right. Then she let the pizza sit there the whole night. In front of me. Watching her eat one slice.

My daughter Cathrine noticed the pizza, and asked for a slice. No. I told her. That's the woman's pizza. Even Cathrine thought it was odd that someone could order a pizza and eat one slice. We don't eat like that in our house.

As I sat there eating my cheeseburger (which might also explain why I don't lose anything this week) and fries, I realized that a thin person eats differently than I do. A thin woman thinks differently about food than I do. So I stopped at two fries.

My son Robbie came up at my shoulder and asked for some of my fries. "Take all of them," I said, thoroughly disappointed with myself. Then I broke one of my rules about not talking about weight. Really, I was frustrated that I didn't order a salad and then eat one piece of lettuce. So I whispered to Robbie, "Look at this pizza. That's how thin people eat. They order a whole pizza and eat one slice."

Without a pause, Robbie grabbed a fry and said, "This is how fat people eat, they eat everything on their plates and then eat food off of other people's plates."

That made me laugh out loud. Really loud. And for a moment I felt better.

Well, there wasn't any deep spiritual principle to that, I just thought it was funny. It's hard to try to lose weight without worrying what other people will think. Should I just accept myself the way I am? The truth is, I do. My identity isn't connected with the numbers on the scale. However, I know that extra weight puts a strain on all parts of my body, and as the calendar reflects increasing age, that weight isn't doing me any favors. So it's for health that I try and cut back, and health that I help guide my children to better food choice. And a splurge on a cheeseburger every once in awhile.

In His Love,
Glynnis

Praying For You & Great Idea

This morning I spent some time praying for my new friends who are joining me in my weight loss challenge, and visiting some of their blogs.

I loved visiting Cortney and was thrilled to find she has set up a ticker counter on her site to chart her weight loss. So I did a little investigating and learned you can get this for free! However, it looks like the site is set up to help keep track of ovulation cycles. So don't be surprised when you get there.

Good job Cortney!!

I have somehow managed to put one on my site, and included the 8 pound loss that is the first step of my goal. (There is more to follow, by the way)

I'm also praying for my friend Spring who has set a goal of writing. Visit her blog and see what a great writer she is! Of course, you'll read about her two little blessings, which are her first priority as a mom! And two reasons why she needs some accountability.

This morning found me very discouraged in my own challenge. I knew I was going to a pizza party last night, so ate very lightly during the day and ran two miles. I only ate 2 pieces and this morning my scale jumped up 2 pounds!!! Aack!

Knowing I'm going to post my weight on Friday has really kept me going. I don't know what the scale will read, but even if it's a gain, I'll post it.

If you ever feel like the world is caving in on you, here's a little quote to make you smile:

"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!"~ Dr. Seuss

As Christians, we already have One who is set to act on our behalf. While I love Dr. Seuss, as I read this quote, I know it is truly God who is my defender and protector. Yours too.

Love,
Glynnis

Breakfast Tips & Fearless Friday Reveal

A few days ago I wrote about the breakfast redesign we had in the Whitwer home a few years ago. I wanted to share a few ideas for a fast and nutritious breakfast that you and your kids will love. If it's a bread-based recipe, we always add fruit and other protein sources to round out the menu. I also cut back on fat whenever possible.

1. French toast - I use one egg per piece of bread. To the egg I add a little milk, cinnamon and vanilla. I use a small frying pan and put about 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil. That way the edges of the French toast crisp up.

2. Rolled pancake - Thin out regular pancake batter. Pour into one large circle on your griddle. About 8" across is manageable. Once pancake is cooked, spread one side with fruit preserve of your choice. Roll pancake and sprinkle with powdered sugar or whipped cream.

3. Breakfast burrito 0 We use any combination of eggs, meat and veggies - top with cheese and salsa and roll in a flour tortilla. When I get very adventurous, I use chorizo sausage - yum!

4. Deviled eggs - My kids love them and I figured it was a great way to get protein in them at breakfast.

5. Sausage in a biscuit - Purchase sausage links and cook. Make sure they are hot. Then make or purchase biscuits and flatten into a circle big enough to wrap the sausage. Then bake in the oven according to directions for the biscuit. Making sure the sausage is hot is the key, otherwise you have a gummy biscuit on the inside.

6. Scrambled eggs and bacon - For a quick fix, cut the bacon into small pieces then fry. Once completely cooked, add beaten eggs. This is fast because the bacon cooks quicker cut up.

7. Scotch Eggs - Hard boil your eggs. Wrap each egg with bulk sausage and then roll in bread crumbs. Fry eggs until sausage is completely cooked. This can be made up the night before and refrigerated.

8. Bagel sandwich - We create our own egg, ham and cheese sandwich using a store bought bagel. This just takes minutes when you toast the bagel and cook the eggs at the same time.

9. Biscuits and gravy - For my family of 7, we use about a pound of bulk sausage. When that's completely cooked, sprinkle with about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of flour. Once the flour and sausage mixture has cooked for 3-4 minutes, pour in 1 to 2 cups of milk. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil over medium and stir with a whisk. This makes enough for us to have one biscuit with gravy each.

10. Fruit smoothie - We have tried various recipes and finally came up with one we love! Freeze one cup of berries - already cut up. Add frozen berries, one sliced banana, one cup skim milk and 2 or 3 teaspoons of sugar. Really. That's it.

Every one of these recipes I can make in under 15 minutes. One more suggestion - create a breakfast menu and post it on your fridge. Then purchase some of these ingredients and have them on hand. I find my mind goes blank in the mornings - especially before my second cup of coffee.

Now for the Fearless Friday reveal - 162.5!

What a difference it made knowing I had to post my weight.

If you decided to join me in my challenge, I have been praying for you by name. I'll be watching for your post. If I don't hear from you, I may check up on you. (hee, hee)

In His Love,
Glynnis

Beating the Breakfast Blues

We all know breakfast is important, but for many years, my family's breakfast consisted of cereal or Pop-tarts. Not the most nutritious, but easy for a busy morning.


But when two of my sons displayed signs of ADHD, breakfast became even more important. My boys already had trouble sitting still at school, and giving them a high carbohydrate breakfast wasn't helping. The carbs soared through their bodies for a few hours causing increased energy. Then their energy dipped after that burst.


I had to take a serious look at what they ate in the morning and make some significant changes. The biggest change was making sure they had a well-balanced breakfast that included protein.

This week I thought I would share a few of my tips for beating the breakfast blues. One of my kids' favorites is a yogurt parfait. This has numerous flavor options, and is fun to make. It's a simple recipe: yogurt, fresh fruit and granola in layers. The fun comes in getting creative with those ingredients - plus serving it in a water goblet.

If you have a store like Sprouts, or another natural foods store, you can get lots of granola options. They even have great yogurt options.

Here are some of our favorite parfait combinations:

• Banana yogurt, French vanilla granola, bananas
• Vanilla yogurt, strawberry granola, strawberries
• Peach yogurt, cinnamon granola, bananas

Read your labels, and see if you can serve your family close to 20-25% of your daily protein intake at breakfast. (Most of Americans eat 10-15%) Studies show that more protein in the morning helps to sustain energy release, and a sense of fullness throughout the day. This parfait has about 15% of the daily requirements, so we add other food to the breakfast menu.

How much protein you need a day depends on other factors. I can't give any health advice, so it would probably be a good idea to do some research if you want to get serious about this issue.

Tomorrow I'll share some of my ways to keep from getting the breakfast blues - and how to do it fast.

In His Love,

Glynnis

Fearless Friday

A few posts ago, I admitted that I needed the help of a friend in some areas of my life. Well, there's a reality of working at home - it's often lonely. I don't have the companionship of co-workers (except for my wonderful husband who also works at home). I don't have small kids home any more, which eliminates that commonality with other moms at home. Most women in my stage of life (older kids) work outside the home.

So my great goal at finding someone to help keep me accountable to exercise and lose extra pounds isn't very realistic at this time. That why I'm calling this Fearless Friday. I'm going to take a big risky leap of faith, and see if anyone reading my blog would like to take a challenge with me. Between now and January 2 (8 weeks), I would like to lose 8 pounds.

I realize this is a difficult time of the year to try this challenge, but if not now, there will another excuse later.

Every Friday, I'm going to weigh myself, and post my actual weight on my blog. If you feel as desperate as I do, I invite you to post and share your weight. Then we will encourage each other to press on.

I've been in Weight Watchers enough to know the temptation to NOT go to a weigh in when you know you haven't lost weight, hoping to make up for it the next week. But then you miss the whole accountability benefit in good and not-so-good times. So I'm going to post my weight even if the scale goes up instead of down. And I'm going to weigh myself at the same time each week - Friday morning before coffee.

I may be the only one who needs this weight-loss challenge, and that would be wonderful. If weight isn't your issue, but you'd like accountability for something else, then I'd love to be here for you. Just use my blog as your place to be open and share what you'd like to work on for the next 8 weeks. I will be praying for everyone who posts and shares.

The cyberworld of bloggy buddies can't ever replace the real thing. But God has allowed us this means of developing relationships we never could have imagined 10 years ago. So I'm going to enjoy your friendship while I have it.

Okay - here's what I weighed when I got on the scale this morning: 165

It's about 20 pounds above where I should be to be in the middle of the healthy weight range for my height. So 8 pounds is a good start.

That's it for today. That was hard enough.

Love,
Glynnis