Subway Blind

I love how graphic and punchy old subway and tram blinds are. The white lettering on black really pops. But I didn't fancy spending $300 on one. And I didn't want a random list of places I'd never been before.

Sarah at A Beach Cottage has a beautiful tram blind in her living room.

My friend Becky is a graphic artist at Stick People Press - she replicated the style with my list of places. I had it printed on canvas at Proper Design in Vancouver, and stretched and framed by another art shop.

I love how it turned out, and that there is a story and memories behind each name.

TOFW - Friday Night Recap

I could seriously be like the Deadheads who followed the Grateful Dead around the US in the 70s and 80s - except that instead of going to see Jerry Garcia, I would be going to TOFW to see Hilary Weeks and S. Michael Wilcox.

Shopping and fun with the girls aside, the main reason I go is to immerse myself in the Spirit that I know will be there. I come back from TOFW feeling like I could take on anything. I am uplifted, inspired and most of all, I am reminded that I am not alone on this journey. My Heavenly Father and my Saviour want so much for me to succeed, and there are 2500 other women in the room with similar struggles and experiences – knowing that strengthens me.

The theme for this year was “Seek the Good.” John Bytheway opened on Friday night with a really great talk on being careful about what we surround ourselves with. He called it the ‘Parable of the Marinade’ – and he said that we are all marinating in something. Regardless of our original intention, you will eventually become with you surround yourself with.

Brad Wilcox spoke next on knowing the names of Christ. My favourites were: ‘I am’ - He can declare I am, I am real, I exist, I am the way, the truth, the life; ‘The King of Kings’ says a lot about Christ but it also says a great deal about us too; He is the ‘Finisher of Our Faith’ – He is not finished with us yet! When you don’t feel like a Queen, remember that he is not done with you yet. I really loved his talk.

I had seen the Mormon Message about Chris Williams’ story and was so touched. He spoke on dealing with adversity and avoiding the path of self pity. The Saviour can teach us how He would respond and we can find hope in any situation. Confront misery with mercy and kindness, and just let it go. He finished with an a cappella rendition of my absolute favourite hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”

If you haven’t seen Chris Williams' story, watch it here:

Clean Eating

My friend Ev is running the Vancouver Marathon tomorrow: go Ev! you are such an inspiration. We trained together for the Fort Langley Half Marathon back in February and both decided considering the time it takes to train for a half marathon (three or four times a week, 30-40 km total, hours away from home and family), it’s not the most efficient way to lose weight. I trained for close to five years (with some breaks) without ever losing that last fifteen pounds.

Ev introduced me to the concept of clean eating. The beauty of clean eating is that as long as you are eating the right foods, you can eat as much as you want. There is no deprivation or calorie counting, and it is far from boring. Mostly it’s common sense. I’ve found some awesome websites with recipes and advice and I’ve pinned lots of it on my Clean Eating Pinterest board. 

Each person needs to decide what clean eating means for her. There are no hard and fast rules for everyone because each person is different. Carbs are absolute kryptonite for me and I have to be very careful how I incorporate them into my diet. For others it may not be a big deal.

Here’s my list of what clean eating means to me:

• Lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean meats (chicken, fish, turkey)
• Nothing white (sugar, white flour, bread, rice)
• No high fructose corn syrup
• No alcohol, tea, coffee or soda
• Nothing high in bad fat
• Eat good fats (olive oil, avocado, nuts)
• Treat myself to one meal per week
• Don’t buy foods with more than 5-6 ingredients
• Don’t buy things that have ingredients you can’t pronounce or don’t recognize

Let me know if my list inspires you to make your own! I’d love to hear what’s on yours.

A Phase 3 Recap - On to Phase 4!

I am now in Phase 4 and I’m happy to report that my weight is stable – I am so very happy with how it’s all been going.

In the middle of Phase 3, I went away on a road trip to Time Out for Women in Spokane, WA with my friend Karie and our daughters, Emily and Camille. The girls went to Time Out For Girls while we were at our conference. 

It was such a fun trip, with shopping (yay for Size 2 jeans at the Gap!) and fun times with our girls ... and a LOT of driving. We made it there just in time for opening prayer!

We stayed at a cute boutique hotel called the Montvale. It had a restaurant called The Scout off the lobby that we ate all our meals at. Convenient, inexpensive and tasty.

This was Em's meal - a grilled cheese sandwich served in a vintage Flintstones lunchbox. So cute!

Being away from home and given the fact that I had been staying within the magic two pound range, I took things a little too far. There were cookies in our hotel just outside our room every night! And I ate some. Okay, I ate four. In one day. And a chocolate truffle bar. And it was all good.

Until the next morning… That over indulgence necessitated a steak day. At my weigh in on Sunday morning I was over two pounds from my last dose weight. It was good timing because we were driving back anyway, so I drank a ton of water and ate a steak once I got home. A few days later I had to do another steak day and things have been great ever since.

Here’s the protocol for a Steak Day:

STEAK DAY: As long as the weight stays within two pounds of the weight reached on the day of the last injection, one should take no notice of any increase. However, the moment the scale goes beyond 2 lbs., even if this is only a few ounces, they must on that same day entirely skip breakfast and lunch but take plenty to drink. In the evening, they must eat a huge steak with only an apple or a raw tomato. This rule applies only to the morning weight. It is of the utmost importance that this be done on the same day as the scale registered an increase of more than two pounds from the weight you achieved on the last dose day. You must NOT postpone this protocol until the next day.

And if the scale is getting dangerously close to the two pound above mark, you can try and head it off.

TO AVOID A STEAK DAY: This method is not meant to take the place of a steak day. It is only intended to drop some weight when you are getting close to a required Steak Day.

If you see a Steak Day drawing near, you can do the following, which will usually bring your weight down a pound or so the next day. 1) Drink lots of water that day; 2) Don’t eat until lunch; 3) Have a whole can of tuna (water packed), or chicken with mayo on either lettuce or celery for lunch; 4) Have a big portion of protein for dinner with a small salad and low carb dressing; 5) If you are extremely hungry, you could also have 2 eggs for breakfast.

There you have it. Just remember, a Steak Day is ONLY for Phase 3. If you are in Phase 2 and feel like the scale isn’t moving, you do an Apple Day – very little fluid, and six apples throughout the day.

You can do this!

More pics and a recap of TOFW to follow.

P3 One Week In, Two Weeks To Go

After a somewhat rocky start, P3 is going well. I’ve stayed in the magic 2 pound range. The first 72 hours, I dipped down to a pound below my last dose weight (LDW).  Over the next few days while I tested the boundaries, I went up to 1.6 pounds above my LDW. By making some better choices, I seem to be stable now – but time will tell.

Some things I have learned so far on P3:

• Treat P3 like it’s an extension of P2. You can eat more variety and quantity but really you should just stick to the same kinds of foods you had during P2: fruits, vegetables and protein. Now is not the time to go crazy adding new foods.

• Just because you’re not taking HCG anymore does not mean that you can cheat. You will still gain. The rules are there for a reason. Don’t learn this the hard way.

• There is a good chance exercise is going to cause some slight gains. Hold off for P4.
  
  
• Food intolerances cause gains. I have a problem with dairy (which I knew already) and almonds (which is new). I’ve tried to add both in P3 and it’s made me sick and bloated and caused some gains. It’s out of my diet now for sure.

• Eat lots of protein – you need it.

• Your weight in P3 is still not stable. Following the rules will make it so – eventually. Stabilizing before week 3 is not the norm, so be prepared for some fluctuations during P3.

• As long as your weight stays within two pounds of the weight reached on the day of the last dose, you should ignore any increase. I was so used to noting the daily decreases during P2 that the slight ups during my first week of P3 were freaking me out.

• Steak days are part of protocol because stabilizing before week three of P3 is NOT the norm. A steak day is just a tool - it doesn't mean you did anything wrong (necessarily). A steak day would not be part of normal procedure if the need for it were not also "normal."

Good Friday

I had such a great day today. The kids spent most of the day jumping on the trampoline when they weren't helping us clean up. Quinn was home after a long run of work, I went to yoga in the morning, did some cleaning around the house and finally put up some artwork downstairs. What a difference! I can’t believe how long it’s taken me to get around to deciding what to hang and where.

It was a beautiful sunny day – a perfect day to reflect on the sacrifice of our Savior and the promise of resurrection and eternal life. Easter is my favorite holiday and this year we hosted a family dinner for eleven on Good Friday. I cooked a big turkey and all the fixings and it was delicious. But the best part was spending time with people we love and don’t get to see often enough.

Happy Easter!

 Martha Stewart

Are bananas as bad for you as cookies?

Interesting article found at Lifehacker. Shows exactly which foods fill you up and avoid the sugar crash. Clean eating lives in the top right corner!

Source