Mamavation Week #9

This has been a much better week. The #fruitsnveggies challenge has really helped me stay on track with eating the right foods. The biggest challenge of the week was Saturday evening when I went to a reception for friends celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Lots of great food, but I loaded up on fruit and veggies first. I did enjoy a few chocolate covered strawberries, but they are fruit, right?

Here's the weekly recap:

Exercise: 7 out of 7 days for cardio - yay! Mostly walking or riding the exercise bike with intervals. I need to get back to doing 10 minutes of Pilates every morning, but if Ladybug gets up with me, I'm usually so busy making sure she goes potty and gets something to eat, that I get distracted. The only strength training I did this week was push-ups on the exercise ball. This has been a great way to do push-ups without straining my back and the ball encourages good form. Push-ups are a great upper body exercise!

Food Journal: I kept up with my food journal every day, and also stayed within my allowed calories for each day. I always resisted the idea of keeping a food journal before, but I am realizing now how important it is!! Here is my food journal on SparkPeople.

The Scale: I'm down .5 lbs this week. I'm a little disappointed that it wasn't more, but a loss is a loss. I'm down a total of 12 lbs in 9 weeks. I also re-checked my measurements. I'm obviously building muscle because my thigh is up .75 inches. I've lost a total of 6 inches since Christmas.

Inspiration: I love these verses from 1 Corinthians 6.

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Thanks to everyone for your continued encouragement! I couldn't do this without you!

Reflections on Sin

Life is busy these days. It's one thing after another. On top of all that, it's one sickness after another. It seems that this winter, we get over one illness just to have another creep in. I don't like using bleach and other chemical cleaners unless I really have to, and this is becoming a case of "have to." Have to get better and STAY better! Nothing serious or requiring doctor's visits, but it would be nice to fell 100% again.

And maybe because we are in the season of Lent, the topic of sin is on my mind. Mostly, the sin in my own life. And it is much like the sicknesses we've been dealing with. Every time I eradicate some sin in me, another one creeps in. Like Paul said, "I do the things I do not want to do, and I do not do the things I want to do."

It's frustrating. It's annoying. Just get over it already, Heather!

But that's not going to happen. No matter how hard I try, sin is always going to be a part of my life. There is nothing I can do to get rid of it. What I need is the super-duper, soul-bleaching cure from my Savior. My soul needs cleansed.

Reflections like this are good. I'm not sitting here beating myself up. I'm simply acknowledging who I truly am. Reflecting on my true condition keeps me in tune with who I am and that I still need a Savior. We all need Him. Because we all have sin.

Try as we might to cover it up and pretend that it isn't there doesn't change the reality of who we are. Sinful creatures. In need of a loving Redeemer.

And I am so thankful that He takes me back, day after day. Even when I can't get over this sickness of sin. He cleanses me, He sets me on my feet again. And we move forward together.

Mamavtion Week #8

What a week. Tuesday night I came down with some cold/sinus thing, and I'm still trying to recover. I spent lots of time on the couch, letting Ladybug (2.75 years old) watch videos. At the suggestion of @madreoso, I did make garlic lemonade to help speed up my recovery. Garlic is a great immune system booster. Garlic lemonade may not sound that appealing, but it isn't too bad at all.

Here's my weekly recap:

Exercise: 4 days out of 7, cardio only, no strength training. I didn't do much moving on Wednesday and Thursday due to the pressure in my sinuses. Friday and Saturday, I was able to walk outside. It looks like Ladybug may be trying to drop her nap (please God, no!!!!), but she will still fall asleep in the stroller. So I may have to spend naptime walking instead of blog hopping. Whatever works. She needs sleep, Mama needs a break.

Food Journal: I'm still keeping up with my food journal, and I saw how I turned to carb comfort foods when I wasn't feeling well. I joined the Fruit and Veggie Challenge over at the Fitness Cheerleader, which has been a great way to focus on eating the right things. Except for Tues/Wed, I ate at least 7 servings of fruits and veggies. Saturday, I ate NINE! Lots of fruit, especially orange and pineapple because they are loaded with Vitamin C. Trying to give my body the fuel it needs to get over the sinus stuff. Here is my food journal on SparkPeople.

Speaking of SparkPeople, I started a Mamavation group for anyone who uses SP. It's just one more way for us to connect and encourage one another. Let me know if you use SP and I'll send you the link to the group. (I made it a private group so the average joe wouldn't be able to sign up.)

The Scale: Down 1 lb. Whew! Even though I didn't move as much as usual and I didn't eat great for a couple of days, I'm glad the scale moved in the right direction. I'm down a total of 11.5 lbs in 8 weeks.

Inspiration: Do you know the story of Daniel in the Bible? He was a young man in exile in a foreign country and was chosen to serve the foreign king. Part of his training program included eating the rich foods of the royal court. He and his close friends asked that they be allowed to eat only fruits and vegetables and drink only water so as not to defile themselves religiously. Great inspiration for eating a clean diet.

At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. ¹⁶ So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.
Daniel 1:15-16

Thanks to all my Mamavation Sistahs for your encouragement this past week! You're awesome!

I'm Spending Time...

... with my new BFF.
Just in case you were wondering where I had run off to. (It's a neti pot, in case you've never seen one. Used to rinse your sinuses.)

Ten Mostly Interesting Facts about the Bible

I'm currently writing a lesson on how the Bible came to be, which I'm sure may not be totally fascinating to you. But since it's in my head, I thought I'd share some interesting (to me, at least) facts about the Bible.


1. The Old Testament has at least 30 authors and was written over the span of 1,000 years.

2. The New Testament has 8 authors and was written in less than 60 years.

3. The New Testament started as oral (spoken) accounts of Jesus Christ's work on earth.

4. When we talk about the biblical "canon," that word has similar roots as the Hebrew word for "reed," meaning a measuring stick. So the Bible is our measuring stick.

5. As early as the 2nd century, there were two collections of Christian writings being circulated that were to be read, along with the Jewish scriptures (our Old Testament), when Christians gathered.

6. Early Christians accepted the Jewish scriptures as authoritative because Jesus and the disciples accepted them.

7. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels. They share a similar source.

8. Mark has 661 verses, 606 of which appear in Matthew, and 350 of which appear in Luke.

9. Only 31 verses in Mark have no parallel in Matthew or Luke.

10. Both the Old Testament and New Testament together form a complete record of human sin and divine salvation. We need both to tell the whole story.


Did you learn anything new? I sure did.

For more entertaining Top Ten lists, please visit ohamanda.com

Mamavation Week #7

One word can describe this week - EXTREMES. I started the week strong, riding high on the 3 lb lost from last week. As the week wore on, I started to feel like I was trudging uphill through three feet of mud. My resolve wore thin, as well as my desire to exercise. The dreaded relative was coming. I was also short on sleep at the beginning of the week, and I failed to do a menu plan.

It wasn't a total FAIL week, but it was rough.

Exercise: I did cardio 6 days out of 7. A few days I really didn't want to and didn't work as hard as I could have. I also did strength training 3 days. That's still new to me, so I'm feeling my way through it.

Food Journal: I kept up with food journaling in spite of the rough week. I know I feel better when I am getting my fruits and veggies and not "wasting" my calories on too much bread. I did have a few weak moments, but was able to keep my calories within range every day.

The Scale: No change. I know I exercised and didn't over-eat, and I know that I'm bloated. Yuck. As I write this, I feel yucky.

Inspiration: Romans 12:1 (The Message), because EVERYTHING I do needs to be for God, including eating right and exercising:

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

Here's my menu plan for the week. And here's is my food journal on SparkPeople. Hope y'all had a good week!

South Carolina Snow

Snow. I grew up with lots of it. Then lived several places that had lots of it. Now that I'm in South Carolina, I enjoy the snow from a far. But today, seeing the snow through the eyes of my child, was amazing. We don't really have proper snow gear, so we improvised. We had fun, we built a snowman, then we came inside and shared hot cocoa.

Ladybug's First Snowman
Snow Ball in Mid-Air
Making Snow Angels

Homemade Valentines

Ladybug's class at Mom's Morning Out is exchanging Valentines this week. I wanted to do more than the boxed cards. I think they're a little hokey (just my opinion, if you like them, that's certainly okay with me).

I did some searching on the interwebz and found this idea for heart and lollipop flowers (scroll down a bit). I wanted to stay away from giving candy to infants and toddlers, so I changed it up a bit. Instead of using a lollipop as the stem, I used a green pipe cleaner. I have lots of paper left over from the days when I had time for a stamping hobby (pre-Hubby, definitely pre-kids!), so I used red paper instead of cardstock.

I cut out four hearts per flower. Lined them up and used a hole-puncher to make a hole for the stem. Lined up the hearts to make a flower and secured them with glue. Once they were dry, I added the stem. For the kids' Valentines, I wrote To: and From: This is Ladybug's flower, so I just wrote "I love you!"

Very easy craft, although not a lot of toddler involvement because I wanted them to look decent. Ladybug was happy coloring some extra hearts while I worked.
You can see the hearts a little better in this picture.

Homemade Valentines are definitely among the Things I Love!

Does the Silliness Ever End?

I certainly hope not!

Wordful Wednesday at 7 Clown Circus
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5 Minutes for Mom

Mamavation Week #6

I am SO excited to be writing this post! It was a most excellent week. Let's get straight to it, shall we?

Exercise: 6 days out of 7. I'm continuing the combination of Pilates and the exercise bike most days, and got in a walk outside one day that it was warm enough. I started doing interval training on the bike this week. I also did additional strength training 3 days. I think those two changes, although minor, made a HUGE difference. I am a total believer in interval training now!

Food Journal: I stayed within my allowed calories every day. I am still focusing on 5-6 servings of fruits and veggies every day. I can definitely tell a difference in how I feel physically and emotionally on the days that I didn't get all my fruits and veggies. Total blah. You can check out my food journal on SparkPeople (click on food/fitness tracker).

The Scale: Wow, wow, wow. I did much better this week than I expected! I lost 3 lbs!!! That brings my total weight loss to 10.5 lbs in 6 weeks. Wow.

Inspiration: I'm going back to the verse I started the year with, because as excited as I am about the scale moving, I know this journey is about HEALTH. I also realize I can't make this journey alone.

O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you restored my health.
Psalm 30:2

And thank you all for your encouragement! Knowing that I am accountable to y'all keeps me going, and when I need that extra push, I know the Sistahs are there to give it to me.

Proud of Her PJs

Ladybug (2.75 years old) is becoming known as "Miss Independent" around here. She definitely wants to things by herself and will often tell me, "No help, Mama! No help!" There are lots of tears of frustration when she can't do something and she won't accept help. Dressing herself is a good example.

After a 20 minute meltdown over not being able to figure out her pajamas, I decided it was time to graduate from the zippered, footie sleepers to either a two piece PJ or a nightgown. I had Ladybug wear an over-sized (for her) T-shirt and said we would go buy new PJs on Monday. She reminded me many times on Sunday night and Monday that we were going to buy new PJs.

She wanted pink PJs. I wanted something from the clearance rack. We walk into our favorite store, find the clearance rack, and lo and behold! There was ONE pink nightgown and it was in her size. Our decision was a simple one. She proudly took her new PJs to the counter, and then proudly showed her daddy when we got home.

Fast forward to Monday bedtime....

After a few brief instructions, Ladybug donned her new nightgown. It's backwards, but she doesn't care. She how PROUD she is that she did it by herself? I wouldn't take that away for anything. That's the best $4 that I've spent this year.

Wordful Wednesday at 7 Clown Circus
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5 Minutes for Mom

Ten Reasons to Subscribe to a CSA

Along with my goal of being healthy this year, I am eating a lot more fresh (not frozen or canned) fruits and vegetables. And I was VERY excited to learn that our area now has a CSA. What is a CSA, you ask? Community Supported Agriculture. A local farm or farms who sell "subscriptions" to local residents for their locally grown produce. Consumers buy in for a season and receive freshly harvested crops weekly during the season.

Our local CSA is run by J&W Produce in Aynor, SC. If you are a Myrtle Beach or Horry County resident, I highly recommend that you consider buying a subscription for the spring/early summer season. A few weeks ago, I spoke with one of the owners on the phone and learned a lot about their farm and their plans for the coming year. They'll be planting soon and need to know how many subscribers they will have, so hurry up and get yours!

Here are ten reason why you should subscribe to a Community Supported Agriculture program.


1. You are buying locally grown produce. Local means it hasn't had to travel very far to you, and it's as fresh as it can without picking it yourself!

2. Locally grown also means that you are supporting a business in your community rather than some far away mega-production farm.

3. You get a variety of produce, including ones you might never have heard of before. Variety is good!

4. The variety can be challenging because you may not know what to do with it. Time to learn something new!

5. If you don't know anything about growing food, you can visit the farm. You can play in the dirt. You can talk with the farmers. Knowing WHERE your food comes from is a good thing!

6. You are assuming some risk because you pay up front for the season. But for the farmer, receiving payment up front allows him/her to be more productive.

7. You are voting with your money. Recently, author Michael Pollan was on Oprah talking about the "real food" movement. He commented that we get three votes a day about how our food is grown and produced. When you buy locally grown and locally produced real food (as opposed to food that is manufactured), you are telling companies AND farmers what is important to you.

8. Did I mention that the produce is FRESH? It's harvested when it's ready for eating, not before.

9. In addition to being able to visit the farm to see your food being grown, some CSA farmers host other events so that you can see the farm and get to know them. The owner of J&W Produce mentioned possibly hosting a BBQ for all the subscribers this spring/summer and a pumpkin patch in the fall. Outdoor fun for the whole family!

10. Eating more fruits and vegetables is good for you and your family. As a mom, that's important to me.


Can you tell that I'm excited about having a local CSA? Check with localharvest.org to find a CSA in your area. And if you're in the Myrtle Beach/Horry County area, give J&W Produce a call.

Disclaimer: I was not asked to write about our local CSA and I have not received any compensation for this post.

For more Top Ten lists, visit ohamanda.com. (She posted about LOST today!!!!!!) (Something else I'm very excited about!!!)

Mamavation Monday Week #5

It was a crazy week here! Monday, I fought off a sugar-induced migraine. I stayed from refined sugars for almost 4 weeks, and remember I said I indulged in ONE cupcake for Hubby's birthday? The result was a migraine. Now I know for sure that refined sugars are a cause of my migraines. It was the first one I had had since purging the refined sugar from my diet. (I am using agave nectar, molasses, and honey as sweeteners instead.)

Then the stomach bug hit our house. First, Ladybug (2.75 years old) in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Then me in the wee hours of Saturday morning, then Hubby in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Why does it always have to hit in the wee hours??? Luckily, it seems to be just the 24 hour kind of bug.

Here's my weekly recap:

Exercise: 6 out of 7 days. I took Saturday off since I felt like death. I did Pilates & the exercise bike most days. One day, it was nice enough to walk outside. Last week, I added the goal of strength training 3 times a week. I did two days.

Food Journal: I did great with eating and tracking my food. I love the accountability of a food journal. Obviously with being sick, I didn't eat much on Saturday, and only started getting my appetite and sense of taste back on Sunday evening. Here is my food journal on SparkPeople (click on Shared Food/Fitness Tracker). I had the added goal of eating 5-6 servings of fruits & veggies every day, and I did well with that too. It was good to have that extra focus, so that if I needed to eat, I would be reminded to grab an apple or some carrot sticks instead of bread.

The Scale: I'm down .5 lbs this week, a total of 7.5 lbs in 5 weeks (I weighed in prior to getting sick.) I also checked my measurements and I am down 5.5 inches since 12/31/09. Yes, I am pretty pleased with my progress.

Inspiration: The word vitality struck me as I was reading Proverbs 3:7-8 this week. I want health and vitality! That's why I'm doing all this.

Don't be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn back on evil. Then you will gain renewed health and vitality.

Here is my menu plan for the week.

Thank you all for the wonderful encouragement that you give me week after week. I know that I wouldn't be doing this well with the accountability and motivation of my Mamavations Sistahs (and my friends and family too)!