5:2 diet or the Fast Diet

I'm really really overweight/very obese and I have been trying to lose weight for a long time.  I've tried many different things like Weight Watchers, Atkins, a low carb/high protein, eating less processed and more from the earth many many things.  I would exercise 5x a week, I've counted calories - nothing would really work.  Actually when I was counting calories I actually gained more weight.  I do have hashimotos thyroid which has led me to being hypothyroid just add that to the struggle of losing weight.

So a few weeks ago I saw my doctor and she's like Micki you really need to get this weight off.  (she is a really sweet caring doctor).  She then told me she herself tried this diet called The Fast Diet or also known as the 5:2 diet (fast 2 days and eat normal the other 5 days).  She said look into it and give it a try.  She said she tried it and it was doable and she lost what she wanted to lose.

I came home started googling and looking into the diet.  The one thing I was worried about the most was the blood sugar crashes I get when I don't eat regularly.  I went and looked for some support groups on facebook and found a couple and joined.  I asked some questions like the blood sugar question and everyone said it wasn't that bad and to just try it.  I also talked with a friend of mine about it and she also said she would try it with me and my husband said he'd do it too!!!

I sat down and logged into Sparkpeople and started planning out my food for the fast days.  Plugged in my recipes to the recipe calculator which let me know how much calories were in a serving of food.  I made sure I had my calories balanced and made sure my meals were filled with fiber and protein.  I was all set for my first fast day.


Tuesday came and I drank a lot of water and tea and kept busy till I could eat around 11/noontime.  That first bite of my western omelet was amazing.  I could taste all the flavors in it and it was so satisfying.  That first meal of the fast was to change how I looked at food.  I promptly emailed my friend who is doing the WOE (way of eating) with me and she also experienced food tasting better.  The afternoon passed, I stayed busy drank lots of water and tea and about 3pm i started to feel a little shaky and light headed.  My friend reminded me to eat a pickle so I did and it really helped. Something about pickles that help with hunger, probably something in the pickling is my best guess.  I also had a couple stalks of celery a little later and with those two things I made it to dinner.  Dinner was also very tasty!  All of my meals have tasted better since starting 5:2 WOE.

I know there is a lot of science behind the idea of this diet/WOE and some of it has to do with we never let our bodies feed off our reserves because we are constantly eating.  Since we are constantly eating our bodies just keep packing the food away around our middles for later use.  I'm not a scientist, my mind does not think like one so my explanation was in the best terms I could do.

Some things I have learned from just the two weeks doing this WOE are:
1.  Food tastes better
2.  I don't need as much food as I think I do
3.  It's OK to be hungry it's burning the fat
4.  I have MORE energy!!!  Something I thought I would never have again cause of my low thyroid.
5.  It's not as hard as you think to do this.
6.  It can help correct blood sugars.  From talking with others on the support group that were diabetic this WOE helped reverse it.

Fast forward to today I am 8.2 lbs lighter!!!!!

Do I think I could do the fasts weekly for the rest of my life?  Yes I do!

Do take a look into this, give it a try you might be surprised at what starts happening outside and inside your body and mind.  I've never been for extreme anything I don't feel this is extreme at all and I don't feel deprived.  In my doctor's words "It's doable".

Coming together - the school year

So the other day I was stressing over how I will get the girls lessons going this coming fall.  Since we all haven't been feeling 100% this past week.  Since my stress blog, I took some time to do some research.  I googled and looked on pinterest (my addiction) for ideas.  I don't quite have a system in place for this fall and the girls weren't all to fond of last years system.  I'm patiently waiting the program my husband is creating me and as he puts it I've asked for the world.  I need the program to be versatile as we are not just one style of homeschooling.  We are pretty eclectic.  We do book work, computer lessons, we will also be in a co-op 1 day a week this year.  We will  also go on field trips and having life lessons and fun.  I need a program to document all of this and do more.  Nothing on the market is just perfect I've tried a few.  Having hubby create it if it's just not perfect he can redesign it for me or add what I need (got to love having a programmer in teh family).  With that said I need a temporary system till he's done.

I think we will go back to using the calendar system till my program is complete and just hand writing all the lessons in and keeping track of what life lessons we encounter.  This system worked but was very time consuming.  I prefer to type than hand write.

I spent a few hours yesterday really learning how to use Discovery Education http://www.discoveryeducation.com/ .  We have used this program for the past 6 years at least and I was not using this website to its full potential.  I deleted my complicated system and started working on how the website is meant to work and I'm still learning all the features and they have added a lot since we first started using Discovery Education.  If you are interested in signing up for Discovery Education, Homeschoolers buyers co-op is having an amazing sale on it.  If enough people sign up we can get it as low as $99.00.  I usually pay $199 a year for this.  https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/discovery-education-streaming-plus/?c=1 and it's currently at $187.

The next thing I spent time on was Khan academy https://www.khanacademy.org/.  This site is free and is amazing.  They have so much to offer but I was so lost using it.  I finally found how I can see what my kids have done and if they completed it, struggled with it or excelled at it.  This will be helpful.  I now feel confident that Khan academy will help them get the math concepts they have been struggling with.

We will also be using spellingcity this year.  I've tried in the past to use it but never took the time to really grasp what they have to offer.  I'd get frustrated and try something else which also failed.  This time I took more time (maybe the thyroid brain isn't as foggy either lately) and I have it figured out and we will use it again.  The girls have enjoyed it in the past, I was the one struggling with it.

We may also do one or two live classes on currclick.com or this year we might just take a break.  We'll see what they want to do.

Those are a few things I have managed to get figured out for the fall.  I still need to create a reading list, learn how to use The Happy Scientist website, work on history and their writing lessons, as well as their interest led learning and I'm sure other things as the year goes on.  But this is a good start and stuff the girls really want to do.

4-H Fair 2013

Have you heard of 4-H?  I know a lot of people who have never heard of it.  Here is a definition:   A youth organization sponsored by the Department of Agriculture and offering instruction in agriculture and home economics.  The 4 H's mean Head, Heart, Health and Hands.  4-H has so much to offer kids from agriculture to sewing, to woodworking, to photography.. I think you get the idea.  Just about everything you can think of.  There is also public speaking and community service.  The friendships you create are amazing!  

Does that sound like fun?  It is!  I was in 4-H when I was younger for about 2 or 3 years.  I have some fond memories of the projects I worked on and the ribbons I won.  I wanted to give that to my girls.  We've been in 4-H now for the past 6 years and we all enjoy it.  

This past weekend was our counties fair.  Our county pairs up with another county and we put on a pretty nice fair.  

Both my girls were managers in the home arts barn, something they really enjoy.  I have watched both of them grow and mature into wonderful young girls and I have to say 4-H is part of that.  Kev and I help out in any way we can.  

The girls work all year long on projects and then put them in the fair to be judged.  The 4-H judges based on the danish system.  The judges do not judge one person’s work by comparing it to another’s, you are judged against yourself. The evaluation is made against a standard. A judge looks to see whether certain requirements are met.  

One project A wanted to do was a desk redo.  We looked around and finally found a desk that cost only $10 at our local Saver's store.  It was a nice sturdy desk.  She learned how to sand, spray paint, sand the spray paint down and spray again till it was smooth.  She also learned how decoupage scrapbook paper onto the desk to give it some pop.  That got her an outstanding exhibitor ribbon.  

Then she got an court of honor of a picture she took.  Between these two that got her into premier.  So then she got to go around and talk to the judges about her projects. 

In the end she got 4th place.  She really wanted 9th place cause she liked the color ribbon.  That's my girl in it for the fun of it not being competitive.

My oldest had a good year too, she didn't make court of honor this year but she is ok with that. She enjoyed making all her projects and learning some new skills in art and jewerly making.   At the fair she had fun teaching kids how to hula hoop and supporting her 'lil sis.  

See what your local 4-H has to offer your kids and family.