New Diet?

In the last post, I talked a little bit about doing the Paleo diet. Let me tell you a little bit about where this idea is coming from. My husband has been the same weight for a couple of years. He has been very frustrated because no matter what he did he never fluctuated more than 2-3 lbs. I have been gaining weight since I graduated high school in 2008. About 1 month ago my husband did a detox for 10 days. He lost about 10lbs. Since then we decided to change our eating habits. We are moving towards a paleo type diet. We are limiting the number of starchy foods and fast foods we eat. We also eat vegetables with EVERY dinner and lunch. I have tried to limit our sweets intake and we have limited the amount of hot tea we drink. So far since starting this lifestyle change, my husband has lost a total of 15 lbs and I have lost 11(not including baby weight). My husband doesn't really enjoy wheat flour so for now we have just limited our white flour intake. I am hoping that we can continue with this lifestyle and NEVER go back to our old ways. I would like to see our kids really enjoy fruits and vegetables more than sweets.

Do you have any suggestions for our family? How about favorite recipes?

Baby, Life and Changes Part 3

So your probably wondering what the changes part of the series is all about. Well, it's about the changes we have decided to make as a family and the ones I have decided to make. My husband and I are going to change the way we eat. Less processed junk and more natural foods. I eventually would like to have a paleo diet but right now we as a family are no where near ready for that big of a change. We have decided to get outdoors more. More hiking, camping, geocaching etc. we want our kids to enjoy the outdoors more than being inside.

On a personal note, I am making a personal decision to become more involved in the community and with my friends. I also want to commit to being more involved in my spiritual life. Reading more, praying more etc. I'm going to exercise more often. We just got a jogging stroller so that I can run with the baby. I would like to do another 5k and actually run the whole thing instead of walk and run. My husband was a really big encouragement to me during that race and it made me feel so good knowing that I could complete a 5k. Another change I am going to make is to be more organized and less messy. I hate that I get our house clean and then I mess it up again really quickly. I also would like to get rid of stuff that we have. I feel like I have so many clothes and other stuff that I don't use, don't know I have or can't find. That has got to change!

I am hoping that you all will give me tips on any of the above and also encouragement. I will be posting more about all of this stuff as it comes along.

Do you have any tips for me on getting organized? What about recipes or tips on going paleo? Are you changing some of your habits this year? What are they?

Baby, Life and Changes Part 2

So part 1 I talked all about our newest member of the family. Part 2 is about what happens next.

When my husband and I got married, we decided that I would be a stay at home mom. So I definitely looked forward to the day I would become pregnant. Well that day came and I was so excited to tell my employer that I would no longer be working for them. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed my job and my co-workers but, I had been looking forward to being a mom since I was a little girl. So we decided on a date for my last day and I thought I would be a lot more sad than I actually was. I had a little over a month to prepare for the baby and man did I have a lot to do! (Don't wait until your 9th month to start working on the nursery.) For the last month of my pregnancy I mostly slept and ate and ate some more... :) Then our boy was born and I had something to do during the day. It is so wonderful. I cleaned a lot before he was born and got organized and I am slowly getting back into that (2 months later). I was not prepared for how hard the sleepless nights were/are. (I really enjoy my sleep.) We are blessed with a really good baby. He is just learning to talk and laugh and, despite what the doctor says, I believe he is teething at 9 weeks. We started cloth diapering at 1 month old and I really enjoy it. We are also using cloth wipes part time. I am trying to use more natural products rather than ones filled with all kinds of chemicals. So far, 2 months into it, I am REALLY enjoying being a stay at home mom. Don't get me wrong, I have some days where I want to pull my hair out, but most of the time it is truly wonderful.

Baby, Life and Changes Part 1

So it has been quite a while since my last post. In the last year, I have had a baby, quit my job and began a lifestyle change. I'm sure you want to hear about all of these things so I will start with the first thing...

Baby: Let me start this topic from the "top". October 31,2011 I found out that I had some very large ovarian cysts. Endometriosis runs in my family and it was only a matter of time before I would get it. So the next step was to monitor the cysts and get rid of them (they were causing a lot of pain). So Feb 9 I had surgery to remove them. 4 weeks later I had an ultrasound to see how I was healing. When they looked at my ovaries, the Doctor saw 2 cysts bigger than the ones they removed. So I went to a specialist and they recommended I go on a drug to suppress the production of estrogen in my body for a while. My husband and I prayed about it and didn't feel real comfortable with that option. I was scheduled for a pre-op appointment toward the end of May. On May 26 I took a pregnancy test and found out we were expecting. That was an AWESOME feeling. This little child would help my body heal and get rid of the cysts. So, they monitored my cysts in the beginning and saw that they were going away. Fast foreword 9 months... On Jan 29 we welcomed our sweet boy to this world. When they were delivering the baby, the doctor noticed that my cysts were completely gone. I was so happy to hear that. My husband and I cannot be more excited and happy about our new status as parents.

Stay tuned for Part 2 and 3...