You'll find reasons for anything

When you don't understand something or it makes you angry, it is hard to find reason. It is especially hard to find reason in things that can't always be explained in black and white. Things are just that way and are better left not trying to pick them apart in analyzing them.

When it comes to God, I really don't need to defend him, because he is a mighty God and can provide what proof He feels like when he feels like it, if he feels like it is needed.

But, when reading Amos today in the bible, a simple answer came to the questions we always hear that if "God is a good God, why did/does he kill people in the bible and today?"


Well, if we don't have a peaceful, kind AND wrathful God, then would you be content with it?

Amos 1-3:15:

13 This is what the Lord says:
“The people of Ammon have sinned again and again, and I will not let them go unpunished! When they attacked Gilead to extend their borders, they ripped open pregnant women with their swords. 14 So I will send down fire on the walls of Rabbah, and all its fortresses will be destroyed. The battle will come upon them with shouts, like a whirlwind in a mighty storm. 15 And their king[c] and his princes will go into exile together,” says the Lord.



Now, looking at this passage, if this had happened to someone you know, would you not want the perpetrator to be equally punished?

No, we should not go around wishing for people to die, but God is the only judge and he judges accordingly. He is JUST not FAIR. Fair is different. It is based on what WE think is right and wrong and it is just impossible to reason with that mindset when we have no idea how to run the universe and what is really good for anyone without seeing the whole picture.

Amos has several passages in this section that claims God will punish certain peoples for the things they did.

If we want to be black and white about it, then my answer would be- if you don't want to be punished, you need to be perfect and not do anything "wrong" if you can truly not get confused on what right and wrong is. But that's impossible, you say.

Of course it is, because we don't get made right with God for doing "good" or "bad". We get a get-out-of-hell free pass by simply asking him into our hearts to restore what got messed up there since we were born into sin from the first place. Now if you don't have any more complaints, let God do his job, and you do yours by being a greatful, creation :)

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 2

Today was a good day. I started back classes for the fall. I am soooo tired today. Tired is an understatement. But I achieved today, and that is all that matters. It is a good tired. A satisfied tired.

Food today:

1 nutritional shake and a cup of coffee with cream and sugar (Breakfast)

Chicken gyro and dill pickle chips with a water (Lunch)

Spaghetti lasagna, pasta salad, salad and some cream soda (dinner)

Piece of lemon meringue pie (snack)

Snicker bar icecream

I was a little over-doing it today- the soda and the extra goodies was a no-no.

But I walked to class for about 50 minutes today which was about 100 calories and then me and Eric exercised after class for 45-50 minutes on the treadmill and cross-trainer (whew!) Which was about 300 calories lost.

So, I lost close to 500 calories which makes up for my 300 over calorie intake.

I love when I do that! I am exercising after our movie date tomorrow (my husband and I's 4 year anniversary!) and every day of school after that for an hour.. so I hope to be reporting some results in a month!

Night all! Good luck and stay strong on your calorie adventures.

Art Anxieties

Okay, so it was probably not the BEST idea for me to go to RateMyProfessor.com before attending my classes tomorrow. Because...now that I have read the reviews, I'm thinking I don't have the hottest teachers and it is gonna be HARD!!

Granted, I understand sometimes people are overrated, and sometimes to get what you want, you have to work hard, but this has not eased my anxieties about what is in store for me tomorrow. See, art is so relative and subjective, it really is hard to tell if you have what it takes to please the teacher to get a good grade. People tell me my artwork is good or great even (not being conceited, just stating some comments I have gotten) and then you get the teacher that gives you a grade you were totally not expecting. So, I will be doing some praying tonight that I will have favor with my teachers and can spit out enough creativity to give 'em what they want.

3d art is gonna be a doozy. Everyone tells me they barely made it through their classes which leaves me with two contradictory thoughts:

Either A) I will too do horrible and when they pick the highest GPA'S to accept us in our next level of Graphic Design I will have a fighting chance because everyone else did the same..
or B) I will have to retake the class if I don't do so well and just spend forever trying to get in

Regardless, I am hoping for a C) to pop up somewhere in the mix and will just try to remain positive,because worrying never got me anywhere except in a random place chewing my fingernails.

I am probably going overboard on this so I am just going to stop venting my anxieties and believe for the best..

Night!

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 1

It sucks to start back from square one, I actually debated on if I should pick up on Day 16 where I originally left off, count the full number of days since I last started and start there or just start all over, and the latter is what I stuck with since I would feel too much like a cheater.

I am always out there looking for a weight-loss success story from an average jane on the internet so I know I can there may be hope out there for the sucker like me who reads it to succeed in my own life too without feeling like I am going after the impossible.

So.. I have to be as accurate as possible if I want to make this thing happen and be real for people......
ok...........
so.............

Wayoff the subject, but.....when in the WORLD did a cricket get into my room? OMG, this is going to be a long night if it continues like this.

I was off my goal today. I started off well. I walked with Madeline (strolled, rather) for 45 minutes down the local trail near my home. I could have walked further but I was getting close to the ghetto part of town and didn't want to be peeved, sweaty and robbed, so I decided to turn it back around.

Here is what I ate today:

1 nutritional shake for breakfast

A honey roasted turkey, cheese, lettuce and mustard sandwich on whole grain bread
About 8 cheeto puffs
5 grapes
a dill pickle spear and cup of Crystal light strawberry for lunch

For a snack with Crystal (bff) I had about half of a jumbo yocake from Chill (calories on that are still unbenownst to me, but I am in the process of finding out) and a grande Caramel Frappucino Light

For dinner, I had a chicken quesadilla, and refried beans and rice.

My calorie counting was off based on some of the incorrect calculations I was trying to find in nutritional facts, but I figure I probably was over by around close to 150-200 calories.. It's hard to tell but I just felt plain out guilty for eating that yocake even though it is supposed to be relatively healthIER, so I just tacked on extra calories to satisfy my conscience.

I plan on getting some good rest tonight and start out more determined tomorrow, walking and exercise bicycling tomorrow!

Night everyone, good luck on your exercise escapades!

The Food Diaries of Daphne: Picking back up where I started

I realized how long it has been since I last posted and I realized that I let my priorities fall because I thought I was "too busy" between going to school, church and I was slacking off. So, I am back to counting my calories, exercising and making a better me. You can't give up on things in life if you want to see a difference, and that means esp. you. So I am taking my own advice.

It is weird I came to this point, because I actually just stumbled across a notebook I haven't had in awhile and one of the titles in it was "My Calling and Word from God".

What? When did I write this!? It is so funny because I have been asking God for so long about this and apparently he told me a while ago and I just simply forgot.

Sometimes, when you can't find out how you got to where you were, where you are going or what to do next, the best thing is to look back from where you are and see if you already have the answer.

CAlling and Word from God:

• minister in your current situation
• pray for others
• pray daily
• read your word daily, and study it
• pray for direction in current situation not for the future
• start a church
• finish book (eric)
• pray for compassion for others
• bless others with what you have
• seek to bring the word of god to others in every opportunity
• stop being negative and speak life and uplifting talk
• worship often
• read the word to maddie
• speak encouragement and pray to and for your family

I'm really excited because I know if I can exercise for an hour a day, I will pretty much be able to eat (with in reason) what I want. I am down to 180 lbs, but I have been bad for not tracking and I notice I have not been eating a consistent breakfast.

School starts next week, but now I have a better excuse to stay on track, I can run by the gym I discovered and workout right after classes.

I will update my calories for today, I plan on getting on the exercise bike today for 20 min and do 40 in Dancing with the Stars for my exercise)

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 15

I stayed up SO late (or should I say early?) to study for my test today. I was so worried because I slept past my alarm from only getting 3 hours of sleep but made it to school in time without looking scary ( my hair was thrown up and I have my face break out covered) ..so it was great. (Hopefully working out more and drinking more water will clear my face? But I only am breaking out near my hair line and on lip line? Weird? ) As far as my test.. I feel pretty confident I at least made a 90 or higher on it.

So yay for that! I rewarded myself with a new pair of athletic shorts to sweat my booty off tonight. I plan on continuing with the Turbo Fire tonight.


I am back up to 185 (ugh!) but on the bright side I can fit into a 14 size dress instead of a 16 and I can wear size large in some shirts and not just XL. I hope to see more improvement soon!

My meals:

1 nutritional shake (breakfast)
1 skinny white chocolate latte

Bacon egg and cheese bagel with sierra mist (lunch)

Grilled Chicken club at Mickey D's with med. fry and water (dinner)

2 boiled eggs (snack)

I went over 300 again! I am beginning to notice my pattern- eating too much carb and fat content.

I am off to my Turbo fire work out tonight now!

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 14

One more day until test time!

My meals today:

1 nutritional shake and a cappucino (breakfast)
3 pieces of pizza and olives (lunch) and a cup of diet coke
1 piece of leftover pizza for snack
1/2 cup of spaghetti and meatballs and 2 slices of garlic toast (dinner)


I went over by 300 calories- okay ( 1771) I know, the extra pizza was overkill!

I walked 3 miles with Natalie and Raven today..so lost about...300 calories? So I was bad today! I plan on getting back on the horse and being more disciplined until I start seeing some results!

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 13

Today was very busy! I had a day full of assignments ( Drawing I) and found out I have another chapter to read for History! So...after I got off, we went to youth service. ...If I haven't mentioned or you don't know, my husband and I are youth pastors of our church, which is very fun and is great.

For my meals..:
1 equate shake (breakfast)
salad (boiled egg, green leaf lettuce, shredded cheese and bacon bits w/ caesar salad) (lunch)
2 Tilapia Filets, 1/3 cup of mashed potatoes, 1/4 cup of green peas

Total calories: 1211 out 0f 1400 , so I was under today..I actually planned to exercise but I had to come back and finish this log because I fell asleep while trying to study!

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 12

I was not horrible on my diet today, but not great either. I at least exercised, I have been so tired this week from studying for my upcoming test in History.

My meals:

1 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of raisin brand (breakfast)

1 smart ones frozen meal (lunch) with Crystal light

1 Large strawberry limeade chiller (snack)

1 1/2 flour taco with hamburger meat, lettuce and cheese with ranch (dinner)

I forgot to log in my calories today, but I probably went over by 200?

I started my Turbo Fire exercise program today, and all I got to say is it is fun but will whoop your butt! I think I sweat so much I needed a float to get out of the puddle I was in.

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 11

I figured today was going to not be so good..I started off good but then ate a lot for Memorial's day. I hope this is not a foretelling of future holidays for me.

I think if I could learn portion control on these days, i would be ok.

Here's what I ate:


1 bowl of Raisin bran (breakfast)

2 pork boneless ribs, 1 chicken breast fillet, 1 corn on the cob, and some grilled veggies and 2 dinner rolls, 1/2 cup of icecream (lunch) see what I mean?

2 grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (dinner)

I understand that once I get a good exercise regimen I can be a little looser with my food, however I want to get in a good routine first before I do that.

My total calorie count was 1635, so I went over 235.

I rested today for exercise and plan on hitting the Turbo Fire Tues.

Night!

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 10

Today was SUPPOSED to be my rest day, but it is good that I left it with a good ending as I was not very diligent today with my calorie counting diet. I am getting to the point where I can look at something and tell if it is too big of a portion, will be too many calories after I have ate my other meals or etc. I just chose to ignore it today, which was a no-no. (as I would have told Maddie when she did something she wasn't supposed to)

It was a date day with my hubby which I enjoyed very much- we went to the Irish Bred pub and I ate a huge angus burger, which would have probably been ok today if I didn't overdo it at the movies.

I brought two boxes of movie candy for myself- and ate both! That is where I go wrong. I normally don't eat overboard, but when I have random days where I splurge-it really makes a difference.

So, needless to say after watching Pirates of the Carribean with Eric, I decided after I heard Natalie say she, Raven, Patrick and all the boys were going to walk tonight that I would join them too to make up for my splurging.

And boy I think I did!


We walked quite a bit- probably not as much as they normally would because I think they were having mercy on me, but I think Natalie said I walked 4 miles today- did around 16ish laps? Ran a lap to see if I could and we conquered the steps on the stadium. I was soaking wet afterwards, but it felt good.

Here is my bad meal plan today (which wasn't too bad, but I overdid it on the snack!):

1 bosc pear
1 Lowfat Yoplait yogurt

1 black angus burger and broccoli salad (lunch)

2 boxes of movie candy ( my big no-no!)(snack)

1 Smart Ones Creamy Rigatoni with Broccoli and Chicken meal

To noone's surprise, I hit 1833 calories, so I went over 433 calories. I am hoping I burned close to that to at least make up for that.

I am starting my Turbo Fire program tomorrow! Keep me in your prayers :) How is your weight loss program going?

I would like to end with this..through Christ, all things are possible.


I am still staying on 180 lbs today so no fluctuation! Whoo-Hoo! Night!

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 9

Today was very successful. I weighed at 180- this I was happy about because I have been fluctuating between 185-190 up and down all week. Watch me be excited and then tomorrow be 185 again! But I hope not, my fingers and toes are crossed.

My meals today:

1 nutritional shake (breakfast)

Chunky Campbells baked potato and steak soup and a diet Mountain Dew (lunch)

Handful of roasted almonds (snack)

1 cup of raisin bran cereal with whole milk (dinner)

Handful of sunflower seeds (snack)

Guess what my calorie count was today? 1035 out of 1400!

Still fluctuating between too short or over but I am getting closer. I might have another 1/2 cup of raisin brand to level it out or a fruit cup.


I plan on continuing with 2 workouts from dancing with the stars tonight, and maybe a little on the exercise bike. I plan on taking a rest tomorrow and start full fledged on my TurboFire on Memorial day!

Happy memorial day to all of you!

A hurting, confused world

You are a vessel, and God has shaped you to become something to be poured out that only you can do that will touch many. The Master has crafted, and moulded you unlike any other.

Never try and change who you are.

If you never stepped outside your own backyard to take a look around and notice, I would like for you to challenge yourself and do so after you read this blog. I probably rant and rave about a lot of things that touch me emotionally, but as we all do, I suppose.

I stumbled across an album on Flickr when I was searching online for a dinner theater around this area..and saw a woman dressed up for the Atlanta theater by the name of Chloe Prince. As I was looking at her photos, I thought, wow, what a beautiful woman! Sound familiar? It didn't to me. So, as I was browsing through her pictures (as all of us nosy people do) I began to read some of the comments below. One was of a dress that affected her and she gave to someone during a SCC conference. It had a moving story. It was before her "operation". I was wondering what was about to happen to her so I delved further and noticed she mentioned gender surgery.

Wait- this was a guy!? So of course, I started looking further, she had a link to the page she started called Pink Thoughts by Chloe Prince. It went over her story about how her and her family were affected by the emotional conflict that former Ted-now known as Chloe went through.

I watched the ABC family secrets video on the bottom of the page and it really touched my heart. Now, I by no means support gender change nor education about it for I feel that this is something that is a rebellion against God and his plan for us. But, I still felt a connection and love towards Chloe.

You can see the conflict, the problems, the hurt she went through. The medical issues that brought her where she is today. The pain, the confusion brought to her family.

I still believe things like this is what tears families apart. And I do believe that is a consequence from walking further away from God and his plan for us. Things fall apart and don't work right without his presence and we wonder why. We don't give him time to heal or put us together.


But, If you are not aware, recently there was a news release on ABC News about a teacher teaching elementary children about gender diversity and it is ok to be a girl if you are a boy or vice versa. You can read about it here:http://losangeles.ibtimes.com/articles/152536/20110526/california-elementary-school-uses-lesbian-lizards-and-clownfish-to-teach-gender-diversity.htm

Now the bible says in Psalm 139 " “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. . . . My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. . . . your eyes saw my unformed body” (verses 13-16)" and that we were created in his own image.(Gen 1:27)

So God did not see us as in the wrong body or made incorrectly, so to be unhappy withourselves is to question God's work. We should be happy with our own self worth. The issue with Chloe is not who she is, it is her inability to be able to get the confirmation she needed from God, and not her own decisions. It is just as wrong as going to become a preacher without finding out if that is what he wants from us.

We need the word to confirm things to us and know what God wants for us.

Our country needs prayer. We need to pray for people who are hurting, who feel lost, and disconnected,even from their ownselves. This is not a message to attack Chloe, in fact, my heart actually hurts for her. The point of this is to keep our country in the forefront of our minds.

The devil is trying to kill, steal and destroy. He is a wolf in sheep's clothing, so you may be fooled and not realize what he has done until it is over.



He tries to create death in marriages, in our selves and wants to steal from us the promises made from God and the blessings we are to receive. He wants to destroy families and our view of how we see others, ourselves and God.

Pray that the church does not judge but uplifts and helps to restore.

Pray that the children are brought up correctly to discern what is false teaching and what is true doctorine.

If you would like to hear the heartwrenching story of Chloe, you can find out more on www.chloeprince.com.

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 8

WHEW! Today has been a looooooooong day. But I have been diligent. I started trying to look at how many steps I take at school and it is at least 430- I think it is more because I didn't count the way there and back since I didn't get the app on my phone until that afternoon- so I think I walked about 2 miles today. The calorie counter was way off on the phone, so who knows on that- may have to get an improvised one.

But, my legs were sore and calves stiff by the end of today. So good news!

My meals today:

1 nutritional shake (breakfast)
1 skinny caramel macchiato from Starbucks (this was actually very good in calories!)

1 can of chunked chicken breast from Hormel
1/4 cup of baby carrots and 1/4 cup of cherry tomatoes with 2 tbsp of ranch dressing
7 pieces of dried apricot and water (lunch)

1/2 powerbar (snack)

1 turkey burger with cheese, and green leaf lettuce, and 1tsp mustard
1/4 cup of baked beans, 1/2 cup of macaroni and cheese and water (dinner)

1/4 bar of hershey chocolate (snack)My total calories today were 1277, in case you didn't know..based on my body structure I burn 1200 calories a day so need to consume that or less to lose weight-and of course diet correctly and exercise.

I had sooo much energy around 12 pm but now I am tired as crap.

I think I am gaining more endurance because I didn't feel like I was going to pass out after 5 min of walking around campus in the heat. Now it's 10 min?

Anyway, I just completed 2 workouts w/ Dancing with the Starts- The Quickstep and the Jive. If you want to feel like you are dying- the Quickstep is perfect for you..I am a sweating maniac today!

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 7

Once again, I am sore as crap today. My back muscles, arm muscles, legs and calves are stiff, but I'm lovin it! My shake weight and Turbo Fire fitness program came in so I'm psyched! I plan on starting that this upcoming Monday once I have bought some more healthy snacks to coincide with it.

I have discovered through some research that most good workouts include some minimal exercise equipment. My suggestion if you plan on trying a program is to at least get some resistance bands and some hand weights in varying sizes. Maybe even an exercise mat if you have a hard floor. I plan on getting some next week to work out with my Turbofire routine. Wish me luck! I am very excited and in hopes of seeing results by next weekend in time for Amy's shower because pictures claim to start seeing effects within a week to 9 days...sometimes even by that weekend.

So..you know I will definately update on that!

My meals for today were:

1 nutritional shake (breakfast)
Meatball sandwich w/ fries and water (lunch)
1/3 cup of chili from Bears Creek with 8 oz of Crystal light.

I went over by 104 calories today- so my total was 1304. However, I have been running around a lot today, so I feel confident that I haven't failed completely today.

I took a rest today and plan on hitting the exercise bike, shake weight, and dancing with the stars dance of the calories dvd.

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 6

I am really feeling the burn today. My pecs, and my thighs are killing me today from lifting with handweights (I didn't have any at the time so I used 5lb books!) from the Jillian Micheal's 30 day shred yesterday and all the walking I did on campus today.

All I can say is I wanted to cry when Madeline tried to use me as a rocking horse--

Here is what I ate today:

1 nutritional shake (breakfast)

Meatloaf, egg noodles, a roll and cheesy cauliflower (lunch) with a strawberry smoothie from Starbucks

A roast beef sandwich and baby carrots with 2 tsp of ranch dressing (dinner)

Crystal light drink



I was bad on my lunch today- I forgot to bring my lunch to school- so I did go over my calories by 240.

I had the total of 1440 calories today.

I am continuing on the 30 day shred- I know I am going to feel like whooped butt tonight but I am determined.

Hopefully I can cross my fingers and hope I burned enough to make up for my naughtiness.

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 5

Today was so busy! I was wondering if that was going to throw my process off.

Here is what I ate today:

1 Yoplait light fat free yogurt
1/2 Power bar (breakfast and snack)

1/2 (more like 1/4) of a grilled chicken salad at Buffalo Wild wings (lunch)
and 3 glasses of berry lemonade! Oops..did bad there. (145 calories per serving!)

1/2 Powerade drink

3 chicken gorditas from the Old El' Paso mix

My calorie estimation is about 1373-1500 so I went over by about 300 calories.

Which means, I probably need to spend a little more time working out tonight if I want to see progress.

I was off balance with fiber, protein and Vitamins A and C so I am hoping since I have to go grocery shopping soon I can cover that issue beside taking vitamins.

I'm going to work out on Jillian Micheal's 30 day shred tonight- for 20-25 min.

Then- I am going to do some sit ups- think I will start off with 25.

Have a good night! It looks like I am plateauing right now at 180 so I am really pushing to see something lower than that in a week!

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 4

I am really getting into being able to handle my meals, and at first I thought it was going to be pretty restrictive, but it is actually the same, just being more aware of what I eat and how much.


I actually don't really get that hungry during the day, and when I do, I eat a snack that is normally just light. Because of that, I am able to have some more lenience for my dinner.

Here is what I had:

1 nutritional shake (breakfast)
1 Banana (snack)
1 sandwich with chunked chicken and a fruit cup of mandarin oranges, Coke Zero (lunch)
1/2 Powerbar (snack)
Cheesy Crockpot Chicken over rice and broccoli and cheese and Crystal light (dinner)
1 Yoplait Light Fat Free Blueberry yogurt (snack)

If you haven't invested in finding a good site to plan your meals, I would highly recommend mealsmatter.org

It isn't necessarily focused on healthy eating, but it provides recipes, a calendar that you can pick meals and plan each day out- then transfer the ingredients onto a shopping cart so you know what to get for grocery shopping. It also has a section for healthy recipes, and other categories like quick meals under 30 min..etc.

This will save you alot of time, stress and money when planning for meals. I definately plan on using it to my best advantage for my future low-cal meals.

Anyway, my net calorie count for the end of today was 1,072- a little better than yesterday and today I am not exercising since it is highly recommended to work out about 2-3 days in a row then give your self a days worth of rest in between.

Tomorrow, I will be continuing, and my goals for this week are to do 3 cardio work-outs that are 20 min long, and 2 strength training work-outs. So far, I have managed to work up to 15 min workouts- yesterday I did 1- 15 min cardio and 1-10 min exercise bike session. My next goal for tomorrow is to start on the treadmill and follow my 12 week program.

If you would like to follow a program that pretty much works as a trainer for you- check this out, it is pretty specific:


12 week exercise plan

Well, I am going to enjoy the rest of my night, I am pretty pooped from walking at LEAST 3 miles across campus today, Auburn is huge..especially when you have to run like a hampster on a non-stop wheel all over the place.

NIght!

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 3

Day 3:

Today started off the same but ended up short:

1 nutritional shake

I had a late lunch so I didn't get to snack due to work but I had a Smart Ones Roasted Turkey and mashed garlic potato meal, and about 20 ounces of Crystal Light Wild Stawberry drink

For dinner I had about a cup of 100% egg whites with chopped bell pepper and cheese rolled up in a tortilla and had some salsa with it.

For a snack, we went as a youth group to Chill Yogurt Cafe which I was a little more loose on.

I probably didn't get EVERY single calorie right, but I have a ball park figure- I probably hit slightly over 900 calories- so I went too low today.

I figured out a pattern, I am still hitting too low in my fiber and potassium levels and don't eat take enough calcium...this is not more for losing weight's sake because honestly, it is not just about watching your calories, but I want to eat healthier and get all my nutrients I need.

So..I looked up some foods I need- high in fiber would be bran cereal, broccoli, strawberries, anything whole grain.

High in potassium would be pistachios, banana, kiwi, carrots, fish..etc.


So, since I need to go grocery shopping soon, I might pick up a few of these items for snacks since they are relatively well on calories too...kill two birds with one stone, know what I mean?

To update, I did my ball room dancing cardio yesterday and about fell out after 10 minutes! I am going to push to about 15 minutes this time and maybe hit up the exercise bike for 10 min tonight to change it up and increase my endurance. Tomorrow I am taking a break since I have to walk halfway across the world to make it from one class to another.

But, I am excited because I ordered the Shake Weight for my arms through Amazon and I really look forward to using that for my flabby arms. They are just HUGE! But I know I can do this.




So, after I work on it..I will look like this..


Ha-ha, just kidding, I don't want to be the next Arnold Swarchenegger..not like that will happen.




Also, I ordered the fitness program TURBOFIRE which is cardio oriented high intensity conditioning program to burn 9x more fat than normal cardio..thinking this might be my next step up when I can learn to actually work out for at least 45 min in a row..because otherwise I might become embedded into the floor if I don't wait.

I will let you know how this works when I try it because I am anxious to see if it backs up its reviews that guarantees to lose 20 lbs in a month...if it does I will be about 90% of my goal in a month if I am dilligent!


That would be too easy, and nothing is as easy as it seems, so I am going to plan on hanging in there with determination for the long haul, just in case. Nothing pays off that is worth it if you take the easy way out.

I weighed myself and I am back down closer to 182 today!

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 2

Okay, so today is Day 2, and I have taken the knowledge I had gleaned from my habits yesterday and decided to watch my calorie intake more today.

My daily meals consisted of:

1 nutritional shake for breakfast (basically a Slim Fast Wal mart rip off)

For a snack, I ate half of a protein bar (Power Bar)

For lunch, I ate some Campbell's chunky chicken, white and wild rice soup

For afternoon snack, I ate the other half of my Power Bar

and for Dinner I was probably bad, but I had a chicken taco salad from El Rio, but I had water to drink.

So..the total? Out of a preferred 1200 calorie diet for myself I reached 1239...so I only went over by 39 cals!

Although this may sound great, I did notice there are somethings still lacking...

Of course, the main thing is --I need to start on a rigid exercise program.

Besides that, I had several important nutrients I was very low on:

Fiber, Potassium, Carbs, Calcium, Iron, and Vitamins A and C.

I did, take a multivitamin supplement, so it should set me off a little better, but I will probably start focusing more on foods that have more of this to balance me out.

So..did I mention how awesome this site I go to is? Anyway, it provides a exercise program to go by and how to start off.

The keys is muscle confusion, and being gradual. Muscle confusion basically is constantly doing something different to change your routine after 4-6 weeks so that your body does not reach a plateau.

Also, my biggest mistake was always jumping straight into the program and trying to exercise like I already knew what I was doing..but then I would drop off after half-dying.

However, this includes only about 10 min of cardio and gradually upping the intensity until about 5-6 RPE..which is basically enough to get up to where you are sweating, and puffing just a little.

With that said, I am going to hit "Dance with Juliane Cardio Ballroom" dvd session and go from there!



I hope you are having a victorious night over food and closer to the you that you are happy with.

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining - Day 1

Day 1- Evaluation

I am great and probably best labeled as world-renowned for starting ideas with full force and probably wavering off somewhere in the close future. I am not promising anything, because I fear if I do that, I will commit to my old routine, but I am making my best ATTEMPT to work on losing weight and doing it healthily (if that is a word).

I know I can only accomplish this through the support of my family, friends, and God, so I hope this one day will give motivation to someone. I know I personally like to see what works for other people and try and tailor it to where it can best work for me- which is as good a try as any other I suppose.

So, with that said, I started Day 1 today. It wasn't anything special, I actually first initiated it by signing up with a free membership at
http://caloriecount.about.com/. This site is great because it provides a calorie counter to watch your intake, set up and track the meals you eat, advise you on if you are under or over on the nutrients/calories you need or have absorbed, and offers exercise plans and help through forums to get you through--so basically an internet support system- which is great because I need all the help I could get.

For the first day, it advised me to follow through on my normal daily eating routine and exercise (which is basically non-existent) so I could see where my problem lies..which is no big surprise considering what I ate!

Who ever knew a hamburger alone could be 500 calories! Good God! So, I found out I need to be eating about 1200 calories a day with my current weight and height. Are you ready for what I actually ate..guestimating all the food I logged on?

Drum roll please...

2595 calories! I think I had another heart attack. Or at least, that is what I am going to get if I continue eating like that! I think being conscious of it will help me a lot more, because I plan on posting a picture of what I used to look like in a bathing suit on my exercise bike tonight..if I can find it from the dusty photo books.

I know I can do this, and would like to encourage all you out there who are wishing to have pride in your body as much as I do that you can too.

Here is a log of a woman who has lost 65 lbs and is still going on reddit.com..this is what I am working towards!

http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/gj0jo/i_was_envious_of_other_i_lost_x_amount_of_weight/



I would love to hear some progress stories out there.

The Food Diaries of Daphne: When losing is gaining

I have been putting up my latest craft feats but am really wanting to get on a kick with exercise and losing weight. My goal right now is to lose 30 lbs so I can not only be back to my pre-pregnancy body, but to also maintain a healthy lifestyle and look great.


So, I thought if I post what I am doing every night and keep track of what I am eating, I can be more consciencious of what I intake in calories and what I am actually burning.

You hear about Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, but I would love to have a testimony on using the resources that are within my own grasp..so basically to sum it all up, I want to save some money while doing it!

Do any of you out there have the same goal in mind or am I just the crazy one?

I am hoping to find some healthy recipes and exercise routines to make things a little more interesting as exercise with low willpower is hard enough.

I am going to post these as I find them with hope they may help someone else as well...

Please feel free to post anything you may think that works well for you..Do you have a recipe that is low fat?

I am starting off with my "before" picture so that I can track everyday as I go.

For any of you who may wonder what my current weight is--I am self-conscious about stating this, but it ranges between 180-190 right now.

A New Chapter Begins

Tonight, I could sum up my feelings as a big ball of emotions..anxiety, nervousness, anticipation, and excitement, because tomorrow is the first day I get to go back to school! For those of you who do not know, I finished my associates in 2006- three years after I graduated from high school but this time I finally know what I want to be "when I grow up".

I was accepted into the Pre-Graphic Design program, and have two classes for this summer and will take a full course load in the fall, but I think this will help me to feel better about my "what-if's" that I have been asking over the last couple of years on what is next to come in my life.

After a good talk with my friend Crystal over dinner the other night, we both summed up that everyone goes through this and suffers with questions on the things they will get to fulfill in their life- and although we are proud of the blessings we are given(children, spouses, homes..etc) it is still ok to explore and find out the individual of what makes you ..you.

I have been praying lately that God would provide guidance and direction for where I am going so I don't feel lost in the dark--because let's face it, adventuring out in the great unknown can be scary.

But this is something I love, am excited about and have prayed over and look forward to having as an occupation and still be able to watch my child as she grows up.

I shall report more on my adventures soon!

I will leave you with this...the most ugly fashion statement EVER unless you are just scrawny.

I hope this keeps a smile on your face :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPSxKeywGm8

Run-in with the Sewing Machine= Baby Halter Top

Well, hello, Sewing Machine, fancy meeting you here at this time of night. Looking all intimidating with your glowing light, gleaming needles and accessories and your many bobbins to wind up string. Would have given me the case of the chills a few months back, but now....now, I am a changed woman.

How's that you ask? Well, you see, I have gained steely determination that what my hands set to work will inevitably lead to a completed project. No, no, I haven't been ordering patterns lately.

What's this on my table you ask? Oh well I sure am glad you inquired. You see, this right here is a fully functional BABY HALTER SHIRT!! Yeah, Yeah I said it! And I had you going the whole time! Heh, heh.




I know, it's hard to believe, but don't deny it, because it is evident it was you. You see, if you take a glance with me, you will notice your wobbly stitches, pieces of untrimmed fabric to be adjusted and slightly off kilter arm holes. But, what me and you have is a good thing here..and a good thing is hard to come by nowadays.

Leaving so soon, you notice? Yeah, it is time for us to part ways. My work here is done. But, I will return, and I will return soon. So don't you cry.

Until then. This looks like this could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

So much happening in so little time.

So in continuation of my previous craft predictions, I am working on my artwork for the living room this week, it had been postponed for a week of rest last week due to running around like crazy the week before. I have to say that being an "almost" stay-at-home mom has it's work cut out for me because I haven't sat down to rest for a SECOND! But, in a postive retrospect of it all, I feel blessed and am pleased with the turn of events that have taken place in such a short time since February when I transitioned from full-time to part-time work:

I have learned to play basics of piano
I am now a youth pastor with my husband at our church
I am about to attend school for Graphic Design (that has a whole other story on its own!)
I am branching out and able to meet and invest more quality time with people that I never gotten the chance to before
I am gaining more accountability on my priorities in life and learning balance
I am receiving a chance to delve further into my craft passion-projects
I am able to have more time to work out and get better health for my body
I am given time to work on upkeeping my household better
I am learning to take time to work on my relationship with God more
And of course able to spend more time with my child!

So.. although I haven't completed or gotten close to exactly where I want to be quite yet on some of these venues, I am getting closer and I have achieved so much. I have been given so many blessings and am very thankful God has given me the opportunity to do this, but I have bathed it in prayer, so I do feel peaceful about this decision. Hopefully, once I start losing some weight and getting more fit I can work on our next child..motherhood has truly been a enjoyable experience.

Yes, I realize it will not be easy, but I have never slowed down anyway, so what's a new challenge?

This is more of a pondering of my own thoughts, but it is good to look at what I have done or am working on..goals are sooo important and give meaning to your life.

I would also like to brag on what God is doing in our church. It has been a wonderful experience just to partake in what he is doing. We got to give 105 families free food this last Wed, and I truly loved every bit of it...





when they said it is better to give than to receive, it is so true! We basically had a truckload of over 7,000 lbs of food to give away and were able to give more out after these families had left.


Not only that, but the money that was spent to provide this ended up being covered later by local businesses that wanted to participate!
I am glad for this journey and am excited for what's around the next bend.. Onward!

Chaotic Week..New Project

I noticed a lot of my blogs are started projects but I have not followed-up on them to show my results! So..as a commitment to myself I am determined to show progress on my costume for upcoming Dragon*Con this next week! I also came across a deliciously exciting decor project for the walls of my living room since I have given it a total makeover. I will have to scour my computer to see if I have any before pics of my living room, but anyone who has even briefly visited me can attest that my livingroom looked like a highlighter color...and a green couch as an accessory is not the best fashion statement for myself. I proudly can say the walls resemble a bandaid color and the furniture looks brown now..however we are a huge bookcase short due to an avalanche that occured after moving around furniture, much to my husband's dismay. So..this last weekend on top of preparing a sermon for our youth group since we have been named youth pastors, I have began preparing appetizers for my jewelry party that was on Friday, getting together plans for my best friend's birthday (which I missed due to my baby getting a high fever :( ) and painted my living room, put on slipcovers and rearranged the entire area. Okay, the most stupid piece of advice I could possibly give that is the most obvious is..DON'T start a project in the middle of the day before a party! UGH. That was almost the ending to a disastrous and stressful week. Here is the progress so far on the livingroom.. I still have some adjustments to make but I am going to be working on some wall hangings that will cost me less than $50 to make for above my mantle on my fireplace: Back to the idea of decor and my newest craft.. I got this idea from styrofoamcrafts.com and it is relatively easy to make! Super excited to start working on it! I think this would be a great idea for anyone who is not a Van Gough or is not willing to pay some $$$ on artwork to jazz up their home. Plus, craft making rocks..nuff said.

Remodeling Time!

I have been waiting for so long to finally make up my mind and decide when and what to do with my living room that I began designing in my dreams. So..with no further adieu, I will be starting my reconstruction process tomorrow!

Got my paint in mind, the colors planned out and the slipcover picked that I want to go on our poorly mishappen couch. The new furniture touches will have to be a little at a time since our budget has lowered due to my part-time work status, but I will thoroughly enjoy this.

The pic above is how I am wanting it to look, and now all I have to do is figure out the riddle of how to situate my furniture around my off-center fireplace yet still make it feasible to walk around in my small livingroom without tripping over yourself.

When we get there.. well, we'll see!

Preparing for Dragon*Con

A few years back I had planned to eventually set up the time where my husband and I could attend Dragon*Con, a highly known sci-fi/fantasy convention for all those nerds out there. When I say nerd, I say it with high affection, as this is a fond term I call my husband and borderline claim myself as a closet-nerd as well.

So, we finally got it set up, and I think I am probably more excited than him! It had originally was supposed to be a surprise birthday gift for him, but go figure I had no idea the tickets would be coming in the mail with DRAGONCON in bold letters on them. The confirmation told me that I would just print out the receipt for admission, for pete's sake!

Oh well, anyway, needless to say he was quite happy but I think I have worked myself into bubbling excitement for the mere fact I highly enjoy looking forward to planned events together whatever they may be and even have discovered what I will be wearing as a costume the first day.

YES, a costume. Where besides Halloween, you have an excuse to dress up and nobody stare at you funny.
My character I have chosen is the mechanic, Kaylee from Firefly, for her personality she represents and just because it will be super easy to make as well.

Fairly easy, don't you think?
Basically I will need some coveralls, make them sleeveless, wear a bright shirt and I got it down!

I will be doing some minor touchups, she has a little teddy bear patch and a few others that I will add.. but in the meantime I will be hitting up a few Goodwills to avoid ordering a Dickie's outfit.

I am excited! Be looking for pics of my progress!

Monogram Keychains

Okay, so I have extended my craft adventure into the realms of monogramming. While I am venturing further into the different avenues this can take me, I have successfully completed some cute round polka dot keychains which I have put up for sale in my craft shop and etsy site. This is so fun and easy!

I actually got my first sale a couple of weeks ago, so I am hoping that once I begin to expand further with more variety it will take off.

My next project I hope to post very soon in the next week will be monogrammed fob keychains. :) Hope you enjoy!

Let me know if you have any suggestions! I love tips and advice.

Soda Tab Earrings in My Craft Shop

Well I finally put together some more earrings together and love the way they look. You can find them on my shop (up on the top on my navigation bar)

Keeping your mind at work and hands busy will keep you out of trouble..

1 Timothy 5:12–13


12 Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. 13 Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.

 
I always liked this scripture. It is the epitomy of human life as we know it. To summarize Zig Ziglar, one of the world's motivational speakers, people with nothing to do, or no goals tend to fall into depression and are very negative. Why? Because they have no drive..no hope.
 
I feel that if one feels no purpose, drive or has something to keep them active, they fall into a state of "uselessness" and are stagnant. I always notice that the ones that tend to have the most drama, tell the most gossip, entertain the most outrageous ideas, usually are those who are not sure on what to do with theirself or need to be doing more to their life. I will call it idleness.
 
For discretion's sake, I will not mention any references of people who mimic this in my life. I try to avoid getting caught in this vicious lifestyle by keeping myself busy. Thus..my craft escapades.
 
However, if one were to ask me the first step to avoiding the trend of idelness, first things first, get a relationship with God. If you are willing to try Him on for size, the only thing I guarantee you to lose is some pride..and Lord knows we could all go without a little of that.
 
Secondly, once you have made a step forward, get yourself involved in something- a hobby, work, a social group..but if you choose to do the latter, please keep yourself away from shameless slanderers! What I mean is misery loves company and if a bunch of people who like to do a whole lot of nothing get together..well, I am sure you can picture the rest.
 
The Lord instructs us that idleness leads to no bread on the table. In addition, we become gossips, and hurt others. Gossips are nothing more than glorified insecure people who want others to see them look good by critiquing other things that would be looked down on by them.
 
Enough of my soapbox. Summary: Idleness=Trouble. Get a hobby.
 
On this note, I am very excited about my newest craft I have started for this time period has been getting my creative juices flowing. I plan on making a stock of these items so I can take them to the flea market next week or so and see how they do:
 
Here is what I have started on so far:
 
Soda Tab Jewelery
This was sooooo fun! So far I have a collection of earrings I have made and will get those pics out soon.
My fav. has to be the lady bug ones I did:
 

And.. I finished my first bracelet. I will be adding a little more flourish with cute ribbon and some that has a little more transparent ribbon..but for now, I am just happy they came out great.

I am taking personalized orders if you would like a bracelet or earrings for your very own- right now they are going for $5.00.
 
I am making some custom Alabama Roll Tide and Auburn Tiger ones .. (WAR EAGLE!!!) you can probably guess which ones I am going to wear..

Nothing's Better than a Good Read..

I would just like to take this time to announce how thoroughly I am enjoying the book series "Fallen" by Lauren Kate. I can't recall how I happened to stumble across her books, but I instantly downloaded it to my Kindle after hearing about it's romantic supernatural theme--for all you Twilight lovers, if you haven't read this one, I think it will be on your list. As far as I am aware, right now the Fallen Series consists of three books, Fallen, which was released in late 2009, Torment, which was released late 2010, and Passion, which will be expected to probably come out Fall of 2011.

If Lauren Kate's topic of teen love between mortals and angels don't get you, the cover illustrations definately will. Bordering on a mixture of gothic and drama, I give the illustrator a 2 thumbs up.

Fallen gets a little stale when Luce gets frustrated and can't figure out what's going on with Daniel but the plot develops further in Torment and to prevent spoilers, I will just tell you to hang in there until closer to the end of the book of Fallen and middle of Torment to get more answers.

Although I don't believe in any of this stuff, it's a great read and I definately am enjoying Torment, looking forward to Passion!



Hope you enjoy or have enjoyed also!

Cupcake Pops

I had honestly meant to post this sooner rather than later, but along with many other items in my house, my camera usb cord to upload the pics decided to walk off and hide. I decided in answer to that after scavenging the place up and down, it was time to clean the house..especially since the place looked like a warzone after Christmas.

First, I will as promise, share my cupcake pops experience. I thought it was an excellent ideas as favors to Madeline's upcoming first birthday and was excited to see if they turned out remotely as cute as what they appeared when I first saw them online. They cost WAY less than trying to buy them already made as well.

Of course, in every situtation where I find myself mimicking a craft, nothing ever goes as perfect as you think it will in your head...as it did not with me.

So I shall start first with the ingredients really needed:

1 box of red velvet cake mix (or whatever type you wish)
2 cans of 16 oz Cream Cheese cake frosting
2-3 bags of your choice candy melts, I chose red, white, and chocolate
Sprinkles and Red M&M's (not required)
Popsicle Sticks
Styrofoam square
Wilton Tulip shaped Cookie Cutter
Treat Bags

For viewing purposes, I have included my lovely display of items gathered:
                                                 
Now, notice the tulip cookie cutter I am holding. I bought this seperately at Hobby Lobby thinking it was the same as the one requested to make the cupcake pops. Don't make the same mistake I did. You will need the Wilton tulip that comes with a pack that looks like this:



The difference is the cookie cutters in the pack are a lot smaller and will form the dough better for the cupcake pop. Mine turned out too big to create a cupcake, so I had to form it with my hands.

Before I get ahead of myself, you will first want to bake the cake as instructed from the back of the cake box. Let it cool, and take the cake and put in the blender and pulse until ground up in crumbs.

Once the cake was ground up, I put the cake in a bowl and stirred in some cream frosting a little at a time until the cake was easy to form in my hands. If the mixture is falling apart, you will need to add more.

Once I was able to get a good consistency, I took an ice cream scoop and scooped the dough into balls. I put them on a wax lined pan and in the freezer they went for 15 minutes. You can put them in the fridge too, but it may take about 30 min instead. Multi-tasking works best for time conserving, so while you wait on your little freezer-balls, you can heat up your candy melts. I started with the chocolate first. Heat in 30 second increments until smooth. If it seems stiff, you can add a small amount of vegetable oil.

Once the doughballs were firm enough, I took them back out and (at this time found out the tulip cutter did not work) prepare to shape them into cupcakes. If you do have a tulip cutter that works, shape the balls into an elongated oval shape and press the tulip halfway into the ball. This will form a little bottom ridge and you can shape the top into a rounder cupcake shape. Pull out and put back on the pan. Continue to do the same with the rest.

For you poor saps like me, do your best to flatten one end against your hand and then slightly roll with your hands like you would clay, this will create the bottom part of the cupcake. Round out the top as best as you can.

Remember the chocolate melts? These come in to play now. I made sure the chocolate was smooth enought that it dripped.

Because the melts cool  quickly, you will now dip the bottom of the cupcakes in the chocolate melt, swirl, and place back on wax lined pan. I put the popsicle sticks through these immediately to avoid cracking the chocolate later.



Pop these sucker's back in the freezer for a couple more min to set and heat up your top color for the candy melts. My choice was red and white chocolate to make coral pink.

Dip the top of the cupcake into the pink, swirl, top with sprinkles and a red m&m for a cherry and set in the styrofoam board to dry.

 

When dry, add a treat bag and tie with ribbon.

And you have a cute cupcake pop assembly! I got a lot of compliments on the taste of these, and tried them myself..sort of resemble zebra cakes!