Feelings of Doubt, Frustration, & Guilt!

Ok, so it seems as though every time I make a goal to lose weight and be healthy I start to crave unhealthy things and I start to really give into those temptations. I start asking myself is this really worth it, and it seems as though life really gets in the way of exercise. How is it that when I don't seem to have a goal I can manage to find the time to exercise, and I can seem to eat pretty decent, but when I have an honest goal nothing goes as planned? I have had feelings of self doubt, I look in the mirror and I tell myself why are you trying what is it worth. You are going no where with this. You can't accomplish this so why try. Then I feel frustrated not only by my lack of results, but by my lack of a good attitude. I'm angry with myself for allowing those self doubts to constantly creep into my thoughts. Then I have guilt feelings because I cheat on my healthy eating, and not only do I cheat just a little here and there, I cheat all day long and for what? It has got to stop!

I have been reading a book called Losing It! By Melanie Douglass, R.D. and have found somethings that I think are going to help me out a lot and I wanted to share those things with you in hopes that maybe you might benefit from these thoughts as well. In her book she quotes a woman by the name of Mary Pickford and she says "You may have a fresh start at any moment you choose, for this thing we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down." Can you say genius? Hello, how many times do we fail and say well that is it, I'm done? I don't know about you, but I do that all the time, and then it takes me months to pick myself up and start over. I can start again fresh every day, even every hour. Why have I not seen this before. Maybe I am a little slow on this and the rest of you have had this figured out for a while, but this just made my day today.

The next thing from the book that really hit home this morning was this, "Commitment to your personal health is crucial. And I am not talking about adding another project to your to-do list and becoming an all-star multitasker. Just going through the motions, without really committing yourself, is a waste of time. We often give our best effort to keep our word when dealing with others-so why not for ourselves? Be true to yourself and keep your word to yourself. Always think about your real purpose in life and why you want to become a healthier person. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts." Wow! It's like I was hit with a ton of bricks this morning. I am not sure what my true goals were for getting healthy and losing weight. I don't know if it was because it's socially acceptable, or if it's because I want to be able to be skinny again. I don't think I have been listening to myself, I think I have been listening to the voices all around me saying lose weight it's what you need to do, you will feel better, you will look better, etc. I haven't been listening to what I really want, and I don't think I have ever really made what I want an honest goal.

So, here it goes. I am trying to get healthy and hopefully lose a few pounds along the way. My reasons for doing so and my goals are not because everyone else thinks it would be good for me or because I want to be the perfect model type person. Although that would be a nice perk! I want to be healthier for me! I want to be healthier for my family! I don't want my daughter to grow up struggling to be healthy and struggling with her weight. I want her to learn healthy habits now and grow up loving those healthy habits. I want to be able to run and play with Leah and Jesse with out getting worn out well before they are. I want to love life and enjoy life the way it's supposed to be with out feeling like I am less than. I want to have more children with my husband. If I don't get healthy soon, this goal and dream will fade away and my chances of that will be lost forever. I am ready to change me! I realize that if I fall off the wagon a time or two it's ok. I realize that not everything is going to be easy and that I can take it one small step at a time and change one thing at time. I don't have to go cold turkey and take every last bit of sugar and unhealthy thing out of my cupboards today. I realize that if I don't get my 30-60 min. of exercise in each day that it's not the end of the world, I can pick up where I left off the next day and continue on. I want to make these changes and I want to do it for me! I can do this, and I know that anyone else out there can do it as well. I have come to realize the reasons I became unhealthy in the first place, and I am changing those reasons and have found reasons now why I want to become healthy. Every time that I reach for the candy bar or bag of chips, every time that I think to myself that I am to tired or don't have the time to exercise, I am going to picture in my mind myself feeling happy and healthy because I decided not to eat that candy bar or bag of chips. I am going to picture my daughter and my husband playing and the joy that I get to have of being able to play with them, and I am going to imagine and dream of that sweet little baby that some day soon I hope to be holding in my arms again. I can't let my own lack of self control get in the way of my eternal family, and I know that there are little babies waiting to come to me and hoping that I can get my act together long enough to accept them into my home. That is what I will think of every time I think that I can't or I lose the desire to exercise.

I think it's important for each of us to take a look in the mirror and find out the reasons why we became unhealthy and maybe overweight in the first place. Then find out the reasons why we want to become healthy now and write those things down. It's time to put the past behind us and look toward the future. Realize that in so doing doesn't mean you will always see results in a week or two. This is a lifestyle change, not a quick fix to looking better. This is the rest of our lives we are talking about. It takes time to change, and for some we may see immediate results, and for others it may take 3, 6, 9, 12 months or longer, but the changes will come if we are patient and allow them to do so, and if every time we feel like quiting we run back to those goals that are written down and remind ourselves why.

If any of you would like to share your thoughts or reasons for wanting to get healthy or anything, please email me. I would not only love to hear your story, but I would love to post it so that we can all help each other. tiffanystringham@yahoo.com

Chicken Tortilla Soup (Found online by Tiffany Stringham)

I found this recipe online, and it's wonderful. I was having the hardest time finding something that sounded good for dinner and this is what I found. Don't remember where I found it, but my family really enjoyed it, and as I wrote down the recipe, I found the nutrition info as well and thought hey if this is good, we can put it on the blog. One thing that I have to admit that I love love love about this recipe is that you can make it ahead of time and put it in the fridge for up to 2 days! How exciting! I think that is awesome! Just make it as instructed below, only leave out the tortilla crisps until ready to serve! Tada! You gotta like that! So, if you know you are going to have a busy day, plan ahead and on your less busy day prepare this meal and grab it out of the fridge heat and in about 10 min. flat you have a tasty meal! Hope you enjoy it. Quick and yummy! Let me know if you try it what you think.

Makes 4 servings, about 1 1/3 cups each
-4 soft corn tortillas cut in 1-2 inch strips
-1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
-1 pound chicken breast diced
-3 cups bell pepper. (the recipe calls for frozen, I prefer fresh)
-1 pkg onion soup mix
-1TBSP ground cumin
- 2 -14 ounce cans chicken broth. (I use chicken bouillon cubes)
-1 -15 ounce can diced tomatoes
-1/4 tsp ground pepper
-2 TBSP lime juice
-1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I don't use this because I don't like cilantro)
-3/4 cup reduced fat Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese-shredded (I used Cheddar)

Spread tortillas in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 until lightly browned about 10-12 minutes. Heat oil over medium high heat add chicken and cook until starting to brown 3-4 minutes. Take out chicken with slotted spoon to help drain oil. Add peppers, onion mix, and cumin to your oil and cook until pepper are starting to brown about 4 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, pepper and lime juice, bring to a simmer and cook stirring frequently until veggies are tender about 3 minutes. Add the chicken back in and stir until heated through. Remove from the heat and if desired stir in cilantro. Serve topped with toasted tortilla strips and cheese. Yum!

Here is the part that is exciting to me. I know how much I am consuming with this meal, so I can be sure that I am eating healthy!

Nutrition Info!
-357 Calories/sering
-12 g. fat
-5 g. saturated fat
-4 g. monounsaturated fat
-87 mg cholesterol
-24 g carbohydrate
-37 g protein
-4 g fiber
-603 mg sodium

A little side note, I will try to remember where I got it from next time, so that I can give credit where credit is due. Also, please remember that if you leave out an item or change an item, for example I use bouillon cubes instead of canned chicken broth, it will change the nutrition info just a bit, so take that into account. Also, remember that a serving size is about 1 1/3 cups. So pay attention to how much you eat because that will also change the nutrition info if you eat more or less. We had a fresh spinach salad with carrots and cucumbers as a side and had applesauce as a desert! It really was good!

Food Storage-Thoughts by Julie Hymas (Jesse's Grandma)

I got an email from Jesse's Grandma the other day and it talked about food storage. Something that some of us may be working on, and some of us may not. It had some great thoughts that I wanted to share, and then some that I wanted to add.

She talked about making sure that you could survive if there was a local disaster and you couldn't go outside for 30 days. She talked about having reading material, candles, lanterns, matches, etc to light your way. She also talked about reading materials and making sure that you have activities and such for you and your family to read and do while you are stuck inside. Another thing that she suggested which is something that Jesse and I do, is putting water in your empty juice bottles to keep in your food storage. She had so many wonderful tips and thoughts on how to better prepare yourself and your family. If you are interested in reading the email, please let me know and I will forward it to you. I am grateful to have family that worry about us and want to be sure that we are prepared just in case we ever need it.

My additional thoughts on this subject are that you need to be sure that you have healthy things in your food storage as well. Things such as beans, they are good for protein, powder milk, dried fruit, if possible dried veggies. Try to put things in your food storage that you and your family already enjoy and like to eat so that you have things you are already used. Just be sure that they are able to be stored for a long period of time. Also, on occasion, try to cook with the items from your food storage so that you and your family are used to the things you have and so that your food storage items don't go bad. Do research to make sure you know the shelf life of the items you are putting in food storage, and label the date that you put it in storage and the date that it needs to be out of storage so that it won't go bad and waste your money. There are so many wonderful tips on food storage, I just think it's important to be sure that you can get the most healthy food possible in your food storage and to be sure that you know how to use it when the time comes for you to use it.

Thanks for all the tips from Jesse's Grandma, we are so grateful to her and her constant love and concern. She is a wonderful woman and we don't get to see her and his Grandpa very often, so we miss them a lot!

Guilt Free Milkshake By:Malinda Watts

This is a quick easy treat for your sweet tooth. It has helped me this week, and I am loving having milkshakes a few times a week! Just be careful that you remember that fruit has natural sugars in them and that you need to use fat free milk if possible! This will help cut down on the calories! Enjoy!


Peel and chunk a bananna or other fuit and freeze for 1-2 hours. Put in blender with skim milk or yogurt. Makes a great milkshake without the guilt!

Just a little side note, I put yogurt in a baggie and froze it and then added milk and that was pretty yummy as well! Thanks to Malinda for this yummy treat! Email me with your ideas for some healthy snacks, or meals! Can't wait to hear from you! It may take a while to really get this blog up and running, but with your help we can get it going!

Let's See How This Goes!

All right! Lets kick this blog off right! I am really trying hard to get healthy! I know that I need to lose weight, but my main goal is to get healthy! I want to be able to run and play with my daughter and husband with out them leaving me behind because I am out of breath and tired! I want any input and help with this website that you are willing to give! I am not a health guru, so any ideas, receipies, thoughts, any thing that you have, please feel free to let me know! I will give you full credit for your ideas! My email address for this particular blog is tiffanystringham@yahoo.com. If you have my other email address that is fine as well! I look forward to hearing your ideas and having everyone I know get involved in this! Together we will get healthy!