Does Dieting Ever Get Easier?

I dislike diets.  I know, I know, "diet" just means what we eat.  But you know what I'm talking about.  These things other people do that work for them and not me.  Probably because I'm undisciplined and I bow to my taste-buds, but still.  Boo for skinny people!!  And yet, I keep trying them.  Remember the Slim Fast craze in the early 90s?  I know it's still sold and used and making people thin, but in the early 90s, it was in everyone's pantry/fridge.  Well, I tried it.  (I wasn't even fat.  That's how much of a fad it was.)  I remember bringing my little chocolate shake in a glass jar (with lid) to school and putting it into my locker to keep for lunch.

About 3rd Period, we get an announcement over the loudspeaker.  "Surprise inspection.  Drug dogs on campus.  Would the following people come to the office please."  KIM ROSS !!!!!  Yep.  The drug dogs had alerted them to my awful Slim Fast.  Nice.  And that's about how I've seen diet plans since.  A waste of time and money and a reason to be embarrassed if anyone found out I was doing it.
Recently, I was diagnosed with Lupus.  Lupus is no fun but it's manageable. (No, it's not just you... I skipped into a new subject with little or no segue.)  The number one symptom of Lupus is fatigue.  Not I've-had-a-long-day-think-I'll-go-to-bed-early fatigue.  Think more like I-have-twins-who-have-kept-me-up-7-nights-in-a-row-and-I've-maxed-out-my dosage-of-Nyquil kind of tired.  Can be frustrating but still, not the worst thing.  Does anyone know what your first prescription is when discovering you have Lupus?  Prednisone, which is a steroid.  What's a side effect of steroids?  Energy!  It's wonderful!

So, while on the Prednisone, I was able to look at my life in a new way.  And my body.  I'd really let myself go.  More accurately, I'd let more of myself move in to stay.  Gross.  And what's that I'm learning about?  Arbonne.  (Please do not glaze over.  This is not a sales pitch.)  I used some of the product, loved it, bought into it, and am now living it.  Love the stuff.  Okay, like most of the other product lines out there, Arbonne has a Nutrition program.  I'm selling this stuff now so I figured I'd better try it out.

Well, another major side effect of steroids is hunger.  I'm hungry all the time.  I can literally have my mouth full of food and be thinking, "I wonder what we have to eat."  Also, I'm a big fan of food... but specifically holiday food.  Starting a Nutrition program during the holidays while taking Prednisone was perhaps not the smartest thing I've ever done.  But I did it.

Last week was my first week on the new diet.  Vanilla protein shake in the morning (made with almond milk).  Yum!  Chocolate protein shake for lunch (you can swap 'em around or whatever, this is just my preference) made with dark chocolate almond milk.  Double-yum.  Detox herbal tea.  Nice salad or something for dinner.  Groovy.  This is fun.  And easy.  And tasty.  I'm hungry because of the steroid, but I'm not hating life.

Then comes Thursday.  Thursday evening was Harding's staff/faculty Christmas party.  What makes this party unique from a lot of holiday parties is this one is used to showcase Aramark's new cuisine.  It's basically a gourmet tasting party.  Two gigantic rooms are filled with food to try (one room for desserts all by themselves).  You stand in line from one table to the next and eat as you go.  It can take awhile, but the food is unbelievable.  Usually, I don't stand in line.  I just haven't been able to.  So Mark and the kids stand in line and bring me stuff.

This year, I was feeling so good that I wanted to stand in line all by myself (like a big girl).  I decided to throw the diet away for this one night because it's once a year and I love it.  You know what I ate?  Spinach Artichoke Dip, Pork Loin Verde, African Lamb Stew, Etouffee, Shrimp Cocktails, New York Strip in Brown Sauce, Turkey and Dressing in Sweet-Potato-Cheese Sauce, and Breaded Chicken in Sweet-n-Sour Sauce.  And four glasses of lemonade.  That's all.  (And not just one helping... for some of it, I ate several helpings.)

Oh, wait, that wasn't all.  After the party, I went to a friend's house because she was having a Pampered Chef Party.  Are you familiar with those?  You eat.  I can't even remember the name of what we had but it was an apple, cinnamon, bread thingy.  Talk about blowing your diet.

Friday, I got back on the wagon full-speed.  Saturday, not so much.  I wasn't feeling well physically and so I gave in to the hunger-hunger I feel incessantly.  I can't even tell you what I ate but I know spaghetti with cheese was involved.  Then yesterday I had two grilled cheese sandwiches.

I've not neglected the protein shakes (I've just done them AND my own thing).  But guess what.  I've lost 5 pounds.  WHAT?!  This Nutrition program gets an A+.  I'm back in full swing!  Protein shake for breakfast...here I go!  I've learned that I can be healthy and make healthy choices and still enjoy the holiday here and there.  This is a new freedom and I'm loving it!

Whatever your diet of choice is, go ahead and start it...don't wait until the holidays are over!

Failure. Bring it.

This is one of those days where I need to remind myself of some things. I need to remember that some of the very great success-stories in history began with very great failures. I need to remember that it's okay to keep plowing ahead when everything in my path is resistant. I just need a "win one for the Gipper" moment. So, here it is.


1.Einstein was four years old before he could speak and seven before he could read.

2.Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school.

3.When Thomas Edison was a boy, his teachers told him he was too stupid to learn anything.

4.F.W.Woolworth got a job in a dry goods store when he was 21. But his employers would not let him wait on a customer because he "Didn't have enough sense."

5.A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had "No good ideas"

6.Caruso's music teacher told him "You can't sing, you have no voice at all."

7.Leo Tolstoy flunked out of college.

8.Verner Von Braun flunked 9th grade algebra

. 9.Admiral Richard E. Byrd had been retired from the navy, as, "Unfit for service" Until he flew over both poles.

10.Louis Pasteur was rated as mediocre in chemistry when he attended the Royal College

11.Abraham Lincoln entered The Black Hawk War as a captain and came out a private

12.Fred Waring was once rejected from high school chorus.

13.Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade.


There. I feel better.

Top 10 Lies

I know we all know that television isn't real.  Even "reality" t.v. isn't completely real.  Magazine pictures aren't completely real.  Movies, plots, scenery, costumes, etc... we all realize on some level that there is a line between fantasy and reality.  But seeing the fantasy over and over and over helps us blur the line.  We begin seeing fantasy as a possible reality.  Something others are living but not us.  We start wanting to be and do and have what never existed to begin with.

There are a plethora of these fantasies bombarding our senses daily.  I would just like to un-blur the lines of what I consider to be the Top 10.  These, in my opinion, are the most damaging...and the ones most readily believed.

10.  The #10 Lie we are spoon-fed and lap up is that rude is funny.  Sarcasm, wit, clever one-liners... I enjoy them as much as anyone else.  In fact, the wittier the film/show, the more I like it.  But it's because it's scripted and the receiver of the rude-but-funny one-liner doesn't crumple or punch or retaliate.  It's because, when the teenager rolls their eyes, it's at the exact right moment and the parent responds for humor more than for reality.  Talking about someone behind their back, snarky comments, witty words that make fun, picking on the little guy, bad-mouthing the authority... these things can be hilarious in the "right" setting with just the right facial expressions.  It gets a laugh every time.  But in reality, I would hope my kids NEVER talk like that.  It's disrespectful and rude.  In reality, rude is not funny.

9.  The #9 Lie is that smoking is cool.  Now, I realize most of us know this isn't the case.  Our generation and more-so the one coming up after us is acutely aware of the dangers of smoking.  However, when we watch a film, we see the "bad boy" smoking a cigarette and it just makes him look sexier.  It's a symbol of rebellion.  It completes the "street-cred" outfit.  No matter how far we've come, Baby, smoking is still depicted as a cool kid's thang.  Especially in any foreign flick.

8.  The #8 Lie is right up there with smoking.  Drinking alcohol.  Now, hear me.  I'm not saying that drinking alcohol is a fantasy.  I am saying that, on television and in movies, drinking a glass of wine has become classy.  It's what people who have "arrived" drink together to celebrate or relax or simply to go with their classy meal.  This is fine.  Except when it's not.  Not everyone is able to live in that reality.  Some of us have the disease of alcoholism running rampant in our genetic veins and must stay away from alcohol.  So we watch these classy, successful, beautiful people drinking their expensive wine and we start to feel like, if we were classy and successful and beautiful, we could do it too...meaning, because we cannot drink alcohol, we will never reach that elite status.  Poppycock.

7.  The #7 Lie is a doozy.  I almost rated this higher but didn't because there are things more detrimental,  Sex.  Sex is a beautiful, wonderful gift from God that is meant to be shared between husband and wife.  I'm not preaching.  I'm being rational and speaking from the heart of a mama who doesn't want her children hurt.  On film, sex seems so right.  Two people who love each other must express that love in some way and sex seems completely appropriate.  In real life, sex never washes off.  Once you have sex with someone, you can never take it back.  I can only speak for the female gender but I'm pretty sure it applies to woman and man alike... there's no such thing as casual sex.  Casual sex is a symptom of something damaged.  You are afraid to commit, you are looking for love, you do not think highly of yourself, you are trying to be something you are not.  You will still carry the experience with you forever.  Unless you continue.... then you become numb.  That will be detrimental to any lasting relationship you find.  Sex on film is...well...sexy.  Film doesn't cover all the bases.

6.  The #6 Lie we are so ready to believe is that money makes us happy.  Now, again, like with smoking, I know we all know this isn't true.  We see movie after movie after movie about the rich guy losing...poor guy winning.  Great.  And then we see a commercial telling us we MUST have this latest item.  Advertisements rely on the fact that nothing will ever be enough.  Advertisements bank on convincing us that contentment is in fact the fantasy and that buying is the reality.  This, my friends, has gotten America in the pickle it's in today.  (Not just that but...)  Money, purchases, things, stuff, products, materials... we need none of it.  None.

We're half-way there.

5.  The #5 Lie is that only skinny is beautiful.  When did that happen?  Skinny is fine if that's how God made you.  Fat is only not fine when it's unhealthy.  But beauty?  That comes in so many shapes and forms and colors and sizes and sounds.  Beauty is all heart.  I'm pretty sure no one knows how big someone's heart is, physically speaking.  On film, even when a show is ABOUT fat not being beautiful, the heroin is "done-up"....perfect skin, hair, clothes, etc... It's physical appearance that matters, or so the lie goes.

4.  The #4 Lie running around out there is that religion is boring.  This one is a no-brainer.  If you have faith, then you know faith itself is the biggest adventure of all.  You want an adrenaline rush?  Trust God more than you trust yourself.  Let God be your seatbelt.  It's crazy and chaotic and so not boring.

3.  The #3 Lie being shoved down society's throat is about divorce.  The lie tells us that divorce can be casual and healthy and friendly and will only truly affect the two going through it. Now, I do not believe divorce is wrong.  But I also don't buy into that lie.  I believe it's sad and hurtful and hard.  On film, people divorce because they "fell out of love" or "were just better as friends" or maybe they just got tired of each other.  They get divorced because they "had different dreams/goals/visions" or they both "changed so much" or maybe they just realized there was more fun to be had out there without being tethered to the old ball-n-chain.  Divorce should be an absolute last resort.  We are allowing our kids to grow up believing that divorce can be casual and friendly and even the "better" option.  It hurts for generations.  It must happen some times.  I know that.  But it is never casual.  It is never something that is done on a whim.  And it doesn't correct mistakes.

2.  The #2 Lie that I've seen over and over is "Love at First Sight".  This does not exist.  Unless you're speaking of the love we have for all mankind and that exists without sight.  When you look across the crowded room and lock eyes with that perfect person, what you are experiencing is physical attraction.  Possibly a magnetic connection.  Maybe you recognize on a metaphysical plane a likeness with this other person.  It is not love...yet.  Love must be grown.  It must be nurtured and cared for and committed to.  It is a decision far more than it is an emotion.  The emotion comes from making the decision to love someone.  Love will not always feel warm and fuzzy.  Love does not happen in a split second.

And the number one lie?

1.  The #1 Lie...the biggie...the one that I find myself correcting over and over and over with my own children is this.  Love and acceptance are the same thing.  NO THEY ARE NOT!!  I will always love my children.  Always.  Always.  Always.  If they murder someone, I will love them.  I will not, however, help them bury the body.  I will visit them in prison.  Because I love them.  Love means NOT accepting anything less that what is best for those we in fact do love.  If love and acceptance were the same thing, I wouldn't have cause to discipline.  Talk to me however you feel like.  I love you so it's okay.  Bully the other kids at school.  I love you so go ahead.  Stay out all night with that strange group of kids.  I love you so it's okay.  In the movies, love means saying, "I'm sorry I judged you.  I love you just as you are."  And that's the ideal, isn't it.  This is so clever because there's so much good and right about those two sentences.  We are NOT to judge.  Ever.  Love always.  I can love deeply.  I can love someone who has beat his wife.  Truly.  But accept that lifestyle for her?  No, sir.  Love doesn't mean everything's okay.  It means, I'll be right beside you even when things are not okay.

And that's my Tuesday rant.  Live the reality!!  :)

The Skinny on Products

Most of you know I've recently begun selling the high-end health products of a wonderful Swedish company called Arbonne.  I started this business with two goals in mind.  Number one, get healthy.  I have been diagnosed, mis-diagnosed, re-diagnosed, and simply dismissed from many medical facilities.  I've gone from feeling okay to feeling miserable fairly quickly this year.  As I sit awaiting the results from a third Lupus test, I am not simply letting my health-status stagnate.  Much prayer has gone into my well-being.  When I pray for specifics things, I often keep my eyes open for a clue to the Path.  I learned about Arbonne through a friend and it looked interesting.  I didn't immediately know that this was my answered prayer.

I was impressed by their commitment to healthy ingredients.  No artificials.  No preservatives.  No soy, no gluten, and...this was the deal-maker...no dairy!  My brilliant mother, who would've been burned at the stake in another century for her naturalist ways, always taught us the perils of dairy.  We are the only mammal who continues to drink milk after being weaned from the breast.  The whey in milk is a huge allergen...most people don't realize their body is reacting toward it because we've just gotten used to phlegm and bloating.  Yes, I said phlegm.  Mucus.  Guess what...dairy products multiply the mucus inside of you immediately upon ingestion.  Gross.  Notice next time you have dairy.

But, like all other good Americans, I bought into the idea that milk is a necessary product... bones, skin, and all that.  So wrong.  Most every "health" product on the shelves includes milk products.  And I used to consider this a good thing!  I forgot what my mother taught us and I actually sought ways to incorporate dairy into my daily meals.  And I kept getting fatter.  Not to mention the feeling-crummy thing.  So, when I found that this company doesn't put dairy into their nutrition products and, in fact, adamantly preaches against dairy, I paid attention.

I learned that the reason the sizes of the products are small is because they do not use preservatives.  Even in the skin care line?  I mean, that's a little bottle of eye cream there.  Well, would you rather have your skin-care products mixed with formaldehyde or made with bat poo?  If the ethyl alcohol hasn't dried out your skin and burned your pores, then, just buckle up. It will happen.

Did you know that most chapsticks on the market have a drying ingredient in them so that you will have to continue using the product?  What about your anti-aging stuff?  What chemicals are you putting on your face in order to hide wrinkles?  I was overwhelmed when I looked at my own shelves at home.  The ingredients on some of my stuff made me sick to my stomach.  I had to Google most of the ingredients because, not only could I not pronounce them, I didn't know what they were.  They all come with side-affects (side-effects?).  Most are synthetic.  When a product professes to be "all natural", please investigate what their definition of natural is!

I mentioned that Arbonne is a Swedish company.  That alone is good enough for me.  Why?  Because Europe has banned over 12,000 products from the shelves.  12 Thousand ingredients are not allowed in products that are being sold.  How many has America banned?  10.  10 whole products.  And formaldehyde isn't one of them. Neither is arsenic.

So, I'm in.  I'm not preaching to you or trying to sell you...I just thought I'd journal my journey.  I started the nutrition program today.  Had a protein shake (vanilla) this morning (and just because it's called a "shake" doesn't mean it has milk).  I ate brown rice cooked with two eggs for lunch.  I'll confess that this was not as tasty as I was hoping, but fat's not as pretty as I'd hoped either.  I'm hoping to make a veggie stew for tomorrow that will be much tastier!

Here's to a thinner and healthier New Year!!  When the ball drops at midnight on January 1, 2015, I'll be yelling, "Happy New Me!"  :)

P.S.  For those of you wondering what that 2nd goal is.... I hope to bring in some much-needed income for my family.  So...if you want to order some great product....  :)