Raw Diet update

I have now lost 19.5 lbs., down to 257.5. I am noticing a difference in the tummy fat and somewhat around other areas. I can feel my breastbone easier as well as my face isn't as puffy or bloated. There is major excitement knowing that I am losing weight and I don't feel deprived. I have cheated a few times, felt super sick afterwards, learned my lesson, but none the less I am losing weight and feeling great about it!!!

Day 9: Your Beliefs

My beliefs...

Religously, I am a member of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints. I believe in the Godhead: Heavenly Father, my Savior Jesus Christ, and The Holy Ghost. I also believe that families are forever. I believe that the Savior was resurrected and will return again. I believe that Thomas S. Monson is the Living Prophet on the earth today. I believe that Joseph Smith restored the true gospel to this earth and was a Prophet himself. I believe that the keys of the Priesthood have been returned to the earth.

I believe that honesty is the best thing in all situations.

I believe that love can conquer all.

I have a lot of beliefs but for now I think those are the most important.

Day 8: A Moment

Definition of a Moment: (per www.dictionary.com)

an indefinitely short period of time; instant: I'll be withyou in a moment.

2.

the present time or any other particular time (usuallypreceded by the ): He is busy at the moment.

3.

a definite period or stage, as in a course of events; juncture:at this moment in history.

4.

importance or consequence: a decision of great moment.

5.

a particular time or period of success, excellence, fame,etc.: His big moment came in the final game.

6.

Statistics . the mean or expected value of the productformed by multiplying together a set of one or more variatesor variables each to a specified power.

7.

Philosophy .

a.

an aspect of a thing.

b.

Obsolete . an essential or constituent factor.

8.

Mechanics .

a.

a tendency to produce motion, especially about an axis.

b.

the product of a physical quantity and its directeddistance from an axis:

moment of area; moment ofmass.

For this post I wanted to have some sort of enlightening and philisophical ah-a deep "moment". But I am afraid that it has come and gone.

The one thing that comes to mind is that life is too short. Those special times in life come and go and the thing to understand and remember, is to make every moment memorable because you never know when life will end, either for yourself or someone you love.

Day 7: Your Best Friend

I am going to start from the beginning.

Age 1-8 I think my best friends were my sisters and my brother, I only had one at the time.

Age 9-12 My best friend was Julie Hobbs, who is now married and lives in Colorado with her husband near her family in Colorado Springs. I love Julie dearly and still keep in touch with her still.

In my teenage years I had many close friends, most of which I still keep in touch with today. Kristen, Breanne, and Andrea are the ones that come to mind right off the bat. (I am sorry if I forgot someone)

My best friend for the last 10+ years has been my sweetheart. I met Brian when I was 14 and we became close friends quickly. I married my sweetheart when I was 19 and became an instant mom to one of my beautiful daughters.

Brian and I complete each other. I know that is the cheesy thing to say but it's the truth. He compliments my good and my bad. We communicate greatly and don't fight, in the sense of yelling and screaming. We do have disagreements but we are almost always able to work it out. We promised when we were first married that we would never go to sleep angry with each other. I am happy to say that this has come to pass except maybe a small handful of times.

Brian is a wonderful man. He is a great father, the best that I could ever ask for with my children. He is hard working, honest, loving, charming, funny, and silly. He has supported me in everything, whether it is school, work, crafts, ideas, hobbies, and is always open for suggestions when it comes to our home, children and life in general. I can't imagine spending the rest of eternity with anyone else. I love him more than words can say.

Love you baby!

Day 6: Your Day

My day varies. It all depends on my mood. So let's go with a good day, like today, a bad day is spent mostly in bed or doing nothing productive at all. Today I was up at 8, slept in a half hour too late. Woke up McKadie. Helped Sadie do her hair for school. Made sure Hunter was awake. Cleaned the house for about a half hour, 45 minutes. Helped McKadie get dressed, cleaned up all the clean clothes she ripped out of her dresser, this is typical. Paid bills, made phone calls. Ate breakfast. And now I have been catching up on emails, blogging because I promised I would. The rest of the day will consist of laundry, more cleaning, and working. Helping kids with homework, dinner, scouts and whatever else falls in my lap. My mom may stop by before she heads to work. Dad may come hang out, I never really know. As long as everyone is happy and healthy I am great!

Day 5: Your Definition Of Love

Love is something that cannot be bought, sold, traded, bartered, or tossed about like the newest fad. It is something that cannot be seen in a form other than action, felt in no other form but warmth, or heard by anything but with happiness and joy. Once you find love whether it is a significant other, a child, a friend, a sibling, a parent, or someone new; it comes in all sorts of shapes and form. I love my husband different than I love my children, and I love each of my children differently then the next. And obviously the cycle continues. The more you love, the harder you love, the more you are open for hurt and pain. But unless you open yourself for that hurt and pain, you will never be able to truly experience the full empowerment of joy. Love brings tears of joy and tears of pain. Brings laughter and sorrow. Love is timeless. Love teaches us things that cannot be taught from books, teachers, or professors. Love drives people to lie, steal and cheat. I don't recommend any of these actions, but it shows that there is much power behind the emotional heart. The love I have for my husband makes me paranoid about his safety when he is traveling somewhere far, even if it's just to the grocery store. I want him safely in my arms every night. Love is what I see when I look into his eyes and he smiles at me. Love is what I feel in his embrace. Love is what I feel when my kids squeeze me tight, or give me their eskimo and butterfly kisses. Love is what drives the world to do what we do. Love is what starts and ends wars. Love is what "lifts us up where we belong". Sorry I couldn't help that last one.

There are many people that I love, have loved, will love and have always loved. I say I love you to a lot of people and I do it frequently. I don't use it casually and I think that people misjudge me for that. If I say it, it's because I mean it. As I am typing this, my 3 year old just walked into the room and says, "Hey Mom I love you!". There are so many families that don't say it enough or even at all. I don't want my children growing into adulthood and feel unloved. I also want them to know what to expect from a marriage and what true love is.

I am very blessed and I am very very loved.

An update on the weight loss

So I am down to 259 and have been doing cartwheels. That is a total weight loss of 17 lbs. I am super excited and don't feel like I am being deprived of anything with our raw diet.

Day 4: What you ate today

When I read this I busted out laughing. Okay well it's only 12:09 in the afternoon so I haven't had the much to eat.

So here it is:

I had a smoothie made with Kefir, fresh blueberries, and some agave. Then we had 2 dippy eggs with 2 pieces of sprouted bread that was toasted, the bad part of this was the small amount of margarine that I spread on the bread.

I have also had about 24 ounces of water to drink today. I need to drink more but other than that we are all good.

For lunch, probably a salad, or the left over chicken and green beans that I didn't finish from dinner last night. Then for dinner, probably stir fry with onions, garlic, red peppers, and whatever other vegetables I have in my fridge on top of some rice.

Still laughing, what a post:)

Update:

I did eat the rest of my chicken and beans that had green and red bell peppers along with sesame seeds, cashews and olive oil with sea salt and pepper.

Dinner is going to be rice, with chicken broth with a natural thickener to make it gravy like, with shredded turkey with onions, green and red bell peppers, sesame seeds, garlic, sea salt, pepper, cilantro and probably something else I have forgotten. So we will put the rice on the bottom, with gravy topped with meat and veggies.

Day 3: My Parents

My dad, Ivan Wininger II, my mom's dad holding me, and my mom Katie Grosland. This was the day I was blessed in Pleasant Grove. Picture quality is not great but you get the drift.

This is a picture of my parents that was taken this fall by my sister.
Wow, my parents, a topic which encompasses so much love, gratitude, humiliation and some times irritation.

Lets start first with my dad.

My dad is the oldest of 8 kids and was raised in Southern California in a town called Canyon Country, about an hour outside of LA. He has 5 brothers, one who passed away when I was 14, and he has 2 sisters. He is lucky enough to have 2 sets of parents. His parents divorced when he was 17 and both later remarried. I love the fact that his family doesn't use the "step" or the "half" titles in their blended family. Family is family and that is all that counts.

My mom is the oldest of 6 kids. She was born in Alabama but was also raised in Southern California in a town named Tajunga. The parents of the actor Paul Walker lived in her ward in Tajunga where she grew up. Mom has 4 brothers and a baby sister.

My mom thought my dad was a dork at first and I believe that the first couple of dates were sympathy dates. But obviously there was a connection and so began my family.

My parents were born in June of 1980, got pregnant right away with me right before dad went to basic training for the Air Force. I was born February 1981 and before I turned a year old we were stationed in Holland. While we were stationed in Holland 3 of my siblings were born, Katrina, Mindy, and Lance.

Dad was a Jet Engine Mechanic and worked on F-14's and F-15's. We are very proud to be American's and I couldn't be prouder of my daddy for serving his country.

We were in Holland for 4 years. We were transferred to Phoenix in 1985-1986 and before dad was released from the Air Force my little sister Natasha was born at Luke Air Force Base.

Once dad served 9 years in the United States Air Force, we moved to Southern California. We lived there for 3 years but before we moved to Utah, my baby brother Colton was born in 1990. My mom gave birth to all 6 of us naturally, no epidural so cud dos to her. There was a miscarriage that I believe happened between Lance and Natasha, it was twins, so I guess technically I am the oldest of 8:) We moved back to Utah in 1992 and my parents have been here ever since.

Mom and dad both celebrated their 51st birthday's in January. They have 6 children who are all married. They have 15 grand kids.

My mom is my hero and I love my dad for all that he has fought through with his life. My mom has overcome the most hectic and crazy things that one could ever imagine. She is my hero and I love her so much.

In a nutshell those are my parents.