How to Lose Weight With the God-Given Plan

Paleo Salad :

I've struggled with my weight since I was about 14 years old. At 14, I was 5 feet 7 inches tall (the height I am now) and when I weighed in at the varsity sports physical (held in the library in front of everyone), I was 150 lbs. I've never been a skinny waif, but I was never considered "fat" either. I was athletic and muscular and well, big-boned! Nevertheless, the shock on the athletic director's face when she saw how much I weighed was enough to make me cry!

How to Lose Weight With the God-Given Plan

Since then, I've dieted and exercised and over-dieted and over-exercised. I've had seven babies and been pregnant with two others (for a brief shining moment), and so have had the hormonal and weight changes that go along with that. I've never been extremely happy with my body, but I've never been so unhappy either that I'm willing to starve or have some kind of eating disorder.

I've recently lost two pants sizes. I have no idea how much weight I've lost because I don't own a scale. But I definitely needed to lose some, because I was wearing a pants size that I've never had to wear before! Rather than starve myself and sign up for a gym (I hate to spend money on stuff like that), I decided to take a more God-given approach.

First, I really hate to exercise. I don't mean that I like to sit around all day, but I like my exercise to have a purpose. When we lived in Vermont, I used to stack wood and carry wood into the house and haul water down to animals. I lived on the side of the hill, so even getting to the mailbox was exercise. I live in the city now and still have a large garden that needs hoeing and weeding, but the other activity simply isn't there. So I had to adjust.

Since I'm still not going to join a gym and I still hate taking a walk just for the point of taking a walk, I've tried to add activity and exercise to everything (well, not everything) I do. Since we live in the middle of a wonderful downtown area, we walk everywhere. I love to walk with a purpose. We walk to Jack's soccer games. We walk to one of the three playgrounds near us. We walk to the pool. We walk along the trail to the bike shop, the boat launch or the ice cream shop (where I very patiently only eat the last couple of bites of Kiara or Seamus' ice cream and forego a treat for myself!).

I've also started instituting a little exercise routine into more boring parts of my day. I still dry my hair with a blow dryer. No, it's not very frugal or green. I know that. But I'm growing it out and until it grows out, I have to dry it or I'm frizz central. Which I just hate. So there. You caught me! But while I'm drying my hair and brushing my teeth, I raise up and down on my toes 30 times. Sounds silly, I know. But I haven't had a defined calf muscle in probably ten years and after doing this for two months, I do. I also do 20 leg lifts on both sides while I'm blow drying. Silly? Sure. But something has to account for those pant size drops because I still eat ice cream before bed two or three times a week!

If I'm feeling really energetic, I'll lay down and do a bunch of stomach crunches and weight lift with some 8 lb weights that came with our house for about 10 minutes. I probably do this 3-4 times a week. And while I'm waiting for the coffee to brew in the morning, if Seamus isn't too grouchy, I'll do 20-30 deep squats right there in the kitchen. It's usually about 5 am so no one else sees me.

I try to do these things in little spurts because the idea of "working out" for 30 or 60 minutes at a time not only sounds mind-numbingly boring to me, but is virtually impossible because someone is always needing something!

I've also changed the way I look at food. I was always a pleasure and comfort eater. Now I try and look at things in a more centered way. I figure that God and Mother Nature came up with a plan for what humans should eat and they provided us with it - as well as the tools and knowledge to grow more. If it doesn't grow in the ground or doesn't eat what grows in the ground, I try not to eat it. By looking at our food as what it is, simple fuel, and not as a reward, punishment, comfort or anything else, I have found that I eat a lot less and eat much more of the things that are good for me.

I eat much less refined sugar now than I used to. I used to not be able to pass by a plate of cookies or brownies and now I have no trouble. By simple changing my perception of food and being happy with what is provided, I find that I have fewer cravings and fewer "needs" for what really are "bad" foods.

I also found that my nature is to not be wasteful. I was hollered at forever as a child to "clear my plate" and "eat all I take." What I started doing as a grown-up was eating everything my kids left on their plates too, so it wouldn't go to waste! Ugh! They were perfectly healthy, eating what they needed, and here was their vacuum cleaner mom, still trying to please her parents with perfect plates. Once I realized just how many crusts of PB&J I was eating, I realized that it's OK to be a little wasteful sometimes.

Now, I am not perfect! I do not eat salad three times a day! But I've cut out all refined flour from our diets except for pasta once a week and I've tried to eliminate refined sugar from everything I eat and drink. I only drink coffee and water during the day - no more soda (especially diet soda which I'm convinced makes you fatter) and I have a glass of wine or two with my hubby on a date night once a month or on a weekend. I do put lemon juice in my water occasionally, just for something different.

Why do I call this a God-Given diet? Because I believe God has given us all the tools we need to be healthy and the weight we need to be. We just have to embrace real food and take our exercise opportunities when we can, as often as we can.

"For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living" - 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12

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Main Facts About The Paleo Diet

Paleo Salad :

The most important paleo diet information you ever need to know is foods containing preservatives are vetoed. This diet of many names - hunter-gatherer, stone age, caveman, paleo centers on foods that were eaten in the Paleolithic era. In essence, the modern dieter models the caveman's diet, as closely as possible.

Main Facts About The Paleo Diet

Researchers have long sought answers to questions about typical paleolithic menus, by intensive studies of paintings found in caves, fossilized food remains, cooking artifacts and hunting implements. They have also analyzed bones and teeth of early humans. It is conservatively estimated that cavemen ate about three times more fruits and vegetables and much more meat and fish than modern people. Our ancestors ate more greens and fewer grains than we do today.

Paleo diet information was conceived, based on the theory that humans would be freer of disease, by eating in the manner our bodies were designed to eat, prior to the beginning of agriculture.

Caveman Food

It is reasonable to suspect that our cavemen ancestors lived with a constant fear of where their next meal would come from. The only sustenance available was wild animals, fish and whatever edible weeds or berries they could forage.

It's not reasonable to expect modern people to eat precisely as people did in the paleolithic era without starting the diet by first making small changes to their eating habits in order to adjust to the new regimen.

When possible, eating wild meat, such as deer, alligator or bear is suggested. The second best alternative is to seek "free range" meat. When cattle, buffalo or chickens are allowed to roam and eat from nature's bounty, their richer meat contains valuable omega 3 fatty acids.

Using soup stock starter made from bones is a good choice. Stock is high in protein and minerals. Salads are on the acceptable food list also.

Tuna, salmon, trout and shellfish should be eaten frequently. Fruits such as avocado, bananas, figs or plums may be consumed in abundance. Vegetables are highly encouraged, as are nuts, with exception to peanuts, which are categorized legumes. Some recommended oils are olive, coconut and flaxseed.

Modern Foods to Eliminate

Up to this point, the steak-and-potato eater is happy. However, potatoes aren't allowed on the plan. In fact, all starchy foods are a definite "no-no."

Dairy foods in the form of butter, cheese, cottage cheese, milk and so on are forbidden. Grains must be eliminated - no cereals, oats, rice or barley - including white flour. Forget that comfort food, all-day beans, as all legumes must be eliminated. Chocolate lovers please note that the only permissible sweet is honey.

Water is the liquid mainstay. Coconut water may be consumed sparingly. No sodas, no diet or carbonated drinks allowed. Fresh herbs may be used as seasoning agents, but no salt is allowed.

Paleo Diet Information

The above overview should help you make an informed decision about whether or not the paleolithic way fits your needs and lifestyle. Proponents of the plan believe it a good lifetime way of eating to sustain healthy weight and fight disease.

The focus is on foods, which are considered comparative quality, to those consumed by the caveman. It is believed that our bodies do not correctly absorb whole grains, legumes or dairy.

Experienced people on the diet have observed such mild symptoms of headaches and fatigue in the beginning, but contend they resolve quickly in a couple of days.

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