Listen to your doctor...It's good for your health

This is Brant posting (Chris always wants me to make sure people know that).

Many of you may  know that I have a rare non-fatal disease called Addisons disease. Many people have had it including John F. Kennedy. I've been living with it since February 14, 2000 with little to no complications, however because of this disease I have a higher risk of having Schmidt's syndrome which is what I currently have plus diabetes. Due to this concern my doctors routinely check my blood. Here recently they have noticed that my cholesterol was off (too little good stuff and too much bad stuff) as well as extremely high triglycerides (I won't say how high, but it becomes dangerous above 150 mg and my results looked more like a year when Cowboys and Indians were still around; for those of you that didn't get that there are four digits in my test results).  He said I needed to do two things if I want to get this corrected quickly: diet and exercise!

So about 3 weeks ago I went to see my regular doctor about this concern. He said that I would need to put everything I have into loosing weight and working out if I wanted to avoid taking even more pills on a daily basis for the rest of my life. I went home and set a goal of loosing 10 pounds in the next three months. Little did I know that I would loose those 10 desired pounds in 3 WEEKS by following some very simple guidelines (looks like I'm going to have to reset my goal to even lower!).


LEGAL NOTE: Actual results may vary. This picture may not represent the person who actually wrote this blog.

I felt like sharing with everyone a couple simple things I've been doing with the help of my wife to loose this weight.

Step One: Set a goal

I wouldn't be writing this right now if I wasn't so excited that I met/exceeding my goal and expectations.

Step Two: *Learn what foods you should be eating

We've always heard low fat, high protein/low carb diets will help you loose weight. We've also heard that vegetables and fruits are extremely good for you.  I used two things to help me determine what types of food I should be eating:

First, a great book I recommend reading is called The Abs Diet by David Zinczenko. This is one of my favorite books in helping dispel myths and get you eating the right stuff.  A couple key points from this book are:

1. Eat Breakfast
2. Eat throughout the day
3. True/clear medical explanations of the types of foods that are really bad for you
4. The Abs Diet is actually an acronym for the different types of foods you should be putting into your body to help you naturally loose weight.

I've been eating a real breakfast (oat mill/eggs, etc.) which I've never done before and am eating about every 2 hours throughout the day (lots of little healthy snacks throughout the day). I seriously don't think I've cut back on my calorie intake at all.

Secondly, I included a web link to a site that helps you clearly see what foods are bad for you and what foods are good (some of the things listed are very surprising). http://commonsensehealth.com/Diet-and-Nutrition/List_of_Glycemic_Foods_Index_of_Healthy_Foods.shtml

Step Three: Start working out

I had to brush the dust off the P90X workout videos and decided to actually do something while it was playing rather than just eating a bag of popcorn. I have found that even if I miss a day or two the weight is still coming off because as you work out your muscles continue to rebuild (and burn calories/fat) while you are sleeping/working, etc.

Step Four: Celebrate

I am now planning a shopping spree for Chris and I since none of our clothes seem to be fitting any more and for the right reasons - THEY'RE TOO BIG!

Good luck everyone and don't hesitate to call if you have questions. I am not an expert, but I think my current enthusiasm will help me find the answers you might have.

*One thing to keep in mind is the eating healthy is more expensive. You may need to look at your budget and view a few more circulars to help find the cheapest prices. Also, a healthy diet can and will severely limit the kinds of places you can go eat. I have also had to use a bigger lunch bag to fit all the different kinds of foods I'm eating throughout the day (i.e. nuts, apples, celery, etc.).

Ummm, we've been a bit busy with a baby!

The same day as our last post we got another call & a beautiful foster baby boy entered our lives. Baby G is such a joy. He's thriving & gaining weight as he should. My days have been packed getting him situated & stocking up on things he needs. Now excuse me, I need to go buy stock in Target after all the trips we've made.

The phone is ringing!!!

We got a call this afternoon from the foster agency asking us if we could provide care for a 2 week old baby boy. CPS ended up picking a different agency this time. Please don't be sad. This is good news, the phone is ringing! Someday soon we will have a child, or 3, in our home. Happy Happy Day :)If you are curious on the fostering process here you go:

CPS coordinates all foster care placements through their Centralized Placement Unit. They operate 24-7, and so does our foster care agency.  We could get a call in the middle of the night from our agency's on-call staff.  Weekdays, during office hours, they have a dedicated employee (his name is Jim) who receives all the calls and emails requesting foster care placements. Placement knows what openings our agency has, as they are required to list their available placements on on the DFPS "Extranet", a secure website. This database lists all of the foster homes currently accepting children at our foster agency and all the other foster care agencies in the area. When Placement needs a home, they look at what is listed on the Extranet before contacting the foster care agency. If they need one of our agency's homes, they contact Jim. Jim reviews the information about the foster child or children, then calls us if he thinks we are a good match. He has an hour to respond.

Jim sends a short written profile about us. Most times Placement has more than one family to choose from, so they ask for a written profile to help them in the selection process. Jim calls us back to let us know if they picked us or not. When we are chosen, the child/ren's case manager will call to arrange time to bring the child/ren to our home.

We re now CERTIFIED to become Foster Parents!

The Heavens have just opened. We are now certified to become foster parents. Brant & I decided, in November of 2010, we wanted to become foster parents to a sibling group. We picked an agency & started the application process that same month. Normally the certification process doesn't take 10 months.
We've had a few "never happens" moments that kept delaying the process. Wednesday I found out about another major potential delay. If we were not approved by Friday (today) there could be another long delay. My heart sunk thinking of even more time that would go by. A few amazing miracles happened yesterday. There is no doubt that God made it happen. In the past 12 years we've opened so many doors that lead to other doors that lead to other doors, etc. I started to wonder if fostering was going to lead to yet, another door. Who knows, it still could but it looks like we will finally have children in our home soon. That realization hit me with all kinds of emotion. I can't even think about it without crying. Today is a joyful day.

Jane Eyre vs. Jane Eyre

This weekend I finally watched the new Jane Eyre.

 I have to say I did enjoy it but I still prefer my 3.5 hr 2006  version.

Pest Control Gone Wild!

Black bird lovers beware, you may not want to read this post.

Last week my Mom & I went on a trip to see my living grandparents. I loved hearing new stories from my papaw.
My favorite is from his days of farming 400+ acres of pecan trees. Enjoy this abbreviated pest control story:
Papaw had a problem with black birds eating his crop. One day he found out about about an extremely deadly poison. After learning of it's success he decided to place a few laced pecans out past the orchard thinking he might catch a few birds. Well,he caught a few hundred birds! They died immediately on the scene. How in the world do you dispose of 300 birds without someone noticing? A backhoe of course. Can you imagine having to bury 300 dead black birds? He didn't have a problem with those nasty black birds after that! Yuck!

Jane Austen Baby Shower

I wish I had a better camera & I wish I had a picture of the entry table. It was so cute.

If you ever throw a party you have to have my 2 amazing helpers. They even helped clean up. Amazing can't describe these women. As Jane would say, they are "far superior."

We had a blast!! Enjoy the pics.

 Mormons don't drink real tea so we made wassail. It's much better tasting too!

Feather pen

I am throwing a Jane Austen themed baby shower this weekend with the help of some great friends. As I was pulling everything out, planning how to decorate, I realized we needed some feather pens.
A quick trip to the store, a couple hot glue gun burns & WALLAH we have feather pens!

Road Trip!

Uncle Getting Hitched = Road Trip!

We decided to leave a day early to take a detour through the mountains. It was so worth it!

Our hotel was the most luxurious & relaxing resort we've ever stayed in.

Can you say, Ahhhhhhhh ...

rain shower

extra deep soaking tub

cozy fire with turquoise encrusted cow skull

breathtaking view

Michael's Kitchen is our favorite New Mexican restaurant of all time.

Little Miracles

Our library has 2 copies of Catching Fire, the 2nd book in the Hunger Games series. Both copies were checked out so I reserved one last week. Today I went inside to return some DVDs I checked out. While in line I chatted with a girl interested in one of the movies I was returning & I noticed she was returning the book I had on reservation. The librarian was amazed at the timing. Apparently that doesn't really happen. Some might call it luck; I call it a little library miracle :)
With the fire extingisher reciept & other small miracles, we've sure had a lot lately.