This isn't going about who I chose or why I chose them. I'm not a fan of politics. I don't enjoy discussing politics at all b/c so many people get huffy about their choices. I don't like people to be upset or hurt by things I say so I often chose to leave politics to others. I don't mind talking about candidates and their stances, but I hate the political side of things. That being said, I always vote, and today was no different.
I find the voting process in each state to be so very unique. Honestly, Atlanta, being the big thriving city had those awesome electronic machines. Then we went back in time a little to Florida where you punched the hole in the ancient machines, and voters were treated to snacks and nearly walked in with someone holding your hand to guide you through the process (at least at our poll which happened to be at our church).
Today, in Connecticut, was the most unique experience by far. First off, the parking lot was a disaster FILLED with people, and the lot was nearly full with people parking all the way down the street causing the road to only be one lane. I lucked out and got a front row spot from someone who just left, and I was glad b/c while it wasn't raining, it was in the 20's when I voted! We walked inside and found the longest line ever with people leaving without voting b/c the line was that long. It turns out that there were 2 lines: one for people living on streets starting A-N and another with people living on streets starting with M-Z. Fortunately, I live on a street starting with a W along with all 50 other people who live on my same street, but the rest of my area lives on a road starting with A-N. I have no idea why they divided it that way, but it caused me to get in an out of the polls in 5 minutes and from my door, through the polls and back to my door in less than 15 minutes. The people in the A-N line were NOT happy, and out of the fairness of my heart, I felt awful to walk in and out when others had been there for hours. Oh...and the ballots were on card stock paper, and you just have to fill in a bubble. There is no fancy machine or old school machine where you have to vote. They just have dividers for privacy purposes, and then you stick your ballot in a box. I'm pretty sure that our votes won't be counted until the next 2 weeks so likely we will not have a winner until December.
But anyway, I voted. I'm not excited about this election at all. My little boy has asked to take a nap today so he can stay up late tonight watching the results. I'm excited that he is interested, and I'm willing to sacrifice his sleep for something he is so excited about (plus we are those crazy homeschool people who can sleep in the following day). We even have a printed map to color blue/red and a paper on which to tally the electoral college votes.
Our Family
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
This Crazy Diet
At the end of the summer, our family embarked on a food adventure of epic proportion. Our family as a whole, went off carbs almost entirely. We followed a ketosis diet which allows us to eat up to 50 carbs daily. Before, I go any further in describing the diet, I will let you in on a little secret...we even put our children on this diet.
We haven't really announced that as there are so many people out there who criticize us for how we raise our children and now how we feed our children. I will share that there were MANY reasons we included our children on this journey: they were constantly hungry, they both have eczema badly, one of our children was storing fat in a strange way on his belly, we felt like our children needed to go completely off sugar (yep, including fruit) to learn how to eat better without the option of a carb, and b/c you were just dying to know, one of our children has issued going #2. Our pediatrician suggested that we try the diet with them for the eczema alone, and she was fully on board with This Crazy Diet.
How did it go for them? Fantastic! They are no longer constantly hungry, and therefore, they don't beg for food every 10 to 30 minutes. Their eczema cleared up entirely without the introduction of carbs in their diet. The child who was storing fat in strange ways, lost those fat pockets, and 0ur child with the #2 issue has now become regular. They both have learned that carrots and celery are delicious as are nuts, cheese sticks and bell peppers especially when dipped in a delicious ranch or blue cheese dip.
Another tidbit of info you need to know is that we introduced fat into our diet. We eat the good stuff like cream cheese, heavy cream, and ranch and blue cheese dressings. We eat avocado like it's going out of style, and we cook with butter and cocoanut oil. We also limit our protein into normal portions without going crazy filling up with protein where the carbs are lacking. We also eat tons of veggies both raw and cooked. And we eat cheese and more cheese and then some more! Oh, and did I mention that BACON is on this diet?! Yum!
I went into This Crazy Diet kinda kicking and screaming. I have high cholesterol, and we were trying to do something drastic to see if my cholesterol would change so I didn't have to be on meds (which make me feel like I'm having a heart attack). I also wanted to lose weight which is a struggle with my injuries from a car accident. Knowing I wanted drastic results, I took these drastic measures.
My hubby, who is leading us in This Crazy Diet, is doing very well. He's so skinny that we had to get him a whole new wardrobe (well, we're still working on that). On the other hand, I am still struggling. I was tired for a while so Mat tweaked my vitamins (of which I take a lot), and I'm totally normal now with feeling just. We also found that salt had to be added to our diet, and that into of salt somehow makes us feel awake like an energy drink. Strange...right? We don't have carb crashes even after a good workout. I have also lost enough weight that everyone is telling me that I look very thin. I've lost several inches and my pants are just hanging on me. Oddly enough, I only dropped about 5 pounds, but even my belly fat started to disappear.
I really miss carbs, and I've kinda had a couple weeks of adjusting my carb intake to play around a bit (and to celebrate my birthday and fall). Amazingly enough, I lost another 3 pounds while I was in-taking a few more carbs (maybe around 75 per day some days), and I'm still in ketosis (as tested by those strips you can get at the drugstore). Those 75 carbs seem to make a lot of difference in my carb cravings too. I still miss eating pizza and many of my favorite Mexican foods. I also miss my Breyers half the fat chocolate chip ice cream!
Are we going to stay on this diet forever? I am not sure where we'll land. I would like to see where this thing takes me on my health journey. I want to give it a few more months. I've gradually started adding carbs back into the kids diet. I have found that with just adding a few into my girls diet, that she has eczema really badly again. My son is thriving on th
e food he's eating, and he's doing fine with just the few added carbs - just not much (none if I can help it) real sugar. We give them fruit again, and they still enjoy eating peppers and celery. I'm not sure where I'll land with the kids.
I know I've given a lot of information, but I'll add a bit more. My hubby has also created a blog where he describes the diet in a lot more detail in his engineering way. It's www.ThisCrazyDiet.blogspot.com. I think he also gives links to the blogs where we've gotten several of our recipes. It's an adventure, and it is most certainly crazy!
We haven't really announced that as there are so many people out there who criticize us for how we raise our children and now how we feed our children. I will share that there were MANY reasons we included our children on this journey: they were constantly hungry, they both have eczema badly, one of our children was storing fat in a strange way on his belly, we felt like our children needed to go completely off sugar (yep, including fruit) to learn how to eat better without the option of a carb, and b/c you were just dying to know, one of our children has issued going #2. Our pediatrician suggested that we try the diet with them for the eczema alone, and she was fully on board with This Crazy Diet.
How did it go for them? Fantastic! They are no longer constantly hungry, and therefore, they don't beg for food every 10 to 30 minutes. Their eczema cleared up entirely without the introduction of carbs in their diet. The child who was storing fat in strange ways, lost those fat pockets, and 0ur child with the #2 issue has now become regular. They both have learned that carrots and celery are delicious as are nuts, cheese sticks and bell peppers especially when dipped in a delicious ranch or blue cheese dip.
Another tidbit of info you need to know is that we introduced fat into our diet. We eat the good stuff like cream cheese, heavy cream, and ranch and blue cheese dressings. We eat avocado like it's going out of style, and we cook with butter and cocoanut oil. We also limit our protein into normal portions without going crazy filling up with protein where the carbs are lacking. We also eat tons of veggies both raw and cooked. And we eat cheese and more cheese and then some more! Oh, and did I mention that BACON is on this diet?! Yum!
I went into This Crazy Diet kinda kicking and screaming. I have high cholesterol, and we were trying to do something drastic to see if my cholesterol would change so I didn't have to be on meds (which make me feel like I'm having a heart attack). I also wanted to lose weight which is a struggle with my injuries from a car accident. Knowing I wanted drastic results, I took these drastic measures.
My hubby, who is leading us in This Crazy Diet, is doing very well. He's so skinny that we had to get him a whole new wardrobe (well, we're still working on that). On the other hand, I am still struggling. I was tired for a while so Mat tweaked my vitamins (of which I take a lot), and I'm totally normal now with feeling just. We also found that salt had to be added to our diet, and that into of salt somehow makes us feel awake like an energy drink. Strange...right? We don't have carb crashes even after a good workout. I have also lost enough weight that everyone is telling me that I look very thin. I've lost several inches and my pants are just hanging on me. Oddly enough, I only dropped about 5 pounds, but even my belly fat started to disappear.
I really miss carbs, and I've kinda had a couple weeks of adjusting my carb intake to play around a bit (and to celebrate my birthday and fall). Amazingly enough, I lost another 3 pounds while I was in-taking a few more carbs (maybe around 75 per day some days), and I'm still in ketosis (as tested by those strips you can get at the drugstore). Those 75 carbs seem to make a lot of difference in my carb cravings too. I still miss eating pizza and many of my favorite Mexican foods. I also miss my Breyers half the fat chocolate chip ice cream!
Are we going to stay on this diet forever? I am not sure where we'll land. I would like to see where this thing takes me on my health journey. I want to give it a few more months. I've gradually started adding carbs back into the kids diet. I have found that with just adding a few into my girls diet, that she has eczema really badly again. My son is thriving on th
e food he's eating, and he's doing fine with just the few added carbs - just not much (none if I can help it) real sugar. We give them fruit again, and they still enjoy eating peppers and celery. I'm not sure where I'll land with the kids.
I know I've given a lot of information, but I'll add a bit more. My hubby has also created a blog where he describes the diet in a lot more detail in his engineering way. It's www.ThisCrazyDiet.blogspot.com. I think he also gives links to the blogs where we've gotten several of our recipes. It's an adventure, and it is most certainly crazy!
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