All about us

We are Laura and Susan. We're sisters and between the two of us we have 11 children. We've each had our share of blessings and heartaches. Through the years there have been times when we were overweight, and times when we have looked anorexic. We feel like we have come to accept who we are and are now in a healthy place. We've learned some things over time and we would like to share with you our hope, and want you to learn to love who you are the way we have. Join us as we share our thoughts on life, food, and feeling good.



Monday, August 9, 2010

Looking in the mirror

There’s this funny thing that we pretty much all do at some point in our adult lives. Have you ever just stood and looked at yourself in the mirror and pointed out to yourself all of the things that you don’t like? You wish you were larger here. You want to be smaller there. This part is not shaped the way you would like. That part just makes you feel frustrated because you’ve tried to change it but it doesn’t change.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people complain about this or that part of their body that they wish would be different, and every time I look at them and think “you have so much other things going for you, who cares if one part of you isn’t perfect.” Many times what they want to be different is something that just isn’t going to change. It’s a part of who they are and what their particular body type has.

I’m pretty sure this self degradation goes back to adolescence. When a child hits adolescence they begin to have physical changes in their bodies. This awkwardness is very real, confusing and embarrassing. Their hands and feet grow first, and before the body can catch up, they can be legitimately clumsy. This is just a transitional phase, but they still experience other kids being mean and calling them names while they are going through it. Of course at the time they may not realize that the kids that are bullying are probably trying to deflect attention from their own perceived awkwardness. This is not a time of life many of us would want to relive, but for some reason we continue to berate ourselves in the same way the bullies did in middle school.

I’d be willing to bet that at least 99% of you do not walk around with disproportionately large hands and feet for your body type. And most of us won’t experience huge growth spurts over the summer. But we still find all of the things we don’t like about our bodies and allow them to bring us down. We often think we cannot be happy until we “lose 10 pounds”, “lose the pregnancy belly” or get “6 pack abs.”

The truth is that our bodies are pretty much just like they have always been. We may gain and lose weight and or muscles. Some years we are closer to our goal weight than others. Some years can just be chalked up to stress and survival. It really doesn’t matter. This is the point, so I will say it again. It really doesn’t matter.

We can be happy no matter where we are in our weight and body goals. Heavenly Father has given us each one body to work with in this lifetime. I’m sure you have seen some bodies that make you green with envy and think “why can’t I look like that.” But I can promise you that you have also seen some bodies that you would not want to have to spend a lifetime in.

Yesterday I sat with a friend whose little boy has multiple handicaps. He will never be able to see, stand by himself, speak for himself, or be independent. I looked that this sweet little spirit and thought “If I was him, I would feel really jipped. To have waited how many thousands of years to come to earth to get a body and then end up with a body that just doesn’t work.”

But not this sweet boy, he may not be able to speak for himself, but his happy sounds and sweet ever-present smile says that he is glad for what he has.

This little boy is an extreme case, but what would happen in our lives if we could all just be happy with the gift of our own body that Heavenly Father has given to us. Suppose we were all grateful for our bodies and treated them well to show our gratitude. We strived to eat a balanced diet for the long term health of our body and not because we think we need to lose weight because we are not good enough. What if we exercised regularly to stay strong and healthy so that we can enjoy all of life adventures, rather than only exercising occasionally to lose a few pounds then going back to a sedentary lifestyle. How much better would your life be, if you could see the imperfections in your body and just say “Yes, that’s what makes me unique.” There is something absolutely wonderful in everyone of us. Let’s try to spend a few minutes each day looking in the mirror and saying “I’m sure glad I have______.”

When I was younger I always wished I had blond hair and blue eyes. I didn’t appreciate the beautiful hazel eyes that God had given to me. Eventually I noticed how many people complimented my eyes, and I decided that they are my best feature. Now I can look in the mirror and say “I like my eyes and hair.” Okay honestly there are only some days when I can say that, but every day there is something good about me that I can notice, even if it is “Good job, you are breathing so well today”

Now, next time you see someone who looks great and who might have made you a little jealous before, go up to them and tell them what you see in them that made you look twice. Compliment their nice hair style, how well they dress, or how well their kids behave. It’s hard to feel bad about your shortcomings when you replace comparing with complimenting. This can be a really great chain of events to start in the world. We are all wonderful children of God. Let’s start noticing it in ourselves and in other people.

Monday, July 26, 2010

What do I want from Me?

We live in an age of instant gratification. All too often we want to see the immediate results of the work that we do. Especially when it comes to weight lose or health issues, if we don’t see the results we want, quickly enough, we judge that the method we have chosen for change isn’t good. What most of us really want is to make a few changes and lose all the weight we want in a short period of time, then go back to living a “normal” life. The problem is that most of the time, going back to our old habits, puts us back in our old body. The simple fact of the matter is that there is no quick fix. The only real and permanent answer is a positive lifestyle change. Most self aware adults already understand this, but we still can't stop looking for that "quick fix" to our perceived problems.

One great way to improve our health and weight is through exercise. The trick is in how you see exercise. Is it just something you think you will try for awhile to see if it helps, or are your ready to commit to improving your life (and health) through developing a good workout habit? If you're getting started in taking that next big step into lifelong exercise for health, there are a few thing that if you recognize may help you through the hard times. Knowing that these tough spots are normal may keep you from quiting.

Here is what most of us see when we start working out. After the first good workout, our muscles are sore and tired and we feel worn out. We continue to be sore for a day or two until we decide to try the workout again. This time it is a little easier, and the stiffness in our muscles begin to relax. We expect to see the numbers on the scale go down. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they go up (we’re gaining muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat). Then we get to a point where exercise is a regular habit and we feel good about what we’re doing for our bodies. We see some positive results in weight loss.

Then the numbers on the scale seem to stabilize. We’ve stopped losing the weight that we wanted to keep losing. At this point there are a few choices we can make. We can give up the exercising, and lose “weight” due to muscle loss. We can assume the exercise isn’t enough, and increase our workout. Or we can keep up with what we were doing and hope that we will achieve our goals overtime. Each person faced with this issue will have to make his or her own decision. This plateau situation seems to happen to most of us. It’s just a part of what the body needs to do to stabilize our weight. It’s okay if you still feel that you have more weight to lose. Allow your regulator to do its job, and adjust to the new weight. If you panic and go on a crash diet you may lose a few pound immediately, but you may send your body into panic mode, decreasing your metabolism and eventually sending you back to the old weight you started at. Be kind to your body and let it do its job. Your job is to eat healthy and exercise, your body will take care of maintaining the proper weight all by itself.

If you have truly committed yourself to a new habit of regular exercise, don't worry too much what the scale says right now. You are looking for long term results. Don't settle for less. No more yo-yo diet and exercise programs for you. You are going to be great and this time it will be for good!

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Mom, What’s For Dinner!!





Evenings at home can be so hectic. It’s the time babies are most colicky, kids are the most busy with homework, sports, music lessons, scouts etc., and your husband is just getting home wanting some attention. On top of that, everybody’s hungry. You have probably been dealing with everyone’s problems all day long, and feeling a little frazzled yourself. What happens next? You either have to cook dinner, or get someone else to do it. Some day’s you find that the only thing you can manage is to order pizza. We’ve all had those days, but if you find that you are frustrated with dinner time more than once a week, maybe you could benefit from a dinner planning system.

The biggest problem I have found with cooking dinner is trying to decide what to make. I often ask my children what they want for dinner and they always reply “I don’t care” besides the one child who always says “Pizza”. So I’m left again to stare into the fridge, then the freezer, then the fridge trying to find something to make that I know that I have all of the ingredients for so that I don’t have to run to the store. After all, we really want to just get it done because we are all hungry and want to eat now!! In this moment of wanting to cook dinner quickly so we can all just eat, it can be really stressful to try to come up with a menu.

Luckily, I found some help. I was introduced to this dinner planning system more than 10 years ago. It changed my life and I still use it every week.

Dinner planning is going to take a little forethought. It requires three steps. Recipe and store ad research, menu planning, and a good grocery list / shopping trip.

First the prep work. Set aside at least 30 minutes the first time you do your dinner planning, so that you can get organized. Now, make a list of everything your family likes to eat, just let the ideas flow. Write everything that comes off of the top of your head. Once you’ve written everything you can think of, look through all of your cookbooks and write down any recipe you have made that your family likes. This is your new “Family Favorites” list. Keep this list someplace handy so that you can refer to it each week when you plan the menu.

In addition to your “Family Favorites” list, try one new recipe for dinner each week. You can get new recipes from friends, cook books, magazines, and my favorite- the internet (there are tons of recipe websites, and most will have reviews for each recipe.) By trying a new recipe each week you will keep from getting bored of the same old thing, and you may find some new things that you can add to your family favorites. A recipe that we discovered this way was “sweet and sour meatballs.” I know what you’re thinking. It sounds really weird, but I tried it out of a cook book for something new and found that we love it. We put it on our list.

Now you are ready to start planning. First gather your supplies: your “Family Favorites” list, any recipe books you think you may use, grocery store ads for the week, a calendar and your grocery list.

The next step is to look at the calendar and take note of any special days. Times when you’re having company for dinner, or days when there are a lot of kids events in the evening and you know that you won’t have time for cooking anything elaborate. Plan these meals first. Write the dinner menu right there on the date your planning to make it. Next consider any meal that you have really been craving, and it goes on the calendar next (sometimes it pays to be the one who cooks.) Then look at the grocery ads and see what is on special that week. If they are offering London Broil cheap that week, find a recipe for London Broil. It is also helpful to pick one grocery store that has the best deals for the week and stick to just that ad. Sometimes you will want to go to more than one store to catch some really great deals, but that is up to you. After you have looked through the grocery ad for meal ideas, if there are any days that don’t have a meal assigned to it, go to your list of family favorites and fill in the blank days. Once you have picked the meals you want to cook, look at the recipes and check your kitchen to see what ingredients you already have for the recipes and add the items that you need to the grocery list.

A quick word about your grocery list: I suggest that the grocery list be readily accessible during the week. Mine is a magnet backed pad of paper that I keep on the fridge. When you use up the last of something or find that you need something that isn’t in your house you can add it to the grocery list. When you are creating the list for the week it helps to write items on the list according to the sections of the store that they can be found. For example, keep the produce, dairy, meats, or canned goods written in the separate areas from each other on the list. This way when your standing in the produce aisle, you can look to that section of the list, and not overlook something that is written someplace else.

Now that you have a list, a menu for the week, and recipes to go off of, you can go forth and conquer. You are a Mom with a plan. Remember that this plan is just meant to help you along. There will be days when you don’t feel like eating the meal you had planned for that day, and that’s okay. You can just trade it with another day, or cook a family favorite that you know you have ingredients for already in the kitchen. This dinner planning system will give you the freedom to enjoy your evenings again with your family. You may even find that you are calm enough to get your kids to help with the preparations. Enjoy taking back “dinner time.”

Friday, May 28, 2010

Adults can play too!!!

There have been many vacations that I’ve taken with family, where the adults have been perfectly happy to sit by and watch the kids play.
I remember one beautiful summer day, we were on vacation in Idaho. The kids got to spend time with their cousins, and we took them all to a local reservoir. There were trees surrounding most of the water, and it was big enough for different families to play, and still have some privacy. In a few places there were rope swings hanging from large trees. We stationed ourselves where it was nice and shallow, so the smaller childern could play in the water safely. The bigger kids swam across the pond to the rope swings. The children had so much fun, and as adults we sat in lawn chairs watching and visiting with one another.
Something in me wanted to swim, but I didn’t do it. The next day the kids went off to play softball. They asked us adults to join, but we opted to just sit around again!!
Later that night, as we watched the kids play on a playground, I saw another large family. They were all playing a game of football. This football game consisted of about 60% adults and 40% kids or teens. I watched them play and I smiled with just a twinge of envy. Oh how I wanted to play like that with my family. How I wished that I had played softball and gone swimming with the kids. Maybe if I had done it, then the other adults in my family would have joined in also.

A month later we found ourselves at the beach in California. I knew my kids would love it and that’s why I took them there. The walk to the water was a long walk across hot sand. It was hard to walk on, and the sand got in your shoes and between your toes when you walked. I hadn’t put on my swim suit yet, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. I got everyone settled. They quickly decided that playing in the ocean was a lot better that sitting around by Mom making sand castles. They got in the water with Dad, and a few of them made sand castles down by the water, risking the waves washing away the walls of their creations.
I had a decision to make. I could sit on my towel and do nothing but watch again, or I could take the long hard walk back to the bathrooms to change into my swim suit so that I could get wet. Luckily I’d learned from my earlier summer experience. I made the trek back to the restrooms. When I got back to my family, I found that the water was unusually warm. I jumped right in with the kids and showed them how to body surf. I held my youngest sons hand and helped him to brave the waves as they came. Before I got in with him, he had decided that the waves were too scary and he was ready to get out. We learned together that it’s okay if you get knocked over in the waves, and your head is submerged. We held hands and turned our backs to the waves. We ducked down when they came towards us and let them carry us up to the shore. My 18 year old son, who hates to swim, enjoyed watching his mom get knocked about in the water so much, that he tried body surfing himself. He even braved much deeper waters than I did, and played with his brothers all morning long.
We stayed in the water for hours. I think in that one day I had more fun with my kids than at any other time I can remember. I thought for sure my body would be sore the next day for all I had put it through, but I was pleasantly surprised. I felt great and we didn’t even get burned, I remembered the sunscreen.
The lesson I’ve learned is that just because we’re adults doesn’t mean we can’t have just as much fun as the kids. It just helps to be in good physical shape so that you can really keep up and enjoy the time spent running, jumping, swimming or playing.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

new "go to" recipe


I've roasted lots of vegetables before but this was a new one. And just in case your wondering, it was delicious all of our kids love it.

Roasted Cauliflower (or brocoflower or broccoli)

Toss popcorn sized pieces of cauliflower with a little olive oil and salt and cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Thats it. Super easy, super good.

Side note, My kids asked for more and were told they had to finish there other food before they got more and when it was finally all gone they were sad. It really is that good.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Oh... good butt kicking... how I have missed you




Today I did a Jillian Micheals video workout after being sick all last week. I missed the high that always comes after a good work out. My body must still be recovering because it felt harder then usual. But I stuck with it and I have been blessed with mellow mommy syndrome ever since. Mellow mommy syndrom is what naturally occurs when I take the time to take care of myself. I am all around happier and life seems easier to deal with. My kids even got to paint a cute little train (subsequently they painted themselves as well) because I just felt nice and calm. Nothing is gonna phase me today.

Sometimes exercise is really hard and I wonder why I am doing it? Then I run faster or longer then I thought I could or I do more reps or lift more weights and I am on a high the rest of the day. While training for a marathon my kids would ask me periodically, "Mom, are you a marathoner?" and when I would respond with a resounding, "Yes I am." I felt powerful and confident. I miss that and can't wait to start running again. Man, just writing this I feel all pump and ready to take on the world.

Susan

Friday, May 14, 2010

I Like Food!!!

First I should share with you that I love food. Especially when it comes to sharing with other women. There is nothing better than getting together with a bunch of women to go out to lunch together. There's something about eating while your talking that seems to help us all let down our guard and really relate with each other. I love when my friends want to share a dessert after lunch. I love dessert, but after eating in a restaurant, I certainly don't want to eat an entire dessert all by myself. I'm usually perfectly satisfied with my meal.... okay, I'm usually quite full. Because honestly most of us don't eat restaurant sized portion meals when we eat at home. But when I go eat in a restaurant with my friends, unless I can convince someone to split an entree with me, I'm full before the food is gone. But full or not a little sweet something to celebrate being with the women that I love to spend time with is fabulous.

I love it when we get one really great dessert, put it in the middle of the table and everyone takes a fork and digs in. No one expresses any hangups about germs or sharing. We're all equal. We all share in this one big yummy molten chocolate cake, or apple struedel ala mode. As we enjoy together our differences don't matter, no conflicts remain. Just pure bliss. At this moment we all exist together to share, smile, laugh, and enjoy in partaking of life.

Laura