I wanted to share some really great words from Elizabeth Eliot today. I have been making it a habit to read an excerpt from her book "Keep a Quiet Heart" each day and like usual I am challenged, inspired, or motivated to work through the various issues that are addressed. I often get asked by women about the word "submission" and how as a wife and such a strong willed women I am ok with the idea of submission. I often wish I could have the right words to explain the things I have learned over the years about how I have come to no longer think of the word "submission" as a degrading word but rather how I have come to embrace and love the idea of submission. However, don't get me wrong, submission is something I still struggle to do and is not always easy for me to embrace as it does often go against my own selfish desires. Therefore, I really think Elizabeth puts it simply, and I thought I would share this excerpt with you. I challenge you ladies to keep working through your struggle with the idea of submission, pray about it, truly seek God on it. Remembering the promises of Jeremiah 29:11 that God does have your best interests in mind, as He loves you so dearly.
What Do You Mean By Submission?
People are always asking me this. What is this business of "submission" you're always talking about? We're not really very comfortable with this. Seems kinds of negative. Sounds as though women are not worth as much as men. Aren't women supposed to exercise their gifts? Can't they ever open their mouths?
I wouldn't be very comfortable with that kind of submission either. As a matter of fact, I'm not particularly comfortable with any kind, but since it was God's idea and not mine, I had better come to terms with what the Bible says about it and stop rejecting the whole thing just because it is so often misunderstood and wrongly defined. I came across a lucid example of what it means in 1 Chronicles 11:10, NEB: "Of David's heroes these were the chief, men who lent their full strength to his government and, with all Israel, joined in making him king." There it is. The recognition, first of all, of God-given authority. Recognizing it, accepting it, they then lent their full strength to it, and did everything in their power to make him--not them--king.
Christians--both men and women--recognize first the authority of Christ. They pray "Thy will be done." They set about making an honest effort to cooperate with what He is doing, straightening out the kinks in their own lives according to His wishes. A Christian woman, then, in submission to God, recognizes the divinely assigned authority of her husband (he didn't earn it, remember, he received it by appointment!. She then sets about lending her full strength to helping him do what he's supposed to do, be what he's supposed to be--her head. She's not always trying to get her own way. She's trying to make it easier for him to do his job. She seeks to contribute to his purpose, not to scheme how to accomplish her own.
If this sounds suspiciously like some worn-out traditionalist view, or (worse) like a typical Elisabeth Elliot opinion, test it with the straightedge of Scripture. What does submission to Christ mean? "Wives, submit yourself to your husbands, as to the Lord." Compare and connect. ~Elizabeth Eliot; "Keep a Quiet Heart"
What has God been teaching you about the word "submission?" What encourages you as you work on this character quality in your life?
9/26/10
5/10/10
We're Expecting
After a long anticipated wait we conceived naturally after 2 years of serious trying. God is faithful to All his promises (Psalms 145:13) and has answered our fervent prayers.
God's timing is perfect! He gave us our precious gift 6 days after closing on our first house. Quite the surprise! We found out we were pregnant on Easter, April 4th, 2010 and if everything goes as planned we will be celebrating Christmas with our new addition this year.
God's timing is perfect! He gave us our precious gift 6 days after closing on our first house. Quite the surprise! We found out we were pregnant on Easter, April 4th, 2010 and if everything goes as planned we will be celebrating Christmas with our new addition this year.
So how did we get here?
All I can say is that I have learned that God truly is in control. Chris and I started looking at fertility options back in November 2009 and were supposed to start our first round of fertility drugs in April, but since we were soon to be closing on our house and moving we decided to put those options on hold until this summer so I could focus on moving. I also knew that fertility treatments would mean we would have to miss a lot of work to make appointments. Something we just did not have at the time. God however, had a different plan for us and despite all the obstacles that faced us. He once again chose to show us His faithfulness to us, and how much we could really trust in Him for the desires of our heart. God didn't bless us with a child because of anything we did to deserve it, but because He is good, because He is faithful, because He hears the cries of his children and cares. I don't think I will fully understand why God made us wait, for a child, but I do know that it was worth the waiting. That God had/has a purpose in it, that his timing is perfect and He knows what He is doing. One way God is speaking to me about the perfection in His timing is that, Chris and I had a house before we had the baby, although this isn't a necessary thing, it is a helpful thing as we have room to grow. Secondly, Chris and I found out we were pregnant on April 4th, and this day is so significant to us because it is the same day that Chris and I began courting in 2004, and Chris proposed in 2005. Finally, the baby is due during the Christmas season, and financially this is going to be a huge blessing come tax season. This too, God planned perfectly as He knew we would need this financial help with the blessing of a child. Things in my life have certainly not turned out how I expected or planned them, but one thing is certian; everything has turned out better then I could have ever planned or expected. I could not have asked for better, despite all the trials, God truly was preparing me for what lies ahead. Thank You Jesus! I can't wait to see what other things he has in store.
Here is our little peanut.
We are very Blessed
Love,
The Harings
5/4/10
Oh me, Oh my, how time does fly
I can't believe I have been so lazy that I haven't been able to write a post since Christmas. That is really ridiculousness...you can feel free to chastise me for it later in the comment section of this post. Anyways in the meantime I will try to catch up all my many (one, mom you don't count) followers on the happenings and goings on in the Harings household. Well speaking of household that has been the recent most influential change in our life and I really would blame it on the fact that we bought a house that I haven't posted recently but that would be a lie since I really have been lazy.
So Alas here is the new cottage. Chris and I have been looking for houses practically since we got married 4 1/2 years ago. We are so thankful that we didn't rush into this decision. When we were looking back in 2007 we had even put an offer on a house and thanks to the Lord we didn't get the bid. Later that year and in 2008 the market crashed and low and behold we were so very thankful for divine intervention....otherwise we would end up getting ourselves into a lot more trouble then we already do. So we put our house endeavors on hold for awhile to save up more money, get better paying jobs, and wait for the government to offer the $8000 tax credit. Ok, seriously we didn't see that coming either but we are sure glad we waited when that ended up happening.
When we started re-looking fall of 2009 we weren't incredibly keen on the idea. We really did love renting, and I had become accustomed to our cute little town of Chaska. Its one of those small towns right on the outskirts of the big city where it still has a main street, a family grocery store, malt shop, and activities in the park. I honestly don't think people lock their doors in the city of Chaska...its a city trapped back in time. However with all the joys of backwards time travel comes a high price tag to go with it. Any house, even the crappiest, dumpiest, "shack" in Chaska was way out of our price range. Therefore we new we were going to have to make the move closer into the big city. Chris grew up a city kid so he didn't mind this as much but I grew up in the country so this is always a struggle for me. Don't get me wrong I love the city when I get there, but the country naturally feels like home. As a girl who moved more than 10+ times before the age of 18 I don't like moving and I don't like change. Thats when Chris comes in and says "for crying out loud woman get a control on yourself" ok just kidding he would never say that, instead its more like "I can't afford to keep up with your expensive tastes so wife were moving to the city" ok I tease he didn't say that either. Instead I pulled up my bootstrapes and did what any red blooded american girl with a slight touch of addictive behavior would do. I scoured Edina Realty and the MLS constantly, feverishly for the perfect house to meet our needs in the big city. Yes I admit it was quite the problem there for awhile. I spent hours and hours and days looking for that perfect house.
Those of you who have ever bought a house in the last 2 years might know who challenging this actually is. Its not "oh cute house lets set up a showing and buy it" instead its "oh cute house, WHAT! its already sold?! Why is it still on the stupid MLS then?" Not to mention you need a Realtor just to see the house. That's no big deal you say to yourself. "HA!" I say. If your a Harings it is a big deal. We went through at least 4 Realtors trying to find a house just in 2009. You would be surprised how many Realtors expect to get paid just for unlocking a door for you. One example of this is when we had a terrible experience with a Realtor from Remax Associates Plus so I would not recommend this company ever. I was not happy with their service...and I am a pretty forgiving push over of a person. Alas we did find an awesome Realtor which we would with out a doubt recommend to all of our friends and as we have went through a few when you find a gem you treasure it. His name is Mark Reimler and he works for Edina Realty in Shakopee, MN. Look him up for all your home buying/selling needs.
So after we found our wonderful Realtor we had no problem finding a house. He was so on top of things, he helped me with my addictive house searching behaviors by beating me to the punch. He actually showed us houses I didn't find for him! What a novel idea, the Realtor finding houses for you. We finally stumbled across this delightful house and the second we were inside Chris and I knew this was the house that our dreams were made of. Well not really but this was the house our pocket book would allow our dreams to be made of.
After aggressively negotiating with the sellers that we were the best buyers for the house and convincing them that they did want to leave the drapes they used to so eloquently stage the windows of our soon to be new house, we were able to move in on March 15th. Ok we didn't exactly do any aggressive negotiations that was actually all Mark, but we were up against some other buyers on the house. When Chris and I suddenly arrived to our closing after weeks of throwing money around and faxing, emailing, and mailing every ounce of our most precious personal information, sweat and grantee to our first born child if we didn't pay our mortgage we were set to go. No they don't really make you give up your first born, but just about. As Chris and I blissfully listened to the closer explain to us that we were not going to have to pay as much as we thought in closing cost but we would have to pay more for the actual cost of the house we completely freaked. "Opps she said I grabbed the wrong closing package." Good we weren't going to have to pay a mortgage of $3000 a month I was starting to think of all the things I would need to say to Chris about what he had gotten us into after the closing. Instead I turned to Chris and said "whew, she had me scared there for a sec." After she grabbed the correct closing package we proceeded to sign, sign, and continue to sign every page that was put in front of us. The closer basically told us how we were writing our personal rights away and that this is an "ok" thing. Ok we really didn't sign our rights away but we did say that we would pay our mortgage on time. A short half hour and 70 hand cramps later we finally got our keys to our new home!
Chris and I are now completely moved in, loving our new neighborhood and neighbors. We love the convince of being closer to our Church family and two major freeways. It only takes a few minutes to get anywhere now. We are still working on unpacking and settling in but the house already feels like home. I finally have a place to park my van in the garage, and we have enough extra space that right now we have a renter. We don't need a renter but the beauty of having a house is that you can have one to help out a little if you want. One of the reasons we didn't like renting. Our renter is fantastic too, yet another blessing from the situation.
As a daughter of Christ It is easy for me to get caught up in the worries and struggles of every day life. I worry tremendously. I think, what if this doesn't work out, or what if this happens. I can be quite the pessimist sometimes and let myself get depressed easily. This home buying situation is just one of the many ways that God is constantly showing me that He is in control of my life. I can make my plans, and even take steps to make things happen, but as Chris and I are always praying "God if its not your will for us, please don't let it happen." God constantly reveals how faithful He is and how much we can truly rely on him for our strength, wisdom, guidance, direction and peace. So I leave my story of what we ended up buy a house with this dear precious verse to me as it is a constant reminder of how good God is. May it encourage you today, and please come stop by our new house sometime.
Psalm 40:5
"O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them."
~Hugs from The Harings
So Alas here is the new cottage. Chris and I have been looking for houses practically since we got married 4 1/2 years ago. We are so thankful that we didn't rush into this decision. When we were looking back in 2007 we had even put an offer on a house and thanks to the Lord we didn't get the bid. Later that year and in 2008 the market crashed and low and behold we were so very thankful for divine intervention....otherwise we would end up getting ourselves into a lot more trouble then we already do. So we put our house endeavors on hold for awhile to save up more money, get better paying jobs, and wait for the government to offer the $8000 tax credit. Ok, seriously we didn't see that coming either but we are sure glad we waited when that ended up happening.
When we started re-looking fall of 2009 we weren't incredibly keen on the idea. We really did love renting, and I had become accustomed to our cute little town of Chaska. Its one of those small towns right on the outskirts of the big city where it still has a main street, a family grocery store, malt shop, and activities in the park. I honestly don't think people lock their doors in the city of Chaska...its a city trapped back in time. However with all the joys of backwards time travel comes a high price tag to go with it. Any house, even the crappiest, dumpiest, "shack" in Chaska was way out of our price range. Therefore we new we were going to have to make the move closer into the big city. Chris grew up a city kid so he didn't mind this as much but I grew up in the country so this is always a struggle for me. Don't get me wrong I love the city when I get there, but the country naturally feels like home. As a girl who moved more than 10+ times before the age of 18 I don't like moving and I don't like change. Thats when Chris comes in and says "for crying out loud woman get a control on yourself" ok just kidding he would never say that, instead its more like "I can't afford to keep up with your expensive tastes so wife were moving to the city" ok I tease he didn't say that either. Instead I pulled up my bootstrapes and did what any red blooded american girl with a slight touch of addictive behavior would do. I scoured Edina Realty and the MLS constantly, feverishly for the perfect house to meet our needs in the big city. Yes I admit it was quite the problem there for awhile. I spent hours and hours and days looking for that perfect house.
Those of you who have ever bought a house in the last 2 years might know who challenging this actually is. Its not "oh cute house lets set up a showing and buy it" instead its "oh cute house, WHAT! its already sold?! Why is it still on the stupid MLS then?" Not to mention you need a Realtor just to see the house. That's no big deal you say to yourself. "HA!" I say. If your a Harings it is a big deal. We went through at least 4 Realtors trying to find a house just in 2009. You would be surprised how many Realtors expect to get paid just for unlocking a door for you. One example of this is when we had a terrible experience with a Realtor from Remax Associates Plus so I would not recommend this company ever. I was not happy with their service...and I am a pretty forgiving push over of a person. Alas we did find an awesome Realtor which we would with out a doubt recommend to all of our friends and as we have went through a few when you find a gem you treasure it. His name is Mark Reimler and he works for Edina Realty in Shakopee, MN. Look him up for all your home buying/selling needs.
So after we found our wonderful Realtor we had no problem finding a house. He was so on top of things, he helped me with my addictive house searching behaviors by beating me to the punch. He actually showed us houses I didn't find for him! What a novel idea, the Realtor finding houses for you. We finally stumbled across this delightful house and the second we were inside Chris and I knew this was the house that our dreams were made of. Well not really but this was the house our pocket book would allow our dreams to be made of.
After aggressively negotiating with the sellers that we were the best buyers for the house and convincing them that they did want to leave the drapes they used to so eloquently stage the windows of our soon to be new house, we were able to move in on March 15th. Ok we didn't exactly do any aggressive negotiations that was actually all Mark, but we were up against some other buyers on the house. When Chris and I suddenly arrived to our closing after weeks of throwing money around and faxing, emailing, and mailing every ounce of our most precious personal information, sweat and grantee to our first born child if we didn't pay our mortgage we were set to go. No they don't really make you give up your first born, but just about. As Chris and I blissfully listened to the closer explain to us that we were not going to have to pay as much as we thought in closing cost but we would have to pay more for the actual cost of the house we completely freaked. "Opps she said I grabbed the wrong closing package." Good we weren't going to have to pay a mortgage of $3000 a month I was starting to think of all the things I would need to say to Chris about what he had gotten us into after the closing. Instead I turned to Chris and said "whew, she had me scared there for a sec." After she grabbed the correct closing package we proceeded to sign, sign, and continue to sign every page that was put in front of us. The closer basically told us how we were writing our personal rights away and that this is an "ok" thing. Ok we really didn't sign our rights away but we did say that we would pay our mortgage on time. A short half hour and 70 hand cramps later we finally got our keys to our new home!
Chris and I are now completely moved in, loving our new neighborhood and neighbors. We love the convince of being closer to our Church family and two major freeways. It only takes a few minutes to get anywhere now. We are still working on unpacking and settling in but the house already feels like home. I finally have a place to park my van in the garage, and we have enough extra space that right now we have a renter. We don't need a renter but the beauty of having a house is that you can have one to help out a little if you want. One of the reasons we didn't like renting. Our renter is fantastic too, yet another blessing from the situation.
As a daughter of Christ It is easy for me to get caught up in the worries and struggles of every day life. I worry tremendously. I think, what if this doesn't work out, or what if this happens. I can be quite the pessimist sometimes and let myself get depressed easily. This home buying situation is just one of the many ways that God is constantly showing me that He is in control of my life. I can make my plans, and even take steps to make things happen, but as Chris and I are always praying "God if its not your will for us, please don't let it happen." God constantly reveals how faithful He is and how much we can truly rely on him for our strength, wisdom, guidance, direction and peace. So I leave my story of what we ended up buy a house with this dear precious verse to me as it is a constant reminder of how good God is. May it encourage you today, and please come stop by our new house sometime.
Psalm 40:5
"O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them."
~Hugs from The Harings
12/24/09
Merry Christmas!
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!"My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; And holy is His name. AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart. He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble. HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS; And sent away the rich empty-handed. He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever." ~ Luke 1:46-55
11/11/09
Sometimes it's just nice knowing
So yesterday Chris and I played hookie from work so we could get some important things taken care of. Most importantly the reason for us taking work off yesterday was so that we could both be present at the much anticipated doctors appointment where we could discuss fertility options (for those of you who don't know, Chris and I have been trying for a baby for one year now). Chris and I really wanted to work with The Center for Reproductive Medicine on the U of M campus because our good friends had so much success working with them to conceive their baby boy and they come very highly recommended for women who have PCOS. We unfortunately do not have the ability with our strict work schedules to drive back and forth between down town etc... for the numerous tests that would need to be preformed. Therefore we have been researching for a great OBGYN in our area. With prayer we were able to find Western OBGYN that actually is a satellite clinic for one of the doctors that works at The Center of Reproductive Medicine! This is very exciting to us because this means we will be able to get the same care, if not better, closer to home.
The appointment yesterday was a preliminary appointment where they went over our medical history and discussed options that would best suit our needs and concerns. Chris and I are looking at the beginning stages of infertility treatments and have thought, and prayed long and hard about how far we are willing to go. Our doctor thought it would be best for us to have some preliminary test taken to rule out some probable causes for us not being able to conceive. This would include getting Chris checked out to make sure he is not a contributing factor for our inability to conceive. It would also mean getting my glucose levels checked as well as getting an x-ray and ultrasound done to rule out tubal blockage, and endometriosis. Getting an ultrasound done will be beneficial for my doctor as well because then she will be able to determine what shape my ovaries are in (scaring, cysts, etc...).
My doctor believes that, pending the lab results, the best option for Chris and I at this time would be for me to start taking a prescription called Clomid, to assist my body in ovulation. She believes that my body is probably having trouble producing enough estrogen to ovulate completely. This is her speculation and she will know more after the test results come back. She may also decide to put me on a combination of Clomid and Metformin. Metformin is a diabetic medication that helps with the control of insulin resistance. If she determines that I am insulin resistant combining the meds will help my body have more chance to ovulate as too much insulin can cause hormonal imbalance.
Chris and I will be going into the clinic the day after Thanksgiving for our lab tests. Please be praying for us just that we can have wisdom and peace with the many different options and tests that we might be faced with. Also be praying for our finances because fertility tests can be expensive. I have a $3000 deductible so that has to come out of pocket before any insurance kicks in. Then insurance will only cover up to so much for fertility tests.
Its a nervous and exciting adventure we are embarking on because on one hand it makes us excited to know that we are getting closer to having a baby, and on the other side we are nervous for all that it entails, not just the "having" or "raising" of a baby, but the "trying" for the baby is a bigger worry for us because of the financial, emotional, and spiritual toll it can sometimes take. We decided to go see a fertility doctor to put our mind at ease, sometimes it is just nice knowing what is going on if we are able. There is no guarantee we will find out what is going on but for peace of mind we decided to try. Any encouragement and prayer you would like to give us is greatly appreciated, we are comfortable being open about what is going on.
Chris and I are very happy where God has lead us thus far in our marriage. We are a joyfully blessed family just the way we are, just the two of us. We relish our time together, and I often think about how much different our lives would be if we had a child, and am truly grateful for the time we have just Chris and I. Its not that we feel like we need a baby, or are unhappy without one, no matter what we want to be in God's will. Wherever, God wants us to be that is where we want to be. Yes, we truly have the desire on our heart to raise godly children one day, and at times this can be emotionally difficult, however our hope is in the Lord and His good promises, and to that end we stay encouraged with our infertility. Oh the great and wonderful plans the Lord has for us, plans to help us succeed, to become strong, to flourish and not to harm us, but to give us hope and a future.
The appointment yesterday was a preliminary appointment where they went over our medical history and discussed options that would best suit our needs and concerns. Chris and I are looking at the beginning stages of infertility treatments and have thought, and prayed long and hard about how far we are willing to go. Our doctor thought it would be best for us to have some preliminary test taken to rule out some probable causes for us not being able to conceive. This would include getting Chris checked out to make sure he is not a contributing factor for our inability to conceive. It would also mean getting my glucose levels checked as well as getting an x-ray and ultrasound done to rule out tubal blockage, and endometriosis. Getting an ultrasound done will be beneficial for my doctor as well because then she will be able to determine what shape my ovaries are in (scaring, cysts, etc...).
My doctor believes that, pending the lab results, the best option for Chris and I at this time would be for me to start taking a prescription called Clomid, to assist my body in ovulation. She believes that my body is probably having trouble producing enough estrogen to ovulate completely. This is her speculation and she will know more after the test results come back. She may also decide to put me on a combination of Clomid and Metformin. Metformin is a diabetic medication that helps with the control of insulin resistance. If she determines that I am insulin resistant combining the meds will help my body have more chance to ovulate as too much insulin can cause hormonal imbalance.
Chris and I will be going into the clinic the day after Thanksgiving for our lab tests. Please be praying for us just that we can have wisdom and peace with the many different options and tests that we might be faced with. Also be praying for our finances because fertility tests can be expensive. I have a $3000 deductible so that has to come out of pocket before any insurance kicks in. Then insurance will only cover up to so much for fertility tests.
Its a nervous and exciting adventure we are embarking on because on one hand it makes us excited to know that we are getting closer to having a baby, and on the other side we are nervous for all that it entails, not just the "having" or "raising" of a baby, but the "trying" for the baby is a bigger worry for us because of the financial, emotional, and spiritual toll it can sometimes take. We decided to go see a fertility doctor to put our mind at ease, sometimes it is just nice knowing what is going on if we are able. There is no guarantee we will find out what is going on but for peace of mind we decided to try. Any encouragement and prayer you would like to give us is greatly appreciated, we are comfortable being open about what is going on.
Chris and I are very happy where God has lead us thus far in our marriage. We are a joyfully blessed family just the way we are, just the two of us. We relish our time together, and I often think about how much different our lives would be if we had a child, and am truly grateful for the time we have just Chris and I. Its not that we feel like we need a baby, or are unhappy without one, no matter what we want to be in God's will. Wherever, God wants us to be that is where we want to be. Yes, we truly have the desire on our heart to raise godly children one day, and at times this can be emotionally difficult, however our hope is in the Lord and His good promises, and to that end we stay encouraged with our infertility. Oh the great and wonderful plans the Lord has for us, plans to help us succeed, to become strong, to flourish and not to harm us, but to give us hope and a future.
11/9/09
Sparking People to loose the weight
I wanted to take a second and share with you a little news story that was done about the website I am using to track my food journal, weight, fitness etc... all in an effort to help me lose weight. SPARKPeople is a great website and very user friendly. Check out the video at:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/video/fox_video.asp
If you wanted to check out the website yourself just go to SPARKPeople.com
11/5/09
South Beach Diet Chronicles
So Chris and I have been trying to get pregnant for about a year now with no avail. We have done steps to find out what is going on and one of the major factors is that I have something called PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) which in laymen's terms means I have trouble ovulating due to blood sugar in my body throwing my hormones off balance. So how do you solve this? Well you have a few options, go on birth control pill to help with the hormones...um did I mention we are trying to get prego?, or you can take Clomid to stimulate ovulation, or 3rd and usually combined with the use of Clomid, loose weight! Simple Right...not exactly. One thing my doctor recommended was going on the South Beach Diet because it really does help with blood sugar stabilization. I have struggled with my weight much my life, and both Chris and I have the desire to live a more healthy active lifestyle so we thought we would do it. We started on Monday, November 2nd and I have already lost 8 pounds! You can visually see it yet, as I am sure much of it is water weight but something is happening! There is no doubt...this is super exciting for us so I thought I would post what we have been doing so far:
Ok here is my meal plan thus far:
Day 1
Breakfast: 8:30-9am
2 Hard Boiled Eggs - you may eat the yoke!
1 or 2 Cheese Sticks (usually 1 but depends on how hungry)
1 5.5fl oz V8 Juice (for veggie, this has a little sugar in it from the carrots, but is aloud on the SBD Ph1)
1 Snack Cup Sugar Free Jello (I like this because I can't have fruit on phase 1, you may also make your own sugar free jello at home to save a little $ and then poor in travel friendly sizes, you are supposed to limit "sweet treats" to 75 calories a day, usually a jello snack pack is only 10 calories)
If I am still hungry I can either have more eggs or have some sort of raw veggie like : Cucumber, snow peas, celery, broccoli, green peppers or a salad...but usually I an not that hungry. If you want to you can have black beans or some sort of legume to go with your eggs this is ok too.
Mid Morning Snack: 11:30-Noon
a salad or veggies and dip
for the Salad on Phase 1 you must look for Salad Dressing with out Sugar! this is hard so I usually like Newman's Own Oil and Vinegar dressing...there is no sugar in this so its a safe bet, you may also use his Balsamic Vinegar Dressing...it does have a little sugar but if you use sparingly he says its ok to use on the diet...not light...usually light dressings have more carbs so always go for the Regular.
For the Dip you can buy Ranch Dressing or Dip season packets and mix it with low fat Sour Cream....you need to watch how much dip
Lunch: 1-1:30pm
Homemade Chili: 2 Cans Crushed Tomatoes (no sugar), 1 bag of dried kidney beans prepared (canned kidney beans have sugar),Zucchini, jalapeno pepper, green pepper, 1 pound Extra lean Ground Beef or Ground Turkey, Spices: (make sure they don't have sugar in them) onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, 1 or 2 cups water to help the broth.
Afternoon Snack: 3:30-4:00pm
More veggies and dip or salad, cheese stick, or sugar free jello cup, chicken or turkey (no sugar) - (Chris and I grilled an entire bag of Chicken on Saturday so we could have plenty of chicken for the week for snacks etc... makes it easy)
Dinner: 5:30-6:00pm
Mustard Curry Chicken : Take as many frozen chicken breasts as you would like rise them season with curry powder, and coat with mustard of choice (no sugar). Throw in oven around 375 until done...sometimes I turn up the oven near the end to 400 to get it extra done...the way I like it.
Side Dish: Black Beans and cilantro - throw in mini crock pot or pan and simmer canned black beans with cilantro and garlic
Additional Side: Frozen Green Beans
Evening Snack: 7:30-8:00pm
Sugar Free (No Sugar Added) Fudgesicle
Beverages:
Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day, to flush out system it helps you loose water weight too! you will pee a lot at first but your body will stabilize. (That's 2 Nalgeen 32oz Water bottles full a day)
V8 100% Vegetable Juice - Not V8 Splash or Fusion
Crystal Light or Sugar Free Drink Mixes
Diet Soda (drink sparingly)
Coffee - No sugar added, Black
Tea - Sugar Free
No Alcohol as it is high in Sugar
No more than 1 caffeinated beverage a day!
Most importantly it says if you are hungry you need to eat!!! Not eating slows down your metabolism, so I eat pretty much every 2 hours even if I don't feel super hungry...and thus I have not had that crazed starving hypoglycemic feeling. I make sure I don't eat at least 2 hrs before bed but if I am really hungry after trying to drink water and other things...it probably means I didn't eat enough at snack time or dinner time and then I will have some low cal snack...but try not to eat at least 2 hrs before bed.
That is one day on the South Beach Diet - I can give you more ideas if you would like. 4 Things I recommend if you go on the diet
1. Buy this book as it will tell you all the food you can and cannot have: South Beach Diet Good Fats/ Good Carbs
2. No need to buy the SBD cookbook Check this website out for recipies! And SBD tips: Kalyn's Kitchen
3. Check these websites out for other SBD tips and support: South Beach Diet Plan & South Beach Diet 101 & just Google it lots of sites come up with ideas and tips.
4. Check out Spark People to track your SBD success for free!
Ask me if you have any more questions! I am not a dietitian or Doctor so you will want to talk with them first but I would be happy to share some tricks and tips I found useful!
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