Wellness Wednesday #12

Guess what I've been doing at 5:30 AM? Exercising! :o) Hubby never gives me advanced warning on anything as he is not a talker. I had already decided that I would just have to get up and do it with or without kids every day. And Sunday night he says, "Set the alarm for 5:30, I'm going to start walking." Yeah! We are using Leslie Sansone's Walk The Walk DVD and are currently doing the one mile walk. We used to do the 2 mile walk, which frankly, I think is easier, but we are starting with the one mile and will build up.

Imagine my disappointment when I stepped on the scale this morning and it said 320# still! UGH! Not that I have done any dieting, but one can always hope that adding exercise would burn more calories than, say, sitting around knitting dish cloths while watching Pride and Prejudice! At first I was a little disappointed. I have to watch the sway of my emotions and remember to look at the glass half full, i.e. I did not gain weight either!

In a previous post I mentioned that I am reading The Maker's Diet, but I am curently also reading his new book Perfect Weight America. When you purchase the new book you get a free year of motivational help at his website. I have no intention of going on an actual diet, however, I am not one to turn down good, free information that might help me on my journey. There is a "community" of people working on this program together as well as menu planning help, recipes, grocery lists that you can make based on the recipes and videos on health, nutrition, exercise etc. One resource that might be helpful for those making healthy food choices is the page that discusses Extraordinary, Average or Trouble foods. Warning: these books highly promote his own products. They may be very good, I don't know, but I am always cynical about that. Has anyone used them?

While I can't say that I am "gung ho" on either of his books that I have read, I do feel that they contain some good information. He does support the dietary guidelines of the Old Testament because God promised the Israelites that if they followed His rules they would not have any of the diseases of the Egyptians. When examined they make a whole lot of sense, because banned foods are all scavengers and garbage eaters who could potentially put toxins and harmful bacteria and parasites into the human body. I should make it clear that I do NOT believe a Christian needs to follow this for faith purposes. I just can't help but think that God made my body and He knows what He is talking about. When He writes something it is not without purpose. Paul tells us that ALL Scripture is profitable for teaching and so I think it bears examining.

Another source for weight loss encouragement I found was CBN's/700 Club's Weight Loss Coaching blog. What resources, besides the Bible, do you use to keep motivated. (If I am not grounded in His Word, it's just a failure from the beginning!)

One of the most frustrating aspects of my journey has been the dissenting voices from all the "experts". How do you know who is right? Everyone "thinks" they have the answer and really you could waste tons of money buying all the books and reading different points of view; a lot of time too! There is also the danger (which has been my perile historically) of spending time reading about what you should do and forgetting to "just do it"!

So, that's what we did Monday with the walking. Just Do It! I encourage you all to try adding some exercise. It doesn't have to be anything big. Just starting your body in motion helps. Gradually your body will wake up and say "I like this!" It doesn't need to be an aerobic dance, just something that keeps you moving in a healthy manner. Walking is generally accepted as a great overall exercise with many benefits. Have any of you added exercise in the new year? I would love to hear what your routine is. Please share especially how you keep motivated when you don't "feel" like doing it!

And on the subject of breadmaking I would like to ask a couple more questions:

1) How do you store your bread if you make multiple loaves that you freeze?

2) Dough enhancer was recommended. What is it? Is it okay?

3) I have been using "instant yeast" as that was recommended in the King Arthur Whole Grains Cookbook, but I have no idea what that is or whether or not that is even healthy.

4) Does anyone use Lecithin in their bread? If so, what format, dry or liquid? Can you buy non-Soy lecithin? (We avoid most soy as it is very bad for Thyroid health) How does it work with the bread to improve it?

I was looking around Teresa's blog and on an earlier post she had a link for Bread Becker's and I found some neat recipes and information there. If you know of any other breadmaking resources on the web, I would love to know about them. I also have been looking through Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book which Charlotte recommended and I do want to try her "test loaf" but have just not had the opportunity to concentrate on that. Another book which comes from Grandma Hopkins' library is The Tassajara Bread Book which I read years ago when I was thinking of bread making but did not pursue. I need to pull it off the shelf and read through it as well. We are very happy with the Beet Bread except for the white flour. I have yet to make it whole wheat and maybe that should be my next step. I have to admit that I have an underlying fear that when I do that, I will either have little bricks of bread or that I will be the only one eating it! LOL

I hope everyone has a good and healthy week. Remember, if you leave a comment, I will pray for you in your journey!