Friday, June 27, 2008

Reaching That Weight Goal

It's not been easy, but victory is mine!

For the past seven weeks my husband and I have been following Michael Thurmond's Six-Week Body Makeover eating plan. We both ended up being the types who can eat lean meat, some carbs, and lots of vegetables. Today, I reached my first goal! Yippee!

And that was without doing the cardio exercise.

When you've got two kids whom you must take with you wherever you go, walking for an hour a day is not feasible!

But good-bye 15 pounds anyway! (Boy, was that celebratory small dish of dark chocolate ice cream really good!)

Now for my next weight goal...three more pounds.

Back on the wagon, Sprecher!

Cutting out grains and sugar really did a lot for me. Not only did I lose weight, but eczema disappeared, and dry skin on joints started clearing up. Isn't that interesting?

A few months ago I had the impression from the Holy Spirit that I should cut out grains and sugar. So when we started this eating change in May, I definitely was curious as to what changes in my body might take place.

After a few days, my body started getting rid of some stuff because I had a major headache for about two to three days. I'm guessing it was a sugar withdrawal. It was not fun. But today, it has been well worth it.

Now I don't have to go buy the next size up of clothes. In fact, I need to go try on my "skinny" pants to see if I can fit back in them. I keep these pants to help me stay focused!

On to the next goal...

Jeanette

Saturday, June 21, 2008

What to Do With a Busy Toddler?

What to do with an almost-three-year-old?

In child rearing, everyone talks about the terrible twos. We've managed to navigate the twosome years, but as we approach my daughter's third birthday, I'm beginning to wonder, "What about the busy three-year-old?"

Sometimes I don't feel very creative. And I scratch my head and wonder, "What shall I do with my children today, God?" I think I'm going to the library again and look up books on activities for toddlers. And I think I'm going to re-visit a website I had found a couple of weeks ago that I found very helpful! If you google "raising godly tomatoes" you'll find it.

That's a great website for mothers with young children. This website was created by a lady who got lots of questions about raising children, as she had quite a number of them and they all turned out okay! I find advice and ideas from experienced parents to be more helpful, sometimes, than the advice and ideas from "experts." I know what I'm supposed to be doing; I just need to get ideas on how to do it!

The ultimate in child-rearing, though, is to listen for answers when I pray, "What shall I do with my children today, God?" Whenever I do, things turn out well.

I need to listen to my own advice!

Can anyone tell I've had a long day today?

Till next time,
Jeanette

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Neurodevelopmental Physical Therapy

Carolyn Heil is an incredible physical therapist.

My son was diagnosed on the autistic spectrum when he was 2 1/2 years old. Like most parents, I started researching. One thing I came across was the idea of neurodevelopmental physical therapy. In other words, by using specific moves and muscles, you can retrain the brain. I live in Pennsylvania, and all the information I found was from California! That was clear across the country.

Then I heard about Carolyn Heil, a physical therapist in my backyard, so to speak, whose work was similar. I was amazed--it was like an answer to a prayer I hadn't even prayed!

My son has been seeing Carolyn for almost a year and half now. He has made tremendous progress. (This is not the only intervention we are doing, but it certainly has been significant.)

For those of you who are interested and are in the local area, Carolyn Heil will be speaking on the connection between neuromuscular development and learning on Monday, June 30, in Shippensburg at Living Faith Chapel.

Here is the address to get directions from the Internet:
Living Faith Chapel
8770 Possum Hollow Road
Shippensburg, PA 17257

The presentation is from 7 to 9 p.m. and includes a question and answer time. It is for adults only, please. No child care provided.

I highly recommend it!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Mini "Date" Ideas

Like any other couple with young children, finding time to spend together one-on-one can be challenging. I have a five-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl (who will be three in just a couple weeks, praise God!). If it weren't for grandparents who willingly baby-sit, I don't know when my husband and I would get out!

So I often think of things I'd like to do. And if I write them down--which I'm doing right now--they are much more likely to happen!

Here are my ideas of activities this summer for either just me and my hubby or all of us together. Perhaps you'd like to try one too.

1. Explore the downtown shops and little restaurants I've never set foot in...yet.
2. Visit nearby national parks.
3. Plan a "mystery date" for my hubby and take him to his favorite restaurant (and then to Borders where he can peruse his fantasy sports magazines to his heart's content).
4. Go to a motel for at least one night and get some extra sleep! (For the first time in five years, we actually are doing this! Staying overnight in the hospital for the birth of my daughter did not count.)
5. Go to a furniture store and "window shop."
6. Check out the local museums and historical society.
7. Lose weight--no, wait, that's for January!

These few ideas should take us up through August. There are only so many free weekends left in my calendar already.

Till next time,
Jeanette Sprecher