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Diagnosis Bipolar on HBO

January 7, 2010 By 6 Comments

Last night as I was flipping through the channels I stopped at a documentary titled, “Diagnosis: Bipolar” on HBO.  Being that I have a child who suffers from Bipolar disorder I watched about the last 10-15 minutes of it.  I certainly want to catch it in its entirety.  It was like seeing portions of what we go through everyday on the television.

Bipolar is a brain disorder that severe mood changes occur.  According to www.BPkids.com there are “bouts of extreme and impairing changes in mood, energy, thinking, and behavior.”  Many people are under the misconception that this is a strictly behavioral issue that is easily fixed by behavioral modification.  While behavior modifications are certainly important it is a brain disorder.  I  know that my daughter hits a point where she looses it and is no longer in control.  I do not know how to explain it.  You can see in her eyes when she is gone.  After an episode she immediately becomes very depressed.  She talks about not wanting to live and tells me she hates herself because of how she just acted.  She is unable to explain what is going on in her head at the time.  She clearly feels bad.

As my daughter continues to age it is becoming more difficult.  The fact that she is prepubescent has made her treatment difficult not only for her but also for her Doctor.  She is suffering socially because other children her age do not know what to make of her.  The trouble is that my daughter has a HUGE heart.  She will do anything to help others.  She can be extremely compassionate.  She is wonderfully excited about so many things and very inquisitive.

I certainly want to catch this documentary again.  I am sure that they picked some of the most severe cases to show.  That is what they always do.  I just want to see how these kids have been helped over the course of a year.  For now I will continue to muddle through.  Some days are wonderful and others not so much.  Either way she is my baby girl and all I can do is try and help her in anyway I can!

Becca

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Weight Loss: Day 4

January 5, 2010 By 2 Comments

I had another wonderful day on my weight loss journey again.  I am sure that you are all getting a little tired of hearing about it but it went quite well.  I was serious about exercise today and walked outside in the 15 degree weather again.  I took the older two girls with me and we had a nice time.  We walked a little more then a mile together.  In addition to that I did the Wii fit for 45 minutes today and burned 385 calories.  I had a shake and 1/2 of a grapefruit for breakfast, a chicken salad for lunch and the most delisious Honey-Mustard chicken for dinner with some rice and a

Wii Fit
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salad.  I am not sure if I ate enough today but I only ate when I was hungry.  I am sure it will all catch up with me tomorrow.

All in all I am feeling pretty great.  I guess that in a lot of ways I am feeling proud of myself.  I am believing in myself.  It is something I have not felt in a long time.  I have still not weighed myself.  I will weigh in on Saturday when we hit one week in.  I am hoping for good things to happen.  If the scale disappointed me with no weight loss, I will know that it is not because I have not worked hard this week.  I have agreed to be patient with myself.  I did not gain all of this weight in a week and I will not loose it in a day.

I also started a facebook group where anyone is welcome for support, recipe ideas, exercise routines.  It is a place where we can all come together and loose.  The group is Becca’s Belly Busters.

Becca

The honey-mustard chicken was wonderful so I posted the recipe click here.

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Weight Watchers Honey-Mustard Chicken

January 5, 2010 By 3 Comments
Roasted chicken
Image via Wikipedia

Makes 4 servings:

1/4 cup Dijon-style mustard
2 Tbsp. + 2tsp. honey
2Tbsp. Apple Cider
Four 6-ounce Chicken Drum Sticks; Skinned
1/3 cup +2 tsp. plain dried bread crumbs
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger

  1. Preheat over to 375 F.  Line large baking sheet with foil; spray with non stick cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl combine dijon mustard, honey and Cider, remove and set aside 1/4 cup of the mixture.  To remaining mixture, add chicken tossing well to coat thoroughly.
  3. In gallon-sized sealable plastic bag , combine bread crumbs, dry mustard, salt and ginger; seal bag and shake to blend.  Add 1 drumstick; seal the bag and shake to coat.  repeat using remaining drumsticks.
  4. Bake Chicken 20 minutes; turn carefully.  Bake 10-15 minutes longer, until cooked through and juices run clear.  Serve reserved mustard mixture for dip.

Each serving provides:  3 protein, 1/2 bread; 45 optional calories.

One the Weight Watcher Point System the calories, fat and fiber calculate to 6 points per serving.

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Weight Loss: Day three

January 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

Well here we are with the third day down.  It seems as if this has all been too easy.  I am usually much more obsessive by now.  I have usually weighed myslef about a million times by now.  I have usually eaten some chocolate by now.  As I stated yesterday, this seems different.  It is not motivation that I have.  It is just that I know I need this.  It is that it feels right.  So here is how the day went

walking alone in Milan (boulevard of broken dr...
Image by Gret@Lorenz via Flickr

I went for a walk with Abigail and our new dog.  It was better then I had expected.  I lived through it and because of my new shoes my foot that hurts ALL of the time.  It all went so well that I chose to walk again this evening.  I will be waking up again tomorrow to repeat my walk.

As far as eating today I did wonderfully.  I had a shake for breakfast, a chicken sandwich for lunch with fruit and pretzels and tuna caserole with salad and broccoli for dinner.   I think that all in all that is a wonderful day.

Tomorrow is day 4.  I am proud to say that I have my meals all planned out and that I am ready.  I hope you are all doing as well as I am.

Becca

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Big Love On HBO

January 4, 2010 By 5 Comments
Big Love promotional photo featuring (from lef...
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I am so excited!  In just six short days my all time favorite show will be returning to HBO.  Yes it is that time again!  Big Love will premiere season four Sunday night.  This show is twisted but I just cannot help but to love it.  I often sit and wonder what it would be like to have more then one of me running around.  There are benefits to plural marriage!!

  • You do not have to be the only one washing the dishes, cleaning, doing laundry and cleaning toilets.
  • Your children could wine to someone else.  You know Bill does nothing with the kids but to have three mothers is the best.
  • You do not have to be the one sleeping with your husband every night.  Come on ladies; I know that I am not alone when I say that I wish I had the entire bed to myself every now and then!
  • There are two other people around to be friends with.  You never have to even leave home.
  • Everyone has a job and it is clear.  Not like now where all of the jobs are all mine.  They share the responsibility.
  • The kids all have one another to play with.  Yes this is true with my kids but I think to have like 8 kids and a huge shared yard would rock!
  • My husbands sex drive may equal mine.  No man can keep up with three women every night of the week, can they?

So as silly as it sounds I would love to have a second wife.  I of course have to be the first wife.  You know the one who controls it all.  The head wife in charge!  Just imagine a world with three of you…  The possibilities are endless.

*Please understand that I know there are negatives to plural marriage as well.

Becca

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Weight Loss: The Second Day

January 3, 2010 By 2 Comments
Weight and height are used in computing body m...
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All in all I think that today was a great day.  I was able to stay on my plan as far as eating, I almost drank all of the water I should have, and I am feeling overall happy.  I know that to some two days in is nothing but for me it is everything.  This is a journey I have take before.  It is a journey that I have yet to complete.  I cannot tell you the number of times I have worked at loosing weight.   I have joined Weight Watchers many times, I have tried the South Beach Diet, nutritionist led diets and the list goes on and on.  It is more times then I wish to count. It is not the programs that do not work.  It is that I do not work the program.

It is odd.  This time it all feels different.  It is not that I am pumped up on motivation or anything.  It is not that I have some huge reward waiting for me if I am successful.  It is just different.  This time I am just doing the best I can.  I am easing into loosing weight.  I am making my getting healthy a family afair.  Not that I am discussing dieting with the kids or anything.  I think that discussing dieting is wrong with children.  They so often become obsessed.  I have told our girls that we have been eating very bad lately and that for the new year we will be changing all of that.  They have been great about it.

Thanks to my mother-in-law I am now the proud owner of Sketchers Shape-Up sneakers.  I am adding a small walk tomorrow morning.  I have invited Abigail to come with me on Monday’s and Friday’s.  Emma is expressing interest but I do not think that she is going to want to get up early and walk in the freezing cold.  I guess we will see.  Her days are on Tuesday and Thursday.  Wendsday will be my alone day.  I wanted them all to be alone days but the more I thought about it the more I realized that if this was going to be a family change the girls would also have to be involved.

Day two is in the past now and I am anxious to move into day three.  I think that tomorrow I will take a before picture.  I think of all of the people who are successful and they all have their before picture.

Becca

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Weight Loss: Why Drink Water?

January 3, 2010 By 6 Comments
water and fruit mural, ice cream truck, musuem...
Image by PinkMoose via Flickr

Today was my first day of the new me.  I did well all day.  I ate right and really enjoyed it.  We ate potatoes and for the first time in a long time I tasted them.  Not the butter but the actual potato.  I also had steamed broccoli which is one of my favorite veggies of all.  I also enjoyed a cup of fruit salad for desert.  I lived through day 1.  I Would like to join Weight Watchers but it will have to wait a few more weeks until pay day.  I would also like to start walking soon but need the proper sneakers.

The one thing that I did not do today was drink enough water.  Water is important for so many parts of our overall well being.  I did a lot of research about water and here is what I have found.

  • Water flushes your system:  This is especially important in weight loss.  Water flushes down the bi-products of fat-breakdown.
  • Water helps you feel full:  The way I look at it the more water I drink the less room there will be for food.  This should help me to eat a little less.
  • Water is a headache reliever:  Although I am not prone to headaches I did find it interesting that mild dehydration is the cause of many headaches.
  • Water makes your skin healthier:  I did know this one!  Your skin is your largest organ.  If you think about it that way it makes drinking water even more important.
  • Water helps you think clearer:  I am not sure that I buy this one.  In theory it states that your brain is mostly made up of water.  With ample water consumption it is said that water can help keep you alert and aids better concentration.
  • Water Aids digestion:  This one seems pretty obvious to me.  The more you drink the less likely you will be to have constipation issues.
  • Relieves Fatigue:  For all who know me they know that I am ALWAYS tired.  Perhaps some water will help the day go better!

With all of these great reasons to drink water I am sitting here contemplating why people do not drink more water.  It has so many more benefits then soda or juice.  Tomorrow I will try and drink my 8 cups (I believe that is measuring cups not glasses) of water.  I will report back on how many things I agree with.

Becca

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Weight Loss Journey: New Year’s Resolution

January 1, 2010 By 6 Comments
(Week 16) Day 108/366 - Pride - I'm proud of m...
Image by size8jeans via Flickr

I am ready.  Today is the first day of 2010.  It is the first day of a new me.  I have done a lot of sole searching in the past week to determine if I am really ready to loose weight.  It has required a lot of thought.  The first thing I decidecd to do was to list all of the things that my weight is holding me back from.  Although it is very personal I decided to share.  I figure that in sharing it perhaps it will help someone else stay motivated.  So here it is:

  1. I am in pain.  It is preventing me from living the way I want to day to day.
  2. I cannot hike with the kids.
  3. I am uncomfortable sitting in the movies because my butt is too big.
  4. Everything hurts… Sitting, walking, climbing the stairs, shifting in bed, and yes I mean everything!
  5. I cannot walk  without becoming winded.
  6. I cannot fly in a plane comfortably.
  7. I cannot go on roller coasters.
  8. I cannot dance with my girls.
  9. I cannot get off of the floor easily when I play with the kids.
  10. I cannot buckle comfortably with a coat on.

I will be beginning to cut calories today, tomorrow I will ease into exercise and in two weeks I will be joining weight watchers.  I have been successful before with the program and am looking forward to structure.  Until that point I will finish a jar of HerbaLife I have left over.  While HerbaLife will be a good jump start I have not found that I am able to stay on it for more then about a month.  Mixing things up should help!

I am sure that there are many more things that are not on my mind right now.  I need to do this for me.  I need to be alive again.  My weight is killing my body, my mind and most of all my spirit.  This will be the year that I take charge of me.  Who is with me?

P.S.  The scale picture is not me.  I am going to take on… but I will not post it until I am ready emotionally to put it out there!

Becca

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