Ten Day Green Smoothie Challenge Day TEN!!

Wow! I made it this far!! If I can just survive tonight, I'll have accomplished my goal. What isn't very good is I should eat clean the rest of my life and have at least one green smoothie per day. That sucks. I love chocolate and pizza and popcorn and unhealthy things very much. I ate popcorn last night and cheated. It had no butter on it though. Very little salt. You're not supposed to have salt on this green smoothie diet. At all. I never cheated today yet, but I probably will, eventually. Evenings are very difficult.

Last I stepped on the scale it read 135 lbs.

Green Smoothie ten Day Challenge. Three days after it's over (or four)

I gained back three pounds. I'm OK with that though. I would still like to remain in the correct direction, but whatever. I am eating far healthier overall. I tasted a yogurt Popsicle and it tasted like frozen milk with sugar to me. I didn't even like it. So my tastes have changed. I am better able to control myself around sugar and sugar-laden desserts. I never eat grease, so I think the challenge was good for me.

I think I'll try it again in a week or two.

Day nine of a ten-day Green Smoothie Cleanse

I can't take it. I am very hungry. Negative comments from co-workers I shouldn't have shared this Green Smoothie information with (my own fault) anyone. I just like talking about it since I am doing it. I am crazy hungry though.

I haven't cheated today. I probably ate too much grapes. Maybe I had too many nuts as well. I really want some popcorn. I guess I'm healthier.

Ten-Day Green Smoothie Challenge Day Eight

Thought I wasn't going to be able to take it today at work. Two more days!! So excited to have accomplished this so far. I am so close. I'm feeling fine, but I would like more food.

Ten-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse Day Seven

I don't know what I weigh, but yesterday it was 138 lbs. The smoothies are starting to bother my intestines a bit. I only have three days after this though. Today's smoothie was OK. There were blueberries in it. I don't really like pineapple, so I don't enjoy smoothies with nothing that masks the pineapple enough. Blueberries seem to do the best job so far. I have a bad habit of snacking constantly. As soon as I feel hungry at all, I tend to try to get food in my mouth. I should be able to handle not eating for a little while. Hopefully in the next three days I can overcome that tendency. We'll see I guess.

Green Smoothie Detoxifying Cleanse Day five - Half-Way There!

I GAINED one pound since the start of this cleanse. Apparently I am the only one. I didn't cheat the last two days at all and the first two I only cheated a little bit with popcorn plain, no butter. UGH!!

Detox Cleansing Green Smoothie Ten-Day Challenge 5 September 2014

I lost three pounds and this is day three. I cheated as well with popcorn and three extra smoothies today. I'm not pooping more than normal as someone at work thought, but I am peeing like CRAZY. Every hour pretty much. I think I can take it. I think I'll follow it to the T tomorrow because it actually isn't that incredibly difficult. Maybe I just feel so full from stuffing myself with green smoothies though. Could be that. I guess. I had two handfuls of unsalted nuts and you are only supposed to have one. I can't wait until tomorrow to see if this challenge worked as far as weight loss goes. I do feel pretty good though. Sometimes I feel very hungry, but that's why I cheated with extra smoothies and extra nuts. I have a very physically demanding job. I'm walking very fast for eight hours and I'm lifting heavy things as well.

My daughter wanted to do this Green Smoothie thing as well. I'm a little bit worried about her because she does ballet which is very physically demanding. She dances for about five hours a day. She may need more energy than I do. She's seventeen. She won't die though. I think she'll be totally fine, but it worries me anyway. I can't tell her she can't do it when I'm doing it. Plus, I don't think she'd listen to me. So now I'm 139 lbs.

Cleansing my Physical Body through Green Smoothies 3 September 2014

So, I'm doing a cleanse to get the toxins out of my body. This is my first day. It's a green smoothie cleanse. I am STARVING. I keep fantasizing about what I will eat. I was thinking one little protein bar wouldn't hurt anything. But I resisted. Then I was thinking I should fry up an egg or two, but I resisted. I forgot that I invited two people over for dinner. I ordered Dominos so that I don't have to smell it while cooking, but I don't know what is going to help me when it's here and I smell it and watch the two guests eating it. I am somewhat grouchy. I am trying to control myself. I don't know what will happen at work tomorrow with my attitude. It's bad though. I am very grouchy. My daughter doesn't know (the seven-year-old). I have been able to control myself. Also, I am looking after my neighbors son. I fantasize about quitting and eating all the time (well, all day today). I think I might be healthier, but I see no difference. I weigh 143 lbs. Usually I weigh 142. We'll see what happens. I'm glad I am healthy enough to do this despite having Ulcerative Colitis. I'm getting all my greens and veggies packed into ten days since I suffered two years with a terrible diet and almost no fruit and vegetables.

I'm now updating this blog.  It is 6:54 p.m. I cheated and ate some popcorn with nothing on it. I don't think it is that bad of cheating. I cut up a large english cucumber and put sea salt on it and I am munching on that. I think I'm allowed fruits and vegetables, however, the thought of eating any fruit and vegetables does not really appeal to me. It's amazing that I'll eat it anyway though. Hopefully I last throughout the  night and into the next day. Then it should be better. I should be able to control myself as I'll be at work and I will only have to worry about breaks there. I hope the shake I have for breakfast doesn't upset my stomach so much I find it difficult to work tomorrow.

Faith Blog Started 4 February 2014

I was thinking a lot about faith lately and how important it is to have faith in God and what the consequences are of not having that kind of faith - or claiming not to.... More on this later when I have time to contemplate it.

7 February 2014 
Faith in God is what makes life great because God is the greatest and most perfect thing and if good things are going to happen we have to believe it is possible first and we have to believe the best we can of something.. we have to believe something perfect can happen in order for us to reach that goal.  If we didn't believe that good could happen we would have nothing to strive for and nothing to work toward and we would be just drifting on the wave of whatever will be, but if we believe in something good and perfect we can focus our energy and attention to making good and perfect things happen.

I'm tossing around ideas and blogging as I toss them around.  I am worried I will never write in a journal, but in this way, I can work toward what I want in an essay.  I was thinking of writing an essay on why Faith in God is important to me.

I just happened to look on lds.org just for fun thinking I was finished blogging and I found this picture quote and I thought it was appropriate regarding what I am talking about:

Hard Work: Is it Worth the Effort? 18 January 2014

So I've worked very very hard in my life.  Then I completely relax sometimes.  I've seen myself work so hard and for nothing.  It makes me think there's no point to working hard and all is in vain, so I end up becoming lazy and giving up.  But I know I should work hard. I've seen people work very hard and it amounted to nothing.  Like when you work night and day to build a business and then you have to do hours upon hours of paperwork because the government makes you, but doesn't pay you to do it, and then the business fails anyway.  Or someone else comes along and undermines you. Ultimately, it is good and noble to work hard, and I think you should.  Or I should.  I just feel so deflated sometimes I don't feel like it's worth it.  Then there's a price to pay for working hard in addition to the working hard.  Being there for your children, for example.  Are you going to pay someone else to raise your children and that is why you are working hard?  I have to get ready for work right now and I will continue contemplating this when I have a moment.

24 January 2014
Ok, so now I have a moment.  I just shoveled the driveway until 1:00 a.m. this morning.  I had to use an ice scraper which hurt my hands and pounded and pounded at the ice which is piled up from the snow plows.  After I got enough ice chunks I could shovel it up and throw it off the sidewalks. Then I was almost late for work and I worked all day, then came home and made dinner.  Then I picked up my older daughter.  After reading the scriptures and praying my son left for his night job.  He goes to class at college all day. I feel like I should stay home and clean our house and watch my seven-year-old or at least just work during the day when my daughter's in school. Anyway, I'm getting off-topic now.

Sometimes the hoped-for reward from working very hard and sacrificing appears to be a non-existent fantasy.  Once in a while the reward comes through, or A reward comes through, maybe not the one we were hoping for, but some kind of reward.

Look at getting a degree for example.  Why bother?  You can work your kiester off, get your degree, get in debt or live in abject poverty and there's no guarantee you'll get any kind of employment whatsoever. Starting off at the bottom of some companies and working your way up right out of high school may give you a better chance in life of success than getting in debt and living in poverty while going to a four-year college. Where does it get you? Must get to other things and can't keep writing at the moment.

Ok, so I'm back.  I ended up googling "hard work" on lds.org and I found this: http://history.lds.org/article/brigham-young-teachings-hard-work-sacrifice-obedience?lang=eng
It is about the prophet Brigham Young and it talks about him being a hard worker.  I think that is where one difference comes in to hard work.  You must ask yourself: "What exactly are you working for?" and if it isn't toward something that is good, that you believe in, then the work is meaningless.  For Brigham Young, there was a purpose and he believed in it.  It made a difference.  You have to have an ultimate goal that is worth it all and, I believe, worth dying in the act of working for it.  I believe in the same things as Brigham Young, so I think I just have to focus more on what is important to me.  The things that I felt I wasted my time on were perhaps, just that.

Excellent: http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1982/04/the-value-of-work?lang=eng&query=work
This particular quote from that talk is great:

Work is a blessing from God. It is a fundamental principle of salvation, both spiritual and temporal. When Adam was driven from his garden home, he was told that his bread must be produced by his physical toil, by the sweat of his brow. Note carefully the words: “Cursed shall be the ground for thy sake” (Moses 4:23; italics added), that is, for his good or benefit. It would not be easy to master the earth; but that was his challenge and his blessing, as it is ours.

We are cocreators with God. He gave us the capacity to do the work he left undone, to harness the energy, mine the ore, transform the treasures of the earth for our good. But most important, the Lord knew that from the crucible of work emerges the hard core of character.

Work is a blessing from God for our benefit and "...from the crucible of work emerges the hard core of character."