Word of Wisdom

I received a patriarchal blessing when I was 16 years old. In that blessing I was told to follow the Word of Wisdom. I quickly thought of all the things to avoid: alcohol, tobacco, drugs, etc. I wasn't really tempted by those things so I was confused why it was in there. I thought maybe later in life I'd be tempted. So, I just put it out of my mind. Since moving to LA I've been offered wine and cocktails on numerous occasions, but never have I really considered it. And tobacco just isn't going to happen.

While driving to get gas the other day I had a thought, totally out of the blue this thought came to me. It was that my blessing wasn't talking about the things I shouldn't do, but the things I should do. I should eat fruits and vegetables with meat sparingly. Wheat is the staff of life and good for me to eat. Of course like anything, food must be eaten in moderation and I can't just eat carrots all day every day to be healthy. Everything together is a better diet. Anyway, I just realized that how I've changed my diet is really what it means, not that I need to avoid alcohol and drugs. I still will, but there is a lot more to it.

I don't know why I had that thought while driving, but I'm grateful for the realization. It only took 11 years for me to figure it out. Pretty amazing!

Healthy Changes

So, for anyone that follows along with my posts on FB you know that I've been in the process of making some healthy changes in my life the last few months. Although I'm seeing results it's not at all at the point I want the results to be at.  I still have plenty of work to do and getting more sleep so I feel like exercising is one of them. However, there have been so pretty exciting changes that I've personally noticed but maybe I should tell you how this journey has progressed first.

Near the end of February I knew I needed to make some changes and got just the right push I needed to make an effort. (I'll probably offer more details on that push later, just not yet.) Anyway, I wanted to find out my allergies and food sensitivities since that can prevent weight loss. I had known several people that had great success giving up gluten. So, I tried that first, but I was actually reacting more. The good thing though was that it made us start eating a lot more naturally and less processed. But as time went on I started noticing I had problems with all of the soy often found in gluten free food. So, at that point I went back to eating gluten and explored my soy allergy more. Overall I just do better when I reduce or eliminate soy from my diet. Then, I was making something with corn starch and it made my lips go numb like soy did. And I'd noticed a few other things with processed corn that bothered me. So, now I've eliminated processed corn (HFCS, corn starch, etc.) and soy products as much as I am aware of. And recently after reading an article about the connection between carbs and obesity I've reduced my daily intake of carbs and especially the times of day I eat them. No simple carbs at night, especially after dinner, and not even with dinner most nights. That has really helped.

 All of this time Eric and I have been doing P90X. Well, he does it 100% and works super hard. I do it at about 70% because I hate feeling sweaty. But I'm doing it and it's not as hard as it looks. Anyone can really do it. ANYONE!!! Just modify what you need to. Anyway, so it's been consistent exercise and eating better. Just yesterday we celebrated 3 months since we last ate at McDonald's. Go us! On top of that I've started taking some digestive enzymes, especially when I eat a lot of beans, which I do now. I also have a probiotic drink I like. All of these things help me get healthier and I like it. I still indulge from time to time, but it's a lot less frequent now.

So, to the results. I haven't lost nearly as much weight as I would have liked. Actually, I feel like I've hardly lost any weight since I started making these changes, but now it's getting better. These things take time. P90X has really helped town up and firm my muscles. Even with all of the fat I still have lots of me films firmer and less flabby. That's huge. It feels incredible. Another really unexpected change has been my finger nails. I've always had weak, brittle nails that ripped off before they ever got very long. Now they are long and strong all on their own. I attribute this to the healthy things I'm putting in my body. No more of this garbage in - garbage out that I was getting before. My bosoms feel larger, which was highly unexpected while trying to lose weight. I have no idea what to attribute that to, but I don't care. As long as I keep it up then it should stay that way. My cycles are now more "normal" and much less painful to get through. They are pretty easy-peasy these days. And the best thing of all is that at the beach on Saturday I actually felt pretty confident in a bathing suit. I still have tons of work to do, but I've already made some progress. I still have huge fat, white thighs, but I feel alright about the rest. I know this body isn't going to be like this forever if I keep up the good work, but it feels good to be confident in my own skin again.

So, that's basically how things have gone for the last three months. I haven't really had to buy new clothes yet (sadly) but the day will come soon enough. I couldn't have done this without Eric or my friend Claire to work out with. Anyone can do this, but it has to be when you're ready for it. Make little changes everyday and you'll see how these changes will impact your health. Good luck!

(Not so) Extreme Couponing (Yet)

So, with both of us finishing up at our 2nd jobs we're really trying to hunker down with our finances so we can make a big dent in our debt this year, and for several years after that. When your income doesn't change the only thing you can do different is to change your expenses. We've seen the TLC show a couple of times and thought it was way too extreme and intense, but we like the idea. Even if we can't save 90% when we go to the store it's still nice to save 15%. Every Sunday newspaper has free money in it, via coupons for things we buy all the time anyway. We've only been doing it for like a month, but I've learned so much already. Every trip we make to the grocery store we learn something new. Grocery shopping has always been enjoyable to me, but now I've turned it into a sport that I try to win.

Where

• So, coupons don't come out of nowhere. The first and most obvious place is your Sunday newspaper. The great thing is that most newspapers will let you just order the Sunday newspaper for about a dollar a week. Then, you can have all of the mainstream coupons. If you'd rather not pay for the coupons or just want more check out the website, www.grocerysmarts.com. This has become my go-to website for all things coupon and savvy shopping related. They list the major stores in every state so you can choose the places you shop to see the ads with the recent coupons that will add value to your shopping experience. It will provide you with links to various coupon websites so you can find them and print the ones you'd like. For really great deals or coupons for things you use the most print as many as it will let you. Grab coupons wherever you can so that you can use them when you find a really great deal!
  

Success

• Our first major success happened just the other night. We spent only 31-cents on two Speed Stick deodorants and a Nivea body wash. Here is how we did it: The Speedsticks were each $1.99 on sale. We had a Buy One, Get One Free (BOGO) coupon. The coupon then credited the full, non-sale price for the free one. So, that made the one we paid for only $0.49. Then the Nivea was a clearance bottle that was only $3.19. We had a $1.50 coupon for that. Finally, the prior week we had scanned our CVS Extracare card to receive in store coupons and we got one that was $2 off if you buy two deodorants. So, we tried that one last and it worked. That leaves a balance of $0.18 plus tax. That's how we did it basically. Impressed? I sure hope so. You can do it too!
  

Organization

• Okay, so now that you're totally pumped up about couponing and the real money savings, there is a bit of work involved. You can't assume that the coupons in the Sunday paper are going to be the most valuable to you for that week. So, you need to organize them for later use. There might be a great coupon for beans, but if they're at full price it might be best to wait until the beans are on sale and you can add the coupon in for savings. We do this by clipping all of the coupons we want and then putting them into clear slots, basically sheets for baseball cards this way we can flip through and see them. I also maintain a spreadsheet of all of our coupons so that we always know what we have coupons for. It's pretty great, but you may not have time or energy for that. A simpler way is to just file your little coupon books based on the day of the newspaper and then when you go to the website you can always just pull out the coupons from that day and clip what you need to go with your printed coupons.
  

Biggest Mistakes

• When we've gone shopping without a list all hell breaks lose. We look around and buy what we want or what sounds good, even if we're not hungry. Then we forget to buy the stuff that we might actually need. It's important to have a menu plan or you'll just end up making it up or spending more money as you go along the way the following week. That keeps happening to us. Fortunately I just downloaded the grocery smarts app on my iPhone, so if it's not on that list we're not getting it anymore.
  
• Sometimes we buy things that are yummy or fun just because we have a coupon. That's not what makes it a good deal. We either really have to need it or it has to be on sale too for us to buy it from now on.
  
• I'm sure we've made plenty of other couponing mistakes, but we're still learning as we go. It's all part of the process.
  

Tips

• Always shop with a list. This way you know what coupons you need and don't go over your budget because you get coupon-adrenaline.
• Don't be ashamed of using coupons, people use them all of the time. Sometimes it's just one, sometimes people have 15. You have to do what is best for you and don't be ashamed. You have just as much right to shop and pay like everyone else does.
  
• Ease in gently and learn as you go. Don' t beat yourself up over not being perfect. I'm certainly not there yet. But make goals and work towards them. You can do this if you want to.
  
• Learn your stores' coupon policies. Wherever you can get coupons doubled or find extra savings is a good thing. So check around and look for it on the internet. It's all there somewhere.
• Read your coupons. Just because it shows a picture of one thing doesn't mean that is all you can get. Sometimes it will let you use the coupon for other items of the same brand that you're more likely to use. Also, make sure you know the quantities you have to buy to get the discount. 50 cents off a cake mix might be a good deal, but 50 cents off three cake mixes might not be a very good savings on it's own. So watch out for those when you grab your coupons for the day.

Now that you know my secret, are you going to join me in my coupon crusade?

Pissing Marines

So, there are some sad Marines in the news these days. There is a viral video on Youtube of them urinating on dead Afghans believed to be members of the Taliban. I find this disgusting because of the lack it shows for human life. I find the idea of getting the revenge on anyone, even an enemy to be deplorable. The position these Marines are in is also disgusting, but maybe not for the reasons you might think.

As it turns out I'm not mad at these Marines for what they did. They are trained to view the enemy, whoever that is, as less than human. These are simply targets for them. Military personnel are praised for their aim and accuracy. They are encouraged to use lethal force rather than risk their own lives and country. Before joining the military it's very possible these guys would have never done this or even thought they were capable of it. But these are broken and redesigned men. Trained in the tactics of war.

During boot camp we break them down. Those drill sergeants don't scream at them to encourage them in a last push-up, but to break down who they are as a person, so that in time they can rebuild them into the military machines they need to be. We can't expect them to make the same rational choices as we would sitting at home watching this on our computers or on the news. We wouldn't expect someone who has been in an abusive marriage to make the same decisions about family that someone in a healthy marriage would make. Same goes for a homeless person and CEO. Different situations in life change us.

And these guys haven't just been through training. They've been in an active war zone. They have likely seen people die by explosion, they have seen children used in acts of war, they have been separated from loved ones, all that is human about them is stripped away. They are used like machines.

What I'm saying is, these guys weren't in their "right"minds when this was done, most likely. They shouldn't have done it, but they did. This is the time to cut them a little slack. We can't expect everyone to be able to mentally hold it all together. They have to numb themselves to the emotional trauma they experience everyday on the battlefield. Let's just stop hating and be more compassionate to who they are and what they're going though.