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A Tribute Tatto Horse Equine Art Oil Painting by Contemporary Texas Artist Laurie Pace

A Tribute
3 x 4 inches  Tattoo on Arm


SOLD!  What a compliment!
Really was impressive to have an admirer of my work 
have a tattoo put on her arm of one of my horse paintings.

Contact me for commission work. Laurie
  © Laurie Justus Pace     Graphics One Design 2010


This was my favorite email this summer.  I loved it! 

Smiling and putting myself out there I have to share on this wonderful Sunday that I made a full week. A full week with out processed carbs (Even potatoes till right now) and no refined sugar.  One week.   I think it was the ahah moment a week ago Saturday when nothing was fitting and I was tired of the battle of yo-yo dieting.  

This is NOT a diet. This is a lifestyle change.  My sister-in-law did it last year and is down to a size 3 now. I have watched her progress with deep admiration of her self-control.  The first three days were the most difficult.  Terry is still eating some carbs and things he should not. I begged him to do it with me, but he is not there to commit yet. 

I did not smile when he was tempting me in the beginning with 'bites' of things.  But now I easily say no.  It was getting through those first three days... then holding on as I am trying to make 10 days with out carbs other than those in veggies (not potatoes) and fruit.   After ten days I will add back in some carbs each day.  I am adding milled flax seed to things. The best find was raw coconut.  Terry shells it out and breaks it into pieces. It is like eating a candy bar.  Then making salad dressing with Coconut Oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper... yummm.


Breakfast is ALWAYS two eggs scrambled.   Eggs wart off more hunger for four hours than anything else.  We eat free range from a neighbor's farm and they are very high in the count for Omegas etc. This morning I will take 1/3 of a red potato ( not much as this is my first to add back) and dice it up with onions, yellow and red bell pepper, and a carrot and I will saute it in Olive oil until tender. I will put in four farm eggs and soft scramble them adding a bit of cheese on the top when they are done.  On the plate will be fresh honeydew melon, raisins, peach and nectarines all in bite size pieces.  For more color I will put two cherry tomatoes and one bing cherry on the plate.  That is our breakfast each morning with a slight deviation on the egg combos and the fruit combos.

Snack during the day is always fun.  I use frozen fruit and usually change out flavor daily.   Yesterday's was peach. Frozen peaches, slightly thawed in the microwave, a whole banana and the fabulous hand blender Charlene gave me for Christmas.  I blend the fruit, then add the PLAIN yogurt, our fish oil (which has  a lemon flavor) and our Vit D and blend it into the fruit.  It is a smoothie of the healthiest kind. 

Lunch is Dinner.  We usually eat about 1 in the afternoon, sometimes two, and we have a lean meat, (chicken, salmon, tuna etc and sometimes stack), steamed veggies...LOTS of them.
 If there is less veggies we have a small salad.

Supper is more like snack salad, but it is huge.  Lettuce shredded by hand, and you get to put in ANYTHING you want.   Terry hits tomatoes, olives black and green, avocado, diced red onion, beets and salad dressing. I go way out there with more fresh fruit in it, plus the tomatoes, olives, onions, raisins, avocados and what ever else I can find to mix in the flavor.  I just squeeze lemon juice on mine. 

You are never hungry eating like this and you are not eating anything you do not like.  You do not measure out anything, but you eat the proper food choices for healthy living.  Not a diet, but a life change.  My weight loss was just at 6 pounds so far.  I was certain when I started that I was battling a yeast issue in my body with all the water weight gain and bloating...so I was determined to stop it and make those changes permanent. I was smiling on the scale this morning. I have a long way to go to ensure this is a permanent life change, but I have take the step and completed the first week.

The first tempting test was ZUZU's on Friday with mom as I did not "eat chips". I used one to help scoop up left over salad as I finished up.  I did eat that one chip and it seemed foreign in my mouth and did not taste good.   

I feel this is part of what God has for us out there, the best choices of how to care for our bodies. We choose to gorge (and yes I did too) and overeat and turn to food for comfort and stress... like some folks turn to drinking or drugs. ( I am about 15 lbs higher than I want to be.)   Letting go of what I thought was good ( my old diet which truly was pretty healthy) for the better... a drastic change in food choices ALL the time.

It is a mindset.  He walks it with me and will help me stayed center so I do not drift. It does not mean I can never have apple pie, it only means when I do have it I will appreciate it all the more.
 
Laurie  

“Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”- John 6:29

Comments

Angie in AZ said…
Laurie,
For the same reasons you did, I made this choice almost 2 years ago! I also quit drinking coffee at the time, because I drank a pot a day and felt awful. I do, occasionally (once, sometimes twice a week) have a Chai tea latte from Starbucks but I don't drink any other caffeinated beverage. No sugar since Oct. '08. I also began by cutting out all carbs and slowly added them back in. I need to back off again just because I do... but, I added in walking as well. I lost over 25 lbs. and am now deviate between size 6-8. The deviation happens in summer because I'm now a single mom and can't leave my kids home alone to go walk.. and I live in Phoenix and it's too hot to be out doing it. Now they are back in school and I'm trying to get my routine back. Can't wait for weather to cool off for hikes on the mountain.

Hey, I discovered a coconut ice cream and it has very few ingredients, made with coconut milk and agave syrup as the sweetener. It's called "Purely Decadent". I have found it here at Fresh and Easy and Frys grocery stores. It comes in vanilla, chocolate, and coconut, which is my favorite. I also discovered they have all the gourmet fancy flavors too but some sugars are added to those... cane and beet sugars, I think they were. So I stick to basics.
Good luck! You will feel great with your new change.

Also, try adding grilled chicken with a bit of BBQ sauce on it to your salad and you won't need dressing! The sauce is enough!

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