My Experiment with Bright Line Eating

In April I watched some videos from Susan Pierce Thompson, the founder of Brite Line Eating. She had many compelling things to say about the typical American diet. I was very intrigued. Even though I don't really have any health or weight challenges, I knew that I wasn't eating a very healthy diet. I then searched for what the diet consisted of and found mybrightlife.net. It seemed like something I could do, but wasn't sure I wanted to commit to do it for the rest of my life. Sara, the author of the website, suggested trying it for a week. That didn't seem like long enough to me, so I decided to try it for the month of May.

The biggest thing about this diet is that you don't eat flour of any kind, or any sugar or sweeteners of any kind. Ever. You also have to weigh your food and only eat three times a day. The amounts of food seemed pretty good, so I thought I was set.

The first day I did it, I had a huge battle going on in my head. It was really hard. Since I had decided to try it myself, I had no one to really tell me to keep on it. It felt like there were two people in my head. One telling me it was way too restrictive and why do you even need to do it, you look and feel fine, you don't have to do it, no one is going to care if you stop, and on and on and on. The other voice was telling me that I always make big commitments and then don't follow through on them, and wouldn't it be great to follow through on one for once, it's just the first day, you'll get used to it, you might feel so much better if you do it, etc. That first night, I decided to not do it, and ate a bowl of cereal.

   

The size of breakfast on the Bright Line Eating plan.

 The next morning, I felt much better than I had the night before. I realized that I just waited too long to eat and had worked a long hard day. I decided to start over. I ate a nice big breakfast that was according to the plan. Then I went to the store and bought lots of vegetables and fruits. I decided that I better start bringing a dinner as well as a lunch to work, because I never know what time I get done. That alone helped a ton.

As the month went on, it did get easier. Surprisingly, not eating sugar wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. But it was very hard to not snack throughout the day, especially at night when I was vegetating in front of the t.v.  It was also hard if I waited too long to eat dinner, or if I went out to a restaurant.

Now the month is over. My experiment worked. I have lost 15 pounds that had crept up on me. I don't have a ton of energy that the diet promised, but I know it's better for me than how I was eating. I did cheat about 3 times, but always went back to it the next day. I feel pretty good about myself. I finally followed through!

But, the battle in my head is starting again. I thought that maybe after this long I wouldn't want to eat sugary treats, but the devil voice is telling me, "Okay. This is over. Now can we just eat a Snickers bar and drink a giant Pepsi?" The angel voice says, "What would be the point of this if you just went back to your old ways?" So what I have decided to do is keep eating this way, with a few modifications. Eat a bit more of everything. And allow myself some treats on special occasions. I hope this will work. I'm sure I will slip sometimes, but I will also cut myself some slack.

Wish me luck!

Memorial for Charlotte Nelson

Yesterday in church Beaver Ward had a shock. First of all, Charlotte wasn't at the organ. I only remember that happening once in my 20+ years of being in this ward. Then as the announcements were given, we were told that she had passed away. No one knew of any reason. I was so shocked and saddened. We had been pretty good friends a while back, but hadn't been as good as keeping in touch lately. Her husband had passed away just a few months ago. She had never had any children, so I wanted to write about her so she wouldn't be forgotten.

When our family first moved into the ward, I noticed that Charlotte played the piano for primary and the organ for sacrament meeting. I thought that I would get one of those callings pretty soon. Then I found out that she wanted to play for both. I was surprised, because not that many people would want to do it. I remember when I was a primary teacher, she and the kids would have races to sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. She could always play it faster than the kids could sing it. She must have played it hundreds of time. There were a few times where we would have hymn testimony meetings in Sacrament. Whoever wanted to would say what their favorite hymn was and why, and then we would sing it. Charlotte could always play it, no matter what it was. I know that I would have been really nervous and messed up, but she played them perfectly.  I have never seen someone as faithful in their calling as she was. As I said, she never missed church. No matter what.

Soon after we moved in, we decided to get some lambs. She was always someone that we went to with questions and for help. She helped us to dock their tails, she told us how and when to give them shots and whenever there was something wrong, she came to help us out. I remember one time, our sheep had a huge abscess on her jaw. She told us to poke it with a knife and drain the puss. I was pretty squeamish, so Charlotte did it for me. It was disgusting. Yuck! The smell was horrible. I was so grateful to her for that! She was always so willing to help out in any way she could.

When they brought in wild turkeys, Charlotte loved them. I asked her one year on Thanksgiving what she did, and she said one of the things she did was feed the turkeys. I laughed and told her that she was probably the only person who fed turkeys instead of eating them on Thanksgiving. She was a really great photographer and the turkeys were one of her favorite subjects. In fact, the turkey association used her photo. Something she was very proud of.

Photo by Charlotte Nelson

Our family asked her to take some family photo's for us. She did such a great job. I just loved all of them. She was very creative. She also was very good at landscape and nature photography. I always thought that she should make a calendar of her pretty photos.

In front of Charlotte's barn.

Hancock Family by Charlotte Nelson

Photo by Charlotte Nelson

Another thing that Charlotte did was farming. I always thought it was so cool to see her in her tractor. She worked very hard on the farm. 

She was very knowledgeable about nature, both plants and animals. If you wanted to know what something was, she could tell you.

When her aunt got ill, she spent most of her time taking care of her. Then she did the same for her husband, David, when he got Alzheimer disease.  

The world lost an amazing woman yesterday. As it seems whenever someone passes, I have regrets about not talking to them more often. We never know when we are going to lose someone. It seemed that Charlotte would always be there, playing in Primary and Sacrament meeting. She will be sorely missed.

Perfection

Last month in testimony meeting, our friend Beau Lewis told a story of his dad. His family makes cabinets and the church had asked him to make some cupboards for the Brigham City Temple. They needed some additional ones to match some that were already installed. He completed the cabinet and got one of the doors from the installed ones to match the finish. He could not get the finish to match. He tried different shades. He looked at it in different light. He prayed and worked and worked, trying to make it perfect. Someone from the temple came and was going to fix it himself. Finally, he decided to just take it to the temple and install it, and have them make it right. When he put it in the temple, it matched perfectly. After all he could do, it was perfect in the temple.

This made me think about how our lives are. We work our hardest. Pray most earnestly. Look at things in a different light. Try everything we can. It seems that no matter what we try, we can't be perfect. After all we can do, we must turn it over to the Lord. Through Christ's atonement, all our offerings will be made perfect. If we have the faith, and believe that all things are possible, all our sins and wrongdoings are made perfect in Christ.

This story helped me to see that I don't have to do all the work myself. I can rely on Christ's saving grace. This thought gave me great hope. I know that all my striving will be rewarded in the end as long as I keep up my end of the promises I have made. My work + Christ's Grace = Perfection. I must remember this and not get discouraged and just turn it over to the Lord.

How The Book of Mormon Relates to Cleaning

Can you really relate house cleaning to the Book of Mormon? I did. I was reading in the book of Alma where they are having all the wars. Many times it is mentioned how Moroni wanted to maintain the cities they had because it was very hard to regain what had become lost. 

During the time I was reading this, I was doing some much needed deep cleaning of my house. It was bad, I tell ya! For instance, it took me 2 hours to clean my dining room. As I was doing the cleaning, I realized that this would never have taken so long if I would have maintained it, instead of trying to reclaim it from the dust and dirt that was everywhere. If I would have done some quick dusting and wiping daily or even weekly, I never would have had to work so hard to get it where I wanted it to be.

This point was emphasized even more for me when I signed up to help clean the Brigham City Temple. We dusted, vacuumed and wiped everywhere. I asked how often that got done, and was told they do it every night! Well, no wonder that I couldn't see any dust on my duster! Although at the end there was a slight change from the pure white to a barely noticeable graying. So I suppose that even though something looks perfectly clean, there could be dirt there. I realized that the only way to keep the temple in such pristine condition was constant vigilance.

After I realized that my home, like the temple, needed constant care and attention, I thought about a testimony. That too needs constant attention. We can slowly build up dirt and grime. Unless we are consistently "cleaning", we might not notice the change. Something someone says or does might leave a spot. Something we watch could make us "dusty". By doing all the things that we are told over and over to be doing, we are "cleaning" our testimony. Going to church helps us to see some of the ways we can improve. Reading the scriptures helps us to hear God's advice to us. Taking the sacrament renews us and cleanses us, making us ready for a new week. Praying helps us to feel the love that God has for us. If we aren't consistently doing these things, we can slowly weaken. We might not even notice. Then one day, when we make a choice, we might see that choice is very different from one we might have made when we were doing those things.

 I'm going to maintain my house (it's already starting to revert!) and my testimony, so that when it matters, both are clean and beautiful. 

Distractions

This is a bit overdue, but I can't get it out of my mind, so I'm going to talk about it anyway. Near the beginning of December, I went to a concert. It was the Christmas performance of the Sterling Singers. My friend Lance is in this group. I have always loved hearing him sing. Not that I could hear him individually, but the group always brings tears to my eyes when I hear it.

Lance singing with the Sterling Singers (top, left)

I got to the theater early. I was sitting kind of high up and could easily see everyone that was coming and going. There was lots of activity. The choir was doing a warm up and running through some of their pieces. I didn't want to spoil the actual concert, so I wasn't paying much attention. I was scanning the crowd to see if any of Lance's family was there so that I could sit with them. I was by myself. As I was watching the people, I saw a man that I was pretty sure was Elder D. Todd Christofferson. He was in a suit, where most people were casually dressed. He shook lots of people's hands. After watching him for a while, I was sure it was him, which was later confirmed by my friend, Lance. I kind of wanted to shake his hand, but didn't want to bother him. As time went on, I didn't see Lance's family. People sat on either side of me, so there was no chance that anyone else would sit by me. I continued to watch Elder Christofferson, curious to know what an apostle does in his free time.

Really bad pic of Elder Christofferson I took with my phone.

When the concert started, there were still many people coming into the theater. I continued to watch them and also Elder Christofferson. I wasn't really listening to the beautiful music from the choir. Sometimes I would watch Lance, but wasn't really paying attention or feeling the spirit. As the traffic of concert goers subsided, I realized what I was doing. I was there for the sole purpose of listening to the choir's beautiful music. They always had helped me to feel the spirit. I really liked getting a spiritual boost at the beginning of the season.It always makes Christmas much more special. I decided to only pay attention to the concert. I really felt the spirit and was so glad to be there. I was able to find Lance's family after the concert. They were there, but with all my watching, I never saw them come in.

This experience made me realize that so many times, I get distracted by things that are not helping me to achieve my true purpose for being on this earth. I am here to come to Christ. To feel his spirit. There are so many things in this world that are moving in front of us, crying for our attention. Most of them aren't important. We have to look past them to see our true purpose. Even focusing on good people can be a distraction. While Elder Christofferson is an apostle of God, and is a special witness of Christ, if we focus only on the man and not the message, it isn't doing us as much good. If we put our focus on Christ, we can see the world as he does. We experience joy and can feel the spirit. Everything else is put in proper perspective.

I hope I can remember to always put Christ as the center of my life. To keep things in perspective and remember what my real purpose of being on this earth is. I know that is the true way to have peace and joy all year long.  

Helping Others

Well, I guess it's harder than I thought to write a post every week! So, I guess I better do it on a day other than Sunday.

What's been on my mind as of late is the movie "I Am" http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2907866112/tt1741225?ref_=tt_ov_i. It's a documentary about director Tom Shadyac. He had an accident and it really changed his outlook on life. The thing that really stood out to me is how we are all connected. I already knew this, because we are all Heavenly Father's children. Some of the footage he showed really pricked my heart though. Especially when a bunch of people were walking down the sidewalk and there is a man lying there and everyone just walks around him. No one stops to check on him or even give him a second thought. Made me think of the good Samaritan. I know that if Christ were here, He would stop and help him. Well, since I am trying to be like Him, shouldn't I act the same way? Am I helping those who truly need help and comfort? Since watching this movie, I have been trying to be more aware of those who really need help. When our family went to Wal-Mart the other day, we got in line behind a lady who had crutches and a boot on her foot. She was taking really long. She was chatting with the clerk, and not really in a hurry at all. We were getting impatient. While listening to their conversation, we heard her say that she walked there, and was going to walk home. We couldn't believe it! Just walking through the parking lot at Wal-Mart would take a long time, much less getting to her home! When it was our turn to check out, we asked the clerk if she really was going to walk home, and he said yes. My husband and I looked at each other, and then he went to ask her if she wanted a ride home. No big deal to us, but I'm sure it was a big deal to her. It made us feel good, and hopefully showed our kids that it's important to look for opportunities to help others.

Another movie that I really like is "42"  What really stood out to me in this movie is the scene when a father and son come to the game. The boy is really excited to see his favorite ball player, Pee Wee Reese. When Jackie comes out, his dad starts yelling, and saying that he isn't wanted here. The boy looks confused and then starts yelling too. Makes me sad. Showed me how much kids pick up from their parents actions. I always hope that my kids don't do the wrong things I do, just the right ones. I realize that I need to be doing more good in the world than just living day to day without much thought for anyone but myself.

I would like to share a quote from the book  "the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families". "To do carefully and constantly and kindly many little things is not a little thing." I hope that we can all look for little kindnesses we can do, so that we can lift others.

In another area of my life, I decided to actually start making some of the things that I was pinning on Pinterest. I have been knitting a tie for my missionary son, and have made several yummy dinners. I sure do love pinterest!

Anyway, that's all for now!

Sally

Hi! I just started this blog as a way to share my thoughts and insights. 

Just as a way to introduce myself, I thought I would tell you a little bit about myself.

• I live in a very small community in Northern Utah
• I'm a wife and mom to six wonderful kids
• I'm going to be a GRANDMA!! for the first time in December! (I'm a little excited for that!)
• I'm a manager at a fast food restaurant
• I'm addicted to pinterest and love to make and do things I find on there
• I love to play and listen to music
• I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng

I'm new to all of this. Hopefully I'll be able to figure all of this out so it will be more interesting. I hope to post something new every week. So, I hope you like what you find here!