This is a picture of Vegetable Beef Soup. I make some soup that looks about like this. Today would be a good day to make some :10/31/2012. You could put it in the crockpot or in a big pot on the stove; and have it ready when you get home this evening. Or if you're staying home just have it for a nice fall dinner. My mother made this when I was a child and I've been making it for a long time myself. It is really good, healthy and fairly low in calories. It helps in a weight-loss program. I am posting my recipe:                                       
                    
1 1/2 pounds of stew meat
3-4 bouillon cubes
1 can V-8 Juice
1 can of diced tomatoes
Water to make the pot about half full
6 medium large potatoes
6 large carrots
1 package frozen mixed vegetables or vegetable soup mix.
1 small onion (optional)

Place the stew meat in a large pot. Add enough water to cover a little above the meat. Add the bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and boil gently for about 2 hours.  Add the V-8 Juice and tomatoes. Can add more water if needed. Continue cooking about 30 minutes. Add the carrots, potatoes and frozen vegetables. Cook another 30 minutes or until everything is done and tender. Serve with crackers. If you prefer to fix in a crockpot; put all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 5-6 hours.


                                                                                

I'm still trucking with this diet. The good thing about Grace is you don't have to quit if it gets hard; just regroup and keep moving forward! This looks good! I think it's a Taco Casserole.

Oven Fried Chicken I found on Pinterest. Looks good,

Well here it is Monday again. I weighed again today and seem to be holding pretty steady. I think I weighed about a pound more than last week, but that might have to do with what I was wearing or what I had eaten recently. I'm not worried about it though, I feel like I'm still on track. I guess we'll see next week. I am getting more and more interested in the nutritional side of this. I believe a good nutritious diet along with supplements goes a long way in living a healthy life. And don't overlook sleep and exercise either.

Playing Flag Football on 10/6/2012

This is our littlest fan. He comes to almost all the games. Our precious grandbaby Micah!

Our name is Photography By Clemons. We take a lot of sports pictures, but also other types too.

I weighed again this morning and have lost another couple of pounds. That makes about 15 pounds so far. If you have a certain amount of self-discipline this Grace Diet really works.You don't have to stress on this diet like other diets. You just have to eat the right foods, but if you mess up; don't quit just keep moving forward. Do the best you can. You don't have to count calories either. Just eat the foods, on the diet, in the right amount, but once in a while treat yourself. Exercise is important too; along with nutrition. It's probably a good idea to take a good multi-vitamin daily. Also if you have any special needs like iron, calcium, vitamin D, or anything else along these lines, you probably need to address those too. Remember eat lots of fruit and vegetables, lean protein, low-fat, low-salt, low-carb, and no junk food. Nutrition tip for the day: For a snack eat a piece of fruit instead of sweets; nutritious crackers instead of chips, or a spoon of peanut butter or container of yogurt instead of ice cream.

Here is a picture of what I had for dinner last night. Chicken, carrots, potatoes and green beans cooked in cream of mushroom soup. It was delicious and healthy!

Just a little information about vegetables. There are of course a lot more vegetables and reasons to eat them. They are all loaded with vitamins; some more than others. I happen to love vegetables. It's a good thing too. They are after all a very big part of my diet. They're also low in calories; which means you can eat more of them than any other food. Kind of a win; win situation. I once went on a all vegetable diet, for a few days, and lost about 2 pounds a day. I find that a little more difficult to do now, since I am supposed to eat a certain amount of lean protein. I'm thinking about blogging my whole day of food starting soon. That way as I lose weight you can see what I'm eating and join in if you want to. Until I get that together my diet is 1200 calories, and lean protein, vegetables, fruit,nutritious breads, no sugar, no salt, and low fat. It's not real flavorful so I have to be creative in my cooking. And eat a lot of the fruit and vegetables raw. Ok, I'm going to try to find something I can eat now. I will probably post again later.

A picture I found on Pinterest. It helps to motivate you to eat better. I've been reading this morning on what to take for kidney disease. In particular Nephrotic Syndrome which is what I've been dealing with. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but part of the reason for this blog is to help me overcome this. I just found out the other day that it is possible. I'm already on the right diet, but there are supplements that help too. Acidophilus, Coenzyme A, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin C. Also helpful are Calcium and Magnesium, L-Arginine and L-methionine, Lecithin granules or capsules, Multienzyme complex plus hydrochloric acid, Multimineral complex, Potassium (unless it is already elevated), Vitamin A with mixed carotenoids, Vitamin B complex plus extra vitamin B2(riboflavin), Vitamin E emulsion or capsules, and Zinc plus copper. For amounts read the label and talk to your doctor before taking any of these. I'm not prescribing anything I'm just telling you what I read. You can check them out at a local Health Food Store or online. I got my information from a book : Prescription for Nutritional Healing. Along with these the main thing to me is the diet. I will share some of that with you too. Lean protein, lots of fruit and vegetables, complex carbohydrates and pretty much no salt. I will come up with a sample menu and post it later. For now I'm getting off here so I can see what I can accomplish today. See you later.

I haven't weighed yet today, but I feel like I'm still doing pretty good. I did weigh yesterday, sometime during the day, and seem to be staying where I was. I plan on exercising today . In the meantime I'm going to do some reading on nutrition so I can post more later.

I've now decided to do something I've done off and on for years, but never like I should. Study nutrition along with weight-loss and health. Nutrition I think plays a major role in our health. It can make you sick if it's poor, and can help heal you ,and keep you healthy if it's good. Along with losing weight I want to get healthier. So I believe the best way to do that is through eating the right food, in the right amount, taking supplements and exercise. Getting proper rest is also crucial. I plan on being consistent with this and blog accordingly. Over the years I've learned a lot about what nutrients help with certain conditions. I will try to share some of that here. For example I have a kidney condition and know some of what should help with that. I will study to learn more and put some of it on here. I don't have a degree yet, but have learned a lot through self-study and experience, trying to help myself. Hopefully I can help some of you with what I know and will learn along the way. Of course you probably need to check with your doctor ,before you try any of this. But all I know is from experience and I have talked to the doctor . I have to be careful what I take, so I don't damage my kidneys. A good multivitamin is a good place to start with supplements. Then talk to a doctor or dietician and go from there. Eating good is the most important thing you can do. That's a lot easier to share. Everybody eats; it's what we eat and how much that's important. So I will give you a picture of good food to look at and get started on your journey with.

We went to Sam's Club yesterday and bought some lean meat,fruit etc. All to help me on my diet. I'm going to start talking more about nutrition. The doctor told me the other day that I can get better. That kind of surprised me since I had been under the assumption that My condition would keep declining. Although I have been believing I can get better, through God and some cooperation on my part. But my condition has improved a little and I've only lost about 8 pounds so far. So I assume if I keep it up my health will continue to improve; hopefully! I'm pretty sure it won't hurt! Nutrition does play a major role in all of this. Lean protein, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients all play a role. I am going to do some research and post more later on this.The idea of the diet that I got from the dietician is to help me lose weight, but also to control my sugar and kidney disease. I plan on posting more on all of that too. Exercise is also important. So I think I will try to do some of that today too. That's it for now. I will probably update later.

I plan on going grocery shopping later on today. What I plan on getting is lean protein, vegetables, and fruit. And some fill in foods such as oatmeal, eggs, bread, and whatever else we need. Trying hard to eat right, but I have to get some appropriate food in the house to do it. Doing that and pleasing the grandkids when they're here is like walking a tightrope. They do like fruit though,so maybe the best idea is to get extra fruit along with the other foods. Sounds like a good idea. I think that's what I will do! LOL! Well I need to go get my coupons together. I will probably post my dinner later, and any new information I might have.

I did see the doctor and have bronchitis. On the bright side I have lost about 11 pounds so far. I still have a ways  to go, but if I keep moving forward I will get there. I felt so bad yesterday I never did exercise, but hopefully I will make myself exercise today.

This is what I had for dinner last night. 10/2/2012 : Baked Cod, Stir-Fry Blend, and Corn-On-The-Cob. Yummy and healthy! Also I did see the doctor and have bronchitis.On the bright side though I have lost a total of about 11 pounds!

Well I didn't have the stir-fry for lunch, but had leftovers instead. Still pretty healthy though; it was leftover chili and Ramen Noodles. Not too bad. Probably should have left the noodles off, but the chili was home-made and healthy. I still need to exercise;  and will go do that when I get off of here. Maybe I will fix the stir-fry for dinner and if I do I will tell you. Ok that's all for now ; see you later!

I'm going to the doctor today because I have a cough, fever and congestion. Probably nothing serious, but hopefully I can also get an update on my weight-loss while I'm there.  The picture is what I plan on having something like for lunch. Stir-Fry. It sounds good and easy to fix. Plus very much on my diet and healthy; which is what I need right now. I haven't felt much like exercising lately either; even when I said I was going to. So some of the times I meant to go exercise I didn't. Sorry about that. I mean to be setting an example of what can be done when you apply yourself to something and incorporate grace with it. Hopefully I will get to feeling better soon and get more motivated. I do believe that I have lost about 15 pounds though since I started this blog. That's a lot of the reason for the blog in the first place: To help me lose weight and be accountable for it. And also to help other people lose weight through Grace and Moving Forward. Don't give up! If anybody can do it ; you can do it!