D&D Update - March 6, 2021
Hey Family,
Love seeing your letters and hearing what is happening with your families. Jen! I'm so impressed that you've lost 35 lbs with Intermittent Fasting! I've never lost that much. Several years ago I was able to lose about 28 lbs and get to my goal weight. Then, I gained a bunch back but was able to lose it again the next year (about 20 lbs) but I've been stuck for many years around my current weight and I really need to lose again. I've tried IMF a few times, but haven't seen the kind of results that others have (although I feel much better). From my research, there are two types of IMF:
1. Eat 8 hours "on" and 16 hours "off." So eat only between the hours of 10:30 AM - 6:30 PM (as an example). Danielle has pretty much done this for years - although she is more like 12-7.
2. Eat every other day. Danielle's parents are both doing this right now and have had great results and success with this diet. I have not tried this - but I feel like it would work for me if I were disciplined enough to just do it!
Jen, which IMF are you doing? I want some more details. :) I'm impressed and I want to follow your example!
We took a quick trip to Arizona this week and stayed at The Great Wolf Lodge (which is sort of a family-centered all-in-one vacation spot with a huge indoor water park, mini-golf, bowling, restaurants, shops, etc.). There are several across the country, and we stayed at the one in Scottsdale. I think Shane's family has done it as well. It was really fun and the girls loved the place. :) The rooms are "themed" which is fun for kids and the whole place is really well-organized and great for families. They were pretty good with masks - requiring them everywhere but the water park.
Ani is fearless with rides and slides and did all of the big slides dozens of times. She is entering "teen" age which is new for us. She is heading to Soldier Hollow with friends tonight to go tubing for a friend's birthday. She loves friends, and hanging out with Mom and Dad after the littler ones go to bed. She is loving to watch shows with us at night and loved the Mandalorian and now Wandavision.
In Arizona we also hit the Scottsdale Aquarium and boardwalk, the Phoenix Zoo, and the Old-Town Scottsdale main street which was really fun. The girls were able to ride a camel at the zoo and that was fun too. We rented a minivan to try out captain's chairs for our next car purchase and it was REALLY nice to have all that space and their own little spots. We have resisted minivans (and will probably stick to SUV's) but I can definitely see the appeal.
The weather was perfect. Layla was really brave and did a lot of the big slides (her first time on "big rides). Noe had fun hanging out with Mommy in the wave pools and the kid areas. Funny how different their personalities are when it comes to adventure.
The flight to AZ was rough with both little ones throwing up (bad turbulence). Lots of kids around us also threw up, so we think it was just really bad air. We said lots of prayers and took dramamine on the way home and it went very smooth.
We're glad to be home, and grateful for Janika and Brandon for house-sitting and dog-sitting while we were gone. We love having a dog - but the hardest part (for us) of dog-ownership is not being able to easily travel. Roxy is 12 years old and is very "special needs" now and requires a lot, so we were so grateful for Branika for helping us out! We told them when we got back that if they weren't dog people before, they certainly won't be after dealing with Roxy's seizures and snoring. They did not disagree. ;)
Glad the weather is warming up! Our kids just want to be outside all the time, and so do we. :) In other news, Alicia took photos of our home recently (real-estate photography) and they are so beautiful! She really has a great talent and an eye for photography. We've been posting on a little home decor Instagram for a year or so, but decided also to create a website and a blog to record our projects. I figure that we are going to do them anyway, so we might as well keep a record of the progress, and the before and afters. My hope is just to develop a little "portfolio" of our work, and then someday when we have more time and skills, to potentially flip a home or two. :) On that note, if you know us, we love to show off before and after photos of our projects. We were able to complete the project pictured above for less than $100, and in about an hour! We are happy with the results.
We are SO glad that Mom and Dad are vaccinated! We are so relieved. Danielle's parents are as well, and it is so nice to open up a little more. Danielle has had Covid so she has antibodies and it has been nice to be able to do a little more. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but with the governor's recent announcement re: vaccines, I'm scheduled to get my shot Monday. The new guidelines accept people over 50 and those with a BMI over 30. I wish that didn't apply to me, but I'm barely in that category, and I'm taking advantage of it to get a vaccine.
Derek, Danielle, Ani, Layla, Noe and Poor Roxy
Replies ...
Scott: I have been trying the intermittent fasting – 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off for years. Hasn’t helped.
Jen: I don't think I could ever do the alternate day fasting - I figured I do the 16:8 like I did in 2019 with some success. I ended up doing 18:6 quite often though, and then even some 20:4. The small eating window helps keep the quantity of calories in check (quality is still an issue ... like always). Colton's game days kept me busy, I'd leave the house at 3:00, so I'd just stop eating at 3:00. Then in the mornings, I'd just go as long as I could. Zumba mornings keep me busy until 10:30 or so. So I don't know if it's the IMF, or the reduced intake, or the upped exercise - I'm sure a combo of the three. Gray is doing Keto again - I can't live without my carbs! For a while I was totally spoiled with my home gym pretty much to myself. Now Coop is in on the treadmill a couple times a day. With basketball over, Colton has more time and has been in the gym, and Keaton tries to get a workout in too. Grayson has been doing into the office and doing a workout there (they have a little gym, and shower ... and a complete kitchen with a smoker and sous vide, so he does some smokes at work. All work places don't have that? ) Keaton did a dog-sit/house sit for Gray's brother's dog (young, but huge! One of those "doodle" types). Keaton said Milo was a lot of work! Cal and Kate have done some dog-sitting a few times too. Do you have your blog up yet? What platform will you use?
Derek: Alternate day fasting would be so hard! I do think it would be effective for weight loss for me though - since I'm not able to stick to calorie restrictions lately! That's cool that Grayson has all that stuff at work! My work is from home for the time being so I'm hoping that continues (to some degree!) : We have our little blog stood-up, but haven't done much with it just yet. It's at functional-decor.com and we're currently just using GoDaddy to manage and host it. :) I need to get on there and log more of our projects so there is more content there!
Chris: Yes, great pics! Glad you had a good time. On the intermittent fasting, Kim has been doing it also - eating from noon to 6 each day (about). She has lost weight. Think of it more as giving the body a chance to digest and "clean up" the system. You may or may not eat fewer calories overall, but it's healthy to give the system a break from constant food intake. I kind of do something similar, but not to lose weight..! Digestion is painful for me, and a big meal leads to lots of fatigue. So I basically eat just one meal a day, which works for ME in the evening. during the day I have herbal tea with cinnamon, turmeric, "gut health" supplements, and a few squares of really dark chocolate. That gives me a few calories and I'm not hungry but I'm not full either. My energy does so much better and I have less pain! We are heading out this morning to our Airbnb in Escalante. We will visit Corin and Kylie in their new home in Redmond, then hike the Upper Calf Creek falls trail below Boulder, on our way there.
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