Intermittent Fasting is Working - It Works

Finally Seeing Results

Today marks my 4th week of intermittent fasting the right way and it's working. I knew how to make it work but like I said before, the morning coffee thing is what made it hard for me because I just can't do black coffee. I've tried. So I'm doing just a little bit of creamer, which is okay, just not as good as black coffee. Okay, 2 tbsp. instead of one, but it's still working. 

My eating window during the week is usually between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., sometimes ending at 8 p.m. at the latest. I do this Monday through Friday, then on the weekends I pretty much eat regular but still mindful of sugar intake and still careful with my coffee and eat normal portions of course. We've always had special pancakes on Saturday and eggs on Sunday, and so I've still been having our weekend breakfasts with bacon and sausage, etc. 

So although I wait till two to break my fast, I realize that even just a little sugar in my coffee could ruin all that hard work and mess up my ketosis. So how do I know it's working for me? Well like I've also said before, I have yet to jump on the scale cause the scale is not our friend. The scale is psychologically abusive, so I'm gonna wait till my clothes get a little bigger to jump on that baby. 

The way I can tell is that my clothes are getting bigger and fitting better. My face is slimming down, which my entire life I was the girl with the chubby cheeks. This is cute when you're a toddler or a baby, or even a little girl - everyone wants to squeeze your cheeks cause you're so cute. But not so cute when you're 42 years old...that's a whole other story. 

Even if I go just ten pounds over my normal weight it always goes straight to my face. I hate that, so I never let that happen. And now I'm beyond ten pounds over, lol. That's all I'll say, but I'm not obese if that makes sense. I was getting close to the obese marker though if I'm gonna be honest here and well beyond ten pounds over. 

And for me, my weight gain really was caused by sedentary job, age, and mainly the digestive issues I'm having, which are presently being treated, which I "think" are also finally starting to heal. I can sleep on my side again so that's a positive sign. The pain was so bad from my peptic ulcers that I couldn't sleep on my side, either side. 

Other signs that intermittent fasting is working for me is I can see that my tummy has gone down. I'll elaborate more once I reach my goal, but love handles are pretty much gone - yes, I had those. And I'm leaving the fat zone and have more or less entered into the "thick" zone now. I don't mind being a little thick, but I'll see where this journey takes me. My ultimate goal is to feel good in my own skin. 

Feel good in my clothes. Be happy when I look at myself in the mirror and most importantly - to be healthy. My blood pressure went up too with the weight gain and I was prescribed something for it back in December but never took it. The side effects scared me and my doctor really felt I could bring it down with diet just as I had, which was the conclusion we came to the year prior when we discovered I was heading towards high blood pressure. 

And I was trying that year, but nothing worked till I finally pin pointed my problem, my digestive issues. So regardless, though, I'd hate to say it's age cause I feel like that's a cop out but my doctor did say age many times to me. Ugh, metabolism changes with age. It just made me realize this can happen to anyone cause it was never an issue for me, ever, never ever. 

I'm glad it happened at this point in life though, because I'm more confident and it also happened at a time when I was more focused on my spirituality and my mental state, being happy no matter what. Sometimes even laughing at myself, well, many times I've done that. I felt like Adam Sandler in the movie Click when he woke up fat, lol. 

Ah, yes, that scene popped into my mind many times, although I wasn't nearly as big as he was in that scene, but just to watch the changes in my body were hilarious. There were a few moments I honestly wanted to cry out of frustration cause I've tried everything, but mostly laughed at myself. 

Please note that I've never been one to judge overweight people and I raised my kids to be the same. There are big women in my family. And there are many beautiful big women out there. I'm just not one of them. Heavy C isn't cute. Carmen looks better at a smaller weight and she's more happy at a smaller weight. I just don't have the face for it; goes right to my face. Plus, vanity aside, high blood pressure is deadly. 

I'll post another update on this in four more weeks and if I see more improvement I will jump on the scale and divulge actual details on pounds lost. But I know that you can lose weight too without so many pounds going down - body fat, inches, and all that good stuff comes into play as well. There's definitely good stuff going on and a lot of it, which is very exciting. I'm excited to get dressed again. Bottom line - intermittent fasting works but you've gotta do it right. 

With Love,

Carmen

Carmen's Funny Cat Pics: Blew My Cover Cat...

Carmen's Inspirational Creations: Live Your Best Life

Happy Friday! We made it through another week... Today's message is to live your best life. This is one of the things life is all about, living our best life no matter what. Learning to live in the moment. Be in the present. Embrace the good along with the bad and make the best out of whatever hand we were dealt. 

Using and transforming any negative into a positive whether it be using our own sometimes horrid experiences to help others not make similar mistakes or to help ease their pain cause we've been there and know how it feels, or so on and so forth, being the light in a world of darkness - you get the picture. 

Perhaps living by example that we can go through things and keep moving because this is how we transform. So no matter what - live your best life. Living in the moment and being in the present is one of the things life is all about...and trust me, I know, this can be harder said than done especially when we get caught up in stress, or work but press that pause button and make time to be present.

Carmen's Funny Ecards, You know you've finally got yourself a problem ecard

Okay. Not gonna lie, this happened to me this past year. Yup...never thought I'd see the day, lol. I stopped hearing the "no, you're not fat" when I'd call myself fat. That's when I knew...shiz got real, lol, and I had a lot of work to do...

Trigger Warning: Periodically Check Your Records and Here's Why...

 

So where do I begin without getting "too" personal? Well I guess I'll begin with what's on my mind and this is it for this week's topic. When I say "records" I'm talking medical records and psych records if you've ever been in therapy for one reason or another. 

And as I say this I can envision the therapist or doctor writing as I speak and then over ten years later getting the records and saying out loud to myself, where did they even get that sh** from cause I know I never said that?

That's not even true. That's not the way it happened. And at times even laughing cause the errors are so gross. Lawsuit type stuff... In the past seven years I've pulled records for myself when I went through a custody battle, a two year battle, those were therapy records from when I walked into a mental health clinic in my mid twenties to reach out for help for trauma issues and anxiety issues, mainly from my youth. 

No one referred me. No one sent me. I walked in ON MY OWN to finally get help for these issues. When I was younger I was forced into therapy by my mother, my brother and I both, to deal with her alcoholism that she was getting help for and because when we were little we used to fight which siblings do, then in my early teens depression issues from getting severely bullied in the 7th grade, severely bullied till I ran with a different crowd. 

It helped when I was little but then as a teen it didn't help because I wasn't ready for it to help. In my twenties I reached a point of readiness and after five years of therapy including trauma group therapy and one-on-one, and dialectical behavioral therapy I no longer suffer with depression issues since my late twenties - we're talking over ten years now, ten to 15. 

The records for myself that I was outraged about were from my twenties. Now mind you I don't have a history of alcohol or drug abuse. I was in therapy to only deal with TRAUMA. First of all, I had a therapist once tell me I was a "martyr" when talking to her about something I was going through. Yes, nice therapist. But at the time I saw that as tough love, but then later after I read her thoughts in her notes I was like, wtf, if I had only known I would have filed a complaint against her and asked for new therapist. 

That's what she was getting paid for and what I was there for was to listen to ME TALK about my TRAUMA issues and things that I continued to struggle with because of my youth years. I was trying to work through that to reach the point I'm at today - of inner peace. She was a disgusting vile human to call a patient a "martyr." Then more recently I've pulled records for a son who suffered a head injury at age 12. He's now in his twenties. 

He was also in therapy when he was younger for things that we experienced thanks to his father's family and his father. That's all I'll say on that. But going through these records I realized this...it's like the "telephone game" when talking to therapists, or doctors - in office and the hospital - medical and psych. I can remember being taught the telephone game at school as a child. 

Everyone sat in a circle and passed the same information on given to one child, then that child whispered the information to the next, and the next and so on till it reached the end of the circle then the last child said what was heard and it was NEVER the correct information given by the teacher to the first child. Well this is 100 times worse because we're talking about people's lives and what's written in black and white can affect someone's life medically and socially. 

Decisions can be made on someone's life based on inaccurate gross errors because clinicians and doctors and social workers don't LISTEN. My lesson after reading through some very disappointing and disheartening things is to periodically check my records in the future for health issues mainly for myself because I'm passed therapy. There will be no more of those types of records for me.

And to now also pass on this advice to anyone out there going through therapy or trying to get help with a medical issue that no one can figure out - pull your records periodically to make sure they're LISTENING to you and the information they're putting in your chart is accurate and truthful and CORRECT. And if it's not have it corrected ASAP and file complaint with whomever you need to file that complaint with. 

My son, it took over ten years to finally get a dx for neurological issues he experienced after his head injury and that would have been avoided if people LISTENED to us when he was younger and so much heartache and hardship in his life and our life as a family would have been avoided if we received the help we needed and deserved!!! And now we can't get those years back. 

We have to accept "it is what it is" and God's will be done no matter what and "everything happens for a reason" but my son didn't deserve to go through everything he went through when we were reaching out for help. The errors are horrific, some things completely out of left field made up, some important facts left out. It makes me both angry and devastatingly sad. 

I cried many tears in the recent days and it takes a lot to make me cry. I'm not a crier but this was sad stuff. Now I'm making a list of all the places I plan on filing complaints with and attempting to update records, and to tell the story of how he was failed and how they need to LISTEN to patients and their families...

That's all for now... This has been on my mind since last week and I'm a little behind with my ecards. Trying to be funny when you've got a lot on your mind can be hard, or trying to be creative, but I do have an ecard coming up this week that I was supposed to post last week so I'll get to it maybe tomorrow. 

So again, check your records and make sure they're "listening" and accurately recording what you tell them, whether medically or psych...

With Love,

Carmen

Carmen's Funny Cat Pics: Oh, my gawd Becky cat pic

 This is me when I catch a glimpse of my reflection or bump into something cause I've got that big, big...

The Power of You: Unleash the Magic...

The power of you...you're more powerful than you know. We have the power within us to change anything in our lives regardless of our circumstances. Tap into that power within and unleash the magic...

How to make your blogger blog more responsive in 2021

I was planning on posting on my intermittent fasting journey week two results, which are exciting, but this topic came along over the weekend when I realized my blog/website didn't have a responsive web design. So this is what we're going with today instead...how to make your blogger blog more responsive in 2021.

This was very frustrating for me cause I assumed that my site automatically had a responsive web design considering it's on Blogger. I discovered that it wasn't through the Google Search Console dashboard and quickly went to work on fixing these errors with my site. 

Wasn't a complicated fix at all but what was complicated was finding updated information on how to do this. I found two very helpful guides to make a more responsive web design for my site and I'll pass them along rather than explain in detail how to do it. I'll let the experts do that. 

If you're here then you know what I mean by responsive web design, clearly a website that adapts to any device - tablet, smartphone, desktop, etc. After I discovered mine wasn't responsive I tried checking out my site through my own smartphone and was like, what? It was awful...looked like something from the 90s, 😂 dial-up days.

So here's what you need to do:

1. Add code to the meta viewport.
2. Add media queries to the CSS file.
3. Update your mobile settings, which are located in the Theme section of Blogger when you click the drop down menu for Customization.

This website, Infiblogger, was generous enough to provide instructions and code for doing so, but the guide was posted in 2016, so the instructions for locating the CSS file were outdated. I used this post from TechPostPlus, to find the CSS file, which are located in the Theme section as well. So I used the code from the first website and successfully completed step one and then used the media queries code from that same site along with the instructions from site two to add the code to the CSS file for step two. 

And thanks to both of these guides I ran a fix check from my Google Search Console to see if the problem was fixed and I passed! On top of that, while I waited for my results I checked my site from my smartphone and everything looked good - my site was responsive!! 

Once you visit the above sites the only tip I'll add is for when you're searching for the CSS file in Blogger. The guide is very helpful but just note that once in the Advanced section of the Customization section of Theme it's the little arrow next to "page" just below the word Advanced that you'll click on to find the CSS file option. 

I hope this helps!

With Love,

Carmen

Funny Ecards: Stalking is a Felony Ecard

My ex's new wife loves to stalk my stuff. I wonder if she found my new site name. I sure hope so. This is for you puerca. Enjoy. P.S. Get mental health. 😉

Funny Cat Pics: Cat with glasses funny pic

Weight loss over 40: Will cream in coffee break a fast?

 Intermittent Fasting for Coffee Feins...

Where do I begin here...? First, I guess I'll begin with the fact that I've never had a weight problem in my life. I was always average weight with sort of a sporty physique growing up. 

As a little girl, I was slender, then as a teen I was sporty and played softball, etc., that type of physique. Then had kids and always bounced back after pregnancy. 

After I had my twins clearly my body had stretched beyond belief considering I made it 37 weeks with two nearly full-term babies. Had to wait two months to start exercising cause you have to wait longer with twins. Once I was given the green light I started working out immediately and lost all of the weight and then some by the time they were five months. 

Then...I stopped working out, went into full mom mode juggling everything I was juggling and began to put it back on and then some for the first time in my life. Didn't happen all at once. It was a "process" and I've come to the conclusion there were a few variables at play here to cause my downfall. Desk job, age, and now that I know also my hiatal hernia which messed up my digestion process causing other problems. Okay. 

So now that we know what led me to this post let's dive into what I've done to attempt to lose the weight. I'm 42 now and began to attempt losing the weight at about 35ish. For the first time in my life each attempt was an epic fail to my dismay. I used all the usual tactics that always worked for me - smaller portions, working out, green tea, etc. 

Not only did I not lose the weight but I began to gain as I tried losing - yes, very discouraging. Needless to say I gave up. Then started again. Then gave up. Then started again. This was a cycle. I learned about intermittent fasting, which seems to be great for weight loss over 40. My GI even recommended it to me. I've dappled in intermittent fasting but could never quite nail the complete removal of cream and sugar in my morning coffee because I'm a coffee fein. 

I literally couldn't give up my morning coffee. Guess it wasn't "that" important to me. So I also tried to just accept my weight but then when you do that it goes up... Then I'd try losing again. Then accepting, then tried losing. I bought an exercise bike, mini stepper, hand weights, elastic bands, etc. Following a simple home workout video always worked for me. Not a gym person. But nothing was working. 

So here I am...trying again but this time I've decided to give intermittent fasting a try with just cream, no sugar. Before I began this experiment I carefully did my research. This video in particular helped me make up my mind to give it a try. Will cream in coffee break a fast? These folks answer that question with their own experiment and expertise and so I decided to give it a try. 

But before waking up and giving it a try first thing in the morning with my first cup - I did my own experiment. I got my body used to just cream in my coffee a couple days prior throughout the day and I have to say it's doable. I got used to the taste. I let it cool a little before sipping with such little cream. Yes, I drink coffee throughout the day. Not as much as I used to but I do. I'd say about four cups a day now. 

When I was younger I could go through 1-2 pots of coffee a day. Gross, I know. So they say 1-2 tsp of cream is okay. I'm doing two which is also 1 tbsp. you could say. You'll obviously have more benefits with black coffee but this is doable. I just can't do black coffee. I would be like the wicked witch of the west with black coffee, so I'm doing cream. I'm one week in and I feel like I see a difference. My daughters see it too. We shall see... 

I will not get on the scale till I see clothing get looser as the scale is lucky I didn't take it out back and smash it to pieces. The scale is public enemy number one and is not your friend. Avoid it at all costs. Weigh yourself once a week or even less than that. I want to see a difference in the way my clothing fits before I jump on that baby again...definitely a mind f**k, the scale. Yes, I censored myself, lol.

If you're on the same journey, good luck. It's frustrating, I know. I remember when I was younger hearing women say they felt like they gained weight from simply breathing. Now...I get it. Good luck and never give up...but love yourself no matter what. 

P.S. I'm a little behind on my post schedule that I set for myself. I spent the day yesterday doing some organizing and putting together a piece of furniture that five years ago would have taken me two hours, but at 42 feeling like I have the body of a 90-year-old it took me literally hours...but I did it! I was determined. 

People kept asking if I needed help and I kept saying "no, I've got this," cause I'm stubborn. By bedtime I could barely move and woke up feeling like I ran a marathon or lifted weights for hours. Aging sucks...I literally hate my body, lol. 

If anyone wonders what it's like to age it's like this... Your spirit wants to do one thing but your body won't cooperate and has an agenda of its own - to cause you pain you never imagined from doing simple tasks. My goal this year is to start running too. 

We're gonna become a "running family." I already have two runners. Gonna be fun...

With Love,

Carmen