Anyone have a request or praise they’d like to share?
And it’s Wednesday, so don’t forget The Gambia.
Psalm 141
¹Lord, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.
2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
3 Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.
4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
5 Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.
6 When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.
7 Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.
8 But mine eyes are unto thee, O God the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.
9 Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.
Hubby has a general feeling of unwell today, nothing specific, just not feeling the greatest. He’s had this before; probably some sort of digestive issues. He went to work, though, as he feels better when he’s out working in the cold.
And for me. I feel good almost all the time (including now), but I continue to lose weight. About a year ago my weight had gotten to the lowest point it had ever been as an adult. I was hoping to gain some weight last year, but instead I now find myself three pounds less than I was a year ago. I don’t really know if that’s a problem or not, as I feel fine. It just doesn’t seem right to have such an extremely low weight for my height.
I’m thinking I will need to be more diligent in avoiding gluten, as I’ve let my guard down a little now that I know I don’t have celiac disease. Or I may need to count calories. It seems like such a bother, but I’m probably not getting as many as I need.
6Arrows, I do understand the seriousness of your request and will pray for you to gain some much needed weight. Of course the easiest thing would be if I could just send you some of MINE!!!!
I can think of dozens of ways you can add calories. You wouldn’t believe what all you can bulk up by adding some eggs, but could you also add a protein shake during the day for some vitamins, minerals, and calories?
LOL, Kim! If you could find a way to ship me a few pounds, I’d take them! 🙂
Thanks for your prayers and the advice. My doctor suggested more eggs, too. I also like to eat a spoonful of peanut butter or a chunk of cheese now and then. In fact, it seems like I’ve been craving them more lately, so maybe that’s a sign I’m not getting enough protein in general?
A very interesting thing happened today — a God thing, very providential. Soon after I posted my prayer request, I got an email reminder of a webinar I’d signed up for and had forgotten. The webinar was to start in 15 minutes, so, fortunately, I didn’t miss it. I listened to it, and one fact (it sounded like it was fact, although I had not heard it before) the speaker brought out was that if a person is not drinking enough water or other fluids and is dehydrated, then the cells get dehydrated and can’t absorb nutrients from food efficiently. Makes sense, I think. I know I’m not getting as much water as I should, so that might be the key for me, to become more systematic in keeping myself hydrated, so I can absorb nutrients better and hopefully (?) gain weight.
6 Arrows, I was a bit underweight most of my adult life. One thing that I now think I did “wrong” was that I tended to avoid carbs, thinking they were low calorie and would fill me up too much. I now realize that most women eat more carbs than I do, and that might have actually been part of the reason most women struggle more with weight than I did.
I heard a tip a while back for teenage boys trying to gain weight, and it might be helpful for you: Eat a peanut butter sandwich immediately before bedtime. By the way, rye is a fairly healthy bread. I personally love peanut butter on rye, though for some reason many people think that sounds “gross.”
I wish I could eat rye, Cheryl, but it has gluten. Not as much as wheat, which I used to eat in huge quantities, but I didn’t stop my slow weight loss over my childbearing years until I cut gluten out of my diet. Something has happened recently, though, in the last year, maybe two (I’ve been gluten-free for about five years) that has started me losing weight again.
It might be that I’m getting more gluten in my diet that I’m not aware of. (I do know I’m getting some with gluten-containing communion wafers, but that is only a small amount two times a month, and it didn’t affect me in the early years of otherwise being gluten-free).
I like your suggestion to eat a peanut butter sandwich just before bedtime. I haven’t actually had a lot of sandwiches for quite a while, as gluten-free bread is expensive. In fact, I’ve been avoiding a lot of GF grains just because they cost so much, but maybe getting more carbs through them might be a good thing for me. I ate a lot of GF grains in the early years after going gluten free, and kept my weight at a healthy, stable level, but cut way back when our monstrous grocery bills got to be too much to sustain. I could probably find a happy middle where I get more carbs that may help me gain weight, or at the very least stop losing weight, but not to the point of having unreasonable expenses from buying and consuming huge quantities. Thank you for your suggestions, Cheryl.
I think I have decided that I am not getting enough water. I have been making a conscious effort to drink more. I take a glass of water to bed with me and if I wake up during the night I take a few sips. I think I heard that you take your weight divide it by half and that is how many ounces of water you should drink just to maintain, obviously some more is better although you don’t want to voer hydrate. I have mad emyself sick that way.
6 Arrows – More eggs & a protein shake sound like good ideas to me. As for gluten-free bread, could you make your own to save money?
Another thought, & it’s just a thought…Are you sure that your having stopped losing weight at the time you went gluten-free wasn’t a coincidence of timing? Maybe you could experiment with the peanut butter sandwich at night to see if it might help?
Karen, I could make my own gluten-free bread. I haven’t done a cost analysis to see how much cheaper (if at all) it is than buying it ready-made. It probably is some cheaper, but the gluten-free flours, whether purchased separately or pre-mixed (you need a variety of GF flours to make bread, unlike, say, wheat flour, which stands alone well) tend to be rather expensive, too. I’ll have to look into what’s the best deal.
I’m not 100% sure if the start of the GF diet and the end of the weight loss were coincidental or not, but I tend to believe they weren’t a coincidence. I was having several of the symptoms of celiac disease, weight loss being one of them, so I decided that I should go gluten-free, in case I had CD. (I thought getting tested for it was an unnecessary expense, as the only treatment for celiacs is to adopt a gluten-free diet). So I just went onto the diet, and in 14 months time, my weight loss not only halted, but I gained five pounds.
For reasons I won’t go into here, I decided I wanted to find out for sure if I had celiac disease, so I decided to get tested. However, you have to be consuming gluten to get an accurate test. My doctor recommended eating gluten for 8 weeks (at least 4-6 weeks are the usual guidelines) and then getting tested.
I tested 9 1/2 weeks after I’d reintroduced gluten, and in that short a time, I lost all five pounds that it had taken me 14 months to gain. This without changing anything else about my diet.
So that is why I think there is some connection between gluten consumption and weight loss for me.
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts, Karen. I did wonder, too, if all my years of nursing children (I nursed my six for a total of twelve years) wasn’t contributing to my slow weight loss over the years, as breastfeeding is an effective calorie-burner. However, I didn’t wean my youngest until a year after I’d started the gluten-free diet, and I was able to gain weight during that year that I was GF and nursing.
There might be blind spots in my understanding, though, so I’m glad you’re proposing questions for consideration. 🙂
If I needed to gain weight, I would eat more cheese. I love cheese and it’s healthy, too! In the mean time, I’m eating lots of veggies and fruit so that I can lose some weight. 🙂
I love cheese, too, Kare. But I have to be careful to not get too much, as sometimes it leads to headaches or (sorry) constipation. 😉 Sinus infections, too, although not as often or as bad as with ice cream.
I am rejoicing today! It’s ‘Gotcha Day’ for some dear friends who have adopted three children from a country in Eastern Europe. They won’t be home in the US for a little while yet, because they needed to have physical custody of the children before starting the next phase of paperwork. But they are all together now!
We have been praying with and for them for quite some time, and are praising God for his goodness in bringing this family together. 🙂
Great news, MMacMurray! My sister and brother-in-law have four adopted children, two of them (twins) from Eastern Europe (Ukraine). They not only celebrate their kids’ birthdays, but also their ‘Gotcha Days’. 😉
Wandering Views 
Attitude. . .
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A couple of health-related requests:
Hubby has a general feeling of unwell today, nothing specific, just not feeling the greatest. He’s had this before; probably some sort of digestive issues. He went to work, though, as he feels better when he’s out working in the cold.
And for me. I feel good almost all the time (including now), but I continue to lose weight. About a year ago my weight had gotten to the lowest point it had ever been as an adult. I was hoping to gain some weight last year, but instead I now find myself three pounds less than I was a year ago. I don’t really know if that’s a problem or not, as I feel fine. It just doesn’t seem right to have such an extremely low weight for my height.
I’m thinking I will need to be more diligent in avoiding gluten, as I’ve let my guard down a little now that I know I don’t have celiac disease. Or I may need to count calories. It seems like such a bother, but I’m probably not getting as many as I need.
Prayers for wisdom appreciated.
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6Arrows, I do understand the seriousness of your request and will pray for you to gain some much needed weight. Of course the easiest thing would be if I could just send you some of MINE!!!!
I can think of dozens of ways you can add calories. You wouldn’t believe what all you can bulk up by adding some eggs, but could you also add a protein shake during the day for some vitamins, minerals, and calories?
LikeLike
LOL, Kim! If you could find a way to ship me a few pounds, I’d take them! 🙂
Thanks for your prayers and the advice. My doctor suggested more eggs, too. I also like to eat a spoonful of peanut butter or a chunk of cheese now and then. In fact, it seems like I’ve been craving them more lately, so maybe that’s a sign I’m not getting enough protein in general?
A very interesting thing happened today — a God thing, very providential. Soon after I posted my prayer request, I got an email reminder of a webinar I’d signed up for and had forgotten. The webinar was to start in 15 minutes, so, fortunately, I didn’t miss it. I listened to it, and one fact (it sounded like it was fact, although I had not heard it before) the speaker brought out was that if a person is not drinking enough water or other fluids and is dehydrated, then the cells get dehydrated and can’t absorb nutrients from food efficiently. Makes sense, I think. I know I’m not getting as much water as I should, so that might be the key for me, to become more systematic in keeping myself hydrated, so I can absorb nutrients better and hopefully (?) gain weight.
LikeLike
6 Arrows, I was a bit underweight most of my adult life. One thing that I now think I did “wrong” was that I tended to avoid carbs, thinking they were low calorie and would fill me up too much. I now realize that most women eat more carbs than I do, and that might have actually been part of the reason most women struggle more with weight than I did.
I heard a tip a while back for teenage boys trying to gain weight, and it might be helpful for you: Eat a peanut butter sandwich immediately before bedtime. By the way, rye is a fairly healthy bread. I personally love peanut butter on rye, though for some reason many people think that sounds “gross.”
LikeLike
I wish I could eat rye, Cheryl, but it has gluten. Not as much as wheat, which I used to eat in huge quantities, but I didn’t stop my slow weight loss over my childbearing years until I cut gluten out of my diet. Something has happened recently, though, in the last year, maybe two (I’ve been gluten-free for about five years) that has started me losing weight again.
It might be that I’m getting more gluten in my diet that I’m not aware of. (I do know I’m getting some with gluten-containing communion wafers, but that is only a small amount two times a month, and it didn’t affect me in the early years of otherwise being gluten-free).
I like your suggestion to eat a peanut butter sandwich just before bedtime. I haven’t actually had a lot of sandwiches for quite a while, as gluten-free bread is expensive. In fact, I’ve been avoiding a lot of GF grains just because they cost so much, but maybe getting more carbs through them might be a good thing for me. I ate a lot of GF grains in the early years after going gluten free, and kept my weight at a healthy, stable level, but cut way back when our monstrous grocery bills got to be too much to sustain. I could probably find a happy middle where I get more carbs that may help me gain weight, or at the very least stop losing weight, but not to the point of having unreasonable expenses from buying and consuming huge quantities. Thank you for your suggestions, Cheryl.
LikeLike
I think I have decided that I am not getting enough water. I have been making a conscious effort to drink more. I take a glass of water to bed with me and if I wake up during the night I take a few sips. I think I heard that you take your weight divide it by half and that is how many ounces of water you should drink just to maintain, obviously some more is better although you don’t want to voer hydrate. I have mad emyself sick that way.
LikeLike
6 Arrows – More eggs & a protein shake sound like good ideas to me. As for gluten-free bread, could you make your own to save money?
Another thought, & it’s just a thought…Are you sure that your having stopped losing weight at the time you went gluten-free wasn’t a coincidence of timing? Maybe you could experiment with the peanut butter sandwich at night to see if it might help?
LikeLike
Karen, I could make my own gluten-free bread. I haven’t done a cost analysis to see how much cheaper (if at all) it is than buying it ready-made. It probably is some cheaper, but the gluten-free flours, whether purchased separately or pre-mixed (you need a variety of GF flours to make bread, unlike, say, wheat flour, which stands alone well) tend to be rather expensive, too. I’ll have to look into what’s the best deal.
I’m not 100% sure if the start of the GF diet and the end of the weight loss were coincidental or not, but I tend to believe they weren’t a coincidence. I was having several of the symptoms of celiac disease, weight loss being one of them, so I decided that I should go gluten-free, in case I had CD. (I thought getting tested for it was an unnecessary expense, as the only treatment for celiacs is to adopt a gluten-free diet). So I just went onto the diet, and in 14 months time, my weight loss not only halted, but I gained five pounds.
For reasons I won’t go into here, I decided I wanted to find out for sure if I had celiac disease, so I decided to get tested. However, you have to be consuming gluten to get an accurate test. My doctor recommended eating gluten for 8 weeks (at least 4-6 weeks are the usual guidelines) and then getting tested.
I tested 9 1/2 weeks after I’d reintroduced gluten, and in that short a time, I lost all five pounds that it had taken me 14 months to gain. This without changing anything else about my diet.
So that is why I think there is some connection between gluten consumption and weight loss for me.
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts, Karen. I did wonder, too, if all my years of nursing children (I nursed my six for a total of twelve years) wasn’t contributing to my slow weight loss over the years, as breastfeeding is an effective calorie-burner. However, I didn’t wean my youngest until a year after I’d started the gluten-free diet, and I was able to gain weight during that year that I was GF and nursing.
There might be blind spots in my understanding, though, so I’m glad you’re proposing questions for consideration. 🙂
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If I needed to gain weight, I would eat more cheese. I love cheese and it’s healthy, too! In the mean time, I’m eating lots of veggies and fruit so that I can lose some weight. 🙂
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I love cheese, too, Kare. But I have to be careful to not get too much, as sometimes it leads to headaches or (sorry) constipation. 😉 Sinus infections, too, although not as often or as bad as with ice cream.
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Oooh, ice cream 🙂
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I am rejoicing today! It’s ‘Gotcha Day’ for some dear friends who have adopted three children from a country in Eastern Europe. They won’t be home in the US for a little while yet, because they needed to have physical custody of the children before starting the next phase of paperwork. But they are all together now!
We have been praying with and for them for quite some time, and are praising God for his goodness in bringing this family together. 🙂
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Great news, MMacMurray! My sister and brother-in-law have four adopted children, two of them (twins) from Eastern Europe (Ukraine). They not only celebrate their kids’ birthdays, but also their ‘Gotcha Days’. 😉
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