Welcome to Life in the Woods!

View of front yard, in the winter, while the trees are stark naked! 

Welcome to  "Life in the woods," this same blog with a new name and a new focus! I have changed this blog to reflect my life these days and hope you love it! 

A raven, as seen from our new yard. 

These pictures are from my yard. The yard my husband and I share. As you can see it is definitely "in the woods." And so the name of this blog is now "life in the woods." Yes, that is a raven, as seen from my living room window. 

I am living out a life-long dream: to be out of the city and in the midst of the beautiful creation of God. Wow, sometimes, I can hardly believe it! We moved of December 1st of last year, and have spent the last eight months making our cabin-like house into a home. 

Our kitty, Shiloh, out on the deck for the first time in our new home.

What will I be writing about? The central theme will be beauty -- beauty found in each one of us, the beauty of nature, and the beauty of creativity. I will share the lessons I am learning with you, about how to live in the woods, away from the conveniences of the city. I will share the lessons I am learning about writing and creativity. But most of all, I hope to inspire you to think about life as beautiful, and yourself as beautiful, and to see that seeing beauty in ourselves and others will give up hope to keep going in our lives. 

So, I hope you will enjoy the blog. If you do, please share with your friends or family.


Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular updates with Blogger or through my Facebook page.

Insecure Blogger Blogs Again!

This blogger is still alive! 

In case you have not noticed, I have not been around for a long time. It has been over three months since I touched this blog. Hi! To be honest, I have been scared of blogging, because of being really unsure of where to go next with this blog.

I started out on this blog writing focused almost exclusively on weight loss: my own weight loss journey, with its ups and downs. As I wrote about weight loss, I also started some other niche blogs: on teaching, on books, on Christianity, and on writing. 

I found that I had very little time for each blog, and so this year, I brought all of the blogs together, into this one. But after that, I rarely wrote. I think I felt self-conscious writing about weight loss to my writing contacts, and felt funny writing about writing to my weigh loss contacts, like I had abandoned them. And so, for the most part, I just stopped blogging. I still wrote in other places, but my blog sat there, almost dead. 

I started doing some research, looking for other bloggers who have done general blogs, and had some success. And so here I go again ... this is a general blog, and if people like it, they like it. I think I will just write about what I feel like writing about. 

This is the cabin where I have been staying

Truth be told, this is typical for me. I spend so much time  agonizing over what to write, that I do not write at all. I do the same thing in my life and it is why I have trouble getting things done: I worry so much about doing things the right way, that I often end up not doing it all. 

It is a way that I am insecure ... a big bag of insecurities, truth be told. But insecure or not, I will blog, I will blog, I will blog ... 

So, what I have been up to lately ... well, I have been teaching full-time, as I mentioned in a previous post. With the job, has come a big commute. 

To counteract the effects of the job, I have also been renting a cabin and staying there for part of the time during the week. I have fallen in love with Instagram. I have been losing at the weight loss game lately. And have managed to keep up with a bit of writing, on hubpages, and my own personal websites. 

And as I am busy teaching, I know that I miss writing full time. I feel more and more drawn to purse writing, and taking pictures, as more than simply hobbies, but as my life work. 

Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular updates with Blogger or through my Facebook page.

My Blogging Experience ... Bring Your Own Crazy!

So, I don't usually do two posts in one day but .. I couldn't resist when I saw the "Bring Your Own Crazy" meme that Joanna was doing over here, at Diary of a Mad, Fat Woman. I've done at least one of these before and they're a lot of fun! If you want to do this, just copy and paste the questions and answer the questions for yourself. Then let me know if you have done so!

Okay, so here goes. This is a good one!

1. When did you begin blogging? Do you plan to do it a long time or do you think you’ll stop after a while?
I first started blogging in August of 2009 (this was my first post) and then kept it up for about a year but then dropped out of blogging altogether for almost one whole year!   Lucky for me, the blog was still there when I started blogging again this year. I don't know if I will continue this blog forever or not. My purpose is to lose weight and if when I do, I am not sure if I will still want to focus on it, but I think I will want to write something to encourage other women.

I love writing!

2.  What do you enjoy more - blogging yourself or reading other’s blogs?
I have to admit, I love blogging the most. Just because I love writing so, so much! It's my passion. And I also just adore the design aspect of it. I'm constantly tweaking.


3.  What’s the biggest thing blogging has taught you? Biggest surprise about blogging?
Wow, interesting question. I guess the biggest surprise is how easy it is. Before starting this blog, I thought writing on the Internet in any way was something only a technical genius could do. You would not believe how intimidated I was when I first started. When I got the first comment, it was like a whole other world had opened up!

Blogging has taught me that people are so much the same. Even the "skinny girls" who have made it in their weight loss efforts have to struggle with eating right. And it's also taught me that I can express myself through writing and reach other people. I think it's helped give me more confidence in expressing myself to more than just my immediate family. 

4.  Have you met any other bloggers in real life – solely because of your blog or theirs?
No, not yet, but there is a blogger who lives in my city, Winnipeg, that I have been talking to, and we might meet. That would be so exciting! 

5.  Does your blog have a general theme as in one topic or do you cover everything and anything?

I actually have a couple of blogs that I write but this one is definitely for weight loss. I am pretty focused on this blog, on this topic but I do talk about how things in my life are affecting my weight loss journey. Weight is not just about eating and exercising but also about stress, confidence, body-image and emotions. It's about all of our lives.

6.  Are you public or anonymous? Whichever you are – do you ever wish you were the other?

Kinda sorta both. I use a moniker, "prairieprincess" but it's pretty easy to follow the links and find my name if anyone wants to. I am always kind of being pulled between wanting to stay anonymous and wanting to just be "me."

7.  What’s your best blogging advice for a new blogger?
 I think the best advice I would offer is to be yourself. It's easy to get intimidated by other bloggers and look at what everyone else is doing but like someone else told me, "it's your blog." So use it in a way that works for you. I'm still trying to work this one out for myself!

8.  Does anyone in your real life read your blog/know it’s address? Do you wish they would or wouldn’t?
There are just two or three, I think. My sister and one or two friends. I have asked several people on Facebook to read my blog but no one seemed very interested. I actually wish more of them would read it.

9.  Do you enjoy blogging or do you view it as a chore? How often do you blog?
I absolutely love blogging! It's my excuse to write every day. I love communicating and sharing my heart. A lot of my blog is kind of self-centered, I guess, because it's about my journey but I love it when others can relate in some way. And I love sharing new information that I find out.

Sometimes it does feel like a chore if I'm feeling depressed and have made bad choices but I am glad that I kind of force myself to write, anyway, because I think it produces an honest blog, not just a perfect one!

10.  Do you tell people in your real life that you blog? Or keep it a secret?
I haven't told that many people (besides on Facebook) because at first I was so embarrassed at my weight and how much I need to lose. I think I want to start sharing it with more people, though. It would be great to have more RL acquaintances commenting on my blog!

So, that was so much fun! If you want to answer these questions on your blog, please do so and post a link here!

My Blog And Why I Will Keep Writing It!

Hey everybody!

I am just doing up a quick post here before I start some more major cleaning. I have company coming from out of town this week and it's so exciting, everyone!

My sister, brother-in-law and the girls (two nieces aged 8 and almost 10) are coming for a week and I miss them so much! So, I probably won't post much this week, although I really need to keep my tracking up.

I just wanted to say, too, that I have been thinking a lot about the blog and I don't think I will keep all the categories so strictly. I would still like to do the "Do The Math Fridays" and "Beautiful Wednesday,"  but that's it. Oh, and a Sunday Weigh-in As Well. The reason I am doing the math calculations on Friday is so that I can step it up on Saturday for my Sunday weigh-in. The other categories I will try to fit in but I need the freedom to just write about my journey day by day. Even if no one else reads it, I will write just because writing is what helps motivate me and to accomplish things. But I want people to read it, too! 

I so appreciate the people who drop in sometimes and read. And a couple of you even joined my Facebook page. Thank you guys!  I love writing and always hope something I write could be something others could relate to, or be helped by.

Nutrient Tuesday: Whey Protein

Images by in pastel

Note: This is my Tuesday entry, even though, technically, it's early Wednesday morning! 

Well, y'all! (I get that from reading a lot of blogs from you Southern ladies!)  If you go to my blog often, you will have noticed some changes in the look of the blog. Please bear with me as I do a bit of experimentation! In case you're wondering what all the tabs on the top are for: these are the topics that I want to write about.

I would love to hear your feedback as to whether or not these are topics you would be interested in reading about. I would this blog to be a place of learning, as well as a place that I chronicle my weight loss. I guess I can't rid of the teacher in me!

Another reason for choosing daily topics is that it will help me organize ideas, make the whole blog seem more organized overall. I don't know about you but I find I have thousands of ideas, but it's hard to pin them down into something that doesn't seem completely erratic. I need to be "tamed," so to speak. (I give credit to Joanne at JoanneFaith.com for the use of this term.)

I have a pretty good idea what topics I would like to cover, but it's not written in stone at this point, and I may be tweaking it in the next while. My format is something I want to work on, too. I don't know if I should mention the daily topic in my post title (as in "Nutrient Tuesday) or just focus on that topic, without the heading. Again, I would to hear your feedback. I have been exploring different blogs that I enjoy, and trying to come up with the plan that works best for me, and my style.

Whey: What Miss Muffet ate (along with curds)

So, on Nutrient Tuesday, I want to focus on some aspect of nutrition: either a healthy food, or a particular nutrient that is important, or perhaps a supplement that is good for us, or even just some general nutrition information. I will share from my own knowledge, and from some of the sources that I study and read.

Today, I would like to talk about whey protein. First of all, I am a big user of whey protein. It is one of the foods I eat consistently when I am on the weight loss path. I use it a smoothie that I try to eat every morning. It is a protein source and I find it fills me up.

I just started back on these smoothies again, and I love having them for breakfast. For me, I find that I tend to be very lazy about breakfast, so this ensures that I actually do eat a good breakfast.

I was delighted, then, to find out that a new study, done by the USDA, shows that whey protein does help in weight loss. This study confirmed my belief. The same website, ByronRichards.com, gives five more articles that tell of the benefits of this food.

Benefits of whey protein include reduction in diabetes occurences, prevention of insulin resistance, an increase in thermogenesis (calorie burning), and lowering of cholesterol.

I think whey protein may be the reason that my health is not worse than it is. The doctor said that my blood sugar and all hormone levels were good. Perhaps whey protein has helped me stay healthier, in spite of all my extra weight.

The whey protein that I usually eat is from a company called Natural Factors. I get it from my health food lady. (We have one place where we always go.)

These products are also available on Amazon. Just so you know, I am an Amazon Affiliate, so I will receive a very small commission from any products purchased from this site.

        

The Bag Lady and the Princess

Well, I have kind of established a routine I can work with regarding blogging. When I'm working, I only seem to be to manage one or two posts a week, for now. These posts are on the weekend, when I have some time. During the week, I'm just so tired by the end of the day, and can't seem to pump out many new ideas, after pumping out ideas all day with my students!

There's another reason I can't seem to blog more than twice a week, too. It's kind of that I am a bit shy sometimes about sharing my progress, or lack of it. For example, when I am doing well, I don't want to brag too much ... and when I am not doing well, I am a bit ashamed. Sometimes blogging feels like going around the room shouting, "me, me, me!!!" Haha! It doesn't have to be just about me, but that's the idea ... to write about my journey to weight loss .... and there's a part of me that sometimes resists that. I think it's the same part of me that sometimes thinks it's self-centred to demand my choice of healthy restaurants rather than MacDonald's. The same part that says that going for a walk to exercise this body isn't really worth it. The part that sometimes would rather disappear than ask for and work for what she wants. Call it my shadow self, or my addictive self, or my destructive self ... she's there.

A while back, I was receiving counselling for a relationship gone very bad. The counsellor asked me to draw two pictures of myself: one of the me that was depressed and hopeless, and one of the me that wanted to heal and move on. It was a very powerful exercise for me. One was a picture of a street lady .... dirty, ugly, cheap and caring nothing for herself. The other was of a very strong powerful, confident woman who always took care of herself and stood up for herself. I fleshed each woman out with a very detailed description, and realized that each one was part of me.

Wow! That experience helped to see that there was a strong woman inside of me, in spite of my depression at the time, in spite of my overwhelming feeling of despair. At the time, I told my counsellor, "I am getting rid of the bag lady." She said something I will never forget: "don't reject her. Honour her and her needs." Wow!! That bag lady needed love!

How does all this relate to today and my weight loss? Well, there is a battle going on in me ... and many of us, between the "bag lady" that doesn't think she is worthy of taking the time for, and the "gorgeous woman" who knows she is worth it. A big part of weight loss is finding a balance that works for us between being gentle with our weaknesses, and finding our strengths.