Triumphant Chicks
  • Welcome
  • About
  • Bible Talk
    • Jennifer's Jewels
    • Pam's Pearls
    • Charlotte's Crystals
    • Rhonda's Rubies
  • Elizabeth
  • Contact

Beauty & Fitness

We're chicks. Beauty matters.

And.... If we're in the right mood so does fitness. Meh.

Yoga Not Yah-Yah

9/21/2014

 
Picture
To me, yoga means stretching. I'm not going zen on anybody. I just want to be able to touch my toes when I'm 65. Yoga relieves sore muscles and helps me fight off the creakies. And when you are lifting 30 pound toddlers for 17 years like I've been, you're fixing to get some cumulative creakies. 

Beyond that, yoga has no meaning for me. I learned to bust my yoga moves using a VHS tape. So that tells you how long ago I learned yoga. I memorized the stretches 12 years ago and didn't need the video anymore. Which is good because, like anything, there can be a religious component with yoga. Now I'm not saying yoga is evil. But it can have a spiritual component, and the level of that spirituality depends on the teacher and the student.

We have three forces working together here, "tri" meaning "three," where we get the word Trinity. God is the mind (Creator and Father, all that good stuff) + Son is the body (Jesus said, "this is my body broken for you") + Holy Spirit (um, that's the spirit.) So the yoga people are on the right track actually, but they are confused because they don't know the Scriptures. The term Trinity is not in the Bible anyway. A good early Christian church dude made it up. And he had the right idea. It is a Biblically sound idea. Maybe you and I could blast onto the scene with a fourth component and send the theologians into a tizzy having to change all their little documents to refer to a Quadrinity. The point is, for yoga to reflect the holy trinity is not necessarily spooky or alarming.

The way yoga can get dangerous though, is in the insidious way that a non-Christian atmosphere might begin to influence us. When a teacher starts getting yah-yah and saying things like, "You Have To Fie-eend Your Center," or "the key is to tap into your inner peace," then they've lost me. Especially if they go all, "The balance in your souuuul is becoming one with the essence of mother natuuuuuure as you acquiesce the stones of your very being and releeeeeease all energy from the top of your head out through your big tooooe," stop stop stop. 

It might seem harmless at first, but hearing this sort of crazy talk over and over really can start to mess with your mind and make you think a peaceful, well balanced life apart from Christ is possible. Which it's so not. Not even remotely. Also, I would request an all-ladies class because that is very strange, to do all that leg twisting and body rearranging in front of some guy who is not your husband.

If you are the only Christian in a class full of people who think all of that is normal, then you've just gone and set yourself up to be spiritually vulnerable. Yoga classes tend to be a little too yah-yah, so it's buh-bye.


The Score Is: God 1 Point, Thyroid 0

6/8/2014

 
Picture
A few years ago, seemingly overnight, our now 14-year-old daughter came down with severe underactive thyroid symptoms. She woke up one day with an alarming appearance. She gained a lot of weight really fast. This was very weird because we homeschool so we're together all the time, so everyone in our family is all eating the exact same things. And yet, only she had rapid weight gain at age 11. She began having other disturbing symptoms such as digestive trouble and dry skin.

For three years we asked God to fix this problem. I'm writing today to tell y'all that our Almighty Wonderful Counselor and Great Healer has started fixing it. He delights in "sending help from the sanctuary," (Psalms) to those who call on His name. And we've been a-calling, let me tell you.

We began to despair of His ever making it better but we kept praying, kept taking our daughter to different doctors, kept trying new things, kept praying some more. It's not that we are obsessed over appearance around here. But her excessive weight gain was sounding an alarm to us that something was very wrong with her health. I'm not suggesting that everything I'm about to tell you will fix anyone's problems. I'm only telling you the answer God specifically has given us.

My daughter fell into a category of people whose thyroid levels appear normal when tested. Her numbers were what is defined by conventional medicine as being within normal range. And so an endocrinologist is not able to help someone like her, because he simply doesn't know how.

Wilson's syndrome protocol has been God's answer for our daughter. A smartie pants fellow named Dr. Wilson figured out how to treat someone who is being told her thyroid numbers are perfectly normal, but that person has all the symptoms of low thyroid. This is important to treat, not just for weight but because the symptoms gradually multiply and become increasingly serious and debilitating. A low thyroid greatly lowers one's quality of life. Our daughter's weight gain and digestive issues, if untreated, could have led to infertility, depression, diabetes, migraine headaches and other stuff you just really do not want for your child or yourself.

Basically the way it works is you find a local doctor who understands Wilson's syndrome and can prescribe his specific T-3 medication for you. This is not just any T-3, it's the Wilson's T-3. His plan is not just popping a pill, you have to do stuff. You take your pulse each morning, and if that is within a certain normal range, you take the T-3 medication twice a day at exactly 12 hour intervals. You also take your temperature three times a day and get the average of that. Your dosage of medication is based on that average temperature, gradually building up to a maximum dose, then tapering back down eventually to nothing.

Our guy Wilson discovered that if your body temperature is consistently at or below 97.8, and you have symptoms of low thyroid, then you are looking at some low thyroid. No matter what a thyroid specialist might tell you. Once you can sustain 98.6 or so, then you're golden. Other doctors measure thyroid differently but Wilson's world is based on the temperature.

His plan pretty much jump starts your thyroid. It resets that gland through his medication and essentially psyches out your body so that you begin to be able to sustain a temperature of 98.6 consistently. Once you can do this, it means your body is producing a normal level of the thyroid gland's hormones that it wasn't producing before, and so you don't need the medication anymore. You start tapering off the medication and you're done.

You don't have to take the medication forever. It fixes your thyroid and then boom you're finished. This is different because with most other thyroid treatments, it's a lifelong thing and you are dependent on the medication. This guy actually does something about your thyroid. The thyroid gland actually begins to function normally on its own.

We are about two months into the treatment. It can take several months for it to work. We're okay with that; after all, it's been three years. Already we are seeing rapid improvement. She looks like her old self again. She still has some of the "feeling bad" symptoms so far, but
child she looks very healthy. So we know it is working. 

Please click below to read more.


Read More

Don't Frump Out on Me Now

4/22/2014

 
Picture
I remember reading about a fly 90-year-old lady who stayed sprightly in her golden age. When asked how she stayed so perky and lively, one of the things she said is that she fixed herself every single day. She spent some time on her clothes, hair and make-up every morning. That's good advice. That's "go girl." When you're pushing 100, you might start to feel like you could maybe coast a little bit on that.

My brother calls it slippage.

Our 90-year-old lady is giving sound counsel for all women, of all ages. If you are a homemaker like I am, we don't want to slip and completely frump out, even though we're home. We get dressed up to go to church because it shows reverence to the Lord eh? My church is pretty cazh but even so, people spruce up some, out of respect for the house of God. I mean we wear our nice flip flops okay?

I think we should show the same respect in our own homes. This is our job, this is our vocation, this is our life's work. I don't bust out the taffeta or panty hose on a daily basis. Never actually. I love jeans and a random solid colored shirt. Dark so the toddler spaghetti sauce kisses don't show. That's my mommy uniform. But if I stick a scarf with that, or a necklace, or get a little zany with a belt or sash or something, and yes fix my hair as I have thoroughly covered in previous blogs, then it helps me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile each day.

I give myself a little fashion statement or some bling. It's always a very cheap fashion statement so that when my toddler wipes her nose on it or pulls on it and it breaks, it's no big deal. And I keep it to one accessory so we are understated because otherwise, as my Mom says, we end up looking like a Christmas tree.

When I pull weeds in the yard or run the sprinklers outside, I do it in the early morning while I'm still wearing my grunge exercise clothes. Then I get cleaned up and try to stay that way the rest of the day. We have hard work to do around our homes throughout the day such as scrubbing and grease-splattering and for that I suggest we could get a little 1950s jiggy with it. Enter the apron.

You might have noticed that, in last week's blog, I talked about the importance of not having our entire lives revolve around the way our selves and homes look, to the point where we neglect the spiritual. And to that I would reply, man y'all are keeping me on my toes. Glad you noticed. This week I am pointing out that we ladies need to not go too far the other way and neglect the pretty factor completely.

It's the heart of the thing. We don't obsess over our looks because of vanity, pride or competition. Rather, we are striving for excellence to honor the Lord.

I'm intentional about the way I look because I've got something special to do that day. Namely, number one: do whatever I can to make my husband happy, and dudes are visual after all so we need to try to look nice for our husbands. I don't fight with this long bushy hair cause it's fun. I'm keeping myself attractive for my man. And number two: I am creating productive, God-fearing future men and women out of these youngin's. That's a serious job to look sparkly for.


Exercise: Keep It Up

1/12/2014

 
Picture
No, I don't play tennis. Though I admire those who do. Any surrounding wildlife, vehicles and glass windows are endangered when I play tennis. The last time I played tennis was 20 years ago with my husband before we were married, and we spent most of the time trying to get the ball away from his golden retriever, who kept chasing after my wild returns. The dog thought the ball was for him, much like the deer in our neighborhood think our strawberry plants are their salad buffet. I think I got the ball over the net possibly four times. It's not my game.

Every January many of us chicks become inspired to do a little better with our health and exercise.
Taking care of our bodies and our health can't be something we base on our emotions, though. Unfortunately, those emotions generally wear off by February-ish and we might give up. Exercise has to become a year-round habit. I hope maybe a couple of these suggestions will help you be successful with exercise and keep it up, even when it's April and you could not care less.

  1. Find a time of day that works for you. Your lifestyle, mainly meaning the people you are responsible for, is going to come in the way of your exercising if you don't pick a time when those people are on auto-pilot and can do without you. For me that's around 6:00 a.m. The only way this is possible is for me to not think about exercise, but rather I think about putting on my exercise clothes and I go outside. That much I can do. I try to go to bed at a reasonable time the night before, too. I take my dog along on my run and that motivates me because he needs a morning walk; I need to work off yesterday's dark chocolate chips. At a time of day when I can get icky and sweaty before I shower and fix my hair. I homeschool my children, so early morning is my favorite time, but if your children go to school, then (duh) early morning is the worst time. Find the time of day that works. When it becomes a part of your day, then you don't have to think about it as much and it is more likely to happen. If you truly want to stick with it, your brain has to send exercise into the same categories as showering, eating, reading your Bible and sleeping. I try to exercise every day (except Sundays) but I feel like if I make it three days a week that's really good. Do you know who that just sounded like? Dolly Parton in that movie when, asked what her shoe size was, said, "I wear a 7 but an 8 feels so good I buy a 9."
  2. Find an activity that is realistic and not torturous. I like to run. Someday maybe I can join a gym, but for now, I can hardly get out the door to go to the grocery store without causing an uproar in my family. Ain't no way I can actually drive to a gym, it's just not happening. I like being outside anyway. I feel like a lab rat when I'm on a treadmill. And gyms are stinky. Too much spandex for my taste too. Of course the downside is that my running outside routine depends on decent weather which I can sort of count on in Georgia. Clearly you are at a disadvantage if you live in Vermont. Some ladies I know can't get enough of Zumba but that would make me insane. What inspires someone else might not inspire you. It doesn't mean you can't exercise, it just means you need a different activity. It might take a month of a workout class to figure out that you don't really like it. Try something else. Part of getting your exercise groove on is figuring out if you are an exercise groupie or loner. Do you like classes with other ladies? Do you like brisk walks with a friend? I'm more of an exercise loner. It's just me and the pavement. In a couple of decades when my knees give out, I'll have to find something else besides running. It won't be tennis. Or Zumba.
  3. Don't compare yourself to anyone else. Just don't do that. Okay?
  4. Feel happy in your clothes. I have some moisture-friendly tops and pants that are comfortable to exercise in. They are modest but don't make me feel frump. I lay my exercise clothes out the night before, because any little thing such as not wanting to fumble around in the dark to find a pair of socks while trying to not wake up your husband, can make you say: Oh forget it already. And you go back to bed. More importantly, I stopped cheaping out on my shoes. For years I suffered through tired cheap shoes because I'm not in the Olympics. I didn't think my run was worth the money. My son finally talked me into getting myself a very nice pair of running shoes and I feel like my feet are not even there. My feet are very happy and I feel sproingy in these shoes. I was having to work against my shoes before, to overcome bad clunky shoes. I justify the shoe expense with the fact that I don't pay a gym membership. And as my Mom says, if you wait long enough everything goes on sale. I got a pair of last year's high end running shoes for 50 percent off. I really do not think my dog cares that they are last year's style. 
  5. Chew some gum. I heard somewhere that the taste of spearmint or peppermint psyches out your brain and makes you think you're hydrated and perky when you're really not. You can trick your brain while you're exercising and then drink lots of water afterward. I'm telling you, gum really gives me some endurance, especially in the hot summer. It's weird.
  6. Play good music. Without music I think I would never go running again. Music makes it fun. Music makes me feel like I'm dancing. Not just random dancing, but my music is Christian worship music. So I feel like I am dancing before the Lord. I'm starting my day with some explosive worship for my savior Jesus Christ. Which gives me this surge of inspiration to tackle the rest of the day. It makes my exercise meaningful rather than just a hamster running on a wheel. Zumba truly did give one of my friends victory over dreading exercise because the music is so fun and cha-cha-cha. She started to look forward to exercise and it became a joy. She'd found her thing. Music is strange because what makes me say to my teenager in the car, "Could we please turn the volume down a little bit?" is the very thing I want to exercise to when I'm alone. I want lively music when I'm exercising. The songs I chillax to in my home would put me to sleep or really grate when I'm exercising. I start out warming up to "Hallelujiah" by Heather Williams, a step down in rock out-ness from that Switchfoot song I told you about in a different blog.
  7. Last but not least, pray about your exercise. If you start to get defeated in this area, ask God for some inspiration and guidance. He helped me figure out everything I've just told you. Our Lord's all over helping us live victorious lives when our hearts are devoted to Him. Then you can give Him the glory when people ask how is it that you are so fit and buff?

Oh and the deeper, more profound meaning of that tennis ball picture? Since I am not actually playing tennis? I keep a tennis ball in my nightstand drawer, so that when my back is hurting I lie down on the tennis ball. Gives some mean pressure point massage action. It's divine. Best use of a tennis ball I can think of. You'll feel like you've been to a spa. And child we deserve a pretend spa experience after all that exercise.


Preschooler Theology

12/4/2013

 
Picture
After my barely 5-year-old daughter's dental cleaning this morning, the hygienist came over to speak to me and let me know my daughter did great. And then she told me my daughter announced during the cleaning that she does not like the princess character Jasmine, "because she's not modest."

I love that my preschooler gets it.

This is the same little girl who, at age 3, looked up at me and said, "We don't want to be like Adam and Eve. We want to be like Noah."


Cover those roots, baby

11/22/2013

 
Picture
The Bible says that gray hair is the crown of the aged men. I've heard it pointed out, however, that the Bible doesn't say anything about gray hair's being the crown of the aged women. I color my hair to cover up the gray. I'm not trying to look young, but I'm not trying to look old yet either.

This takes a little time in the chemical laboratory salon called my bathroom. And I can't get interrupted by little people or it turns purple. So I have to choose delicately the time when I can maneuver this hair coloring masterpiece. When I can't around get to the full blown color the roots action, but the gray is noticeably coming in, I use a great little helper called Tween Time.

This website is about matters of the heart and practical helps to you. I think we can all agree that the world is shouting at us all day long about what to buy as the key to happiness. It's all such a big lie. Not doing that to my girlfriends.

However, I bought my tween time art brilliance for less than $8 and it's lasted me three years. So we can't afford not to pass this little tip along, can we ladies. I found it at my local beauty supply store. When your gray starts to grow in, you get the crayon a little bit wet by holding it under running water, then dab it on the roots of your hair after you wash it, while it's still wet. It's just a big fat fancy crayon. It's a fat crayon in a blue lipstick looking tube. Sorry I don't have a good picture to show you. It washes out the next time you shampoo, so it's not permanent. It's nice to have when you can't quite get to doing the real deal with coloring.


Frizz: Your Hair is Parched

11/12/2013

 
Picture
Okay girls. Ding ding on the glass, attention please. I have some important follow-up cross-examination statements to make regarding your hair and frizz for further review.

If your hair is frizzing out on you, try leaving in some conditioner after you wash it, just on the ends. As in, you leave this conditioner in all day and never wash it out. It is like lotion for your hair.

And drink a lot of water, all day every day. Your hair is thirsty, girlfriend.


Don't Give Up on Your Hair

11/5/2013

 
Picture
My hair is thick and frizzy with some wave to it. It started turning gray 10 years ago which I don't think is a funny joke at all. I totally color it and plan to keep coloring it until I'm 70.

Who really cares, is the question. Well, I think our husbands appreciate it when we spend a little time in front of the mirror. They don't know exactly what is making them happy, kind of like when you mop the kitchen floor or dust the living room. They don't know you mopped or dusted, they just know the house looks nice.      

I did the short Mom hair cut a long time ago, and when I found out my husband prefers my hair long, I grew it out and have worn it long ever since then. Not because I am a repressed robot wife with no brain who is putty in the hands of male dominance evil global forces. But because I think it is sweet and womanly to please my husband. It's an act of kindness.

I think that, as Christians, we should try to honor God with the way we present ourselves. Our outer beauty should reflect the inner beauty that we know is there. And if you are a homemaker, keeping yourself looking nice helps you take your job more seriously. The days I've blown off fixing my hair, have been days that I never quite feel on top of things as a wife and mother. 

I abuse my hair with chemicals and heat. But guess what? New healthy hair eventually grows in. After I wash and condition my hair, I blow dry it straight using a gigantic round brush which takes some very acute hand-eye coordination and requires a six-feet diameter of personal space so that I do not harm myself or others. I use some goo first that's supposed to protect it from heat damage. I flat iron it sometimes if I'm feeling especially sassy. It takes about 15 minutes, maybe 20 tops.

I do all this because I've noticed that my husband likes it. He's too smart to actually tell me that, but I've noticed. When I don't have what it takes to blow-dry the beast straight but instead let it do its unplugged and wild woman curly thing, I have some goo that took me 15 years to find, after trying a million things to make my hair look pretty curly vs. ugly curly. I'd tell you what it is but everyone's hair is different and you'll be mad at me when it doesn't do right. Everyone has to figure out her own hair goo. I let it dry on its own with the goo on it, then a couple hours later go back and pull a few sections through a curling iron, to make it look like it was curly on purpose rather than something tragic happened to me. If you take a strand from the front and part it the other way and tuck it behind your ear, it looks nice in the front and less Bee Gees.

I fix my hair even if I'm not really going anywhere that day. I fix my hair even when my husband is going out of town and won't see me. I want other people to see me and say, "Oh that's that pilot guy's wife. She looks kind of nice today." We're our husbands' pride and joy.


Skinny Jeans

10/26/2013

 
Picture
So ladies I bought a pair of skinny jeans today. Yes I did. I've been resisting it for a long time now, hoping it would go away like I hoped cropped pants would. I like my Gap boot legs.

I have given birth to five babies so, I'm just wondering: Are skinny jeans that attractive for me? Extremely wide mommy hips tapering down to tiny ankles. Does the world need to see that, I really don't know. The hip to ankle proportional attractiveness ratio is a little disorienting and possibly not working in my favor.

I had them on earlier and did not even feel like an Earthling. I could not move my knees. I walked around the house like I was attached to a large plank. Not moving my arms for greater effect. I announced in my best raspy old lady voice that I needed an oxygen tank and an IV.   

My 13-year-old daughter said, "Mom, just be yourself. You don't need to wear skinny jeans." That was really sweet. But I say, I am being myself in trying somewhat to keep up with the bizarre styles as they change over the years. I'm trying to power through the fashion trend like a champ.

Does anyone else my age (I'm 42) notice they are looking mighty eighties in these jeans? I mean all I need is a baggy U2 concert t-shirt and some big bangs with hairspray and I'm there. It's fun to go with the fashion flow to an extent. That whole shoulder pad phase back in the day really did need to phase out. So we are relieved sometimes, but other times I get the feeling the fashion world designer people are playing a big joke on us. If we wear the skinny jeans, we have to revamp our whole balance equilibrium scene. The tops have to be flowy and tunic-chic rather than tailored. The shoes can't be clunky clogs but rather whispy little things. You change the jeans, you change your whole equilibrium. And then you buy more stuff. It's a beautiful thing for the fashion industry. Thus my stubborn resistance until now.

My extremely cute neighbor told me I can pull it off and to try them out under tall brown boots or wear them with ballet flats. All right, I'll give it a whirl but if people think I have gone '80s for Halloween I will not be surprised.



    Author

    Jennifer Houlihan lives triumphantly in Georgia
    with her husband and their five children.

    Testimony

    Click to read Jennifer's
    Christian testimony.

    Categories

    All
    Clothes
    Exercise
    Hair
    Modesty
    Weight

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    September 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Sunset Sailor, Andrew Kalat, Broo_am (Andy B), Protonotarios, vitamindave, davidheavy2001, RLHyde, Emilio_13, Robynlou8