In the Name of Science

All the kids had a great time with the Edible Cell

I've never been much of a science gal, most likely because of the boring way it was taught to me. Who wants to sit and read about all these scientific details that mean absolutely nothing to me? Yah, well, I didn't. But science is one of those subjects that homeschooling has brought fun into. I absolutely love teaching my kids science and I love learning along side of them.

We spent the first two weeks - 4 days really -- love the Apologia schedule -- learning about the history of anatomy and about the cell. Friday we had our first big project. There's another homeschooling family at our church that is doing the same curriculum this year so they joined us in making an Edible Cell. What better way to help the kids remember the parts of the cell than to have them build their own by sticking candies (organelles) into jello (cytoplasm)? I will forever remember that the mitochondria is bean shaped - as in jelly bean. Jelly Belly to be exact. We had skittles for lysosomes, fruit rollups for endoplasmic reticulum - some with nerds added as ribosomes, smarties were the golgi bodies, bits of licorice were centrioles and we finished it up with a big gumball as the nucleus. Will they (or I) remember every single thing we learned about each organelle and its function? Doubtful. But will they remember more than if they had just cracked open a (boring) textbook and mindlessly read about it? Absolutely. And most importantly, it's the hands-on learning that makes it an everyday part of our lives. Because I was right along side of them stuffing my cytoplasm with lysosomes and mitochondria, I'm now knowledgeable enough to have discussions with them about it. So next time they break open a box of nerds, maybe - just maybe - they'll think to themselves "I think I'll eat some endoplasmic reticulum today." And if not, I'll be able to remind them what they're eating without running to the book or a teacher's manual.

Adding the organelles

Liberty just wanted to pick out the candies I put in hers

so proud!

Looking good!

She stuffed hers full!

After they were finished, we flipped them out onto a plate and you could see all the different organelles floating in the cytoplasm. Awesome!

Catching Up

It's been awhile since I've actually blogged anything and I've been making a lot of changes. Since the experience of my juice fast, I've made some lifestyle changes in order to be healthier. I joined a gym and now workout 4-6 times each week. I'm eating a lot better than I was. I've been asked if I'm on a diet or meal plans and the simple answer is no. If I'm truly going to lose weight, keep it off and become a healthier person, I have to make sustainable changes. Starving or depriving myself won't work. So I'm making changes I can live with. I switched from 1% to skim milk and cut my breakfast serving by half. Let me tell you, that was hard because I love my milk! I cut out almost all white bread and have switched to Ezekial 4:9 bread. No more sugary evening snacks! This is a tricky one for me. On the nights that I'm hitting the gym, I come home and have a post-workout snack and am satisfied. But if I don't workout at night, I'll want some kind of dessert-y snack. I did make the switch from ice cream to lowfat frozen yogurt so I can still enjoy a treat every once in awhile. Lunch mainly consists of spinach, avocado, hard-boiled eggs and other veggies. Sometimes in a salad, other times in a quesadilla. Basically, the biggest thing was taking the processed, refined sugary foods that I was eating every day and making them "sometimes foods." Do I still love a good mountain dew? Heck ya! But instead of having one (or four) every day, I'll have one every week or two. Another big thing was taking the time to actually think about why I feel the need to eat something. Planning out special "cheat" times helps keep "impulse" eating at bay. I'm able to tell myself, you don't "need" a dew. You want one because you think it will help you feel less stressed. Instead of giving into the temptation of satisfying my needs with food, I can turn to God with a quiet prayer asking for strength to deal with my daily stresses. Much better choice! 

Liberty playing with my 8 lb. "abs" workout ball

I am now eating to live rather than living to eat. I still feel sad about giving up my old lifestyle. I mean, c'mon, I love to eat! But I spent too many years justifying my habits. And if I'm going to spend hours working my booty off at the gym, I'm sure not going to wreck it all for a few moments of false happiness.