Twisters All Around

For the past two days, tornadoes have decimated our state of Missouri. Homes and lives have been taken, but the people of Missouri are a tough bunch. I saw their determination not long after I arrived in this state from Indiana. In the flood of '93, I saw diverse crowds of people sand-bagging just blocks from where I lived. I stood on the street as the waters rose and I kept taking steps backward after the levee broke. Then I watched buildings enveloped by the waters of the Mississippi.

The tornadoes touched down just 20 miles north of my home. On the radar, our home was in the path, but the winds blew the storms north. My kids slept in the "tornado room," a basement room with no windows.

On a lighter note, since this is the last week of my blog, I'd like to go back to the beginning for a moment. My goals for the 12 weeks were:

• Purge my kitchen of high fat foods. I purged it once, then purged it again. It takes some persistence to keep the high fat foods out.
• Replace them with low fat versions. The first food I replaced was full fat ice cream, and we've been eating the low fat version ever since. Low fat sour cream and cream cheese soon followed, as well as incorporating more fruit into our diets.
• Follow a low fat lifestyle. I checked out recipes and ideas from About’s Low Fat Cooking site. I felt like I should have tried more recipes, but I really liked the ones I tried, so made them over and over.
• Be honest. If I reverted back to my unhealthy ways, I'd admit it and spill the beans. Fried Cheesecake on New Years Eve was my biggest faux pas.
• Cook healthier meals for the kids. This was the hardest part of the entire 12 weeks because my kids are so picky about what they eat.
• Post my progress. I'd talk about how I felt both physically and emotionally, and every Monday post my weekly weight loss. I stopped posting my weight loss because ultimately the resolution was not about losing weight, but about changing the way I ate.

Stay tuned for more updates!

DeAnne