Renew my heart O Lord

Draw me close to you Holy Spirit.

Lord I come to You
Let my heart be changed, renewed.
flowing from the grace I found in You.

And Lord I have come to know
The weakness I see in me
Will be stripped away by the power of your Love.

Hold me close
Let Your love surround me
Bring me near draw me to your side

And as I wait
I'll rise up like the eagle
Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of your love

Lord unveil my eyes
Let me see you face to face
The knowledge of your love
As you live in me.

Lord renew my mind
As Your will unfolds in my life
In living every day by the power of your love.

Taken from "Power of your love" by Hillsong.

This is my prayer tonight Lord.

How I love the verses of this song.

Failed Week 1.

This week has been hard. I wont deny it. Converting to this way of eating is difficult and week one hasn't gone so well. It seems that trying to make two suppers is a nightmare as the kids do not want to eat what I am eating. Doing a roast chicken was fine as the family can have the rice and potato's, and I just skipped that, but many of our meals are dishes such as lasagna, macaroni cheese, spaghetti bolognaise, pesto pasta etc are all dishes that they love and I now cannot eat. On Thursday, I made a delicious meal of chicken breasts, with green beans, broccoli and baby cabbage. It was delicious, but everyone hated the cabbage and A hated the green beans too!

Yesterday I caved in, and we all had chicken wraps. I need to make a meal planner that will work for everyone.

Low Carb High Fat Diet

So, the aim of my Low Carb High Fat " diet", I hate the word diet as its an eating lifestyle is to become more healthy. I want to reduce my fatigue levels, and improve my overall health. Eating the LCHF way is  as follows: Eat good whole food, loads of veggies, a bit of fruit ( some say no fruit to start and introduce after two weeks), meat ( all kinds), and eggs. Now this is my kinda food. I love eggs! I can happily eat them every day if given the opportunity. Here is a list of " Yes" and "No" foods. Taken from http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf

Eat all you like

• Meat: Any type, including beef, pork, game meat, chicken, etc. Feel free to eat the fat on the meat as well as the skin on the chicken. If possible try to choose organic or grass fed meat.
• Fish and Shellfish: All kinds: Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel or herring are great. Avoid breading.
• Eggs: All kinds: Boiled, fried, omelettes, etc. Preferably choose organic eggs.
• Natural Fat, High-Fat Sauces: Using butter and cream when you cook can make your food taste better and make you feel more satiated. Try a Béarnaise or Hollandaise sauce, check the ingredients or make it yourself. Coconut oil and olive oil are also good options.
• Vegetables that Grow Above Ground: All kinds of cabbage, such as cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. Asparagus, zucchini, eggplant, olives, spinach, mushrooms, cucumber, lettuce, avocado, onions, peppers, tomatoes etc.
• Dairy products: Always select full-fat options like real butter, cream (40% fat), sour cream, Greek/Turkish yogurt and high-fat cheeses. Be careful with regular milk and skim milk as they contain a lot of milk sugar. Avoid flavored, sugary and low-fat products.
• Nuts: Good to eat instead of candy in front of the television (preferably in moderation).
• Berries: Okay in moderation, if you are not a super strict or sensitive. Good with whipped cream.

Avoid if you can

• Sugar: The worst. Soft drinks, candy, juice, sports drinks, chocolate, cakes, buns, pastries, ice cream, breakfast cereals. Preferably avoid sweeteners as well.
• Starch: Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, French fries, potato chips, porridge, muesli and so on. “Wholegrain products” are just less bad. Moderate amounts of root vegetables may be OK (unless you’re eating extremely low carb).
• Margarine: Industrially imitated butter with unnaturally high content of omega-6 fat. Has no health benefits, tastes bad. Statistically linked to asthma, allergies and other inflammatory diseases.
• Beer: Liquid bread. Full of rapidly absorbed carbs, unfortunately.
• Fruit: Very sweet, lots of sugar. Eat once in a while. Treat fruit as a natural form of candy.

Once in a while

You decide when the time is right. Your weight loss may slow down a bit.

• Alcohol: Dry wine (regular red or dry white wine), whisky, brandy, vodka and cocktails without sugar.
• Dark chocolate: Above 70 % cocoa, preferably just a bit.

Tonights Supper

Tonight's supper was a spicy chicken liver salad, made with loads of olive oil, and again olive oil was used as a salad dressing. Totally amazing.

Lunch time

I was very fortunate to be at a deli during lunch time and ordered a smoked ham salad. Looks good doesn't it!

Oh dear

So I found out that fruit is forbidden for the first two weeks or so..... Oh dear.

I will not give up fruit but if its just for two weeks, then I will give it a bash!

Breakfast Day 1

Breakfast Day 1

I dont know how much fruit you are allowed, but I will not give up fruit. I am quiet happy to have say 2 portions a day and am sure that as long as its not including banana it should be fine. Today is pear, with a kiwi and strawberries. Okay, its 3 fruit, but lets face it, Kiwi's are tiny things and its all good low carb fruit.
I added a handful of sunflower seeds, rich in Selenium and Vit E and a table spoon of melted coconut oil, which is high in good fatty acid. Overall a great breakfast.

Starting the Loc Carb High Carb Diet

So today begins my "official" low carb high fat diary.
I have been on this for a month or now, but not following the rules 100% and decided that from 01 November, I would set some goals in place and actually write down what I want to achieve.

I want to improve my health and weight. I only need to lose a bit of weight, being 2 kg's only, I have been really struggling to get down to my goal weight range. Another goal has been to get fitter, and so I have been going back to the gym as and started adding some resistance training to my normal cardio routine.

My downfalls have been the week end. This is because the weekly meal routine seems to go out of the window and I end up going back to cheese rolls and sandwiches. Supper time is also hard as I cannot keep preparing separate meals for myself and the family.

I am also starting a LCHF training course by nutritionist Sally Ann Creed, who is an inspiration to me and about to buy her recipe book with Dr Tim Noakes called The Real Meal Revolution as I desperately need some meal planners here.

So, join me on my LCHF journey to health and perhaps you will be inspired to change the way you look at your food yourself.

50 Geocaches

Wow, since my last blog we have found 50, yes 50 geocaches. Cool hey. Tomorrow I will post some pics on our adventures we have had as well as a pic of the new GPS that I am still trying to figure out how to use, my Garmin GPSmap 62s

My new hobby GEOCACHING

I have a new hobby called GEOCACHING.

Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world.

A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook where the geocacher enters the date they found it and signs it with their established code name. After signing the log, the cache must be placed back exactly where the person found it. Larger containers such as plastic storage containers (Tupperware or similar) or ammunition boxes can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little financial value, although sometimes they are sentimental. Geocaching shares many aspects withbenchmarking, trigpointing, orienteering, treasure-hunting, letterboxing, and waymarking.

This is way fun and very adventurous and gets you to visit area's right under your nose that you never knew about. We have had such fun locating these caches in the last few weeks and the kids are so delighted when they find them.

Kicked out of my lounge

The adults lounge is exactly that. A place where the kids are not supposed to be, so us grown up's can have a life and chill out too! Well, that normally is the idea. However today, the adults lounge has been overtaken by Adam, because he does not want to watch Jordan's DVD with her. He wants to watch his own DVD.
I chuckle seeing Jordan curled up on her couch watching a movie about a horse called " Flicker" and Adam curled up on my couch watching kiddies Star Wars.

Girls will be girls and boys will be boys.

8 Great Prayers over your kids

I am really struggling right now with one of my kids. We just seem to be clashing over everything and its so discouraging. It was even hard to pray as my heart was so hard with anger. Now that I am calmer, ( I have been meditating on Gods word on hope and peace), I have the strength to pray scriptures over the kids, and to start "circling" them again with God's word.        

                                                                             

The Bible is full of verses which express His will for your kids and His plans for them both in this life and in the life to come. Let me encourage you to let His Word shape your prayers for your children. Whether they are young or adult children, put their names in these verses to personalize them and pray them with confidence and hope:

“For I know the plans I have for you,”says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. You will find Me when you seek Me, if you look for Me in earnest” (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

• That they would be “taught of the Lord” and great will be their peace (Isaiah 54:13)
• That they would hide His Word in their hearts (Psalm 119:11)
• That God would fill them with the knowledge of His will so they can walk in a way that’s pleasing to Him and their life will bear fruit (Col. 1:9)
• That their hearts would be flooded with light so they could understand the wonderful future God has promised to those He called (Ephesians 1:17-19)
• That they would trust in the Lord with all their hearts and not lean on their own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6)
• That they would not worry or be afraid but pray about everything, and the peace of God would guard their hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-9)
• That God’s favor would surround them like a shield whether at school or work (Psalm 5:12)

Taken from Cheri Fuller

www.cherifuller.com

My little Miracle

People often equate a miracle to something huge, such as Moses parting the red sea or Jesus raising Lazarus from  the dead. But that’s not true. We get “little” miracles as well. But that does not mean that its anything less than a miracle.

I want to share a testimony with you.

Last week Thursday, I lost ( Robs) grandmothers ring. It was an inheritance, and it was going to be passed down to Jordan when her “Oupie” died. Rob’s dad had given it to him for safe keeping.

We had retraced our steps and it had gone missing one of three places, which of course it was not there.

Rob went into a downer for a few days ( which was hard to see), and I was totally beside myself. I prayed and prayed like never before, yet  I was not despondent. I kept going to Jesus saying, God, this is such a petty matter to you, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me. Part of me felt so stupid asking God to please help find a ring. Sounds silly, doesn't it!

I put an advert in the Peoples Post which my husband thought was pointless. He said, “lets face it, its gone and I have no idea how I am going to tell my dad!” I prayed over and over for the Holy Spirit to soften the person’s heart to come forward and contact me.

The Peoples Post came out today, and low and behold the person who found the ring called us.

I tried not to get excited as Rob went to meet the gentleman in Ocean View. A Mr C found the ring. He lives in very poor part of Ocean View. When he got there, the entire family had arrived and was seated in this tiny little room. He told Rob that his daughter was getting married soon and he wanted to give the ring to her, but when he saw the advert, he said it was the Christian thing to call us.

Rob then called me to say, “yes, it’s the ring”. I burst into tears.

I believe God answered my prayer because I had faith, but the real reason was that I was part of the community project last week end in Ocean View. I believe that because I was there, loving people from Ocean view,  washing their feet and praying for them, that God moved in faith. I believe that God moves when we move. When we commit to him and move out of our comfort zone and go beyond ourselves for Jesus’s sake, God honours this. I once heard Pastor Steve Brammer say in a sermon Faith= Hope+ Action.

I cannot take the glory by being helpful  this week end.  Its God’s glory, but its a testimony of how great God is, and how much he cares for us that he is willing to restore to us a little thing as a ring!

Time for God

Make your quiet time no1. priority in your day. Remember, your quiet time is your meeting with God.

Psalm 34

Ps 34 1 I will praise the LORD at all times;
I will constantly speak is praises.
2 I will boast only in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, come, lets tell of the Lord's greatness.
and let us exalt his name together!

Diet starts tomorrow

Well the old adage "diet starts tomorrow" applies to me. The culprit has been my favorite "foundry", and so it will be shelved for the next month and a half until the next holiday!!
I am also soooo tired of red meat, so desperate for raw veggies, so it will be a happy conversion from the one to other other!

Anyone keen on eating raw food too, let me know and we can share some nice receipes!

Xx

Regards
Karen Lawrence-African Shark Eco-Charters.
+27826749454

Donkey's

Hi
On way to Keetmanshoop ( no where dorpie) via Windhoek. Rob dropped a cup on the Garmin and cracked the screen. Now its acting up, so we may come home via some strange route ( ha ha). Loads of cattle, donkeys and goats on the road and Rob has to constantly stop or slow down for them. Its pretty bad!
We think Adam has a bladder infection or similar ( although he isn't sore) so we have been constantly stopping every 15 minutes for wee's. Its added a huge amount of extra time to our travelling. On our fishing trip the other day he was peeing every 2 minutes.

Adam has taken a liking to Aladin, his new hero, and has this saying he has copied..."Alright, alright, I got the message", when ever you ask him to do something he says this. Its quiet funny!

That's us for now! Cheers
Regards
Karen Lawrence-African Shark Eco-Charters.
+27826749454

Fishing fun

We have just finished our last leg of our holiday and are slowly making our way back to Cape Town.

Guma Lagoon Camp is situated on the Okavango Delta. Its very much a fishing spot and if you don't like fishing then you may be very bored. The deep sand road is only accessible via a 4x4 into the camp, badly sign posted and shocking. For 20 minutes we were thrown about as Rob zigzaged the twists and turns.
The camp site was pretty, shady and had its own private toilet and shower. After we set up camp, we all went for a swim and then for a nice boat ride in the channels. There were so many Fish Eagles on the tree's and the reeds as well as Kingfishers, Purple Heron's, Bitterns and Darters. I am not a fan of crocodiles and didn't appreciate seeing them.
The next day we hired a boat and went fishing. The kids were so excited when Adam caught a fish. It was a slimy Barbel, but that didn't matter! Rob caught a nice sized Bream, and we cooked it on the braai. It was yummy!
We came across another snake in the camp. Rob think's it was a Cobra, but as I left the snake book at home, ( and surprisingly the camp didn't have one either), we couldn't confirm it. It was a beautiful snake but I was very happy when it went into the bushes.
The kids loved the resident Collie dog and together with the kids from the next campsite, had such fun playing soccer with him.
All in all it was a wonderful two days. The reception staff were not friendly. My staff are warm, bubbly and helpful and so I find it very off putting when I come across bland guides and stony faced front desk staff that clearly need a kick up the ass or shouldn't be in that job!

We are now travelling towards the Kalahari desert. Hours and hours of nothing are ahead of us. The road is suprisingly bad and even the Garmien has warned us of potholes.
We may have to replace some tyres when we are home!
Regards
Karen Lawrence-African Shark Eco-Charters.
+27826749454

Fishing fun

We have just finished our last leg of our holiday and are slowly making our way back to Cape Town.

Guma Lagoon Camp is situated on the Okavango Delta. Its very much a fishing spot and if you don't like fishing then you may be very bored. The deep sand road is only accessible via a 4x4 into the camp, badly sign posted and shocking. For 20 minutes we were thrown about as Rob zigzaged the twists and turns.
The camp site was pretty, shady and had its own private toilet and shower. After we set up camp, we all went for a swim and then for a nice boat ride in the channels. There were so many Fish Eagles on the tree's and the reeds as well as Kingfishers, Purple Heron's, Bitterns and Darters. I am not a fan of crocodiles and didn't appreciate seeing them.
The next day we hired a boat and went fishing. The kids were so excited when Adam caught a fish. It was a slimy Barbel, but that didn't matter! Rob caught a nice sized Bream, and we cooked it on the braai. It was yummy!
We came across another snake in the camp. Rob think's it was a Cobra, but as I left the snake book at home, ( and surprisingly the camp didn't have one either), we couldn't confirm it. It was a beautiful snake but I was very happy when it went into the bushes.
The kids loved the resident Collie dog and together with the kids from the next campsite, had such fun playing soccer with him.
All in all it was a wonderful two days. The reception staff were not friendly. My staff are warm, bubbly and helpful and so I find it very off putting when I come across bland guides and stony faced front desk staff that clearly need a kick up the ass or shouldn't be in that job!

We are now travelling towards the Kalahari desert. Hours and hours of nothing are ahead of us. The road is suprisingly bad and even the Garmien has warned us of potholes.
We may have to replace some tyres when we are home!
Regards
Karen Lawrence-African Shark Eco-Charters.
+27826749454

Fishing fun

We have just finished our last leg of our holiday and are slowly making our way back to Cape Town.

Guma Lagoon Camp is situated on the Okavango Delta. Its very much a fishing spot and if you don't like fishing then you may be very bored. The deep sand road is only accessible via a 4x4 into the camp, badly sign posted and shocking. For 20 minutes we were thrown about as Rob zigzaged the twists and turns.
The camp site was pretty, shady and had its own private toilet and shower. After we set up camp, we all went for a swim and then for a nice boat ride in the channels. There were so many Fish Eagles on the tree's and the reeds as well as Kingfishers, Purple Heron's, Bitterns and Darters. I am not a fan of crocodiles and didn't appreciate seeing them.
The next day we hired a boat and went fishing. The kids were so excited when Adam caught a fish. It was a slimy Barbel, but that didn't matter! Rob caught a nice sized Bream, and we cooked it on the braai. It was yummy!
We came across another snake in the camp. Rob think's it was a Cobra, but as I left the snake book at home, ( and surprisingly the camp didn't have one either), we couldn't confirm it. It was a beautiful snake but I was very happy when it went into the bushes.
The kids loved the resident Collie dog and together with the kids from the next campsite, had such fun playing soccer with him.
All in all it was a wonderful two days. The reception staff were not friendly. My staff are warm, bubbly and helpful and so I find it very off putting when I come across bland guides and stony faced front desk staff that clearly need a kick up the ass or shouldn't be in that job!

We are now travelling towards the Kalahari desert. Hours and hours of nothing are ahead of us. The road is suprisingly bad and even the Garmien has warned us of potholes.
We may have to replace some tyres when we are home!
Regards
Karen Lawrence-African Shark Eco-Charters.
+27826749454