A lot of people have asked me how I did it, so I would like to share that with you. I am hesitant to say how I lost weight because I strongly believe that losing weight is a personal thing. I don’t ever want to suggest that my way is the one right way to lose weight. It is only my story.

My weight loss journey started back in May of 2010. I saw a picture of me, posted on facebook, from a tweet-up that I had organized for a local legislative candidate, and I could not believe that I was that fat. I mean, I knew I was big, but not that big! It was as if my eyes were opened that something needed to change.

It’s very hard to know where to start, when you realize one day that you are 100 pounds overweight. That’s a lot of weight to lose. That involves a lot of emotions to uncover and a lot of bad habits to unlearn.

The first book that really had a profound impact on my life and my weight was The Gabriel Method, by Jon Gabriel. Regardless of what anyone says about his method, the emotional impact of the book is life-changing. Jon Gabriel told me for the first time in my life, that it my being overweight was not a matter of will power or of “simply” cutting calories and increasing exercise. He also made me realize that my emotions were keeping me fat.

Please, if you have a large amount of weight to lose, read The Gabriel Method. It will change your life. Even if you want to use some other diet, it’s well worth the read.

When I started using Jon Gabriel’s approach, I added in more healthy foods that my body was starving for. The more I ate healthy foods, the more I began to realize that my body did not respond well to “junk,” including bread.

I used The Gabriel Method for a while, and lost 20 pounds. But, then, I leveled off. This was due more to personal issues I was dealing with than any flaw in the method itself.

After the start of 2011, I got serious about continuing my weight loss. After trying a few diets, I discovered low-carb, specifically, Atkins.

The new Atkins diet starts off with lots of non-starchy vegetables, meat, eggs, and cheese. After a while, you start adding other carbohydrates, such as nuts and berries. Eventually, you discover your personal carb tolerance.

I ate low carb and got down to 45 pounds below my starting weight. But, then I found that adding back in other carbohydrate foods was problematic for me.

It was then that I discovered the paleo, or primal, diet. Paleo means, essentially, eating like our paleolithic ancestors. No grains, no legumes, no dairy, no processed foods. Just vegetables, fruits, meats, eggs, herbs and spices, all in as close to their natural form as possible. (A great beginner paleo book is Everyday Paleo, by Sarah Fragoso.)

Because I was still doing very-low-carb Atkins, my switch to paleo only involved cutting out dairy, and paying a little more attention to food quality.

I cannot tell you how amazing I feel since I made the switch to paleo, and the fat is just melting off!

If you had told me a year ago that I would give up sugar, dairy, and grains, I would have said it was impossible, but since making the switch, any time I have eaten non-paleo foods, I have felt bad physically. That alone is enough motivation for me to stick to it. Besides, there are so many delicious paleo recipes out there! Feeling good and eating good quality, delicious food whenever I am hungry, without the need to count calories, carbs, or anything else – who wouldn’t love this diet?

Okay, maybe some people wouldn’t love it, but I do. I cannot stick to diets that require me to go hungry, and counting makes me crazy.

I have taken to thinking of my dietary restrictions as a food allergy. If I were allergic to peanuts, I would not say, but I love peanut butter, so I am going to eat it anyway! Gluten, dairy, sugar and processed foods were making me sick and fat. So, I don’t eat them! It’s that simple, at least in my mind.

Again, I am not asserting that this is the only way to lose weight. But, I have been asked what I did, so I wanted to share.

Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have, either in the comments, or by clicking on the “contact” link.

I have changed my approach to diet and the pounds have finally started coming off again. I am now officially 30 pounds less than I was when I started last year.

Unfortunately, I still have at least 70 more to go before I will be a healthy weight.

I have always struggled with my weight and have never really gotten it down to an actual “healthy” weight, but that is my goal this time. I understand so much more about my body and my emotional health, and my body-mind connection that I know I can do it this time.

As I have been going through this process, I have had to deal with the myriad of issues that have led to my unhealthy eating and weight gain.

That’s right, there are multiple issues. I think many people make the mistake of thinking that one thing leads to bad eating habits, but people are complex and, usually, the issues that make us fat are also complex.

I have found that it is too much to try to tackle every issue at once, so I am peeling them off one at a time as I peel off the pounds.

The most recent thing that caused my weight gain was dealing with my son’s emotional and cognitive-behavioral disorders. Around 5 years ago, he started having some major behavioral problems, outside the scope of normal behavior, and it was very consuming for our entire family. I did not know how to deal with him (I didn’t know what I was dealing with!) and, since I was at home with him full-time homeschooling, it was too much stress on me. I began going to the kitchen and eating a starchy, sugary snack whenever he had an episode. (Well, as soon as it was over.)

I have now lost the 30 pounds I gained during that time. My son has gotten the help that he needs and is doing great. I have learned how to deal with him and how to deal with my own stress. I no longer reach for food to medicate myself.

Now, that I have put that chapter of my life to bed, I am ready to tackle the next emotional eating issue and the next 15 pounds.

Having smaller goals is one way in which a large overall weight loss journey can become more manageable and achievable. And the small victories to celebrate along the way are very rewarding.

I have an overall plan of what kind of coaching I want to do, but I am also keeping an open mind as I learn about all the world of coaching has to offer.

I know the process of becoming a coach is going to be a very positive experience for me, as I apply what I learn to my own life, too. I am sure I will be using this blog to talk about some of the things I learn along the way.

For the soap-makers, here are two different melt and pour projects:

Valentine Heart Soap Tutorial and Another Valentine’s Day Soap

If you are looking for something sweet, try these:

Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Hearts

Chocolate-Covered Cherries

Jello Cupcakes for Valentine’s Day, or Any Day

And if you are looking for a non-edible, kid-friendly project, look no further:

Stuffed Felt Valentines – Kid Friendly Project

To find other past Valentine’s Day themed posts, use the search box or click “Valentines Day” in the tag cloud at the bottom of the right-most side bar.

So, what are you making this Valentine’s Day?

Last year, I started eating better and I lost 20 pounds.

Then the holidays came.

I behaved pretty well over Thanksgiving, but I was hosting Christmas, which means I had leftovers. Which means, I ate Christmas for a week.

What’s worse, I had family here from breakfast to dinner, so I made cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins, pumpkin bread, applesauce cake, fruit salad, mini-phyllo shell appetizers, French onion dip, served with crudites and chips, ham, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, (lots of veggie sides, as if that helped much), gingerbread cupcakes, chocolate cream pie, pecan squares, and I am sure that I am forgetting a few things.

But, I also had the best Christmas ever. Hanging out in our comfy clothes eating delicious food all day, talking, laughing, giving, receiving, and having an all around good time. I wouldn’t change a thing. Even if I did gain 10 pounds that month.

See, the key to enjoying the holidays is to… wait for it… enjoy the holidays! Don’t worry about “behaving” or avoiding “bad” foods. Have fun! Enjoy yourself! Whatever you do, don’t feel guilty.

Try not to eat yourself into a food coma (portion control is not a bad thing), but otherwise, relax. Go on a diet January 1 and you should lose the weight you gained by the time February rolls around.

But then, after a while, I stopped posting about some of those things. I started a different blog for homeschool posts. I stopped being so obsessively frugal. I also stopped being a Christian.

I decided not to talk about my religious de-conversion on All Things Hold Together, since I started a new blog to talk about that. I didn’t want everyone who I met though ATHT to know that I wasn’t a Christian anymore because I wasn’t ready for those relationships to possibly end.

I decided that, since I had stopped blogging about my personal life anyway, I would just turn ATHT into a crafting and cooking blog. I redesigned it to have a list of only those categories on the sidebar that were related to cooking, crafting, and soap making, even though all of my faith-related and other personal posts were still in the archives (and still are).

After a time, I decided that I really wasn’t being honest about who I was by continuing to blog at a formerly Christian site. The name, All Things Hold Together, even comes from a Bible verse, as any evangelical Christian would recognize. I felt like it was misleading.

So, I decided to import all of my posts about cooking, crafting, and soap making to this web address, which I already owned, for obvious reasons, but wasn’t using.

But then, I kind of stopped being crafty. I have other things that I need to focus my energy on. And I started a new diet (which I love, by the way), so I am not making many recipes any more. Most of my posts for the past several months have been from projects I did before and never posted.

So, I have made a decision. I am going to start using this blog to talk about… wait for it… my life. Again!

To recap: I started a personal blog, turned it into a craft/cooking blog, moved my craft/cooking blog to this site, and am now turning it into a personal blog.

Yeah, I have a hard time making up my mind!

Actually, life happens. And a domain name that is, well, my name is going to change as I change.

A site like charitytensel.com should be about Charity Tensel, anyway. (My religion blog, which is also about me, is also my name, but in anagram form Shatter Nicely.)

So, that’s the big news here. Funny, I just updated the name to “The Creative Endeavors of Charity Tensel” and made a new banner too. I am going to have to change that stuff.

I hope you keep reading and that I’m not too boring. I will still post any craft, soapy, or tasty things I happen to do. I will also be posting about other things that are going on in my life, and I have a lot going on right now. I am homeschooling, and getting my oldest ready to go to high school next year (his choice). I am trying to lose 100 pounds (I’m 20 pounds in). I am working on building my online writing career. And I am working on getting my personal finances in order and getting back to being frugal (but not obsessively).

I am not sure exactly what I will end up posting about. We’ll have to see how the blog shapes up.

I am going to give a general explanation of my method, rather than precise measurements, because there are a few variables.

For this you will need a loaf mold of any size. You can use an actual soap mold, or even a silicone bread loaf pan.

You also need melt and pour soap base, one or two non-bleeding colors, fragrance (if desired), and basic melt and pour soap making equipment (dishes, spoons, alcohol spray bottle, etc.).

You are going to make the first layer fill your mold about 3/4 of the way. The way I determine how much soap I need is to fill the mold to the desired level with water and measure that. Since I melt my soap base in a glass measuring cup anyway, it’s an easy way to figure out how much soap I will need. (When you are finished you can always weigh the soap for future reference.)

Cut up the soap into small chunks, filling the measuring cup over the desired level. (You will have a smaller volume once it melts.) Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between. As the soap melts, if you can tell that you will need more, add more until you reach the level you need in the measuring cup.

Once your soap is melted, add your base color (the white in the soap above) and fragrance. Pour into the mold and spritz with alcohol. Allow this layer to set until a thin skin starts to form on the cooled soap.

While the soap is cooling, prepare the next layer. Melt the soap and add your fragrance and contrasting color. You want this layer to still be hot when you pour it, so it breaks through the skin of the first layer.

Color being added to melted clear soap

Here is where you can get creative. Spray the first layer with alcohol. Then, pour the hot melted soap from a few inches (or more) above the loaf. You can pour in a straight line down the middle, or swirl in an S-shaped motion as you go. If you want, you can gently swirl with a bamboo skewer to add more effects. Just don’t overdo it or you will have just one solid color. Less is more! I suggest you try it the first time with only a straight pour (no skewer) to see how it looks before you play around.

When you finish pouring, spray with a final spritz of alcohol to remove all air bubbles on the surface. Allow the loaf to set until fully cooled and hardened.

The pattern on the top is cool, but you cannot see the swirl pattern until you unmold and cut your bars.

For this loaf I used a skewer only on one end. You can see that some bars have a simpler swirl pattern.

Play around with this simple technique and make it your own. Do different pours, experiment with skewers and other swirling objects, or even change the ratio of the two soaps. (Or use more than two!) It is an easy way to get spectacular bars of swirled soap.

For whatever reason, our after-Christmas wind-down has been kind of crazy!

Part of my new year goal setting and planning involved setting goals for my online publishing. For a few years now I have been making money online through some of my websites. This blog, and it’s predecessor AllThingsHoldTogether.com, have never made any money.

That is okay! I do this blog because I love sharing the things I make.

At the same time, I am going to be spending more time on my other websites and less time making crafts and fancy cooking and baking projects, as one of my goals this year is to bring in a bigger income from home.

I am still trying to figure out exactly what that means for this blog.

I have quite a few projects that I made and photographed, just waiting to be blogged, so this blog is not going anywhere anytime soon. And as soon as I figure out how often I plan on posting here, I will let you know.

My goal is to set a posting schedule for all my sites (to keep myself organized – and sane!), so my posting will be more regular here, too. (I’m not sure why I ever got out of the habit of posting every Sunday.)

In the meantime, I plan on having a new post up by the end of Wednesday.

Thanks for bearing with me! =)

I already made Split Pea Soup, using my leftover ham and the celery and carrots from the veggie platter.  But, I still had a lot of ham left, so I made a macaroni and cheese casserole, which also used up the leftover broccoli I had from the veggie platter.

I have always hated the taste of baked fresh broccoli.  It tastes dry and just yuck.  To remedy this, I threw the broccoli in with the boiling macaroni for the last minute.  Guess what – it worked!  The broccoli was not at all dry; it was delicious.

Macaroni and Cheese with Ham and Broccoli

2 cups dried macaroni
1 broccoli crown, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 large onion, diced
2 T butter
2 T flour
1/8 t black pepper
2 1/2 cups milk
6 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded or thinly sliced
6 oz pepper jack cheese, shredded or thinly sliced
1 – 2 cups diced cooked ham
1/2 t coarse sea salt
Breadcrumbs for sprinkling on top (I used seasoned)

Boil the macaroni according to package directions.  With one minute remaining, add broccoli.  Cook 1 minute and drain.  Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, cook the onion in the butter.  Allow onion and butter to brown slightly.  This will add flavor to the dish.  (Be careful not to burn!)

Once onion is cooked, add pepper and flour and stir.  Pour in milk and continue to cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened and bubbly.  Add in the cheese and stir gently until cheese is melted (or mostly melted).  Stir in broccoli, macaroni, ham, and salt.  Pour into a 2 quart casserole dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Bake at 350 for 30 – 35 minutes, until edges and top begin to brown and casserole is hot and bubbly.  Let sit for 10 – 15 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

I experimented with a few different methods for affixing the sprinkles. Here is the one that I thought worked best to achieve the look I wanted.

Holiday Sugar Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
Red and green sugars

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Combine flour, baking powder, and salt with a whisk in a bowl and set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by vanilla.  Add flour and mix to combine.

3. Pour each of the sugars onto a separate dish.  Using a small dough scoop (~1 1/4 inch), make a ball of dough.  You may have to roll it in your hands to get a smooth ball, but the scoop will ensure evenly sized cookies.  Flatten the ball slightly and press it into one color of sugar to evenly coat one side of the dough.  Place on parchment lined baking sheet, sugar side up.  Repeat, spacing the cookies an inch or more apart.

4. Bake 14 minutes, or until lightly golden on edges.  If using two sheets on two racks, switch racks half-way through.  Let cool slightly on pan, then transfer to wire racks to cool.

These store well for a few days, so you can make them ahead of time.

Enjoy!