Changing Your Life

What does it mean to change your lifestyle?  It means you never look back.  I don't think it means that you never mess up - I think it means that when you do fall flat on your face (ex: way too much peanut butter fudge!) you get back up, dust yourself off, and keep moving forward!

We made it through a 12 week session of First Place.  I'm so proud of the girls that were in the group, and I look forward to seeing some of them again in a second session starting in January.

In the mean time, I've continued to work out at Bally's at least once a week.  I need to get more active again.  I've lost a total of about 20 pounds!  I'm around 190 now (I have been floating between 190-193 for a month now).  The only reason I haven't broken the 190 barrier is because of my own shortcomings... not exercising enough and not being strict on my diet.

But what's great is that I see the lifestyle change - I LOVE to work out now and when I go to Bally's I'm pushing myself to try new things and do them harder.  I ran on the treadmill tonight for a quarter mile.  That is something I could NEVER do before.

I could go over all the reasons why it's SO worth changing your life and becoming more healthy - do it for yourself, do it for your spouse, do it for your kids, do it for God... the real question is - why not do it?

We only have one life.  Live it.  Now.

First Place

Once again, it's been a while since I've posted. Thanks to everyone who puts up with my inconsistency and reads when I get around to writing. :)

I have just begun leading a class called First Place and I'm really excited about what God is going to do. After this first week, I can already tell that this is going to be a big push for me to be consistent in my own physical/spiritual/mental/emotional health. I feel like I've been slack in a few areas this week, but remain strong in God's grace to cover my weaknesses. My life verse is 2 Corinthians 12:9-10...

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

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On another news, as it begins to get busy at work again, I find myself once again struggling with contenment in my current situation. But I pray above my own doubts, impatience, or struggles - I pray for God to use me for His will... He is faithful, and His purpose is greater than what I will ever know or understand. He has me where I'm at... in this exact time and exact place, for a purpose.

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I love my work, you know, the actual productive work... it's the non-productive work that i think realy wears me down. Virus-infected computers, spam mail, crashing software, ringing phones... all the things that keep me from being productive... not to mention my own distractions which would be hinderance enough without all the others.... I hate not being productive, especially because I feel like it hinders me from doing God's work...

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Victoria starts Preschool in two weeks!
And she's farely succesfully conquered potty training! We still have accidents here or there, but man this is great!
We're struggling with bedtime battles these days...

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Keith got major brownie points... found us a Wii Fit at Wal-mart this weekend. We've had lots of fun so far, and it's great knowing your burning calories at the same time! I managed to break 300 on the hula hoop!

"I Dare You To Move"

I know, I know... I am SUCH a slacker for not blogging in the past couple of months! Please forgive me! But here we are and I felt like it was time I update you on how things are going.

As you may remember (from previous 'episodes') I was doing really well with my eating, but kind of a slacker on the exercise. Well, for the past couple of weeks I've been walking at least 3 to 4 times a week, 2 miles a night. It's been great, and the past couple of times, I've actually been running parts of it! One of my dreams is to one day run in a marathon.

However, I've had a tough time staying committed to healthy eating. I blame part of it on the exercise, because i do think it has increased my appetite a little, but most of it is my fault! I've got to get back on the straight and narrow for this to work!

I've been pretty consistent with around 1 pound loss a week, although a few weeks ago I gained one - it was a little disheartening, but I had a feeling it was coming - that was the beginning of my fall back to eating not so good.

It's been tough because Keith's birthday was the end of last month, July 4th came around and yesterday was my birthday - so we've had major cookouts and get togethers.

But, I'm going to stay positive here! I WILL get back on track with my eating!

The really cool news is that in a few weeks I'll be starting a "First Place 4 Health" group at Bethel Baptist. For more information, check out http://www.firstplace.org/. I feel like God has given me such a passion now for good health (His way!) that I can't wait to encourage others in their journey.

I'd also like to start encouraging Keith more with his healthy living. We both need to lose weight and get healthy and I need to be as much of an encouragement to him as he is to me.

There's this song by Switchfoot called "I Dare You To Move" that I've always liked... here are the lyrics... I'll talk more about it aftewards...

Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here...Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now...Everybody waits for you now
What happens next...What happens next?

I dare you to move...I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move...I dare you to move
Like today never happened...Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout...Welcome to resistance
The tension is here...Tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

I dare you to move...I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move...I dare you to move
Like today never happened...Today never happened before

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move...I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move...I dare you to move
Like today never happened...Today never happened
Today never happened...Today never happened before

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This song has always encouraged me to move beyond my selfishness and laziness... to become who I know I can be. I've always known that I can be at a healthy weight, but it was just a matter of getting up off the floor and doing it.

So often we get caught up in our circumstances - we want pity, we want to complain, we want congratulations and a pat on the back... but whether are circumstances are good or bad, we shoudl live above them - knowing that God has all our steps laid out ahead of us... knowing that life is about more than this very moment.

There's something about that thought that motivates me in this journey. My life is more than about this moment... it's about more than the pain I feel when I'm running and just want to quit... it's about more than that extra slice of pizza or that soda. Life is about so much more than that, and when we think of it in bigger terms, it helps to put things in perspective.

The song says to "live like today never happened before"... it makes me think about when I mess up... sometimes when we mess up (spiritually or physically) we let it get us so off track that we just go into this cycle of bad decisions. Instead, I would say that we should live every day and every moment as a new moment. Put the bad decisions in the past where they belong and start making smart decisions today.

You know, just writing this has been a big encouragement to me with the eating thing. Thank you Lord!

So, today is the day for a new start... and I'd like to encourage everyone else in that. Whether it is spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally... you can start new today... get up off the floor... stop living in misery about some circumstance in your life... Let's stop being Sunday Christians and start living our lives (every part of them) like it counts. God gives us the ultimate salvation of our souls... He is the creator of our bodies... He is the creator of every other human being and thing on this earth... shouldn't we start treating ourselves, others, and Him... like this is all true?

And so I say to you...
"Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here..."

The Spirit is Willing...

"Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." -Mark 14:36

What a great verse for this journey!

Jesus, Peter, James and John were in the Garden, and Jesus was preparing for his betrayal, arrest, and death. How intense it must have been to know what the near-future (and the far-future!) held for himself and his beloved disciples.

Peter had just 'assured' him earlier that he surely would not be the one to deny him. His spirit was surely willing to follow Jesus to the ends of the earth. But, as we see later on in the chapter, his flesh is weak - he does just as Jesus had said to him and denied him 3 times before the rooster crowed twice.

Later, as Jesus goes off to pray ("Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.") the three disciples fall asleep...repeatedly. Jesus has these stern, yet comforting words to say... "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (my emphasis added)

Here's what I think... Truly, in the journey to living a healthy life, and losing weight, there are plenty of temptations. But the key to strength in the midst of these temptations, the key to "not entering into" is to "watch and pray." We're repeatedly told throughout scripture that our bodies are to be temples of the Spirit... and other similar things. Our physical health and well being is obviously important to God... not because we look good when we're not obese... but because it shows discipline and the ability to overcome temptation, it shows that Christ is the center of our lives, not food!. However, just trying to do this on our own is obviously not God's plan (and in my opinion, not truly possible).

Through prayer we can overcome temptation and make wise choices!

Still at it!

I'm back! Sorry it's been a while since i've posted, but with traveling and the busyness of life, my good intentions haven't actually gotten me to writing.

Things are going well. At last Wednesday's weigh-in I had lost 2 pounds, which is great. I had already lost some prior to our first 'official' weigh-ins at church.

My bible study ladies and I are still walking every Wednesday, which has been a lot of fun and great to be able to fellowship.

More good news, I may start going to Bally's Total Fitness soon. Keith had a lifetime membership there from his bachelor days that he had allowed to go in-active. We're thinking of reactivating and transferring the membership to me! Yay! I really need to go hard-core on the exercise, and then be able to scale back as I get closer to my goal weight.

My wonderful husband is being 100% supportive. Up until now we hadn't totally cleansed the house of bad foods, but we're pretty much cleaned out now and on our next grocery store run are planning on getting all healthy foods and planning our dinners (breakfast & lunch are easy! Clif Bar and Lean Cuisine!). He's also committed to picking up Victoria in the afternoon's for me so that I can go to the gym.

It's been great to see how God is really working in me through this, I feel like as much of a physical change as it is, I'm also having a real heart and attitude change about my health and eating. I look forward to what lies ahead, and pray that God can use me to help other people who struggle with eating and health problems.

The Ups and Downs

I had a couple rough days as far as calories are concerned, but I'm not feeling the least bit discouraged, because even these "rough" days compare to the way I was eating before. I've cut down my soda intake so dramatically that when I have had one (and then it was a Coke Zero) it didn't really excite me that much. I need to figure out what I want to drink that has a flavor. Maybe lemonade.

According to my home scale (which is the one I've been using all along) I've already actually lost 10 pounds. This doesn't surprise me a whole lot, because of the amount of weight I need to lose, and the dramatic change in my food intake. Here's what has become a pretty average day of eating:

Breakfast:
Clif Energy Bar (70% organic ingredients, it's high in protein and made with organic oats & soybeans - it fills me up!)
1 bottle of deer park water (equal to approx. 3 8oz glasses)

Snack:
A small handful of cashews, or fruit

Lunch:
Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones meal
Another Bottle of water

Snack:
Bag of Veggies w/ ranch dip or string cheese

Dinner:
My favorite is spinach salad w/ strawberries, cashews, blackberries, light vidalia onion vinagerette & grilled chicken on top!

Snack:
String cheese, or a scoop of icecream if I've been good!

Now it becomes a Spiritual battle!

Well, we've been on this journey since Monday! Most of the time, five days does not seem like a lot of time, but on this journey, every day can be a victory and every day can be a challenge!

Today, it became more than just a physical battle... it became spiritual. I wasn't finding anything that appealed to me for breakfast... and so, for a brief moment, I considered what used to be my old fall back... Chick-fil-A. I was being tempted. I decided to go on sparkpeople.com and see how many calories were actually in a chicken biscuit from chick-fil-a. I was convinced NOT to go. I was not willing to sacrifice 400 calories to a chicken biscuit - not to mention the guilt that would have come later.

Before, I stopped for breakfast at Chick-Fil-A so much that it got to the point where when we pulled up, Victoria would say "1, coke, hashbrown." She had heard her mommy say "I'd like a #1 with a coke, and an extra order of hasbrowns" (the extra order was for her) that she knew exactly what I was going to say when I got there. I think that was part of my wake up call.

So, thanks to prayer and strength from God, I avoided the temptation. But it was proof that this battle has just gone spiritual!

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." ~1 Corinthians 10:13

What encouragement!

Thank you to all my friends and family for your encouragement and support over the last few days. I've gotten some great feedback, especially some of you who are going to take a shot at this journey as well.

It's my second day, and things are going great. I've been drinking a TON of water, and really watching my calories. If I can keep this up, and add exercise, I think I can really drop some weight. We'll see!

Tonight was the first night of leading a small group at church for women in the workforce. I had 3 ladies join me, which is great. I hope more will join us! These ladies are great! I let them know at the end of class about trying to change my lifestyle and they were all very encouraging. In fact, starting next week, we're going to start out our time by walking around the track that is behind the church. We'll start our discussion and prayer there, and then when we're done with 4 laps (a mile!) we'll go back inside to continue.

The ladies in the office and I are also talking about walking during our lunch break.

This is going to be such valuable time for me, because getting exercise in at the end of the day is so difficult for me, that every little bit will help!

My mom challenged me to a competition to lose 10 pounds. If anyone else is interested in a little friendly competition, and maybe some teamwork/exercise partnerships, etc... let me know. If you join SparkPeople (free on www.sparkpeople.com) we can set up a SparkTeam and keep each other committed.

A tool for the journey...

www.sparkpeople.com is a great resource for anyone trying to live a healthier lifestyle, or anyone trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle - it's a great way to track your nutrition, fitness, and other goals.

I had previously used sparkpeople.com (a totally free resource!) but lagged... now I've started back and accomplished two goals today!

I tracked all my eating today, something very important for controlling your caloric intake. Knowing I'm going to be entering information in really seems to help me control what I actually eat in the day...

Also, I actually managed to drink my full 8 glasses of water today! Whew! I had to add some crystal light to get through those last two!

"Let it be said of me..." and My new reason for blogging.

"let it be said of us that we lived to be a blessing for life...
let it be said of us by the fruit we leave behind...
let it be said of us that our hearts belonged to Jesus
let it be said of us that we spoke the words of life
let it be said of us that our heritage is blessing for life"
John Waller - "The Blessing"

I've heard it said "You can't be everything to everyone." That is so true.

I can't be the wife that others might want me to be, or the mother that others might want me to be. I can only be the best wife and mother that I know to be, and show my husband and my daughter the incredible love I have for them.

In the end, I cannot let other's criticism (whether outright or hidden) discourage me. I know who I answer to. Instead, I should examine my own life...

Jesus said, "Why do you look at the small piece of dust that is in your brother's eye, but you do not give attention to the large piece of wood in your eye? You are a hypocrite! Take out the large piece of wood from your eye first. Then you will see clearly to take out the small piece of dust from your brother's eye." These are good words for all of us.

Here's another worthy quote... something I aspire to do and be more and more every day... "She did not try to set others right; she only listened to and loved and understood her fellow creatures." (Eliza Keary)

I am only responsible to grow in Christ, give the glory to God, and "live to be a blessing for life..." and in the end... hopefully one day it will be said of me that my heritage was a blessing for life.

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It has been on my heart for some time now that, in the realm of health, I needed to change the way I live. Like many, this journey has been full of starts and stops. Two things, however, have not been present... I have not relied on God and his strength to keep me going, and I have not allowed others to be a part of this journey with me.

So here we are. I'm going to be taking measures over the course of the next week or so to change the way I live. Why?

Because...

~"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."

~I want to be healthy. Not necessarily thin (just a bonus!) but healthy. And at the rate I'm going, I'll have not only weight problems, but diabetes and cholesterol problems. How do I know this? Ask my dad. He's told me to get my life straight, or have the problems he's having now. It's about time I listen to dad. :)

~When I'm thirty, forty, fifty, and so on, I still want to be able to play with my daughter. The type of play will change, from running in the yard, to walking through the mall, to who knows what - but I want to be ready for it all.

So here we go! I would love your comments and feedback. I'll be greatly reducing my computer usage, but will be checking e-mail and updating my blog frequently (maybe daily?) with updates on how things are going. If you're reading this, it's probably because I've sent out an e-mail and invited you to be a part of this journey with me. I hope you will!

I've started by including some "before" pictures. This is me at 210lbs - April 14, 2008.