YAY! for good food choices!

2.2 lbs this week!

Since Dec 29 I've lost 4.6, I feel like it's going slow, but at least in the right direction :)  Weightloss is one of the few things in life that is a positive when it's a negative :)

Yesterday my world was a little crazy. The car place called, totaling our Corolla, my computer was running super slow so the thing that should have take me 1/2 hour, I spent close to 2 hours on and its still not done, tons of choices, everyday stress.  And just the thought in general that I am going to disappoint someone... ugh:/

I needed a minute. A minute of peace.  So after work, I went to Roma's.  Soup and Salad.  That's it, not gnocchi, no pasta, no dessert.  It was so good. It's hard when you stress eat to make good choices, to change your 'I want' to 'I need'.  I want carbs and sauce to I need veggies and protein, but like all good choices in life, I am not sorry I made that one.

So there you have it this week's results.  Also think I am going to start drinking apple cider vinegar!  click the link and read!  Good stuff!

ugh

In the pure tradition of being honest, I am disgusted with myself.

My pants are cutting off my circulation.

Ugh.

And I stepped on the scale this morning only to discover that I weigh more than I've weighed in a decade.

Say it with me.

Ugh.

Yes, I know, this doesn't define me.

Yes, I know my pants size doesn't determine my heart.

Yes, I know Jesus loves me.

But it's me who is not thrilled with who I am.

Being disappointed did not stop me this morning, actually it motivated me to get my act together.

I read the bible.  I was a little confused because I thought i was told that Noah was a drunk and God used Him anyway... however in Gen 3 it says that he was righteous... I need to figure that out because it's bugging me. Either way, I am thankful that God uses me inspite of me.  In spite of my mistakes.  In spite of my short-comings.

I packed my breakfast (hard boiled eggs). Logged my food for the morning including my snacks for the day.  Instead of a cake for my birthday, my friend brought me fruit :)  she knows me and loves me!!

I will do my exercises this evening.  100 crunches, 60 pushups (I did 50 yesterday), stretching, and walking a mile and thinking about doing my kettle ball DVD. 

And for the record, not that you asked, if I would have been able to pick between Bob and Dolvett... Dolvett all the way! 

Also going to make this Broke Bean Stew

Living life in 3D

I really admire Pastor Chilly who is the Pastor at Real Church in the D. He lets Jesus use him to bring Hope to Detroit.  He brings a real/relevant and usually 'whoa' message every week.  I can't think of a time when I didn't leave challenged by a message he has delivered (and his awesome wife Netta is an awesome friend to me!)  Pastor Chilly has a Real Life Plan. ** one thing (there are many!) I admire about Pastor Chilly is that he leads by example, and he admits when he is less than perfect!

I like to think of it as living life in 3D.

Diet
Devotional
Discipline

You can check out his Real Life Plan here.

It is such a great way to think about it! For some people losing weight may be a diet, a quick fix to lose weight, but to me, it’s about what you eat, the good and the bad (and sometimes the ugly!).

Merriam Webster says Diet can be defined as:

a : food and drink regularly provided or consumedb : habitual nourishmentc : the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reasond : a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight
2: something provided or experienced repeatedly

I wrote out my own Real Life Plan:
Diet:
Stay within my WW points (32 + 47 extra)
Drink 96 ounces of water (minimum) – that’s ¾ gallon
Eat 5-7 servings of fruits and veggies (must be 0 point per WW guidelines)
Eat whole grains instead of ‘white’ carbs
Don’t overstuff myself – hey… what’s wrong with leftovers?
Eat in-between meals – but it must be a fruit or a veggie + protein

I am not going to limit myself with “don’t’s” as long as it is within my points.

Devotion:
Read my bible everyday
– I am in a study with friends with daily reading of the Chronological Bible
– 5 chapters a week with ‘my girls’ – currently we are studying Ezekial
– Memorize one scripture a week
– Dieter’s Prayer Book Devotional
– Live Loved/My Utmost for His Highest Devotional
– Journal/Blog
– Live Phil 3:13-14 EVERYDAY!

Discipline:
100 sit-ups everyday
Get 6-7 hours of sleep a night
Run/Go to gym 4 days a week
Read a God honoring book a month
More reading

When asked to comment today, here were my answers:
Diet: some good days… some not so good, I weigh in today at Weight Watchers. so who knows but I have been working on getting my fruits and veggies in. (+1.4 this week :/)
Devotion: probably best it’s ever been. it’s kind of crazy for me because I kind of felt like the ‘world’ was trying to invade my space, so I took that space and filled it with God’s Word – daily reading of the Chronological bible, reading 5 chapters a week/note taking on the book of Ezekial with my 11th grade girls I lead, following the Real church bible reading plan, and reading the ‘Utmost’ daily devotional, plus one from a dieter’s prayer devotional… And just started Rob Bell’s ‘Love wins’ and going to start ‘the poor will be glad’. (yeah – I know kind of crazy but I cut back on the TV I was watching, realized it wasn’t worthy of my time!)
Discipline: Only ran once this week (but it’s only Tuesday), plan on getting in 3 miles at least once, and gonna shoot for 4 on Saturday.

I will find victory!

I’m a little disappointed in +.8 this week. Of course, being that I had ALL my favorites at the grad party, it could have been so much worse.

I will find victory.

I will find victory in the fact that as stressed as I got at one point or another, I turned to Jesus, not food.

I will find victory in the fact that I ate 3 cookies, not 3 plate fulls.

I will find victory that in my favorites, there were healthy options for me and others!

I will find victory in ONLY +.8 when it could have easily been +8 (you know it’s true)

I will find victory in that I am an overcomer!

I will find victory that tomorrow is a new day!

I will find victory in that I’m still a loser (overall) and that makes me a winner!

as of late....

So I weighed in Tuesday, was thrilled, -2.2.  Total since back to WW, -15! 

Phyllis’s party is Satruday, and we have another party Sunday. Of all the things I am stressed out about… what the heck I’m going to eat on Saturday is top of the list! I want to have whatever I want, there’s a reason why I chose the food I did, I love it!!  And let’s just not forget that I could eat my weight (which is a lot) in homemade potato salad (I’m completely serious about this!). 

My next goal is –20.  I’m giving myself a month.  1 month, 5 lbs, seems reasonable.  Starting Sunday I will be running again.  I have put off my training long enough, I have to get in the game.  I have been so busy, but I need to make it a priority and I will be running 5 & 10K’s as some added ‘fun’.  Fun?  I know… not really.  So soon I’ll be checking for them.

So that’s it.  Stressed about eating…  yikes… 

I did download the free Craving God devotional onto my nook, it was free!  So I think that will also help, you can get it online too, delivered right to your emailbox.

Check out the website http://madetocrave.org/

Fat Club

I joined the fat club at work.  I was the first girl.  You put in $100 and in 12 weeks (or something) you need to lose 10 pounds. It’s totally doable in a safe way and it’s good motivation.  If you lose the 10 pounds, you get your money back, and anyone who doesn’t, their money goes into the pool and divided amongst anyone who does.

Soooo…. By the standards of every scale I weigh on, I’m there, EXCEPT the scale at work.  I seriously think it’s broken! I weigh in today, so I don’t know what the WW scale will same (I’m hoping for -2.2) and I’m going to be close by the changes in my scales.

I am trying not to think about it, I weigh in June 30, it is what it is.  I know that I’ve done a good job in making choices of what to eat and what not to eat.  I’ve counted my points, even yesterday, I was hungry, I didn’t have any points left for the day (I had 36 points left from my extra) but since today is weigh in day, I chose strawberries instead of anything else.

Of course we want to win.  But thankfully, this battle, it’s already won by the Lord, I just need to stay in His path, He will take care of it all.


James 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?


P.S I bought a pair of Capri's about 6 weeks ago... they were kind of tight... yesterday I got them off, without struggle and i didn't have to unbutton or unzip them :)

Sharing my Journey

I’m pretty excited about my weightloss this week!  -4.6 pounds!  Last week was +1.6 so seeing that number was pretty freaking awesome!  The best part? They asked me what brought me back to WW and I got to tell them, Jesus!  And the woman in front of me said ‘I’m not very religious, but I pray’.  Hmmm… maybe this is going to be a time to share the love of Jesus with her!  Every week I can’t wait to encourage her! 

I was thinking about the verse Josh 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

So true!  Don’t be discouraged. I thought I could have easily gone back to the old way of eating, skipped WW all together but this is my journey right now. It’s hard and exciting! 

I hit my first and second goal this week!  Woo hoo!!

This week's results!

So… I went to weight watchers yesterday… and I would have been happy with just breaking even. I know that late in the game (WW week) I ate things that were not the best choices, I wrote it all down


If you…

Bite it you write it
Drink it you ink it
Snack it you track it

Somehow I was -.4 which was good, I was happy! Sometimes a little grace goes your way. Sometimes you follow program to the ‘T’ and you don’t lose. The point is that this is a way of life, not a diet.

Our Pastor said before that success is doing the right things for long periods of time. Truth.

So this weekend will consist of working the garage and that will be some major calorie burnage. I’m hoping for a good week next week, I’d like to get to -10 soon! Right now -8.6 not too bad for my third weigh in (~1 month on the program).

Yesterday we ate at Johnny Carino’s… ate way too much bread and pasta, but it’s the meal after weight watchers so I pretty much eat whatever I want. It was YUMMY!

Today it’s back to program! Snacks packed, blueberries and bananas, and just figuring out what’s for lunch!

Grace.

I'm quite sure....

if I hated to eat, I’d be skinny LOL


What a weekend! I made lots of yummy food for a fundraiser dinner and then Sunday made tacos for lunch, and we had pizza and salad for dinner! Yum! I also made chocolate chip cookies for dessert to love on my family a little! I did write it all down, gotta figure out the points, but it’s written down!

I blew it, I expect to gain weight this week (weigh on Tuesday) but it is what it is. We move on or we move up (in weight) so today, I started with my usual 4 point breakfast and banana, had some blueberries for a snack and I will have a sensible dinner with veggies, no point in beating myself up about it. Some weeks are a little better than others, the cold rainy weather isn’t helping my running/exercise!

Planned my meals for the week, thankful that our mercies are new every morning!

Not defined!

Today is WW weigh in day. I don’t know how it happened that Tuesdays ended up my day, but I love the meeting lady, so I’ll stick with it, it does make me accountable over the weekend and makes me choose wisely. AND write all my points down.


I received the dining out companion and the big book of points plus AND it had the 3 month tracker, and I didn’t even know that was in there so I was super excited (doesn’t take much, huh?)

I did well this week, I watched everyday and did not have an ice cream on Sunday, even though I wanted it because I just didn’t have enough points. I plan a lot better and choose wisely. I don’t know how it happens some days and I know that even if I ‘fall off’ for one meal, it does not give me a pass to just go crazy.

I’m on a new medication for my PCOS and I don’t know if it’s working, apparently it takes 2 weeks to really get going in your system, and this is starting week 3. So we will see.

I believe that I cannot be measured by someone else’s ruler, and the scale does not define me. I did well this week, exercised, made good choices, and it doesn’t all come off in one week, and I had a great week this week.

So whatever the scale says, it doesn’t matter, I feel good this week putting healthy things in my body, not shoving my face into a vat of ice cream when my heart was breaking over missing my mom!

His grace is sufficient!

2 Cor 12:9 (NLT) Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

Tracking

Last year I tracked my weight on a website, I've been logging it this year, curious, I looked at where I was compared to last year's lowest weight...

I'm lower than any weight in 2009 :)

WOW! Still not defined!

I went to weigh in today and I was down 3.8, total of 17 lost! WOW!! HAPPY JON WHALEY DANCE FOR ME!!

But I'm still not defined by a number! it's all for Jesus! I have motivation posted in my kitchen with scripture!

it's about taking care of myself in so many ways to take care of others, to bring Glory to Him!!!! Its about saying "I'm different, I'm happy inside and I don't need food for comfort, because I find comfort in Him"

but I am happy!! 17 pounds, if I lose 1 pound a week for the next year, I will be SO close to my goal. And it's totally attainable. It's about good choices. It's about loving myself! It's about being the creation that God created, it's about so much more than food!!

Happy New Year, may you find the Love deep down inside of you to inspire you to be all that God created you to be.

Happy 'Face the Music Day'

So today's weight is official, I am up 2.6 from last Saturday!

You'd think I'd be in a bad mood, but really I'm not. I knew what to expect if I put junk in my mouth. Christmas Eve was bad!!

This morning I weighed in, and went to eat at my cousin's... what a breakfast we had!! YUMMMMM!!!

Then off to the mall with Corinne, Phyllis, Jhake, Becca, Malerie, & Jeff, we dropped them off and went to Ikea, and then to Twelve Oaks, crazy but fun!! I was going to get Sbarra but i knew it would be really bad...

Sbarro: Spinach/Tomato/Broccoli Stromboli Point 15
Zoup: Overstuffed bell pepper Points: 3
with Cali Veggie sand Points 7
Bread: Points 3

I saved two points but not just that, I KNOW it was a better choice, the food was so much better and healthier!

Today is Happy Face the Music Day

and tomorrow is

Happy Get back on track day!

Not gonna let it beat me!

I weighed in today... +1.6 so that means my over all is STILL -14.2

Lets see...

Yesterday...
I went to lunch with Sarah Gunter, ate at Ruby Tuesdays... made bad choices.
Didn't drink all my water
Didn't take my vitamins
Had tons of bad choice foods at our Ninth Grade Girls Christmas Party
Didn't drink all my Stay Calm with magnesium

But today... even though it's a holiday, it's still a new day.

I made good choices at breakfast, drank water, changed what we are having for breakfast tomorrow... was going to be eggs and bacon, biscuits and gravy, now it's fruit (cantelope, grapes, blackberries, pineapple, bananas, frozen blueberries, apples), eggs with ham & veggie (onion, spinach, mushroom, green pepper) casserole, all of which we LOVE!!

I will not fail, I will succeed. With God, all things are possible!!

There is no need to beat myself up, in the last week, that is a lesson I am learning, don't beat yourself up because of the mistakes you've made, learn from them (wisdom!!) the world does enough of that beating me up, I'm not skinny enough, pretty enough, smart enough... but in Christ, He is enough and because He is in me, and I am in Him, I am enough!!

A Holiday Week

Trying to figure out how I am going to weigh in this week. I might be able to weigh in on Saturday in Pontiac. I know that I'll have a good week if I put my mind and heart to it.

I've made my barley and spinach for the week's lunch. I will saute some mushrooms, onions, and garlic, add the barley and have the spinach with it. YUM! I stuffed my green peppers with it this week, and it was a hit in our house! I can't tell you how thankful I am to have the support of Phyllis in this because it's hard enough, I couldn't imagine if I had a child that turned her nose up at spinach, instead she choses it!!

Thursday is Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for having a good start on the Holidays, it will help me to stay motivated and not make poor choices or make the choice of eating too much of something. Our leader on Saturday read a quote that said... if you want a little behind, you've got to leave a little behind. Looking back at pictures today of just 6 years ago, and a little behind, I'm looking forward to a healthy lifestyle.

I might even bring spinach on Thursday so that it will help me stay on track (I REALLY! love spinach!)

So this week it was -2 for an overall weightloss of 12.2!!

This week!!

-7.2!!!

I gotta great post! but I'm going out with Phyllis!