I Expected Worse

I replaced the batteries in the Wii Fit board and weighed this morning.  I honestly expected it to be in the upper 180's, possibly even in the 190's.  It is no secret that I have not done well for about the last 10-12 months.  I could make lots of excuses for this, but I will not.  
I knew what I was doing every time I made unhealthy choices.  I knew my weight was (once again) spiraling out of control.  My clothes got tight.  I got out the last few pair of "fat pants" that I owned.  You know what I am talking about.  We all have them.  A few months ago, those pants started getting tight.  Hello, tummy...
I have always been one who does best by weighing myself daily.  For about the past year, I have not.  In fact I haven't even owned a functional set of scales.  
Experts say to NOT weigh daily.  It seriously helps me stay on task though.   Seeing the difference in my daily weight will either motivate me to keep up the good work, or to try harder to make better choices that day.  I do not let it depress me if I have gained a pound one day.  I know that weight changes daily in either direction.  If I am up a pound one day, I just try harder to make healthy choices so that the next day my weight will (hopefully) go back down to where it was.  No big deal!
Okay, I'll cut to the chase.  After weighing in this morning my weight was...

181.5

Not as high as expected.  WHEW!  I also got out last summer's capri pants and they still fit!  Of course they are not as loose as they were, but they are on and comfortable.  Yippee!  

I still am focusing on SELF CONTROL for the week.  

"For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." 

          -2 Timothy 1:7

I need to set some short term goals for myself.  Any ideas?  How often do you weigh yourself, and why?  I would love your input!

Spring Break!

It is day one of SPRING BREAK!!!  

Can you tell I am excited?  A couple of my thoughts today...

I have lost the feeling of what it is like to just relax.  This morning it actually felt strange to just sit and not deal with the whirlwind of chaos that visits our home on a typical morning.  It also will be SO nice to not have a crazy schedule to keep up with this next week.  Between work, school, church, piano lessons, dance lessons, and everything else, the Manning's are a BUSY family!  We have a few things planned, but I am intentionally not booking up every single day of our break.  It is TIME to slow down!

SIMPLIFYING our days is a good thing in most ways, but not being on the go also means that I will have more time to munch.  It is definitely going to be a challenge to be healthy this week.  I am really guilty of munching on JUNK.  That is where the majority of this excess weight came from.
I do not eat because I am hungry.  I eat because I am bored or just simply mindlessly eat.  There is a book about that...  MUST stay on top of this, Beth!
I am going to continue to use http://caloriecount.about.com.  Knowing that I am going to have to enter a food at the end of the day makes me think twice before shoving it in my mouth.

I decided to go ahead and weigh myself this morning.  We do not own a set of scales, so I always use the Wii.  There definitely are advantages to this.  The Wii tracks my progress, so I can see how I have done over a long period of time.
Guess what?  When I got all situated and ready, the batteries were low in the Wii Fit board!  I decided to borrow some batteries out of M's remote controlled truck.  Guess what else?  Those batteries were also low!  Is that not just nice?  Luckily we use rechargable batteries, so I put one set on the charger.  All I could do was smile.  I guess I am really supposed to wait until Monday.  That will surely keep me motivated for the next day or so!

How do you keep track of your progress?  Do you have any tips for me?  I sure would love to hear about how you deal with your munchies!

A Great Way to Start My Day

You may have noticed the button for Proverbs 31 Ministries on my blog.  I like to read their daily devotionals.  This morning, I was skimming through and saw a topic that caught my attention.  

"The Verse That Made Me Cringe"

I enjoyed reading this one so much that I wanted to share it with you.  Here's the link.  

http://devotions.proverbs31.org/2011/03/the-verse-that-made-me-cringe.html

Hope you enjoy!

Perspective

I'm still REALLY motivated!  This is what I have prayed for... to have the DESIRE to live a healthier life for HIM.  I want not to be skinny, but to be HEALTHY.  Skinny is overrated.  Skinny is the WORLD'S view of what a woman should look like.  I don't really care about that.  I want what is best for me both physically AND spiritually.  If I'm focused on becoming what the magazines at the checkout stand say I should be, I'm just setting myself up for disappointment.  I want to be beautiful and I know I DO NOT have to be a "skinny girl" to be beautiful!

The title of this post was chosen as a result of something I just realized.  I entered everything I've eaten so far today at http://caloriecount.about.com.  It was 4:24pm and I had only eaten 506 calories all day!!!  Until the past few days, my calorie consumption by that time was AT LEAST twice this amount.  

Apparently I've chosen really good foods to eat today.  I'm not even hungry!  I have spread my meals and snacks out throughout the day.  I think this helps.  

Everyone always says to do that, but it's just really difficult when you're busy.  I'm going to make a point of keeping snacks in my backpack or purse.  Today I had a granola bar in my backpack and didn't have time to finish it.  I ate half and stuck the other half back into my backpack.  After class I realized I wasn't hungry.  I decided to put off eating the other half.  I never did.  When I got home I fixed an actual lunch.  This worked out well because I could read all my labels and make sure I put things on my plate that were actually worth eating.  Things that would be halfway healthy and fill me up!

Mitchell and I are going to have a movie night tonight, so I'm saving up some of my calories for then.  I'm thinking I may have some popcorn!  

Here's a list of some of my favorite things to eat.  I think you'll see why my perspective changed this afternoon seeing what I had NOT consumed!

• One 20 ounce Coca-Cola contains 240 calories. 
• One Cadbury Egg (my favorite!), 170 calories.  This surprised me.  I thought it would be more. 
• Miss Vickie's Salt and Vinegar chips, 200 calories.  Can't eat Subway or Blimpie w/out these!
• Sweet Tea from Sonic (gave this up 2 years ago), 290 Calories. Yikes!!!
• Dove Chocolate, 220 Calories.
• Funyuns, 140 calories per ounce.  Who eats ONE OUNCE of any type of chip?!?
• McDonald's Double Cheeseburger, 440
• Large order of McD's Fries, 500.  WOW.  That is just gross, and it's one of my favorite SNACKS!
• Wendy's Chicken Nuggets (5 piece), 230
• Hardee's Loaded Omelet Biscuit, 610 Calories!  This doesn't include the hash rounds to go with it!

After I had Camryn, I would drive thru Hardee's every morning and get one of those 610 calorie biscuits along with a large order of hash rounds and a large Coca-cola.  That is AT LEAST 1300 calories in one meal.  Gross.  No wonder I weighed almost 200 pounds!  I'm so grateful that I'm past those days.

My word for the next week is going to be SELF-CONTROL.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.  And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."  

-Galatians 5:22-25

Do you have a word or scripture that you go to when you're struggling?  Feel free to share!  I need all the suggestions I can get.  

1,944

So today wasn't as great as yesterday.  I still did better than I have been lately.  The calorie count for the day is 1,944.  In my defense, I had fast food for every meal and still kept the count under 2,000.  Bad excuse, I know. I really need to try and stay away from fast food all together.  It's almost impossible to get healthy fast food!
Short post, but I've got to go study.  Test tomorrow and then it's SPRING BREAK!!!  I will be spending some much needed, quality time with my little man.  I love being a Mommy!

1,112

I made it through an entire day without chocolate!!!  The best part is that I'm not craving it now, either.  Another big thing for me today is that I managed to go caffeine free for the exception of my morning coffee.  I had about 1 1/2 mugs first thing.
A friend of mine lost a TON of weight doing the HCG diet.  I've done some research and don't think it is the thing for me.  BUT it did motivate me to start really paying attention to my caloric intake.
I've used the website http://caloriecount.about.com before and decided to give it another try.  It is FREE and helps you keep track of what you're consuming.  SUPER user friendly, which is a must for me!
Today I managed to only eat 1,112 calories all day!  WOOHOO!

Here are some challenges I'm setting for myself:

1.  Monday (3/21)  I WILL weigh myself and POST.  Got to have that accountability.
2.  Daily I WILL keep track of what I'm consuming!
4.  Within the next week I WILL take a picture of myself.  Head to toe shot, that doesn't hide anything.  My goal with this is to take one a month to SEE the progress.
3.  I WON'T lose sight of WHO I'm doing this for!

"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?"  -1 Corinthians 6:19

Do you have any advice or tips to share with me as a try to (once again) get healthy???  I'm open to suggestions!

Be a DOER!

AVOIDANCE

a·void·ance

 

[uh-void-ns] 

-noun, The act of avoiding or keeping away from

  

What is the deal with this word?  Well, it is definitely what I have (or have not) been doing... lots of talking, but not much doing.  I am pretty sure that is what we call a hypocrite...  I am AVOIDING everything I know I need to do.  I am avoiding the things that I say I believe I need to do to better my health and be a better me.

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."  -James 1:22

Did you catch that?  DO NOT BE A HYPOCRITE!!!  Be DOERS or the word... DOERS.  DO something!  How am I DOING?  Not only with living out the word, but with my everyday choices.  Are my choices truly glorifying my AWESOME God?  Choices such as what I put in my mouth, how I spend my time, and how I use my energy.

Well, mostly for the last several months it's been junk and TOO much of it.  I guess you could say I have completely fallen off the wagon... and onto the couch.  


With my nutrition...
I am drinking coke... real Coca-Cola, not even diet.  I'm eating all the wrong things.  Whatever is convenient, quick, and usually salty.  Then I chase the salty with something sweet.  I'm steadily spiraling out of control.  It is not like it is some big surprise.  know what choices I am making.  Choices that are not at all in my best interest.  I need to start DOING the right thing and make the right choices for my health.

With my time...
I am spending entirely too much time doing too many things that do not really matter.  For example, FACEBOOK.  This morning I chose to give it up for a week.  It is so easy to get on and next thing you know it has been way longer than intended.  If I really have that extra time (which I do not), I need to be DOING something meaningful!  Spend it in the WORD and also getting more active.  If I will spend my time and energy DOING things that really matter, everything else will fall into place.
 
With my energy...
I can and WILL be more active.  Walking to and from class does not count as exercise!  In our own home I have resources I can use, so even if I can't get out, I have no excuses!  I need to spend less time sitting and more time DOING.


This is a battle I CAN and WILL win.  In an earlier post, I mentioned that I have been reading and listening to a book, "Made to Crave" by Lysa Terkeurst.  It was honestly too convicting, so I put it away.  I could not handle admitting that I am where I am... almost right back where I was.
Today I woke up with a new attitude.  It is not an attitude that came from within ME.  It had to come from HIM.


Feeling motivated as I got into the car this morning, I got the CD back out and put it in.  I decided to start all over.  I NEED to do this.  Not so that I will fit into tiny clothing and meet the world's standard of beauty.  I need to do this for my GOD, myself, and my family.  How in the world can I be at my best if I am not healthy?  How can I be healthy if I don't even care about how I treat my body?  
I WILL NOT go on a "diet".  In my opinion, diets do not work.  Completely eliminating foods from one's diet is not natural, normal, or realistic.  It cannot last forever (unless you're Superwoman, which I am NOT!).
One thing I will do is fast.  If there is a food that I cannot get out of my head (chocolate), I will go without it until I can learn to turn to GOD instead of that food.  I have got to learn not to diet, or just eat foods that keep me full.  
I need to learn how to deal with cravings.  More times than I know, I have eaten an entire meal and been more than full, yet still wanted dessert.  Being full does NOT stop this girl from craving her sweet after salty!


My goal for this week is to stay focused on things that truly matter.  Stop the avoidance.  I will do my best to eat healthy, live healthy, and not waste time on things that don't really matter.  I am going to be a DOER!

My verse for the week is one that I already know.  I'm feeling like I need to be reminded of it though.  

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."  -2 Timothy 1:7