Beautiful Things

So this morning on the way to church, my five year old was singing along with the radio.  This was the song that was playing.  I would definitely say it was "Something Beautiful"!

Day One

Here goes... On my way to the first morning of half marathon training.

I decided since it is the first day I needed some pictures and some stats...

I weighed this morning... 176.8.  My husband told me yesterday that he really wants to lose 25 pounds and wants to start on Monday.  Let's face it, I am only 5' 1.5"... I NEED to lose 25 pounds!  This is something I know I need to do slowly.  If there's anything I have learned about myself, it is that I am NEVER a successful crash dieter.  I think we are going to try following some of the Weight Watchers plan.  We have all the materials to do it, so why not?  I would LOVE to be 170 by my birthday, August 31st.  That is totally doable!  If I am less, that is just a plus.

After I got home from the walk/run, I took some pictures of myself in the clothes I went in this morning.  I would like to do this again in one month.  I MAY post them then.  If you really want to see me, come train with us!

Today I walked/ran 2 miles.  I am not sure of my time.  By the end of this week, I am supposed to walk/run a total of 9 miles.  This year I would really like to stick with the schedule they provide.  Last year I did not, and I think that was a HUGE contributor to me quitting.  

After... Day one is in the books!  I made it!

One day, one week, one pound, one step, one mile at a time... I AM GOING TO DO THIS!!!

If At First You Don't Succeed... WHAT Am I Doing?!!!

One year ago I had big plans.  I set a goal for myself.  I wanted to run the Soaring Wings Half Marathon.  Well, guess what?  I did not reach my goal.  Big surprise, huh?  That is a HUGE goal, especially for a girl who has never even participated in a 5K.  

About a month ago, I started getting emails about the training program that I participated in last year.  I questioned whether or not I should do it.  Actually, the first few emails immediately got deleted.  I had NO desire to do this.  I was not even going to consider it.  I could give you a million excuses...

1) Arkansas is HOT in the summer!  Especially right now.  We are in the middle of a drought and have had triple digit temperatures for most of the summer (and it is only July 7th!).

2) I am fat and self conscious attempting to run with all the beautiful "crazy runner people".

3) The training program is early in the morning.  I am NOT a morning person!

4) The training program is on Saturday mornings, and have I mentioned it is early in the morning?

5) I do not even like running.

6) I did not finish last year, so why should I waste my time this year.

7) I am too busy to do this and do it right.


These are just a few of the pitiful excuses I have had running through my head the past few weeks.

The early time of the training runs are one of the biggest contributors to my not wanting to do this and also to me quitting last year (yes, I will admit I was a QUITTER!).  I am SO not a morning person.  

Since I am posting this, I am sure you have already guessed that I changed my mind.  I am not real sure why.  I do not feel the pressure I felt last time that eventually caused me to quit.  I am not fast.  I have no desire to be fast.  Whether I walk or run... I want to FINISH.

This morning is the first day of training and wouldn't you know, I have been awake since 4:45!  How about that?  It was not by choice.  One of my kids woke me up.  I was wide awake and decided to go ahead and get up so that I am not dragging at 7am.

I am about to head out the door to go to the first training session.  I will fill you in later on how it all goes.  In the meantime, do you have any tips or suggestions or words of wisdom to keep me motivated?

Here goes.. Wish me luck!

 

Happy

So, I do not have time to go into great details, but I sort of had this huge boost of motivation this week.  I will post more about it later.  The reason I am posting right now is because I am really happy!  I just finished dinner and entered my food intake for the day on http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/account/index.php .  I still have 169 calories left for the day!  Another thing that I think is cool is that it says my carbohydrate intake is too low for today.  SCORE!!!!!

Just 10

Thoughts???

http://members.doctoroz.com/challenge/the-just-10-challenge

Walk & Talk

"Martin Sheen, Allison Janney, Dulé Hill, Joshua Malina, Melissa Fitzgerald and William Duffy reprise their West Wing roles walking and talking their way into the Oval Office. Why? To pass one last initiative with the President: To get America walking."


http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/3dc51a407a/walk-talk?playlist=featured_videos

CONVICTED!!!!!!!

Wow!  Okay, I have to share what just happened to me...  

I bought a piece of carrot cake last night from the Celebrate Recovery table at church.  I knew at the time I did not need it.  My friend Shane even walked in as I was scanning the table and said "You don't need that." I looked up and spouted off all my rationalizations to her as she walked by.  Then I paid for my cake, 3 cookies, a Diet Dr. Pepper (yuck!) for my husband, grabbed a bottle of water for me (it is healthy, right?), and walked out the door.  Mike and I shared the cookies and I ate half the piece of carrot cake.  I wrapped up the rest with the intentions of eating it later.  

This morning as I was taking my daughter to school I noticed that I had accidentally left the cake in my front seat.  I immediately thought "Mmm... that will make an AWESOME breakfast!"  The rest of the way to and from her school I thought about that stupid piece of cake.  On Mondays, C goes to a different school for GT and I always LOVE taking her because I get to see the lake in the mornings.  It is always amazing and makes me reflect on how blessed we are to be back here in our hometown.  

Want to hear something sad?  I was so obsessed with this cake that I honestly do not even remember noticing anything about the lake this morning except two men fishing on a boat that was pretty close to the causeway that I have to cross to get back into town. 

HOW PATHETIC IS THAT???

So I get home, clean up the kitchen from the before school craziness, and stick the half eaten piece of cake in the freezer to chill it quickly.  I really like cold desserts with warm coffee, and I just knew that this would be the perfect breakfast during my quiet time.

I get out all my Bibles (I use several different versions when studying) and get the table all situated to sit, read, and enjoy my yummy breakfast treat.  

CONFESSION:  I mostly just wanted to eat the cake and get on with the rest of it so I would have done my daily duty of ready scripture.  I know... HORRIBLE ATTITUDE!!!

I get the cake out of the freezer and it is chilled to the perfect temperature.  Yippee!  I top off my coffee and sit down.  Then, I open up my prayer journal and begin writing.  All of a sudden I feel this guilt.  I glance over and see the cake and think "That's really not a good breakfast."  I begin praying for all the things on my list.

As I am sitting here praying I think about how I really should be praying aloud.  I do not know about you, but when I pray aloud it is just... well... different.  This may sound silly to you, but I feel a stronger connection when my prayers are actually spoken aloud.  Not only do I feel a connection, but I typically feel more conviction.  I guess it is because I am audibly admitting my depravity before God and myself.  So I then begin praying aloud... the tears begin to flow.  

This is typical for me.  I tend to be a pretty emotional person.  It is simply how HE made me.  Sometimes I love it (like during prayer) and sometimes I hate it (like when I am angry).  So I sit here and pray and cry.  It is wonderful!  My attitude about my quiet time ALWAYS changes after prayer, especially after praying aloud.  It is like my mind is saying "Okay, Lord, I'm sorry for having such a cruddy attitude about spending time with you.  I'm ready... speak to me.", and then I dive into the Word.  HIS WORD.

I grab my ESV Bible.  This is the one I always begin with.  I feel like it is more accurate than NIV, NLT, or The Message because it is a more literal, "word for word" translation.  The others are "phrase for phrase".  I have this wonderful ESV that was a gift from my brother and sister in law.  It is a journaling Bible, so there are large lined side margins to jot down all my notes and thoughts as I study.

Today is April 23rd, so I flip open to Proverbs 23.  I begin to read...

"When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.  Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food..."

Hmm... I glance over at the cake.  "You don't need that."  I first think.  Then "It's only half a piece, and once it's gone it's gone.  No big deal."  

I look at these first few verses again and decide to read again in another version.  Quickly, I shove the first bite of cake into my mouth.  Grabbing the NIV I read "When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony..."  I immediately think "gross... what am I doing?"  

Keep in mind I'm still chewing at this point.

Then I move on to the NLT "When dining with a ruler, pay attention to what is put before you, big eater..."  Swallow... gag!  "Seriously?! WHAT are you doing you "BIG EATER'?!" I think as I chunk the remaining cake in the TRASH!

Take that, carrot cake!

I know that this scripture most likely means that we should be careful when eating with an important individual and be cautious of what they may be trying to accomplish.  The thing is though, this morning that is not at all what it meant to me!

This morning, I sat down with MY ruler... my KING.  I was so overcome by this dumb piece of cake that I was giving in to this craving and allowing myself to cave into temptation that I KNEW good and well I did not NEED.  I seriously felt sick.  Like vomit sick.  My obsession was totally putting God on the back burner and causing me to focus on something other than HIM.  

So here I made one decision... one CHOICE to throw that mess away.  I also made the choice to gladly finish my quiet time CAKE FREE!  You know what I feel now?  JOY!  Thank you, Lord, for conviction to make a healthier decision!

I remember reading one time about a woman who prayed that each time asking God to allow her to be sick each time she ate something unhealthy.  Not like in a weird, eating disorder sort of way, just when she ate unhealthy things.. like CAKE.  I must admit, I thought this was a little crazy.  This morning though, I totally experienced some bad feelings that I KNOW were a result of conviction.  Has anything like this ever happened to you?  What do you think about that woman's prayer?