I just re-read a little bit of my post from earlier and I realized I didn't go back and tell you about wht I learned from the nutrition guy at Center for Integrative Medicine. One of the things that he encouraged me to do was eat a breakfast high in protein. He suggested whole wheat bagels with peanut butter. I like bagels ok, so I thought that might work. He also suggested smoothies. I've never been much of a fan of smoothies, so I wasn't sure how that would go.
So I got my first pack of Lender's Wholewheat bagels, and that has become my breakfast of choice. Now I do change it up a little every other day or so. I toast it, spread peanut butter and then top it with some kind of fruit or fruit spread. I love slicing a banana to top it, but I have also found that Polaner sugar free apricot spread is YUMMO!! There are several different kinds of the sugar free spread. I do try to have a variety of them on hand so I don't get bored with it. This is a VERY filling breakfast.
When I first started eating the toasted bagels, I kind of figured I would get tired of them pretty quickly. I wanted to have another option on hand. A good friend of mine at school gave me a Special K protein drink. I have had SO MANY of those kind of things, and they are all gross. But THIS one was actually GOOD! I was surprised. (If you want a REALLY yummy treat, stick it in the freezer for a little bit. DELISH!!) Anyway...I was trying to come up with another high protein option for breakfast. Since those Special K drinks have about 10 grams per bottle, I decided to use it as a base for a smoothie. I then added some frozen strawberries and either a vanilla or strawberry Greek yogurt. The Greek part is really important because of, again, the protein content. Add a little crushed ice, blend it up, and BAM...you have a delicious tasting, VERY filling breakfast. The GREAT thing about these smoothies is, you can make them SO MANY different ways. Change up the fruit options, change the Greek yogurt options, or you can even change the Special K drink options. They have chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla.
So having a tasty, protein rich breakfast has been one of the major lifestyle changes I've made.
And yes. It does keep me full til I eat lunch. Since my students go to lunch at 10:45, I'm NEVER hungry, so I eat a little 2x3 rectangle of cheese and a few pretzels. Then, when I have my planning at 1:10, I eat lunch. Lunch is usually whatever I fixed for dinner the night before, or if I don't have left overs, I'll eat a bowl of cereal or a Special K meal bar. (Those are really good too!) Then when I get home, I'll start dinner. My kids always give me grief about eating so EARLY, but the pros will tell you that it's not good to eat a large meal late. So, I TRY to have dinner ready at 5:30. That doesn't always happen, but I try hard to have dinner finished by 6:30. Then I'm done. No snacks before bed. Again, can I PLEASE stress that I'm not anal about stuff. So...if I feel myself getting a little hungry, I'll eat a few peanut butter crackers.
And that's it. Nothing really weird. Just changes. Changes in the way I run my eating habits. Not a program. Not a diet. It's just my life. And it seems to be workin out pretty good!!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
The Big 5-0 Part 4
Ok. So I've given up Diet Coke and sweets. Isn't that enough?? Well. No. It isn't. What is the other thing that those smart folks that know about this stuff say? It's the 'E' word that everyone so hates. Yes friends. Exercise. I know it's a dirty word. But bein' honest here. If you want to lose weight you are going to have to use up more calories than you take in. Pretty simple idea really. Not that giving up my favorite beverage AND WalMart cupcakes with all that yummy icing wasn't hard enough...but man! Exercising was tough! It was hard because I was SO tired all the time. And I hurt. Everything hurt. And I was exhausted constantly. But...I repeated my mantra to myself and set my alarm for 5:00AM. When it went off, I groaned, but stumbled out of bed and down the stairs, and onto the treadmill. I tried to do this every morning. I wish I could say that it got easier and within a few days I was bouncing out of bed with a smile on my face and a spring in my step. But I can't say that. I have always HATED getting up early. I am NOT a morning person by ANY stretch of the imagination. What I did find, though, was that my stamina was increasing. Every few days I could bump up the speed just a little bit. And that was encouraging. I could see progress.
Another thing I started doing religiously was stretches and crunches. I started doing these while laying on my bed. That didn't hurt my back as much. I did these EVERY night. Then, I started doing the same exercises in the morning before I got on the treadmill.
What I have found is that you can exercise pretty much anywhere! Use the time sitting at a red light to do abdominal squeezes. Sit up straight, slowly squeeze your abs in, hold for a couple of seconds, then release. Repeat as long as you are sitting at the red light. Another one I do a lot is for my calf muscles. When washing dishes or cooking dinner just raise up on your toes, hold a second, then lower. Repeat ten times or so. Works those leg muscles! I do some kind of ab squeezes or leg lifts whenever I'm standing somewhere for a period of time. Brushing my teeth, ironing, looking for something to fix for dinner. You will be amazed at how even those few little movements will help you.
The key? Start small, but START.
So there you have it folks. That's my story. Recapping the steps:
1. Got my motivation
2. Identified and eliminated my problem causing agents: Diet Coke and sweets
3. Started exercising
I know you hear people say it all the time..."If I can do it, so can you". Well that is the absolute truth!! If THIS girl can give up two things that I practically lived on for years, YOU can too! I have to tell ya, I am LOVIN' this new body. Again, I'm not at my goal yet. I still have a ways to go. But I FEEL so much better. It is AMAZING! And I am very proud to say that
"I'M NOT GOING TO BE A HEIFER AT MY DAUGHTER'S WEDDING!!"
Another thing I started doing religiously was stretches and crunches. I started doing these while laying on my bed. That didn't hurt my back as much. I did these EVERY night. Then, I started doing the same exercises in the morning before I got on the treadmill.
What I have found is that you can exercise pretty much anywhere! Use the time sitting at a red light to do abdominal squeezes. Sit up straight, slowly squeeze your abs in, hold for a couple of seconds, then release. Repeat as long as you are sitting at the red light. Another one I do a lot is for my calf muscles. When washing dishes or cooking dinner just raise up on your toes, hold a second, then lower. Repeat ten times or so. Works those leg muscles! I do some kind of ab squeezes or leg lifts whenever I'm standing somewhere for a period of time. Brushing my teeth, ironing, looking for something to fix for dinner. You will be amazed at how even those few little movements will help you.
The key? Start small, but START.
So there you have it folks. That's my story. Recapping the steps:
1. Got my motivation
2. Identified and eliminated my problem causing agents: Diet Coke and sweets
3. Started exercising
I know you hear people say it all the time..."If I can do it, so can you". Well that is the absolute truth!! If THIS girl can give up two things that I practically lived on for years, YOU can too! I have to tell ya, I am LOVIN' this new body. Again, I'm not at my goal yet. I still have a ways to go. But I FEEL so much better. It is AMAZING! And I am very proud to say that
"I'M NOT GOING TO BE A HEIFER AT MY DAUGHTER'S WEDDING!!"
The Big 5-0 Part 3
It's looking like this blog is going to take me as long to finish as it has taken me to get the weight off!
So, on with the story...
In addition to being a Diet Coke addict, I was also a sugar addict. Bad. Really bad. I mean if one cookie was good, two would be better and six would be euphoric. I could not eat JUST one cookie, or cup cake or piece of candy. It was nothing for me to have a twin pack of Little Debbies with my Diet Coke for breakfast, then have another something sweet before lunch, then something else after school, then a bed time snack. ALL sugar. It truly was an addiction. I CRAVED sugar. It was IMPOSSIBLE for me to go through the checkout at WalMart and not get a candy bar of some kind. Of course it would be eaten before I got out of the parking lot, and it was usually washed down with, you guessed it, a Diet Coke. This habit was the one that PACKED on the pounds for me. There is NO TELLING how many grams of sugar I was pouring into my body every day. It really is a miracle I didn't become diabetic. When I finally decided that I was going to DO something about my weight, I knew that the first thing that would have to go would be sugar. And there was really only one way for me to do it. I KNEW I had to go cold turkey. I don't remember the day or the time, but I quit. I just stopped eating sweets.
Now this is where I need to put in some side thoughts. Rog made a comment to me that REALLY stuck in my head when I started this process. I'm pretty sure it wasn't original with him, but it made a HUGE impact on my thinking. He said, "Whatever you do to GET the weight off, is what you have to do to KEEP the weight off." WOW. How true THAT statement is!! That is EXACTLY why "diets" don't work!! Sure, you can lose 40, 50, or 60 pounds, but what happens when you decide to get off your "diet" and go back to your "normal" way of eating? Those pounds you lost are going to find you, and I promise they are going to have friends with them when they come back!!
PLEASE GET THIS! The pros aren't lyin' when they talk about "lifestyle change". See, I've lost 30 pounds before, but I gained every ounce and then some, back. That happened because I didn't change the way I lived my life. It's not about a PROGRAM!! I'm not trying to put down all those money making places that are out there. I mean, the "diet" industry is a multimillion dollar giant. BUT... will you just think for a minute? How many LONG TERM success stories do those places have? I mean, people who can HONESTLY say they have KEPT WEIGHT OFF for years because of this-or-that program. There's just not that many. Know why? Because whatever you do to GET the weight off is what you have to do to KEEP the weight off! And people just don't want to pay hundreds of dollars EVERY month for the rest of their lives! That's what LIFESTYLE CHANGE is about. I had heard that term thrown about for years, but I honestly never really grasped it until now.
Now, back to my sugar addiction. Because I know me, I knew that cutting out sweets a little at a time simply would NOT work. So, I repeated my "I WILL NOT BE A HEIFER IN MY DAUGHTER'S WEDDING" mantra, and I quit eating sweets. Now before you get the idea that I just shut the door and walked away and it was simple as that, PLEASE do not be mistaken. IT WAS HARD!!!!! I mean REALLY hard!!! There were days when I thought I was going to go out of my mind if I didn't get some kind of SOMETHING sweet. So you know what I found? Apple Jacks. I love Apple Jacks!! So when I would get a hankering for something sweet, I would eat a bowl of cereal.
Here is another side bar: My sister is a registered dietician with a LOT of letters after her name. I am not. However, I do understand that Apple Jack and Cocoa Krispies (my other fav) are laden with sugar. Here's another point I want to make. I have not gotten anal about things in this process. Notice I said I cut out SWEETS, not sugar. Just like there was no way I could throw down hundreds of dollars for some big name diet program every month, there was also no way I could count calories, or fat grams or carbs, or sugar or anything else for that matter. I mean, anybody can do that for a while, but to do it consistently for a LONG time...no way. So...this is where I deviate from the "pros". I REFUSE to count anything. So I will eat an occasional waffle with a little syrup, or I'll have my bowl of Apple Jacks or Cocoa Krispies and not wig out about it. What I WILL NOT eat is a piece of cake, or pie, or a cookie or candy bar. I know that all it takes is one little bite, and I will have to start fighting that battle all over again. It's a whole lot easier for me to not eat any of it than it is to limit myself. I do still eat bread or rice or pasta every now and then. If I want it, I eat it. Pretty simple. The difference is that now, I haven't had six cookies IN ADDITION to that stuff.
All this may sound extreme, but when you have to lose as much weight as I have to lose, it often takes extreme measures. It really does come down to motivation, and 'I AM NOT GOING TO BE A HEIFER AT MY DAUGHTER'S WEDDING!' dad gumit!!
Now there is one more piece to this LONG story...if you are interested, stay tuned for Part 4.
So, on with the story...
In addition to being a Diet Coke addict, I was also a sugar addict. Bad. Really bad. I mean if one cookie was good, two would be better and six would be euphoric. I could not eat JUST one cookie, or cup cake or piece of candy. It was nothing for me to have a twin pack of Little Debbies with my Diet Coke for breakfast, then have another something sweet before lunch, then something else after school, then a bed time snack. ALL sugar. It truly was an addiction. I CRAVED sugar. It was IMPOSSIBLE for me to go through the checkout at WalMart and not get a candy bar of some kind. Of course it would be eaten before I got out of the parking lot, and it was usually washed down with, you guessed it, a Diet Coke. This habit was the one that PACKED on the pounds for me. There is NO TELLING how many grams of sugar I was pouring into my body every day. It really is a miracle I didn't become diabetic. When I finally decided that I was going to DO something about my weight, I knew that the first thing that would have to go would be sugar. And there was really only one way for me to do it. I KNEW I had to go cold turkey. I don't remember the day or the time, but I quit. I just stopped eating sweets.
Now this is where I need to put in some side thoughts. Rog made a comment to me that REALLY stuck in my head when I started this process. I'm pretty sure it wasn't original with him, but it made a HUGE impact on my thinking. He said, "Whatever you do to GET the weight off, is what you have to do to KEEP the weight off." WOW. How true THAT statement is!! That is EXACTLY why "diets" don't work!! Sure, you can lose 40, 50, or 60 pounds, but what happens when you decide to get off your "diet" and go back to your "normal" way of eating? Those pounds you lost are going to find you, and I promise they are going to have friends with them when they come back!!
PLEASE GET THIS! The pros aren't lyin' when they talk about "lifestyle change". See, I've lost 30 pounds before, but I gained every ounce and then some, back. That happened because I didn't change the way I lived my life. It's not about a PROGRAM!! I'm not trying to put down all those money making places that are out there. I mean, the "diet" industry is a multimillion dollar giant. BUT... will you just think for a minute? How many LONG TERM success stories do those places have? I mean, people who can HONESTLY say they have KEPT WEIGHT OFF for years because of this-or-that program. There's just not that many. Know why? Because whatever you do to GET the weight off is what you have to do to KEEP the weight off! And people just don't want to pay hundreds of dollars EVERY month for the rest of their lives! That's what LIFESTYLE CHANGE is about. I had heard that term thrown about for years, but I honestly never really grasped it until now.
Now, back to my sugar addiction. Because I know me, I knew that cutting out sweets a little at a time simply would NOT work. So, I repeated my "I WILL NOT BE A HEIFER IN MY DAUGHTER'S WEDDING" mantra, and I quit eating sweets. Now before you get the idea that I just shut the door and walked away and it was simple as that, PLEASE do not be mistaken. IT WAS HARD!!!!! I mean REALLY hard!!! There were days when I thought I was going to go out of my mind if I didn't get some kind of SOMETHING sweet. So you know what I found? Apple Jacks. I love Apple Jacks!! So when I would get a hankering for something sweet, I would eat a bowl of cereal.
Here is another side bar: My sister is a registered dietician with a LOT of letters after her name. I am not. However, I do understand that Apple Jack and Cocoa Krispies (my other fav) are laden with sugar. Here's another point I want to make. I have not gotten anal about things in this process. Notice I said I cut out SWEETS, not sugar. Just like there was no way I could throw down hundreds of dollars for some big name diet program every month, there was also no way I could count calories, or fat grams or carbs, or sugar or anything else for that matter. I mean, anybody can do that for a while, but to do it consistently for a LONG time...no way. So...this is where I deviate from the "pros". I REFUSE to count anything. So I will eat an occasional waffle with a little syrup, or I'll have my bowl of Apple Jacks or Cocoa Krispies and not wig out about it. What I WILL NOT eat is a piece of cake, or pie, or a cookie or candy bar. I know that all it takes is one little bite, and I will have to start fighting that battle all over again. It's a whole lot easier for me to not eat any of it than it is to limit myself. I do still eat bread or rice or pasta every now and then. If I want it, I eat it. Pretty simple. The difference is that now, I haven't had six cookies IN ADDITION to that stuff.
All this may sound extreme, but when you have to lose as much weight as I have to lose, it often takes extreme measures. It really does come down to motivation, and 'I AM NOT GOING TO BE A HEIFER AT MY DAUGHTER'S WEDDING!' dad gumit!!
Now there is one more piece to this LONG story...if you are interested, stay tuned for Part 4.
The Big 5-0 Part 2
I ended my last post talking about my motivation for getting started on this LONG journey to lose 60 pounds. (If you didn't read that one, you might want to do so before reading on...)
After Kerri made her announcement, I immediately decided that I had to get busy. I knew those nine months were going to fly by. I had to get a plan. I visited with the registered dietician at my doctor's office. He gave me some good information. The best things that came from those visits were whole wheat bagels and smoothies. (more on that in a little bit) But he didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know. I mean, I've been fighting this battle a LONG time. I'm not stupid. I know all the stuff I am supposed to do and NOT supposed to do. It also helps that my sister is a registered dietician, so I have an inside line on what the pros say is good and bad. (side note: you really should check out her blog at www. healthywithasideofbacon.blogspot.com It is awesome!) I asked Kathy for some pointers...again...pretty much the same quetions I have asked her a BUNCH of times before. And guess what...she gave me the SAME answers! I knew what I had to do. It was just a matter of DOING it! The first month, I made two pretty significant changes. I started cutting back on Diet Cokes and I quit eating sweets. Now let me break that down for you.
Diet Coke (especially Vanilla Diet Coke) was always my beverage of choice. You know how coffee drinkers stumble through the day until they have had that first cup of java? Well, I hate coffee, but the same principle applied to me and Diet Coke. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I would go get a big swig of DC. I would then usually finish off bottle number one with breakfast. I would usually have another bottle sitting on my desk at school that I would work on all day. Then I would have another in the evening with dinner. Sometimes I would throw in a sweet tea just for a change of pace. So I was pretty much an addict. I had tried several times to quit, and as with most addictions, I was successful for a while, but then I would take that first sip and I would be right back to my three-a-day habit. For some reason, this time was different though. One of my best memories of this adventure was on our Family weekend in October. (All of Rog's family comes to our house for the whole weekend and we have a GREAT time) Anyway...after they all left, there were a couple of bottles of Diet Coke left in the fridge. I had not had one in a while, so I thought "what the heck". It sounded SO good to me. So I twisted off that cap and took a big ole swig. It was DISGUSTING! I took about two sips out of that bottle and poured it out. I figured something was wrong with the bottle. The next day, I decided to try again. Same result!! It tasted HORRIBLE! I couldn't believe it! And that was the LAST time I had even a sip of a Diet Coke. I kept the sweet tea for a while longer. So what in the world do I drink, you ask? This is the CRAZIEST thing. If you had told me a year ago that I would ONLY be drinking water, I would laugh in your face. I HATE WATER. I mean REALLY hate it. It's just gross to me. But one of the things that the pros tell you is that if you are going to lose weight, you HAVE to drink water. Kathy, bless her heart, tried SO hard to coax me into drinking 'just a TINY bit'. Because I didn't drink any...at all. It was Diet Coke or sweet tea or something with a LOT of sugar and flavor. I would literally gag if I drank a sip of water that was ANYTHING other than ice cold. So for me to think about drinking ONLY water, ALL the time was unheard of! BUT...I kept repeating my mantra "I WILL NOT BE A HEIFER AT MY DAUGHTER'S WEDDING". If drinking water was what I had to do, I would figure out a way. And I did. I added a splash of lemon and a packet of Splenda to my water, and guess what! It was pretty good! So now, everywhere I go, I have my tumbler cup with my water/lemon/splenda concoction in it. I don't even remember the last time I drank sweet tea. I can honestly say, I am a WATER ONLY girl now, and that is by choice. Nothing else tastes good to me anymore! I really think this change was a significant part of my weight loss, but maybe not as much as the OTHER big thing I did.
Check out The Big 5-0 Part 3 for that!
After Kerri made her announcement, I immediately decided that I had to get busy. I knew those nine months were going to fly by. I had to get a plan. I visited with the registered dietician at my doctor's office. He gave me some good information. The best things that came from those visits were whole wheat bagels and smoothies. (more on that in a little bit) But he didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know. I mean, I've been fighting this battle a LONG time. I'm not stupid. I know all the stuff I am supposed to do and NOT supposed to do. It also helps that my sister is a registered dietician, so I have an inside line on what the pros say is good and bad. (side note: you really should check out her blog at www. healthywithasideofbacon.blogspot.com It is awesome!) I asked Kathy for some pointers...again...pretty much the same quetions I have asked her a BUNCH of times before. And guess what...she gave me the SAME answers! I knew what I had to do. It was just a matter of DOING it! The first month, I made two pretty significant changes. I started cutting back on Diet Cokes and I quit eating sweets. Now let me break that down for you.
Diet Coke (especially Vanilla Diet Coke) was always my beverage of choice. You know how coffee drinkers stumble through the day until they have had that first cup of java? Well, I hate coffee, but the same principle applied to me and Diet Coke. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I would go get a big swig of DC. I would then usually finish off bottle number one with breakfast. I would usually have another bottle sitting on my desk at school that I would work on all day. Then I would have another in the evening with dinner. Sometimes I would throw in a sweet tea just for a change of pace. So I was pretty much an addict. I had tried several times to quit, and as with most addictions, I was successful for a while, but then I would take that first sip and I would be right back to my three-a-day habit. For some reason, this time was different though. One of my best memories of this adventure was on our Family weekend in October. (All of Rog's family comes to our house for the whole weekend and we have a GREAT time) Anyway...after they all left, there were a couple of bottles of Diet Coke left in the fridge. I had not had one in a while, so I thought "what the heck". It sounded SO good to me. So I twisted off that cap and took a big ole swig. It was DISGUSTING! I took about two sips out of that bottle and poured it out. I figured something was wrong with the bottle. The next day, I decided to try again. Same result!! It tasted HORRIBLE! I couldn't believe it! And that was the LAST time I had even a sip of a Diet Coke. I kept the sweet tea for a while longer. So what in the world do I drink, you ask? This is the CRAZIEST thing. If you had told me a year ago that I would ONLY be drinking water, I would laugh in your face. I HATE WATER. I mean REALLY hate it. It's just gross to me. But one of the things that the pros tell you is that if you are going to lose weight, you HAVE to drink water. Kathy, bless her heart, tried SO hard to coax me into drinking 'just a TINY bit'. Because I didn't drink any...at all. It was Diet Coke or sweet tea or something with a LOT of sugar and flavor. I would literally gag if I drank a sip of water that was ANYTHING other than ice cold. So for me to think about drinking ONLY water, ALL the time was unheard of! BUT...I kept repeating my mantra "I WILL NOT BE A HEIFER AT MY DAUGHTER'S WEDDING". If drinking water was what I had to do, I would figure out a way. And I did. I added a splash of lemon and a packet of Splenda to my water, and guess what! It was pretty good! So now, everywhere I go, I have my tumbler cup with my water/lemon/splenda concoction in it. I don't even remember the last time I drank sweet tea. I can honestly say, I am a WATER ONLY girl now, and that is by choice. Nothing else tastes good to me anymore! I really think this change was a significant part of my weight loss, but maybe not as much as the OTHER big thing I did.
Check out The Big 5-0 Part 3 for that!
The Big 5-0!
So I've wanted to get this written all week, but I haven't had time to sit down and collect my thoughts. Gonna give it a shot this morning.
On Sunday (at least I think it was Sunday), I hit a HUGE milestone in my weight loss journey. I FINALLY reached the 50 pound mark! Now that's not my goal. I still have ten or so more pounds to go before I hit that. But man. Fifty pounds is a LOT! I have tried to think of things that weigh 50lbs. A bag of concrete mix....five big bags of sugar...and Rog told me one time that a man-hole cover weighs 50lbs (he has ALL KINDS of random bits of information like that tucked away in that brain of his!!)
Anyway...when I think about those things, and I try to imagine lifting any of them, I just don't think I could do it. MUCH LESS carry them around! But that's what I was doing. Every day. All day.
NO WONDER I was exhausted ALL the time!
So how did I get started on this journey? Well, one might think it would be when my doctor told me my cholesterol levels were getting pretty high, and if something didn't happen, I might have to start taking meds. Or maybe when she said something about pre-diabetes. But nope. When I heard that news, I would just shake my head and say, "I know. I know. I need to lose weight. It's just so HARD. (whiney voice)" and I went on doing the same things I always did, getting the same results I always got.
The motivation to really get off my can and start DOING something came some time in August of last year I think. It went like this... "Mom. I'm getting married!! IN MAY!"
WHAT?????? MAY??? Like the May that is nine months from now???? HOLY CRAP!! I've got to DO something!!! It was then and there I adopted the mantra "I WILL NOT BE A HEIFER IN MY DAUGHTER'S WEDDING!" See, my sister had gotten married the year before, and I have one of her wedding pics of our family hanging in my hall. I have to look at that picture every day and see what a COW I was. I could not STAND the idea of looking like that in a picture that would be hanging in someone else's house. So...my motivation for losing weight? Vanity. Pure vanity.
But hey. It has worked.
Now this is getting to the point of being too long, so I'm going to say "Stay Tuned" to find out how I got started on this lifestyle change. The Big 5-0, Part 2, coming soon.
On Sunday (at least I think it was Sunday), I hit a HUGE milestone in my weight loss journey. I FINALLY reached the 50 pound mark! Now that's not my goal. I still have ten or so more pounds to go before I hit that. But man. Fifty pounds is a LOT! I have tried to think of things that weigh 50lbs. A bag of concrete mix....five big bags of sugar...and Rog told me one time that a man-hole cover weighs 50lbs (he has ALL KINDS of random bits of information like that tucked away in that brain of his!!)
Anyway...when I think about those things, and I try to imagine lifting any of them, I just don't think I could do it. MUCH LESS carry them around! But that's what I was doing. Every day. All day.
NO WONDER I was exhausted ALL the time!
So how did I get started on this journey? Well, one might think it would be when my doctor told me my cholesterol levels were getting pretty high, and if something didn't happen, I might have to start taking meds. Or maybe when she said something about pre-diabetes. But nope. When I heard that news, I would just shake my head and say, "I know. I know. I need to lose weight. It's just so HARD. (whiney voice)" and I went on doing the same things I always did, getting the same results I always got.
The motivation to really get off my can and start DOING something came some time in August of last year I think. It went like this... "Mom. I'm getting married!! IN MAY!"
WHAT?????? MAY??? Like the May that is nine months from now???? HOLY CRAP!! I've got to DO something!!! It was then and there I adopted the mantra "I WILL NOT BE A HEIFER IN MY DAUGHTER'S WEDDING!" See, my sister had gotten married the year before, and I have one of her wedding pics of our family hanging in my hall. I have to look at that picture every day and see what a COW I was. I could not STAND the idea of looking like that in a picture that would be hanging in someone else's house. So...my motivation for losing weight? Vanity. Pure vanity.
But hey. It has worked.
Now this is getting to the point of being too long, so I'm going to say "Stay Tuned" to find out how I got started on this lifestyle change. The Big 5-0, Part 2, coming soon.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Praise Jehovah Rapha
I am constantly amazed at the goodness of God. I remember studying a long time ago the different names of God. Here are some:
Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will
Provide)
Jehovah Shalom (The Lord Is
Peace)
El Shaddai (Lord God
Almighty)
El Elyon (The Most High God)
Adonai (Lord, Master)
Yahweh (Lord, Jehovah)
Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My
Banner)
Jehovah-Raah (The Lord My
Shepherd)
Jehovah Shammah (The Lord Is
There)
Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord
Our Righteousness)
(From Blue Letter Bible-Study Tools)
But the one that has been with me in the last days is Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals) .
Last Friday, my back started hurting again. It was the same kind of pain I experienced in September when I had to go to the chiropractor for an extended time because of a disk that was out of place.
The pain got continuously worse over the weekend, and by yesterday (Monday) I was miserable. The thoughts that kept running through my head were..."I don't have time for this! I have got the busiest three weeks of my life coming up!" and "I won't be able to exercise! and I still have 13 lbs. to lose!" and "how are we going to be able to afford more chiropractor visits?" I was in tears.
I got on Facebook one more time before I went to bed and asked anyone who would to pray for me. I didn't really think a whole lot about it. It was just a post. How many people actually READ my posts anyway? And for the ones that DO read it, how many would actually be willing to PRAY for me??
Well...I'm not sure I will ever know exactly how many people said a prayer for me. What I DO know is that Jehovah Rapha heard SOMEBODY'S prayer and healed my back!!I woke up this morning with NO pain. NONE. I have been pain free ALL DAY!
Some may roll their eyes and say I just "had a catch in my back" or make any number of excuses. That's fine. See, I know how I felt on Monday, and I know how I felt on Tuesday. The ONLY explanation that works for me is that God heard the prayers of a righteous man (or woman) and healed me!!
Thank you Jehovah Rapha!
(From Blue Letter Bible-Study Tools)
But the one that has been with me in the last days is Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals) .
Last Friday, my back started hurting again. It was the same kind of pain I experienced in September when I had to go to the chiropractor for an extended time because of a disk that was out of place.
The pain got continuously worse over the weekend, and by yesterday (Monday) I was miserable. The thoughts that kept running through my head were..."I don't have time for this! I have got the busiest three weeks of my life coming up!" and "I won't be able to exercise! and I still have 13 lbs. to lose!" and "how are we going to be able to afford more chiropractor visits?" I was in tears.
I got on Facebook one more time before I went to bed and asked anyone who would to pray for me. I didn't really think a whole lot about it. It was just a post. How many people actually READ my posts anyway? And for the ones that DO read it, how many would actually be willing to PRAY for me??
Well...I'm not sure I will ever know exactly how many people said a prayer for me. What I DO know is that Jehovah Rapha heard SOMEBODY'S prayer and healed my back!!I woke up this morning with NO pain. NONE. I have been pain free ALL DAY!
Some may roll their eyes and say I just "had a catch in my back" or make any number of excuses. That's fine. See, I know how I felt on Monday, and I know how I felt on Tuesday. The ONLY explanation that works for me is that God heard the prayers of a righteous man (or woman) and healed me!!
Thank you Jehovah Rapha!
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