21 more days....not that I'm counting

I am officially down another 1.8 pounds this morning. 5 pounds total in 9 days, or 7 days of eating 500 calories. Pretty good considering Uncle Tom and Aunt Flo decided to come visit this morning. ( my period) TOM= time of month. Sorry to any men reading this if that's TMI. I have also lost 3 inches.

Spent a little time playing with today's menu and doing some cooking.
Lunch: Mexican tomato soup, which included tomatoes, grilled chicken, home-made chicken stock, cilantro and some other spices and herbs. Also had a 1/2 of a grapefruit and a melba toast.
Dinner: Lean roast with onions and celery, cinnamon apple and breadstick

1 week gone....Day 8

Well, I made it thru one week and am on to the second. As I sit here and type, my stomach is growling. I fixed turkey pot pie for my family and house guest and the smell coming from the oven is making me question again why I am on this journey.

On MY menu for the day:
Lunch: 100g shrimp, 1 cup cooked spinach, a strawberry smoothie (which contained strawberries, water and a little stevia) and a breadstick.
Dinner : (which will take all the strength I can find not to eat the pot pie) 1 egg and 3 egg whites scrambles with 1 tbsp salsa. Natural applesauce.

Is it all worth it? Well, I am sitting here in a pair of jeans that are a size I haven't worn since middle school. So, yes, I think it WILL be worth it....when I am thru with this phase of the diet...22 more days.

Day 7

Not feeling as happy and positive today as I have been the past few days. I guess I should be, I'm down a total of 4 pounds and am only on day 5. It's not really the diet though, it's more the life that is happening around me. Why do we allow ourselves to get sad, angry, frustrated, and feel sorry for ourselves? I can't stand myself when I get to feeling this way, but it just happens. I know how I "should" be feeling, but just can't seem to get up that hill today.

Yesterday's menu:
lunch: 100g very lean steak, handful of cooked spinach, a small orange and a grissini breadstick.
dinner: homemade chicken broth with celery and chicken and a piece of melba toast
I cheated AGAIN! I made my family my favorite soup and homemade bread from the bread machine. I was able to eat my broth and resist their soup, but the smell of homemade bread got the best of me. As I was cutting the still-steaming bread, I imagined what it would be like to spread a little butter on it and watch it melt and then sink my teeth into it. Yep, my thoughts got the best of me and I ate a piece of bread, with butter. I have to say, it was AMAZING!...way better than hard, dry melba toast.

Today's menu:
lunch: 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites, scrambled, 1/2 cup salsa, 1/2 grapefruit and a piece of bread
dinner: 100g hamburger made from extra lean ground beef, smothered in sugar-free salsa, cinnamon apple and a melba toast

I am off to go do a little excercise. Although the "diet" doesn't recommend a lot of excercise due to the small amount of food (energy) I still enjoy it and it helps with my mood. So off I go.
Have a great day!

Day 6

I can do this! I am officially on day 4 of my low calorie "diet". It's been a lot tougher than last time I did this and lost 30 pounds. I was staying in Nebraska with my mom who was also doing the diet and she had just moved...and we hadn't moved any food to her new house. So there were no chips, cookies, oatmeal, bananas, etc. that I couldn't eat laying around or calling out from her pantry. I am in my home now, where the other 5 people living here (we have a house guest for a few weeks) can eat all kinds of yummy, delicious foods. Yesterday afternoon we picked up a couple of pizzas and we sat at the table, them eating yummy, greasy pizza, while I ate my small piece of grilled chicken and 2 cups of lettuce...no salad dressing. I will confess, I did eat a small bite of the pizza...just to help my craving and feeling of being deprived.

This morning, and several times yesterday, Jason told me I didn't need to be dieting, that he liked me how I was. How sweet! And one of the many, many things I love about him. But I am not really doing this for him. (although I'd love to be able to buy a bikini and look good in it) I am doing this for many reasons. Some are selfish, and some are for God. I have told several people lately when they are not sure of my "diet" that I don't believe Abraham, Elijah, Jesus, or Paul (along with a long list of biblical people) had a pantry full of processed foods, cookies, cakes, potato chips fried in oil, etc. This is a motivating factor in my life. To get back to basics. Back to eating healthy. By eating the foods God intended us to eat. I am not saying cookies are bad, I'm saying 10 cookies in one day are bad. I was led to open up 1 Kings 19 Saturday morning and read about an angel waking Elijah after he practically gave up and wanted to die. There by his head was bread and water. WOW! No cookies! As I am on this journey, I often think of the people in biblical times, who truly had to work for their food. They did not have grocery stores full of a plethora of choices in food. Meat, vegetable, fruit and bread were their choices. All natural! I am not a Healthy Food Junkie by all means, but I feel this is where God wants me right now. To be healthy and take care of the temple...where the Holy Spirit lives....IN ME!

Klove.com has a great devotional series called Made to Crave on their website right now. What a perfect time (God's timing is always perfect) for this to come as I choose to follow God's leading in my life. One thing that really stuck out this morning was this:
God loves you so much that he doesn't want you to stay in a place of defeat.
How true is this!

On the menu yesterday:
lunch: 100g grilled chicken, 2 cups lettuce (no salad dressing), grissini bread stick and a half of a grapefruit Plus a bite of pizza...which was a huge cheat!
dinner: 100g sauted shrimp, handful of asparagus, natural applesauce and a melba toast

Haven't decided what is on the menu today. I will post that when the day is done.
Off to go get my body moving...a 30 minute workout. Our bodies were made to move, not sit on the couch all day and watch Oprah. ;)

I leave you with this thought from the Made to Crave devotional:
God made you wonderful. Psalm 139 says you are wonderfully and fearfully made. You are beautiful and loved, no matter if you are a size zero or a size thirty. You are beautiful just the way you are. But God love you so much that he doesn't want you to stay in a place of defeat.

Day 4

Well, today is day four of my 30 days on my "diet" and the rest of my life. Feeling pretty good today and very positive and excited still. Down 1 pound this morning. Can't wait to use a little of our tax money to buy new, SMALLER clothes! Many of my clothes in my closet are already too big, so I guess I need to clean it out.

On the menu today:
Lunch: 100g of very lean ground beef with cumin and chili powder, browned. Two large lettuce leaves. My version of a "diet" taco. 1 melba toast and an apple.
Dinner: 100g tilapia, grilled, a hand full of celery, grissini breadstick and an apple.
CONFESION: I cheated! I got hungry and just needed something, so I had a tablespoon of peanut butter. UGH.

Hubby has been out-of-town since the morning after Christmas and is on his way home. He and our oldest son, Cody, went on an annual mission trip to Mexico. They will be home some time tomorrow, but with an added guest. They will be bringing our friend, Choly, with them. Choly lives in Mexico and has become part of our family. Can't wait to see him!

Happy New Year to all my friends and family! May you allow God's leading in your life, slow down and listen to Him. (read 1 Kings 19...verses 11 & 12)

Here I go again

Well, along with thousands of others this time of year, I am on a mission to lose more weight. Many people choose to do this as a new year's resolution. My decision is just continued on since August...and it just happens that the timing to start round 2 fell at this time. So I join many of you...or should I say that you are joining me. Welcome to the weight-loss, let's get healthier in the new year journey.
Today was the start of eating only a small amount. No sugar, no carbs, no fat. Really there is only a small variety of foods that I am allowed to eat. On the menu today:
two cups of coffee (minus the foo-foo)
lunch- 100grams of lean grilled steak, asparagus, baked cinnamon apple and a grissini breadstick
dinner- 100grams of grilled chicken, cooked spinach, grissini breadstick and all natural, no sugar added applesauce.

So far so good. I have made it thru most of day 1 and feeling positive and excited to be 30 pounds lighter by my birthday in February. It is New Year's Eve, and while most people are snacking on all sorts of food, maybe having a few drinks, etc. my eyes are set on the future and being healthier than I have ever been.

A week ago I decided to take a trip to Kohls to try on jeans and was able to fit into a size of jeans that I have not been in since high school...maybe even jr. high. They were a bit snug, but my goal is to have THOSE jeans be too big!

So, Happy New Year to you all! I pray for great health in 2011 for all!

Down a new path

In the last week of August, I began a new "food" journey. I started a new "diet" although it is not really a diet. When I decided that I wanted to try it out, I thought 45 days sounded like such a long time to be eating very little food, and the thought of losing 20-30 pounds was just a dream. It is now October. I am now 25 pounds lighter, 2 jean sizes smaller and feeling great!

It's been an adventure though and not always easy. Learning to eat what was on the "menu" was very difficult because there wasn't much to choose from. (although sometimes this made it easier...if in doubt, eat chicken) Wow, I could be one of those cows from the Chick Fil A commercials!

Now that I am 25 pounds lighter, that means that most of my clothes in my closet don't quite fit like they used to. Most of them hang on me and make me look like I'm wearing a tent. I guess this isn't a bad thing, but when you don't have the money to go buy new clothes, it is. I have bought three new pairs of jeans and a few shirts. (I got excited half way thru my 45 days and went and bought new jeans that were one size smaller than I started with...now THEY are too big. I guess I'll wear a belt...UGH...see below) Some other things that I didn't think of until I lost weight:

my rings don't fit...they are all too loose
my belts...they will all be going in the Goodwill box (I guess I'll add this to my list of "needs")
undergarments...we'll just leave that one alone
coats! UGH...Thank goodness I bought one a few years ago that was a little snug!

It's amazing the things I never thought of before starting this "diet". I still would love to lose more, and plan to re-enter "diet-land" in February. But for now, I will learn new ways of eating, enjoying those foods I enjoy (in moderation) and enjoy being 25 pounds lighter than I was 2 months ago!

I am amazed at how God puts things in your path that help you along the way, even when we have our blinders on and don't even realize what He is doing.

Recently I have had several friends who are dealing with health issues related to food and eating or are really concentrating on getting healthier. If you would have asked me three months ago if I would have the will power to lose 25 pounds in 45 days, by eating healthy, not eating anything with sugar, etc. I would have said you were crazy. I have always wondered how those "health nuts" did it. But with lots of prayer and God's guidance and strength and by Him putting these people in my life who are encouraging me, I did it. It's just made me realize that we all need to take better care of our bodies, the temple of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

Thank you, God, for your almightly strength that you have given me. I never could have done this on my own. Thank you, for putting these friends in my life, at just the right time, to encourage me. Thank you, for a supportive family who cheered me on during this journey. Thank you, for giving me back some of my self confidence that I had lost along the way...or that was hidden, deep inside me. I thank you for loving me, no matter how big or small I am. I thank you, that you will continue to walk beside me thru all my struggles, thru all my joys and sorrows, every day, every hour, ALWAYS!