Fasting

As we are ending Lent and headed for Resurrection Sunday, Dale decided that we would fast from sun down on Friday to sunrise on Sunday. I am now into this deal for about 6 hours and so far so good. I am kind of curious to see how the food cravings go tomorrow. I am sure the time spent in prayer and devotion will distract from my mind telling me that I need to break into the kid's Easter candy. By the way, we do not celebrate the Easter Bunny but we do have candy for the children on Easter morning. It is fun and a tradition. I am pretty sure I will be the first to wake up Sunday and eat candy. Hopefully, I will contain myself. My hope is that the next hours will not only bring me to a closer time with Christ but also ween me from "bad" foods. I hope that this small sacrifice of giving up food and spending extra time in prayer will bring me closer to my Savior.

I am just soooo sleepy

Since I have been working on cutting out the bad and putting in the good, I have become exhausted. I feel so tired all the time and my migraines have increased. I wondered if this was normal. I have read a few things about detoxes. Maybe this would help boost my system by getting the bad stuff out faster. I am not sure. I do know that I want to sleep at least 12 hours a day.

Jillian is a Christian

Yes, this is not weight loss news, but I thought I'd share. She prayed and accepted salvation Tuesday night. Her baptism will be Sunday. Dale is going to baptize her so that is exciting, too.
This all makes me want to try harder to be healthy. I want to be there for her as she grows up in life and grows in Christ. She is such a wonderful child. I am blessed beyond measure.

About the whole living healthy thing. I walked about 2 miles today (it is a guess cause we walked forever) and ate healthy. That is until tonight when a box of Crunch and Munch was found when I woke up sleepy. I always want crunchy sweet food when I first wake up. So, other than that I did well. I even passed 4 Wendy's on the way home today and was craving their new Bacon Bleu burger. I avoided temptation and made it home without a pound of hamburger and bacon in my stomach. All in all I would say today was terrific.

Working Out Is Hard to Do

My Jillian convinced me to buy Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. We meant to start doing it this morning but woke up late. Jill had to start homeschool and we decided to do it later. Well, she reminded me after supper. I thought little of it and we began. Turns out that working out after supper is a BAD idea. Jill was bouncing away and I felt my salad in my throat. My heart was pounding in my face! I did stick it out for most of the work out. I did not make it to the end today. Small steps, right? So, I will now go take a stroll down the street. Jill is a work out master. That little kid probably could out last Jillian Michaels. I am serious. She has the stamina of a work mule. I will record it next time so y'all can see my girl in action. Day 1 down of this work out 29 to go. We will see if it makes a difference. If not, I will personally ask Ms. Michaels for my money back.

More People More Problems

So, I had plans to start off the week with a full nights sleep. This was thwarted by my 15 month old who thinks 1 am is the perfect time to play. I am also very sensitive to noises and other people. When someone rolls over, I wake up. I have always enjoyed listening to books on tape as a way to relax. I have the New Testament on CD and listened to the entire book of John then fell asleep. It seems as if the sanitation department has a timer set for when I hit full REM sleep. That is the time they decide to empty the trash bins. There is also an enormous train that likes to blow its whistle. I can imagine the conductor thinking "look at that group of houses! I am going to blow the whistle as long and as loud as I can! ahhahaahaha". Yes, I assume he does an evil laugh at the end. Then the school buses start at around 5:30. My life is full of noise. I did start out the day with an apple and some roasted almonds. Thanks to all the talk of dark chocolate I did have a small piece :) I guess I will have to add "learn to deal with the noise of people" to my list of goals. I miss the country life. Where I grew up there was no noise aside from me and my brothers fighting and the cows in the morning. There was also a creek that ran through our land and in front of our house. I miss that peaceful noise. It reminds me of the Psalmist:
Psalm 23:2
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.


Does anyone know if those walking poles really help with losing weight? I read an article about a year or so ago about them and was wondering if they would help. If you don't know what I am talking about, they look like cross country skiing poles.

Good Bye to Donuts

A little known fact about me, I used to smoke. Yes, I smoked like a chimney. One day my aunt (who was like a mother to me) said "Lisa I have lung cancer. Please stop smoking." Glenda never smoked. However, her husband and several family members did. So, I promised I would quit. I smoked the last three in my pack and said "Good bye to cigarettes". Two days later I would find out about being pregnant with Jillian.
Now on to donuts. Donuts are just one of those comfort foods that you find hard to resists. It is especially hard when there is a box of warm glazed donuts in your house when you first wake up or they flip on that HOT DONUTS sign. Tonight, as I shoved a chocolate covered donut down my gullet, I realized something. This is going to be my farewell party. I took one last savory bite of the sugary confection and said in my heart "goodbye you useless fat maker".
Tomorrow I am going to make a list of foods to replace the highly unhealthy food that I find when I go to the kitchen. I pray that God directs me in my food decisions just as He does in all decisions.

BTW I am trying to figure out how to load pictures so we can watch the action of the pounds going away and the healthy me shining through.

The Beginning of the End

I am now 32 years old and in the worst shape of my life. While I was looking through old college pictures, I realized how far I let myself go. Sure I have given birth to two children, but that is no excuse. Both of my parents died at young ages from massive heart attacks. My daughter asked me to buy a fitness video so we could get me less fat. She said she was worried I would die like my mother. So, today I prayed that God would heal my heart and forgive me for the way I treat my body. I am going to set goals and meet them. I am sure there will be failures along the way, but I will not back down. I want to live to see my girls grow up. I also want to be able to enjoy exercising with them. Today is the beginning to the end of an unhealthy life style. My goals this week are to walk at least a mile a day and to sleep 8 hours a night. I am also going to start weening myself off sugar and bread. Pray for me as I start this new life style. Also, share your success stories or words of advice.