Two tens make twenty!

     Wow! This is how much fat I have lost in 10 weeks! I feel so much better already. My first goal was to lose ten pounds. Then twenty. And now my next goal is twenty five. I set the next goal for only five more pounds because after the first twenty most people lose weight at a slower pace. I am not on a particular diet plan now, but I am making healthier choices in food and portions. Plus I am more active. Even when I don't feel like walking or exercising, I try to suck it up and just do it! One of my favorite things to do now is hula hooping! A few years ago, I would never have imagined I would be hula hooping at 52 yrs old. I felt older a year ago than I do now.

    In the picture below you will see the new addition to our family. We welcomed our granddaughter Kinsley in to the world on May 17th. She is so precious!!! I also have two grandsons which are Kinsley's older brothers. Kole is 13 and Kaiden is 9. My grandbabies mean the world to me. That should be enough reason to stay healthy. They need Nana to stay around as long as possible to spoil them or sometimes set them straight when they wont listen to Mama or Daddy. But hey, that's how the cycle goes. Same thing happened with my kids and their grandparents. I just hope that I can help guide my kids and grandkids in a way that pleases God. My prayer is for them to become better people, better Christians. My mama and my Grandma Gladys helped guide me and that guidance made me who I am today. Not perfect, but a child of God who thanks Him with every fiber of my being for His Blessings in my life! 

   

Wellness Goes Hand In Hand With Weight Watching!

  Here I am again and it's still me and God but I am not currently enrolled in Weight Watchers. It is 2019 and I am coming up on my 53rd birthday. My body has been through a lot since my last post but I have managed to get answers to many of the problems that have been wearing me down. Two major diagnoses.. fibromyalgia and diverticulitis. Besides the fact that I have battled low thyroid for 25 yrs. I had major ankle reconstruction and a hysterectomy last year. And went through another bout of depression.
  BUT....I am not in that unhappy funk anymore! I changed Doctors and got back in church. Two of the best decisions I've made in a while. And thanks to my best friend Michelle, I am eating healthy and moving my body more. My dear husband has helped the process by putting a workout room in our basement. And my son James has encouraged me to walk at the local park with him several mornings in the past two weeks. We walk about a mile and a half and my little dog Daisy joins us.
   I had been told that staying active is the best thing for fibro but in the past I tended to overdo it and spend days afterwards hurting and just feeling drained. But now with God's help and the help of family and friends I am doing so much better. I had gained up to 231 lbs a couple of months ago. I am down to 212. I know that is a number that I don't need to dwell on, but it is a number that is too high to be healthy.
   I thank God that I am losing weight but mostly for what He is doing in my life. I have started participating in Revelation Wellness with my cousin Dena as the instructor. She is a blessing and a great encouragement for myself and others to be a better Christian, a better caretaker of our bodies and a better person as a whole.
    I know that God is working on me and leading me to a place where I can also be an inspiration to others. Hopefully this blog is a help and a Blessing to you, my readers. God Bless you and guide you in all your endeavors.

Seeking Inspiration and Encouragement Once Again

      It is now 2016 and three weeks ago I joined Weight Watchers once again.... for the 4th time. In three weeks I have only managed to lose 3.6 lbs. but that is a start. I am approaching my 50th birthday at 217 lbs with so many health problems that it is crazy. I was told by a Dr that I may have fibromyalgia. My right ankle has an old injury (torn ligaments and cartilage with nerve damage). I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands and had the surgery on my right hand just yesterday. I have sleep apnea with sleep paralysis, high BP and many other issues.
     My last post should have been the start of a new me, but sadly to say, I have somehow lost the me that had willpower and determination! This me has depression and anxiety, fatigue and joint problems. I know that my mentality can affect my  health, so I am here once again trying to blog my feelings in an effort to motivate myself and hopefully motivate others to STOP GIVING UP!!
    I know that God has control of all things but he also expects us to do our part. Mentally, physically, financially and spiritually! May this be the start of a better me once again....God I pray for strength and determination once again in the name of your son, JESUS.
    I am hoping to be able to do what is right for me but to be honest, I am not sure that Weight Watchers is the way to go. My meeting was in a different town and the atmosphere was not as encouraging as the meeting I attended in North Wilkesboro.

Rededication To God and My Health

                                   


 When I posted my last blog, I weighed 169 lbs and felt great. But I was having some depression because I was so close to my goal and had stopped dropping pounds. Instead of digging in and getting past feeling sorry for myself, I have up. I now look back at my journey and feel so ashamed at what I have become since then. It is almost three years later and I weighed three days ago, only to find out that I weigh 208 lbs. I am on more blood pressure pills than ever before, not to mention my other medicines for low thyroid, low serotonin, muscle tension, acid reflux, inflammation and depression. A pure mess!!!!
 I have been lacking also in my spiritual walk with God. I know that all things are possible with God, but I let myself become angry with God when my uncle Beamer died in August three years ago. I ate out of depression and started a downhill ride that stopped last Sunday! My heart was overjoyed when 13 people accepted Christ at my church. The drawing of the Holy spirit had my heart pounding and I rededicated my heart to Jesus Christ (along with many others in my church). We also had ten baptized!!!

 Needless to say, I have been eating better since I stepped off the scales. My husband and myself have been using the Weight Watchers Points system for the last three days. I know that I have a long way to go and I realize that I am a weak person without God's help. Fact is.....I have an addiction to food. But, thank God, I feel a renewed dedication and I ask for all your prayers and support.

Losing Weight At A Snail's Pace

   Lately, I have gotten pretty doggone lazy. I haven't quit exercising altogether. I still do water aerobics, but only on Mondays. And my walking? Well, I guess I've really wimped out on my walking/jogging lately (I call it wogging). I know..I know... I just talked about wanting to jog in my last post and I still believe that God showed me to keep trying if I wanted His help. Truth is...I have no excuse for why I have gotten lazy. I can blame it on lack of time, but I am sitting here typing (of course it is storming right now) instead of exercising.
   I could say it's because I have been working out in the heat for the last two weeks, but if I tried harder I could wake up early and go for a morning jog. I have a membership at the YMCA that is a 10 minute drive from my house, but once I sit down (especially after supper) I am down for the count. Don't get me wrong. I am still losing and have actually gotten down to 169.6 from my starting weight of 207.4. But if I don't get moving, I will stall out. It's funny how you know what to do sometimes but don't do it.
     I still track all my food, write my Scripture and write down my nightly prayer journal. Now I just need to get moving!!!!!!  Any advise or tips from my friends and supporters would be very helpful. (Oh, yeah, I did do a little dancing up in Virginia this past weekend. If I flatfooted like that every day I would surely get my metabolism going, but the joints won't allow such pounding before they would start to scream. )
  So this is where I am in this journey. Not where I was, but not quite there yet.

                                                                  
                                                        

My Message From God; "I Can't Help You If You Don't Try."

   After walking a 5k in May, I am determined to do it again and next time I will jog or run. The problem is, my calves are sooo tight before  the race. By the end, I was grimacing. I had shin splints (tightening of the shins) after going from the pavement to the dirt path. Over 45 minutes later at the finish line I was second to last, in front of a lady who was in her sixties and had knee surgery the year before. Most of the race, I was ahead of her and a pregnant lady (who was pushing a child in a stroller). Then of all things, the pregnant lady passed me right before the finish line.
      But I kept my chin up and accepted congratulations for finishing the race. I tried jogging around the neighborhood last week and it was like I just could not get my legs to lift up and step forward when I started trying to pick up speed. I even dreamed that I was trying to run and my legs would not go. I have really been stressing about it until this for a few weeks now. I have been planning on going out every morning for a jog or at least a walk to start up my metabolism. This past Monday morning, while still in bed, I told my husband I would put off my morning walk.
 I laid there for a few minutes and then I started feeling guilty. It was then that these words just popped in my head...... "I can't help you if you don't try."  I knew that this was a message straight from God. So I got my butt up, got ready and went out the door. When I came back in Monday, I told my 16 yr old son that I had hardly gotten going when that awful feeling had come back. He, being a runner (although in hiatus because of a recent hip surgery) showed me some calf stretches and helped me to hold them enough to do some good. I have taken his advise and went out the last two mornings for a short wog, walk/jog in my neighborhood. And I can tell that God is doing what I asked.
  My legs are loosening up and I know that I will be able to make record time (for me) the next time I try that 5k trail again. Praise be to God for the changes in my life both physically and spiritually. He is working on me and He can do the same for you too. Nothing is too small or too big for My God!!!

Tip # 1....Try the Blue Plate Special! You'll eat less!

Last week I read in a magazine that eating out of blue dinnerware can trick your mind into not wanting seconds. Well, being in the painting business, I know first hand that colors do affect your mood. So, I gave it a try and found two light blue plates in my cabinet and some matching bowls.The result....... I think it really works!!! The theory is that blue is such a calming color that it satisfies you more when you eat food in a blue plate. Never eat from red or in a room with lots of red. Red makes you hungry. Now you know why alot of restaurants paint their walls red. Especially Italian. Sooooo, start pulling out the blue or buy you a calming blue table setting. Maybe it's all in the mind, but if it works, I don't care how. Just that it does!!

How do looking at these plates make you feel?????????