Halfway through!

Well, it's the halfway checkpoint.  Here's a breakdown of where I am right now. 

Things that have been going well:

• Daily devotions
• Prayer journal
• Scripture memorization

God has continued working on me.  I am more committed now than ever before to giving my life... all of it... to Him.  I want every fiber of my being, every thought, every word, every deed to bring glory to Him.  That said, I am still struggling making this a reality... actually bringing every area of my life into submission.  I know that sanctification is a lifelong process, but I am hasty and want my strongholds to be overcome in MY time, which means yesterday!  I am learning that giving my life to God is a daily, hourly, minute-by minute obedience.  It's really easy to fall back into old patterns and behaviors.  I am standing on the promise that God will not fail or forsake us and He will complete the work that He has begun in us. 

Things that I want to improve on:

• Get back on track with regular exercise.
• Be stricter about my eating habits.
• Get back on track with food journal.

I have not lost any weight the past five weeks (total loss remains 44lbs), but according to my measurements I have continued to lose body mass.  I'm not surprised that there isn't any weight loss.  In fact, before I weighed in I was worried that I might have gained.  My eating and exercise habits have been fluctuating a lot the last five weeks.  I found that the busier I got the less motivation I had to stay on track.  I am surprised that I have continued to lose body mass.  I had to double check the measurements to see if they were accurate.  I guess the new muscle that I have developed with exercise has continued to work even when I've slacked.  Now what I need to remember is that taking care of my physical body is one way I can bring God glory.  I have given the rest of my 20 week challenge to Him.  I no longer want to do it for me, I want to do it to honor Him.  I'm wondering what took me so long to realize how important that is.  I went to the gym today... first time in a couple of weeks.  It felt good, especially in the moments when the Holy Spirit reminded me that I was honoring God by rebuilding the temple he has given me. 

New additions to the challenge:

• Forming weekly plans for meals and snacks.
• Cleaning for 15 minutes before eating. 

My sister asked me today why I want to clean for fifteen minutes before eating.  "Does it have to be before?  Couldn't it be after?"  That's an excellent question, and I thought I'd share my answer...
By cleaning for 15 minutes before eating, I want to accomplish three things...

1. Remind myself that my true hunger is for the Lord, not for food.
2. Remind myself that food is not where I will find satisfaction. 
3. Learn to make food a reward for obedience not my whims. 
4. (Edit:  there is a fourth thing I want to accomplish... I want to combat my tendency to be lazy)

I honestly am very nervous about these two new challenges.  I recognize that they will help me grow, but they are not in my range of experience or comfort.  Especially after having been slack about other areas of my challenge in the last five weeks. 

Do any of you have any experience with meal planning?  I need advice.  I don't know where to begin.  First of all, I'm not very good in the kitchen.  In the past I would go for quick, easy, and convenient over health almost every time.  That means I have very little experience cooking or baking and NO experience planning ahead. 

As always, your prayer and encouragement have meant so much to me!  I met a young lady yesterday who said that she has read my blog and was very encouraged by my challenge.  She said she will be starting her own 20 week challenge soon.  Praise God!  One more example of how He can use my weaknesses for His glory.

Results of First Five Weeks!

Hello again! 

Today is the first 5 week checkpoint of the new 20 week challenge!

I have lost 7 lbs since February 1!  My goal was 5 lbs.  I have lost weight at every checkpoint since September(44lbs total)!  That's a really big deal for me! 

These past five weeks have been filled with some ups and downs.  I have continued to go to the gym, but not as often as I would have liked.  I am completely past my fears of the gym now, which is a victory!  Now I just need to work on the motivation to go!  I guess that's everyone's challenge.  But, I'm making good progress.  For my birthday my siblings and parents all pitched in and got me five free sessions with a personal trainer.  That is going well.  I met with her again this morning and she is teaching me a lot of new exercises and giving me nutrition advice as well. 

I've also been off and on with my food journal.  I have DEFINITELY noticed that days in which I don't journal I tend to eat WAY more junk than usual.  But I still haven't had any fast food!  Yay!  I haven't had any since November!  :-)

On the upside, I have kept up with my prayer journal and although I have missed days between reading the Word, I keep getting back on track.  That is what I'm working on, now.  Always coming back.  Not letting small defeats take over my will to keep fighting.  God has continued to bless me.  I can really feel his presence in the changes I am making in my life.  Defeat is not for me! 

For the next five weeks these are my goals: 

• Keep a food journal.  Record what I eat and drink as well as approximate portion sizes .
• Exercise 6 days a week.  Strength Training on M, W, F.  Aerobics on T, Th, Sa.
• No fast food.
• One dessert a week. 
• Read at least one chapter of the Bible every day when I wake up.
• Keep a prayer journal.  Write in it at least TWICE a week. 
• Memorize at least one Bible verse each week.  Recite it at least once a day while exercising and/or before eating.
• Drink only water, tea, coffee, milk, or nutrition drinks. 

As always, prayers are GREATLY appreciated!

Oh, and Hannah has a blog now!  Yay!  http://my20weekchallenge.blogspot.com/

The New 20 Week Challenge! Off to a good start!

I got to have chocolate as a snack yesterday!  It was wonderful!  I also got to have a glass of punch last night at the dessert reception for the play I'm house managing.  I was completely satisfied with just one glass!  And it took me at least 10 minutes to drink all of it. At previous dessert receptions I would down 5 or 6 glasses fairly quickly.  I did choose not to have cake last night because I'm probably gonna want to have dessert at my birthday celebration.  I want to stick to only one dessert a week (as per my plan).  :-)  However, I did eat a small bite that was left on the cake tray after we had served it all up.  ;-)

Here we go!

Tomorrow is the start of my second 20 week challenge! I appreciate your prayers as I try to honor God by living a healthier life.

I have actually already began the food journal, the prayer journal and the Bible reading. It will be nice to be able to have desserts and beverages other than water again. I am SO looking forward to this!

Celebrating and Planning

I spent last weekend hanging out with a couple of my sisters and we decided to have a day of celebration for our first 20 week challenge.  We went to lunch at Applebee's!  Hannah and I got a couple of burgers and fries with soda to drink.

 

 

We also had a good laugh at our VERY awkward waiter.  Poor kid was trying SO HARD to be cool.  

Then for dinner we had pizza, salad, and ice cream for dessert!  It was wonderful.  

After that we went back to our previous challenges which we will keep until the end of January.  

And... I told you I would post my plan for the new 20 Week Challenge.  Here it is! 

Melissa’s 20 Week Challenge - Spring 2012

THE WHY:

®     Because my body is my temple.  I want to honor the Lord with ALL of who I am. 

®     Because I want to prepare myself to do God’s will, WHATEVER that may be.  I don’t want to limit God’s calling for my life because I’m out of shape and overweight. 

®      Because I want to accomplish other lifestyle changes and that will be easier if I have more discipline and energy from eating healthier foods and exercising. 

THE GOAL: To lose a pound a week for twenty weeks.

THE PLAN:

®     At the starting point, I will give myself certain challenges that will be in effect throughout the entire 20 Week Challenge.

®     At each checkpoint, I will add additional challenges that will be in effect for the duration.

®     I will not beat myself up over failures, but will move forward while seeking God’s help with each challenge and temptation.

THE REWARD: A new dress for my cousin’s wedding on June 23!

Date:	Feb 1	March 7	April 11	May 16	June 20
Goal Weight:
Weight:
Waist:
Bust:
Hips:
Thigh:
Upper Arm:
BMI:

THE CHALLENGES:

• Keep a food journal.  Record what you eat and drink as well as approximate portion sizes .
• Exercise 6 days a week.  Strength Training on M, W, F.  Aerobics on T, Th, Sa.
• No fast food.
• One dessert a week. (Unlike the last challenge, chocolate is now a snack, not a dessert.)
• Read at least one chapter of the Bible every day when you wake up.
• Keep a prayer journal.  Write in it at least once a week. 

Starting March 7:

• Keep a prayer journal.  Write in it at least twice a week. 
• Memorize at least one Bible verse each week.  Recite it while exercising and before eating.
• Drink only water, tea, coffee, milk, or nutrition drinks.  No juice, soda, shakes, chocolate milk.

Starting April 11:

• Keep a prayer journal.  Write in it at least three times a week. 
• Before each meal or snack, take fifteen minutes to clean.
• Plan each week’s meals and snacks.  At least one meal a week should be a new recipe. 

Starting May 16:

• Keep a prayer journal.  Write in it every day. 
• Spend an hour a week in spiritual meditation.
• Drink only water.
• No desserts. 

20 Weeks: Then and Now

A lot can happen in 20 Weeks.  A lot more than I had hoped for.


On September 1st, 2011 I weighed 329 lbs.


This morning, January 19, 2012, extactly 20 weeks later, I weigh 293.2 lbs.  


That is a loss of 9 lbs since the last checkpoint (the goal was 5) and a total weight loss of 35.8 lbs!  My BMI has gone from 47.2 to 42.1.  I'm still categorized as morbidly obese, but I'm much closer to being healthy than I was before.


This is what I looked like 20 weeks ago.

 

And here I am today!

 
Okay, so I still have a ways to go, but I'm really happy to see some progress.
I feel a lot better, too!  I have a lot more energy, and getting up and moving is a lot more enjoyable.

P.S. I was able to go the whole 5 weeks without eating any desserts!  Okay, I did cheat a little... I licked the spoon while I was making birthday cake, and I definitely decided at one point that chocolate chip pancakes counted as breakfast, not dessert.  Other than that, I stuck to it!  I didn't even have any chocolate (other than the chocolate chip pancakes, of course!)  And... I'm going to keep going with my current challenges (including no desserts) until the beginning of February when I begin my new 20 Week Challenge.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!

Ice Skating is a Workout!

Over the weekend I went to Indiana to visit some friends.  On Saturday we wanted to do something fun that we hadn't done together before, so we went ice skating.

This was the first time I had been ice skating in 13 years, and I wasn't any good back then either, so it made me nervous thinking about doing something so unfamiliar.  I woke up Saturday morning and I was still very sore from my lower body workout the day before, but I was determined to get out there and do my best.  Normally when I'm doing something that I'm not very good at, I let myself get overwhelmed and self-conscious; this time, I wasn't about to let that happen.  My friends gave me some pointers and a lot of encouragement. Even though I fell down several times, I managed to go around the ring quite a bit!  And I had fun!

Here is a picture of me all bundled up in the shop where we rented the skates.

See the smile on my face while I'm on the ice?  Learning to skate was not easy, but I'm so glad I let myself have a good time!

Here are some of the bruises I acquired.  Don't worry, they aren't as painful as they look.  I'm rather proud of them, actually.  

After the lower body workout and the ice skating, my muscles had had enough.  On Sunday, I was so sore I had a hard time moving.  My friend told me that it's a pretty common occurrence to have pain when you are just starting. She encouraged me to give it some time, keep using and stretching the muscles, and the stiffness and pain would work itself out.  She was right!  On Monday I felt much better and by Tuesday, there wasn't any more pain, just some manageable soreness.  

This has been another good fitness week.  On Monday I went to the gym again and did an upper body workout.  Yesterday I stayed home and did some latin dancing. This morning I went and did a lower body workout.  I've discovered that I am starting to rather enjoy the soreness.  It's not as sharp as it was on Sunday, just a mild ache when I move.   Having the gentle soreness makes it feel really good when I stretch and it makes me more aware of which muscles I am using when I move.  

I have decided to follow the plan in Body for Life which recommends doing strength training on M,W,F and aerobics on T,Th,Sa, and taking Sunday as a day off.  So far I'm enjoying it.  

Tomorrow is the final checkpoint of the 20 Week Challenge.  Hannah and I have decided to extend our challenges a little; we're going to keep our current challenges going until the end of January and make it a full 5 months.  Then, in February, I'm starting a new 20 Week Challenge.  I'm going to alter it a little from the first one.  I am still going to build the challenges at each checkpoint like I did this time, but I am going to have different challenges.  I'm still working on what those challenges will be.  I know for certain that I'm going to allow myself to celebrate my birthday and Easter with a dessert. I'll let you know once I've selected my new challenges for the next 20 Week Challenge.

Stay tuned for the results!  Tomorrow I'll be weighing myself, taking measurements, and posting some before/after pictures!