Change is a good thing

Tonight as I was running I began to think about the changes in my body and mind throughout my weight loss. I began to get really excited and very encouraged as I thought through how I am changing my body.

Here are a few that I thought of:

• Today I wore a dress without shorts underneath!! This is BIG! Every time I would wear a dress I would wear shorts (especially in the summer) because my legs would rub and well lets just say it's not very comfortable. I went without shorts today and it felt great! As I was walking around I realized how much better it feels to not have shorts underneath. 
• My t-shirts fit much better. Even as I would gain weight I would continue to wear large t-shirts. Truth is..I should have been in an x-large. I wouldn't let myself face the facts that I needed bigger clothing so I would just stretch them out before putting them on. Now, I don't have to stretch out my shirts anymore. My large shirts fit just the way they should :) The few x-large shirts that I do have I use as my workout shirts.
• Running is easier when you take away 20 pounds!! Now I'm not saying running is easy, but I am saying it is easier now. My breathing is getting better and I am able to run further distances. I still don't have my breathing where I want it but it's getting there. 
• My knees don't hurt as much anymore!! I have 2 bad knees and being obese didn't help give them any relief. If I do a hard workout I have to be careful and remember to listen to my body. In the past if I would start hurting I would just ignore it and keep going because I'm stubborn. Now, I've learned that if I listen to my body and go easier on my knees or shoulder when they begin to hurt that I can give myself time to recover and begin working out again sooner rather than having to sit out for several weeks because of an injury. 
• Mental change:  I've learned to ask myself "Is that really worth it" when deciding what to eat. I ask myself  is it worth the points and how will that make me feel afterwards? This has helped me to make better decisions when choosing what to eat. Honestly, sometimes I feel that piece of pizza or bowl of ice cream is worth the points at the time. Do I eat these things all the time? Absolutely not! But I do treat myself and I do not deprive myself of the things I like. It's okay to have the things you like just in controlled portion sizes. 
• If you don't have it in your house you won't eat it!!!! This is so true and so helpful. If you don't have the junk food in your house you will not constantly be eating the junk food. I was telling my dad tonight about how I was not craving either Lucky Charms or Froot Loops. However, I was babysitting my cousin overnight and they had both cereals. All of a sudden I'm craving both cereals. I got my fix (Lucky Charms last night and Froot Loops this morning) and got it out of my system. If they would not have been there I would not have wanted or eaten them. It's really important to watch what you keep in your house. 

      My body and my mind are changing so much as I make this lifestyle change. When I feel weak, discouraged or lazy I remind myself that I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13). He is where I truly get all of my strength from to make the changes in my life that I am making.

Vacation does NOT have to mean weight gain

  VACATION... Honestly, I was excited about vacationing but nervous all at the same time. I went to two different places back to back with two different groups of people. My first stop was Tampa to visit Tampa project. I was around a bunch of friends and a bunch of restaurants. Eating healthy on this trip was pretty tough. I brought weight watchers oatmeal for breakfast and some weight watchers snack bars to snack on throughout the day. I was there 4 days. Within those four days we ate out about twice each day. I try to be smart when eating out and plan ahead. However, I don't always stay so strong when I get to the restaurant. One thing I really missed was my fruit intake. On Sunday we went to a buffet after church and I loaded up on some fruit. Coming home from Tampa I felt absolutely horrible and like I had gained at least 3-5 pounds. To my surprise I had only gained a little less than a pound. This was just the motivation I needed for my next stop...Destin,FL! 
  Destin was a different story than Tampa. We were there 6 days. We bought groceries to keep at the house for the week we were there.  I also prepared some portioned out meals for breakfast before I left. By doing this on both trips I knew exactly how I was going to start out each day and not end up a donut shop or a breakfast buffet. Starting out your day right makes a HUGE difference. Each night a different couple would cook and most all the meals were pretty healthy. I was with my sister (one of my biggest support systems) and another guy who are also doing weight watchers. Being with these two was such a tremendous help!! We were able to encourage each other along the trip and help keep track of points. 


THE VERDICT.. I came home and weighed in with a 2 pound loss this week!!! 


THINGS THAT HELPED:

• Having a support system
• Having a plan 
• TRACKING!!! My goal for my vacation was to HONESTLY track everything I ate!! I put honestly in all caps because it is easy to say aww I only had 1 oz of cheese on that salad when in reality you had 3. That makes a difference in tracking. Honestly tracking throughout vacationing is how I came home with a 2 pound loss. Yes, I enjoyed myself and let myself splurge but I not overdo it. I felt much better after Destin than I did after Tampa. 
• Exercise!! Whether it was going up and down the stairs a million times a day with a baby in  hand, running along the beach (not in the sand but on the sidewalk next to the beach), or carrying 2 babies on the beach while pulling a stroller through the sand (true story!! It's much harder to pull a stroller through the sand than to carry the two babies lol), or simply just walking to the beach rather than taking the trolley. There are so many ways to incorporate exercise on vacation!!!  

I'm now at a total of 19.8 pounds GONE!!! This leaves me with only .2 away from my 10%. So close!!! I have to admit when I weighed in today and saw that it was .2 away I was a little discouraged. However, how can you stay discouraged when you have a 2 pounds loss coming off of vacation and a total of 19.8 pounds gone off of your body?!?  This reminded me of my walk with the Lord. So often something can happen and you feel so discouraged. But when you take that discouragement and remember all of the blessings in your life and that the Lord is working all things together for His good and His glory how can you stay discouraged?!? The Lord has a perfect plan for our lives and knows every single detail. It was no mistake that I came .2 away from my 10% this week. I will continue to lean on His strength that He gives me each and every day of my life because without Him I would not be who I am or where I am at today. I am so grateful for his never ending love for us :)