I have been praying for help to lose weight for so long. I would pray for Him to help me with whatever diet I was on that week (or day! Literally, it was getting out of control!)
FINALLY, I feel like my prayer was answered in way of inspiration, or thoughts that came to me that really clicked.
I am always trying to run a marathon without ever training!!! In other words, I try to change so many things at once and achieve perfection from day 1! I throw out or hide all the "bad" foods that I am not suppose to eat anymore and try to be perfect every second of everyday. I have been doing this for the last 10 years!
I know diets work for some people, or at least they seem to. But they sure don't work for me! I get super cranky (which is not good, since I home school 4 little kids) and I turn into a witch! I get called mean mom and my husband doesn't want to be around either. We were doing slow carb and managed to do it for about 5 weeks, in which we were both losing inches and weight, but we were biting each others heads off too! And I had NO energy! We decided that is was unhealthy for our marriage and stopped. So, what do I do? I still want to lose weight! I have 100 - 110 pounds to lose to be in a healthy BMI range! I want to be healthy and fit and have energy now and when I am old! I will not succumb to unhealthy ways of losing weight!
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result". That's exactly what I was doing! I expected something different because I was changing the diet, except that I normally changed diets like I change my underwear! Seriously! I would change my mind daily! If not several times a day! I would waste so much time reading, it was driving my husband mad! He quit listening to me whenever I would talk about the new diet I was doing or going to do. Who am I kidding, he hardly listens to me anyway!
The idea I had (inspiration from God if you ask me) was to take it in steps, to stop trying to change everything all at once! We can't get to the top of the staircase without first taking the stairs! (there is no elevator in this metaphor!)
I was always trying to take 10 or more steps all at once, which would wear me out really fast.
The plan is to start taking 1 or 2 steps at a time until they feel like second nature. Who cares how long or short it takes, it doesn't matter, it's not a race. What matters is that I am heading in the right direction. This is a journey to better myself, not an event.
So, here are my stairs to improve my health and shape. (not necessarily in any order yet)
Drink enough filtered water daily (half my weight in ounces)
Cut out white flour and refined sugar
Exercise (I have a weight lifting program I am following)
Meditate daily
Breathing (yoga stuff) exercises daily
Grateful journal daily
Focus more on vegetables and fruit
Cut back on meat
Eat a whole food diet (if God made it and it hasn't been screwed up by man, then it is approved!)
Learn to live a balanced life (get work done, have fun, fulfill my spiritual needs)
This is going to be hard for me, only because it is to tempting to fall into the trap of trying to lose weight quickly. But I have to keep reminding myself that I am where I am today because of yo-yo dieting. I would lose weight, but then it would come back on fast! Plus some! So, not being on a diet for 6 months is also a goal for me. (but that doesn't mean I will not try my best to eat and be healthy!)
So, this is the beginning for me. I will keep up with this blog at least once a week to stay motivated and to keep on track.
Here is my plan: (which I might change the order, but this is the plan so far)
LIVE A BALANCED LIFE
EAT A WHOLE FOOD DIET
MEDITATE/BREATH DAILY
GRATEFUL JOURNAL
FOCUS ON VEGETABLES AND FRUIT
CUT OUT WHITE FLOUR AND SUGAR
DRINK ENOUGH WATER
CUT BACK ON MEAT
EXERCISE
As of today I am on week 2 of my exercise plan (The new rules of lifting for women) and same for cutting back on meat. I feel really good, except that I am sore a lot, but that is a good sign for me. I thought for sure I would be lacking energy from cutting out meat, but it's almost quite the opposite! I haven't seen the scale budge, but I am not worried about it. I know in time it will, even if it takes 6 months! ( I have also been reading "The Miracle Pill" which is great motivation to lasting and doable weight loss)
I am on and off right now on getting enough water. It's almost like I keep stepping up on the third step and then I step back down. But I feel good about the first two steps enough to start focusing on the third step. So, this week I will start to focus on getting enough water and ways to make it a habit.
