Getting back on track...

SO did you think I dropped off the face of the earth? Did I disappear into thin air? Nope, I am still here. Been busy with life...Girl Scout's nuts & candy sales, Wednesday night children's program at church, Fall Festival at the school. And if that isn't enough add in a weekend trip "home" to South Carolina, a weekend camping trip, and a Fall Teacher Retreat for work and well it spells BUSY. Unfortunately, it also spells defeat! Bummer, but it happens. I have been quiet here on the blog because I was off track and I wasn't ready to confess to you all. But now it is time to pull myself out of the big rut I have gotten myself into and get back on track! You did catch that didn't you....I put myself into this rut and I am allowing myself to wallow in it day in and day out. God has still been knocking on my shoulder saying, "that is not what you should be eating" or "don't you think you should get out and walk" or "how is that gonna make you feel in a few hours". I have willingly chosen to not listen and follow. I simply have failed! Failed not only myself but more importantly GOD. Wallowing in the pit of whatever you want to call it is NOT what God wants for me... to be honest it is NOT what I want for me. I just have been struggling to get past the excuses. But today I am saying NO MORE! No more excuses...I will regain focus when I wake in the morning. I will focus on my goals and motivation. I will get back on my track to a healthier me. The first step is to make that dreaded well not really dreaded phone call to schedule that February doctor's appointment. You know the doctor's appointment where I hope to be at my goal weight. I know scheduling the appointment will get me motivated to work hard and stick to it. I can do this.....with God behind me pushing and shoving and sometimes screaming at me I know I can do this.... I just have to kick you know who that has been sitting on my shoulder helping rationalize those excuses to the curb. Do I have a plan for getting back on the right path? Well, right after I pick my self up by my shoestrings. I will start with a smart healthy breakfast and then since it is calling for 100% rain tomorrow I will make friends with the treadmill right after the kiddos are off on the bus to school. I would much rather get outside and walk but looks like it will be too wet and a bit cold tomorrow for that but mark my words I will walk on that darn treadmill. I will! I will! I will! After that I will keep my eye on the prize...my goal...a healthier me and dig my heals into making wise healthy choices for the rest of the day. Although it may not make my household happy tomorrow will be Meatless Monday. Oh the horror of homemade creamy vegetable soup and salad for dinner. Okay, I will throw in some whole wheat rolls for good measure. If and when I try to make excuses tomorrow I will politely remind myself how absolutely horrible I have felt the past few weeks. Now mind you I have not been that bad but I haven't been that good either. My walking has been inconsistent and my eating has slipped a bit. But I am tired of the sluggish feeling, the tired feeling, and just feeling yucky. I am ready to feel better and all it will take is getting my diet and walking back on track. Enough said. I have another reason to get on track. What is it you say? The Daniel Plan! The plan is to dedicate 2015 to God. The Daniel Plan will be the first step in this journey. I will be going on this Daniel Plan journey with several ladies from church. I'm ready or at least I am getting ready. I have been studying the book. Reading, highlighting, and absorbing all the book has to say to me...to teach me...to touch me. This will be not only a physical journey but a spiritual one and a mental one too. Where is God going to lead me in 2015? What does he have in store for little 'ole me? I guess we will find out. So, I am preparing. I am cleaning out the pantry, researching recipes, experimenting with some new veggies, and most importantly I am praying, praying, and praying some more! I am convinced this is the right next step for me. It leaves me at times terrified at some of the changes I will need to make but I am also extremely EXCITED! So I ask that you please pray for me and these ladies as we step out in faith on this journey come January. Well, It is getting late and my bed is calling! Tomorrow is the BIG day to reclaim my journey. But before I go I felt I needed to share my failure with you so you can see everyone makes mistakes. Even the most motivated people slip up. We are all human. We all falter. We all have the choice. Do we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and take the next step in the right direction to meet our goals? YES, that is exactly what I will do right after I get a good night's sleep. I will dust myself off and step out in faith in the right direction. The direction of being a healthier me! Until next time......

What's your motivation?

So what is your motivation? You have to have a reason for any efforts to be healthier. I thought about it and thought about it and thought about it. There are several reason I stay motivated to be a healthier version of myself. This is a spiritual, mental, and physical process. No one can tell you why you need to be healthier. No one can tell you what your motivation needs to be… it is personal. You must seek it from your soul, pray about it or else you will not stay motivated to meet the goal and finish the race set for you. My first reason may sound silly to some but as a Bible teacher my answer is ,“because the Bible tells me to.“ The Bible plainly states the way I should eat and that we should take care of our bodies. We all are suppose to treat our bodies as temples that God has given us. Most of the time we fuel our bodies with foods and drinks that are far from what God intended us to eat. I want to be healthier in order for God’s plan for me to be fulfilled. If I take care of myself and eat properly I will be able to do His work here on earth. I can’t be a good disciple if I eat junk. My body does not work as well when I eat fast food…processed food. To tell you the truth as I sit here typing and eating my lunch (salad with grilled chicken topped with homemade vinaigrette, I just had to talk myself out of a run for fast food. My blood sugar has been low for me for the past two days and I figured it would be okay to have the junk. As I picked up my keys and headed to the door…reality sat in and I thought, “NO, NO, NO”. I put my keys back and told myself I would not allow myself to feel bad later in the day and pollute my body. There is a better way to elevate my blood sugar. And it sure isn’t a burger and fries. So I am enjoying my healthy salad and will enjoy those grapes in a little and my body will be happy. My second reason is most likely what each of you thought I would say first…MY KIDS! I have chosen to set an example to be healthy for them. I want to be healthy for them. I do not want to miss any of the milestones in their future because I am not able to participate or worse yet because I am not here! I have a choice to take care of myself and be healthy or not. You have the same choice. If eating healthy foods and exercising, taking care of myself in general keeps me around to watch my beautiful daughter and handsome son accomplish all that God has planned for them then I will do it. My health is something I can control as I am the one who makes the decisions on what I put in my body to fuel it. I decide whether I walk or not. I have watched over the last two years my nephew struggle with the loss of his dad…my brother. My brother didn’t have a choice in being here…. I have a choice. I will not put my children through the pain, suffering, the loss that my nephew has gone through…as least not because I didn’t take care of myself. I can fight the Diabetes…I am fighting the Diabetes…and right now I am winning… and it is all for God and my children. I mean seriously my children are the light of my life…the reason to wake up each morning. I guess there is one more selfish reason or form of motivation. MYSELF. Do you know how much better I feel since I started this journey?? How about the “high” from a nice long brisk walk where the heart is pumping? I can not put it into words. So, I will continue because I have energy to do all the things that I love. I sure wouldn’t be able to keep up with all the different “hats” I wear if I wasn’t taking steps to be healthier. I would just be complaining about being tired and stressed and having no energy. So I encourage you to think about your motivation. What is it that makes you tick? Why do you do what you do each day? You have to have some motivation…so what is it???

Taking the "I" out of the equation...

I, I, I, me, me, me that is the kinda of world in which we live in today. It is sad really that many people are geared to think of themselves first. That is what the world tells us through advertisements, Television, and other media sources. Our children are being brought up in a ME generation. But here is the thing...on this journey I am on for better health the ONE thing that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt is this... I MUST take the "I" out of the equation. It is not about ME! Simply put I can not do this alone. If I could I would have never been over weight in the first place. I would be in absolute perfect health. I would be at and maintain an ideal weight. But I CAN NOT do this on my own. I need help.I need strength. I need wisdom. I fall short of His glory daily in not allowing Him to work through me and help me in choices I make on what to eat, do I or do I not walk or exercise. Loosing weight is not easy. Being healthy for many is not easy. It certainly has not been easy for me. But I can not accept the COST of continuing on with the lifestyle I was living. And where we all fail is relying on ourselves alone to loose the weight, to be a healthier version of what you are right now. It doesn't work if we do not put God in the equation. HE is the answer....HE is the only answer. Once making Him the answer then you will succeed. The Bible plainly states in Luke 9:23, "And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." And if you do not like that verse how about 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." The lesson I learned is that I must allow God to be at the reigns of my journey. He has to be in control. I must deny myself and allow Him to create a new me. I need to consult Him with every aspect of the journey. God is not the one who tempts me to falter. He wants me to succeed. But I we must ask. Romans 12: 1 states, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Present your body to God as a living and holy sacrifice. How we take care of our bodies is a form of worshiping him. What?? Boy, when you dwell on that it makes you think Uh-Oh.... my body is certainly not a acceptable living and holy sacrifice. Our bodies are holy simply because God created us. And he created our bodies with a purpose. I make poor choices as to how I fuel the body God has given me often. Did you catch that "I" make poor choices? I have had to train myself to ask, what is best for me and my body. Sure that candy bar as a snack riding down the road taste soooooooo good and yes it satisfies the growling tummy BUT is it what is best for me? NO, so the better choice is a piece of fruit or maybe a granola bar. I have to approach temping choices with the question, "What is best for this body God is powering?" Essentially, "What would God want me to choose?" You know what, when I make the healthier choice I feel better not just mentally but physically and spirituality. Since cutting most processed foods from my diet my body can not handle the candy bars or the fast food without consequences. Boy, that burger and fries or the candy bar sure might taste good but the headache and sluggishness it creates later in the day is just not worth it. Not to mention how I beat myself up for hours after making the choice to indulge. I seem to be preaching to myself this morning and decided to take you guys along for the ride. You see this weekend well UH was just not the best as far as healthy choices were concerned. Especially, yesterday. It was a very busy day which left hardly anytime for thinking about proper food choices. As I rushed home from church to get the kids to go back to church for play practice I drove by and bought a pizza for lunch. Even though my mind was telling me YUCK! I had to eat and it had to be fast. SO pizza we had for lunch. Was it good? Yes, mainly because I was so hungry (I had forgotten to eat breakfast) and it was hot out of the oven. Two hours later, as it sat like a brick in my stomach as my body what saying why, why, why did you do this to me was it a good choice for me, NO! And this morning as I deal with a slight headache I know most definitely I should have chosen the apple off the counter and protein bar in the kitchen cabinet instead. But good news is...... Today is a new day! And today, I will put God back into the equation and remove the I! Are you with me? Are you ready to deny yourself and let God be answer in the journey your walking. I hope so, because I see where God has taken me in the last 3 months and I know it is ALL Him. I had tried before and failed. I have made more gains since putting Him in charge of this walk. All things are possible through HIM. Now the tummy is growling it is time for breakfast...

My Story

I am Angee and this is my story. This story began on April 17, 2012. This is the day when I sat in my doctor's office only to receive the news that I was being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. This was a REAL reality check for me. It is terrifying to be told all the other health related problems that can occur if Diabetes isn't controlled. Needless to say I left my doctor in a state of disbelief and a little overwhelmed to say the least. However, this was the news I was expecting...I knew the symptoms I had dealt with them before as I had Gestational Diabetes with both of my children. But the doctor had just STRESSED this is a life changer....This was NOT going away! I would now always be considered Diabetic. This meant one thing. Time for a major lifestyle change. Gone were the Mountain Dews, gone were the yummy Milky Way bars, Gone was all the GOOD foods I did so love or so I thought. It was time to regroup not just for me but for my children. I slowly began to make changes and I made "friends" with Diet Mountain Dew which is today a favorite! Within several months, I had gotten things under control or so I thought. But there was a one thing lingering out there. I needed to loose some weight. Fast forward this time last year, this is when my mom had a stress test which long story short resulted in her having bypass surgery in December. After once again, analyzing our family medical history it became clear that Diabetes is not the only concern for me. Back to the doctor I went... my cholesterol was a little high and I was placed on medication and now loosing weight was not longer an option it was a necessity! So, where do I start? I didn't know. I had already made the necessary changes to my diet. So what else did I need to do? I wanted and NEEDED to take charge of my health. So it began or did it. Oh trust me I talked a good talk but at this point it was ALL talk. It wasn't until this summer July in fact that I got serious! After reading the book, Reshaping It All by Candance Cameron Bure while on vacation I put things in perspective. I knew the missing component in my health journey. It was GOD. I had failed to ask him and rely on Him and trust in Him to meet my goals. How did He want me to do this? When I got home from the beach I started walking, walking and walking and praying, praying praying. I am not talking a little stroll down the road. I was serious. I downloaded MapMyWalk on my phone to keep track of my miles and I walked. I did not walk only when I carved out the time I MADE the time every day. I truly felt this is where God was leading me. He was telling me to take the steps to take care of ME and it was okay to take the time for ME. He helped me work through the guilt that I felt of leaving the kids to walk and take this time for myself. Three plus months later they see me with my shoes on and ask, "you going walking?" They have survived... and I know longer feel guilty. Guess what, folks.....IT FEELS GOOD to be moving!! God didn't intend for us to be sedentary. He designed us to move. He didn't design us to eat the foods many of us eat,either. If you doubt this look up the story of Daniel. I can now say I LOVE walking....and the weight is coming off little by little. Since July I have lost 13 pounds. My goal weight is closer with just 10 pounds to be at an ideal weight according to my doctor. With putting GOD first, allowing Him to be in charge and the consistent exercise and eating healthy foods I am doing what I need to do. And again It feels good. I sleep better. I have more energy. I have fewer headaches. I could go on but I am sure you get the point. I decided to start this blog because perhaps my journey can inspire you to get moving and take control of your health. I, also, have people asking all the time about my walking adventure and how I do it so here I can answer those questions. Have a question for me then ask...I will share any part of my journey with each of you. I will journal my ups and downs, my progress, share some recipes, share what works and doesn't work for me. Will I stumble along the way? Of course, probably more than I would like but I will succeed because God is with me on the journey! Maybe my story will help you get started at least that is my prayer. Remember it starts by just taking that first step.... the first step in faith. So, Will you step out in faith with me and join me on this journey? I sure hope you will.