The Spiritual.

Weight loss is a life journey. One where my mind may always play the role of the "fat girl" and it has many different levels. Physical, Mental and Spiritual.
It is very easy to just focus on the physical side of weight loss but to be healthy and look at all aspects of it you need to look at the mental "fat girl" mentality and the spiritual part. Many people ignore the mental and spiritual side which ultimately leads them to a crash and burn. But to be honest the Spiritual + a pair of too small red PJ pants started me on my journey. But today we will just focus on the spiritual part.


Did you know that gluttony is a sin?
Gluttony:: 1.excess in eating or drinking; 2.greedy or excessive indulgence (Webster)
Throughout the bible you will find verses about over eating and being drunk, 2 things that physically harm your body.


Why are you here on earth? 
If you are a Christian you may find this answer very obvious, but you don't really cling to it.
It is to love and serve God with all our heart. But I ask you this, how can you do anything if your house is not in order. Now I'm not saying you need to be perfect, but you do need to being running after the Savior. Yes I said running. A life of laziness does not produce a life of abundant faith. But a life of apathy. 
For most of my life I lived a life of bondage to complacency and apathy. Even after starting a personal walk with Christ (14 years ago on 2/15) I always came back to a place of just doing the motions. Because I didn't have everything in check. I didn't realize that every part of my body needed to be going to the same place.
Did you know that your body is a temple? 
1Cor6:19-20 (The message) "Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body."
Our body is a temple, a gift from God!! And we are to spend our time on this earth to fully live for Christ. 
So here is the end, can you honestly tell me that being overweight, indulging in sin and not keeping your temple in order has lead you to a close walk with God? I think some could argue this point, but I ask you to deeply seek out the right answer. Live your life right, look to God for your strength and He will give you abundant blessings. He wants to see you succeed. He wants you to live your life on earth to it's fullest potential. So I beg you to get your house in order! Please don't let distractions get in the way with your relationship with Christ and do everything you humanly can to please him! 

My race was canceled:o(

So my race tomorrow was canceled :o(
But I found one at the end of the Feb. So I will still be able to make my goal!!

Running through 2011

One of my main goals of this year is to run a race every month and in doing so improve my time.
I did my 1st 5k on 1/8/11 it was 11 degrees out and I completed it in 36 minutes.
My next one is 2/12/11 in Carmel and a 5k.
Then in March I'm running a 5k downtown Indy.
I'm not sure what the next months hold, I haven't found the races I want to do yet.
What are your goals?
How can you push yourself past what you think you can't do?

ice, ice baby!

So here are some current photos, it is so good to be able to look back and see where I was and where I am now. 

 

But the hard thing is that my mind still thinks I am where I used to be. I don't write this right now to get any pity but to just tell you what the mind of a used to be fat girl goes through. 9 times out of 10 times when I look in the mirror I still see that size 24 body, even though I'm a 12 right now and have the goal of being an 8.

 I got shocked this fall when I got whistled at and sometimes need to look at myself twice in the mirror to see the real me. Losing weight is not just a physical thing, it is also mental and extremely spiritual. Months ago I started to deal with the mental part of this and I am in no way through it yet and may never be. My confidence was no where to be found when I was fat, I was always the one behind the scenes and never ever did I think I would have a boyfriend. I always assumed the friend role and the listener, I was the one in H.S. who people would talk to about their relationship problems. And always told I would make a good wife...I gotta be a girlfriend first people! 

When I started this journey, I knew I could succeed but it would be hard. I never realized that it would be a roller coaster, that I would have to deal with things that were said in the J.H. hallways about being the fat kid in order to lose weight. I found myself at a point 20lbs in when out of fear I froze and stopped for a few weeks, the fear was that I don't know how to be just a regular weight, healthy woman. It is a foreign concept for me. Then I realized that I had actually lived a life of fear for a long time. 

I was afraid to run...now I'm running a race a month and looking to do a little triathlon in Aug.

I was afraid to be open to any potential boys.....now I met some guys and really enjoyed talking to them.

I was afraid to wear cute clothes.....this past week I was in a dress and leggings!

I was afraid to share my journey with others in case I failed.....now my blog is open for all to read. 

I let fear rule me, and that is where the spiritual comes in. You will have to wait to hear that part!

Moving

To get yourself up and move is one of the most important things to do when it comes to weight loss. And sometimes that means getting up at 5am! Ok today it was 5:45 but I most recently signed up at the YMCA because I know that I need more than just the basic 30min cardio. And what did I do my 1st morning? Spinning! Man is my body sore and did I ever sweat. I couldn't do everything, and don't really know the equipment well. But I got in there for an hour and pushed myself as hard as I could. I will continue to go, it is a great kick start to the morning. There are a lot of other classes I would like to do, so I'm excited to adventure forward in it.
I seem to be a little restless in life right now, I know that I get here often. But I'm trying to determine what is making me feel this way.
My advice to you is to just move...even just a little bit!

The Power of Photos

I remember never liking having my picture taken. But here are some that show me before I decided to change my life.

32 more lbs!

All the normal things aren't working any more, so I need to push myself more. Time to go to a more expensive gym so that I can take classes too!
One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone asks me how I'm losing weight and I tell them, which in return they respond oh I don't have money to do that. Well my friends, you do have money for it. Whether it is Weight Watchers, the gym or any other program that will help you succeed you need to figure out how you can pay for it. And here are some helpful hits.
1. Cut back on Starbucks....now I'm not saying quit buying coffee, just cut back. Don't buy the $5 Venti, get the $3 tall instead or the $1.50 tall coffee. Not only will you save about $50 a month, you will also cut back a bunch of wasted calories!
2. Do you really need to large size that meal at fast food? Same reasons as above.
3. Why don't you cook at home? Even just once a week? Or make all your lunches and take them to work, did you know you could make your lunch for as low as $2 a day! Also your able to control your portions and fat intake that way.
Just in those 3 examples I have saved you over $100 a month!
That's $40 for WW, $40 for the gym and an extra $20 for savings(or a 5k)!
Your excuse should never be that you can't afford it, because the way I look at it you really can't afford not to. I mean you do want to live right don't you?