What Happened To 2018?

I honestly can not believe that it is now 2019! Where did 2018 even go?

I guess I  should give an update on my journey.

2018 started off wonderful. Back in June 2017 I committed to staying 100% on the Trim Healthy Mama Plan and I went a little over a year 100%!  From June to October I lost 52 pounds. From October 2017 to August 2018 I continued 100% on THM, but I stopped losing weight and just stalled out. And since August I have gained back about 39 pounds.

This has been a pattern in my life, and one that I was hoping to break when I started THM. But instead of trying to overcome the stall I was in, I chose to go back to old patterns. What started out as one "cheat meal" has turned into about 6 months of jumping on and off the "Trim Train".

After talking with my doctor about what has happened and reviewing patterns and health history of PCOS and Blood Pressure, she has given me until August to get back on track otherwise we will need to start talking about more extreme measures to overcome the weight and health issues.

Needless to say, I have been so frustrated and disappointed with myself and that has just added to the unhealthy cycle. However my eyes have been opened to some things about myself:

1) I still have the mentality that I am "dieting" and not truly doing a "life style change that never ends".

2) I have to prep for times when I am away from the house. This is when I fall into the temptation to have off-plan foods.

3) I need accountability and I have to speak up when friends and family are suggesting ideas for when we get together and food is involved.

Another thing that has happened during this time is that my dear husband has decided to join me on the THM journey and is working towards being a Trim Healthy Hubby!

I don't know what the Lord has in store for us this year but I am trusting in His Soveriegn Grace.

Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018

I can't believe we are already a full week into the New Year. The Holidays were busy but filled with all love, joy, and laughter with family and friends. There was one major difference to my normal Holiday festivities and I am so happy to report that I did not cheat, not even once, during that time. I have been 100% on the THM way of life and I made it through the holidays without giving into the temptations that come with the season. If you know me, you know how big of a deal that truly is for me. Usually I gain a lot of weight during the holidays but not this year! I am so thankful to God for being with me. I know I would not be able to do this without him.

The new year has also brought some big changes to our schedule and routine as my husband has switched to first shift. It is such a big change from 2nd. As I type both him and our son are in bed sleeping. I won't lie, tonight I find it quite nice to have some time all to myself. I am hoping that this will give me more of an opportunity to blog more.

2017 was a pretty good year all in all. God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve. I have overcome some challenges and, although I am not at my "goal weight", I am confident that the lifestyle changes are making a big impact on my health.

I am looking forward to all that God will be doing in my life throughout the year 2018.

God Bless.

Life and blog ideas!

First, I would like to apologize. It has been a few months since I have had a chance to get on here. Life has gotten a little hectic for our family as we embarked on a new journey of VIRTUAL ACADEMY for our 7 year old son. It has been a roller coaster but I think we have finally found "our groove". I am hoping that I am able to get on here and post more often that I have been able to.

I have been thinking a lot about this blog and what purpose it has. Especially in regards to the "NOBLE WIFE, HEALTHY LIFE" aspect. For too long I think I have been focusing so much on just the weight loss aspect of my journey to become that ever elusive butterfly.

I was rereading some of my first posts from January 2014. In my "The Cycle Of Life" post, using the imagery of a butterfly's anatomy, I came up with this sort of blueprint of how God's perfect beauty would be made complete in me as I transitioned from a caterpillar to a butterfly. 

The body at the center represents keeping Jesus at the center of my heart and the four wings represent the balance of the following areas:

SPIRITUAL:

• Love of Jesus shining through me for all to see.
• Intimate relationship with God through prayer, worship, and devotion
• Constant hunger and thirst for righteousness and actually living God's will.
• The fruit of my branches would be noticeable to others and the gifts of the Spirit would be present all around in my life. 

PHYSICAL:

• Healthy blood pressure & blood sugar levels.
• Hormone levels balanced.
• Active Lifestyle to maintain a healthy weight, and to be strong and flexible.
• Healthy Eating: Portion Control, Food Choices, Water, etc.
• Shiny and strong nails & hair; glowing skin.

EMOTIONAL:

• No erratic feelings of highs and lows.
• Be Joyful
• Healthy relationships with family and friends.

MENTAL:

• Less worrisome and stressed out.
• Self-Controlled.
• Disciplined. 

I am still praying about how I should use this blog for encouragement not only for myself, but for others, but I do believe it needs to contain all of these areas. What this will look like, I am not exactly sure. But I do know that my hope is for God to use me to speak truth and life into other women's lives. I am not perfect and I will make mistakes, but greater is He that is in me!

God bless us all on our journeys in taking care of these temples God has blessed us with.

Faith is not separate on this journey.

Welcome to what I hope is just the first of many posts dedicated to the Christian Faith aspect of my weight loss journey. It is my hope and desire to share Biblical Truths  that the Lord Jesus is showing me as I begin to treat my body as the temple that it was created to be.

In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it says:

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 

20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

I read this and my heart is convicted. I know that in the past 16 years I have not treated my body as the temple God created it to be. I may not smoke, drink, or do drugs, but I have harmed myself just the same with the junk that I have consumed over the years. The blessing of food and drink has actually become a curse. I have allowed food consumption to become a sin in my life. That is not an easy thing to admit, but it is truth all the same. Food has become an Idol in my life. It is what I turn to when I am hurting instead of turning to Jesus. If Idolatry wasn't bad enough, I also recognized that I have walked a path of gluttony. The over-consumption and over-indulgences have led to health problems, aches, and pains. This is not God's intention for my body. I am ashamed of how I have treated the temple God has blessed me with.

I believe real change happens only when truth is allowed to illuminate the areas of our life where we need that change to take place. I have struggled with my weight and weight loss for so long, but only recently have I began to understand the underlying issues that I was not willing to deal with. I know that God will be revealing so much more as I continue on this journey in learning how to see my body as His temple.

My faith in God is necessary on this journey as I learn to rely on Him and rely less on food.

I hope and pray that the truth God has revealed in my life will encourage another on their own journey, no matter where they may be.

God Bless.

 

My apologies, time has gotten away from me once again

I did not intend to go this long between my posts but things have been so busy here. In my last post I talked about the past few years of my weight loss journey, being diagnosed with PCOS, and finding THM (Trim Healthy Mama).

Throughout the month of June we did a 30 Day No Cheat Streak Challenge in one of the groups. I was dreading the challenge but I persevered through. When the 30 days was over, I was so proud of the accomplishment I made that I decided to continue and go for 100 days without cheating and staying on plan 100%.

Today is day 44 and I am going strong. I have never really gone more than 10 days without cheating or giving in to cravings, so this is such a big accomplishment for me and I am really proud. I know that without God, this would not be possible. I am so thankful for the strength he has given me during this time. The past 44 days have not been easy, and there have been some days where I just wanted to cry, but it does get a little bit easier.

Well that's it for now. I am hoping to do a recipe post soon.

God Bless on our journey to better health.

A new path on my journey

Over the past 14 years I have tried many different diet and exercise plans with little success. It is not fair to say that those diets just don't work, but I will say that it was more about them being unrealistic as a long term healthy solution.

Back in 2014 I started doing more of my own research into what would be best for my journey. I bought textbooks, searched the internet, and began to compile my own ideas of what would be best for me. There was so much information and I was successful for a short period of time. My weight dropped from 290 in January to 254 by May. However, because of the extreme pressure I put on myself, I ended up with an injury that has caused permanent damage and pain in my feet and I gained back most of that weight.

After being diagnosed with PCOS, I started a PCOS diet and lost 25 pounds, but again I found that this type of diet was not something I could realistically see myself doing for the rest of my life. There had to be something out there I could see myself doing for the rest of my life and not just for weight loss but also for internal health as well.

There were several things I knew for sure that I needed:

To get rid of sugar and processed carbs
To eat LOW GI food
To eat fat, protein, and healthy whole carbohydrates from whole food sources.

What I did not know was how to combine all the best of the information I compiled and how to make it work for me.

A few months ago while on Pinterest searching for PCOS friendly recipes, I came across a recipe with the letters THM on it. I had seen it before when searching for recipes and never paid any attention to it. But that night I decided to look up what the THM stood for. And that is when I was brought to the TRIM HEALTHY MAMA website. Remember the butterfly I had talked about earlier? Well imagine my surprise when I saw that their logo is a butterfly! I knew I was not stumbling upon this site, and these two amazing women by accident.

I have still struggled while trying to implement the THM lifestyle. But that is what is great about THM, it is not just another fad diet. It is also a community of women who are all trying their best to live a healthy lifestyle and I have found many other mama’s out there who are encouraging and inspiring one another. How amazing and rare is that in todays society!

So if you have tried all the diets out there and feel hopeless, I sincerely recommend you taking a look into the Trim Healthy Mama Lifestyle. The sisters also have videos on YouTube.

God bless us all on this journey.

Is that ever going to be me?

When I created this blog back in 2014 it was for the purpose of keeping myself accountable and I had hoped to be an encouragement to others. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by and how much life has gotten in the way of keeping this blog up to date.

As I read over my previous posts, I considered deleting them. I began to doubt how I could possibly be an encouragement to others when it seems all that I have done is struggle and perform the "weight loss/weight gain shuffle" (losing and gaining the same 10-20 pounds over and over again).

I have spent the past few days searching the world of Pinterest for weight loss success photos for encouragement. By the time I was finished with my search, I realized I felt more discouraged then encouraged by all the success I saw. Let me pause real quick to ask that you not mistake my discouragement for a lack of being happy for others who have achieved their success. I have searched within myself and have realized why I feel this way and it comes down to one simple concept and that is I can not relate to their success. It was truly an "ah-ha" moment. It is so hard to relate to something when you are at a different place in your own journey. With this realization, I decided it was best not delete my journey thus far. Just maybe, there are others like me who need to see the struggle so that we know that we are not alone. We see the success and we hear how the journey was hard, but we don't know or get to see the struggle. Sometimes the struggle is what can be the most encouraging.

So that is where I find myself today. Struggling and wondering if that is ever going to be me.

Do you feel that way too? If so, you are definitely not alone!

I hope and pray that this blog will encourage you on your own journey.

God Bless.