Weight Loss Series #3 – Time to Move

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So, even though I said yesterday that you can’t out-exercise a bad diet, it really is absolutely important to exercise. I think it’s really important to find something that fits into your schedule and is easily incorporated into your life. Since I have a treadmill, don’t have a gym membership, and do have lots of trails outside my front door, running makes a great exercise for me.

But…how do I get started? Couch 2 5k! I did the program back before kids and completed the Minneapolis 5k. Then I quit. I don’t think I ran again for years.

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I started running again around March. I got the app and started moving on the treadmill. Once it got nicer, I ran in the evenings and during the girls’ afternoon nap on the weekend. I’ve run three “official” 5ks this summer. Am I an Olympic contender? Not by a very very VERY long shot. But I do keep jogging the whole time and, darn it, that makes me happy.

When I was fatter and tired, the very thought of exercise made me feel tired. It is easy to get stuck in the tired circle:

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But listen to me – you have to. You really have to gather all your strength and push yourself out of the tired cycle. Once you get out, you’ll discover the most amazing thing.

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In real life, all the healthy people I know run. (They also tend to eat hummus. I started eating that too and I ended up really liking that as well!) Now, I am a runner too and it feels better than I even thought it would!

Watch for my final thoughts in the weight loss mini series tomorrow – there is no magic pill.

Weight Loss Series #2 – Those 300 Calories

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Another principle that has become very clear to me on my weight loss journey is that I can’t out-exercise a bad diet. This became especially clear to me when I started tracking my food. As I entered everything that went into my mouth on fatsecret.com, I saw the calories add up from every little thing.

I also entered my exercise. I noticed a funny thing – the snacks and extra treats added up very quickly, but the calories burned exercising did not. It takes me approximately 30 minutes of jogging on the treadmill to burn 300 calories. Eating 300 calories worth of pizza takes about 30 seconds.

 

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Unless you are some kind of intense athlete or a teenage boy, you cannot out-exercise a bad diet.

Another word about tracking: I find it useful for many reasons. Numbers don’t lie. If I write down everything, I can see if I should be losing weight and I understand if I am gaining. If I cheat on what I write down, I am only cheating myself. Sometimes, the very act of thinking, “Do I really want to write this down?” is enough to stop me from grabbing that cookie. Whether you use a website or a pencil and paper, tracking is an important tool for weight loss.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the extension of this though – it is time to move!

Weight Loss Series #1 – The Daniel Plan

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I have lost 65 pounds over the past year. That’s all the baby weight, plus some – That’s not record breaking, I know, but it is enough to have me feeling great. It’s also enough for other people to notice. I’m not a weight loss expert, but I did have a few ideas for a couple of blog posts that address the most common questions people ask me.

What did you do? 

In a nutshell: For most of the year, I have been following the principles outlined in Rick Warren’s book The Daniel Plan. The Daniel Plan is a healthy lifestyle program founded on biblical principle.  The Daniel Plan teaches a step-by-step approach and offers simple ways to incorporate healthy choices into your current lifestyle. Throughout the program you are encouraged to rely on God’s power, and the application of dependable biblical principles.

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The Daniel Plan is working for me (and my family) because it just makes a lot of sense – eating the healthy foods God created, moving the body God gave me, while using all of it to point back to God.

You see, I have always had a deep desire to overindulge. In my past, I overindulged in substances. In my “good” life, it has been with food. I had lost some weight previously, but pregnancies and dealing with unresolved pain from my past contributed to me adding 60 pounds. I ate instead of dealing with issues because I felt like I “deserved” it. I was like the people described in Isaiah 5:18 who were facing sorrow because they “drag their sin behind them with ropes made of lies.”

God made it very clear to me that he wanted my whole life and all aspects of it. 1 Corinthians 6:19 became very clear to me: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” For me, that meant to trust the Lord not just with my heart, but with my health. More importantly, I have finally cut off those ropes of lies that were weighing me down. When I am feeling empty, I don’t overindulge on food to fill what seems like a bottomless void – I run to God who gives me more than I ever could have asked for.

Check back tomorrow for Weight Loss Series Part #2 – You can’t out-exercise a bad diet!

Thinking about joy

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So it has been quite a long time since I actually wrote. No good reason really…things have been so busy. One other thing happened – I found out about some people reading this blog and I was surprised. I started to write a couple of times, but I realized I was censoring myself, and I’m not sure why. I’m over it now 🙂

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There’s a lot of emphasis in some Christian circles about being “real.” This can mean a variety of things, but from what I’ve seen, it usually comes down to the equivalent of airing out your dirty laundry to everyone/anyone who will listen. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, if that is what God has called you to do. Sometimes the most broken people, going through the worst trials imaginable, bring the most glory to the kingdom of God. God will use them and use their story in a raw and “real” way.

That said, I will not feel guilty about sharing the opposite. I will not apologize for not having a trial going on that I want to talk about with everyone I meet. I will not feel like less of a Christian for answering “GREAT!” (and really meaning it) when someone asks me how I am doing.

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I spoke with five different women over the course of the past week. Every single woman had very hard things going on in their lives.

They were not moping around in sackclothes and ashes.

They were smiling, talking about what God is teaching them. How they are growing and changing. Their hope for the future.

One woman, I had to ask to stop and go back in her story to explain her trial. She was so busy talking about the Lord’s goodness that she didn’t spend much time talking about the actual problem. I loved that she had already set her eyes above the problem, and set the up high towards the Lord.

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I am a naturally positive person. Can that be okay too? Can I still be real?

Yes. I will not apologize for my joy.

Mother’s Day Love

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Since it’s Mother’s Day, and the girls are still too small to understand what that means, papa takes over the burden of giving me a special day. And he did today! Starting the morning with a peach mimosa and veggie omelette was fantastic. He also had gifts and homemade card.
My love languages include acts of service, so he spent the whole rest of the day loving me in the best way possible. Mulch! Make that 52 bags of mulch, which also meant 3 trips to and from the store, all those bags carried to the various places in our yard, and poured out and spread! I helped a little, but I was a little limited with a baby strapped to my back. Thanks papa 🙂 I am so thankful that we started a family together, and you helped make me a mother.

Edited to add – Thank you for installing a new garbage disposal when we realized ours was broken. You did it with a smile on your face, even though I know you wanted to rest after carrying all that mulch. You are the best!

Papa’s chalk wall

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Rafael had the fun idea to paint the backside of our counter with chalkboard paint. Art in the house!

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Spring has sprung

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Spring has sprung, which also means that home improvements have begun! Now that the temps are finally rising, we (and by we, I mostly mean Rafael) have started sprucing things up around the old homestead.

First up is a project long in the making – our new house numbers! When we bought the house, the numbers were advertised on the vinyl siding with cheap stickers. We found some beautiful steel house numbers on etsy.com and got them ordered. After two rounds, we had a set we loved (the first had a misfire with the steel and had to be sent back). Unfortunately, by then, it was almost winter and therefore, too cold to mount the numbers, so we put them away until spring.

Spring and most of summer came and went before we remembered the numbers. We were going to mount them when we realized something important – steel rusts, and even worse, the rust tends to stain the material behind it. Rather than decorate the front of our house with rust-stained brick, we started researching options for some sort of sealant for the steel. We found a good spray and put on the recommended number of coats. Unfortunately, by then, winter again arrived.

This spring, I was determined to remember those house numbers! The temperature is warm enough for the cement and there’s not a rain cloud in the sky. Rafael put up the beautiful numbers and they look fantastic!

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Third Meal Plan

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I am thrilled that I have finally completed another week of meal planning with Daniel Plan – approved recipes. My family is pretty thrilled about having some new things in the rotation. Enjoy!

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Happy happy Easter!

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We had a fantastic Easter. It was so great to enjoy the holiday together, especially after the craziness of the past two weeks – I had to travel for work, then my mother-in-law spent some time in the hospital. All is well now, so we are back in the regular routine.

We started with some fun baskets!  Giana loved her “wheels on the bus” from Grandma and both the girls wanted to read their new books over and over. We shared the big bag of fish with Uncle Michael. They also got some new playdoh and bunny ears to dress up with.

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My mom made me an Easter basket too! She washed all our clothes and put them in a grown up basket 🙂

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After an amazing service, we had so much fun at the Community Center where our family gathers. Michael had lots of room to help Giana dance.

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We were all smiles.

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Giana even got to try on grandma’s fashions.

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We were all wore out at the end of the day. Happy Easter!

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