A year from now..

You will wish you had started today..

I don't remember where I read that first.. But every so often it comes back to me..

A year from now you will wish you had started today..

What is something you want to change.. Keep putting off for tomorrow.. Or next week.. Or next month..

What if.. You started now!  That doesn't mean you have to change instantly.. But take your goal.. And find one thing that you can do to start heading that way..

This could be for any situation..

Want to pay off bills?  Pick one.. Start paying a little extra on it every month.. Once that one is paid off.. Start on the next bill.. What ever your payments had been on the first add that to the payment of the second..

Want to have a balance in savings?  Pay your savings account first (after tithes of course).  Pick an amount and every payday slip it into your savings account..

Want to lose weight?  Try swapping high calorie meals for healthier options.. Beef chili?  Sub ground turkey.. Candy bar?  Fruit and nut bar.. Try to find healthy snacks and meals you enjoy and start replacing one meal a day.. Soon you will swap out more and more and one day you will realize you don't even think of the foods you used to eat.. A cleanse can also help to jump start your weight loss goals by getting the sugar, caffeine and salt out of your system.. Without cravings diets are much easier..

The key is.. Don't try to do something too strictly.. Make a plan and follow it.. But give yourself room to move things around a bit.. If you try paying too much extra on a credit card.. You might have to use said card to pay for groceries because your budgeting was too strict and didn't really meet your financial needs.. Same for savings.. If you add too much.. You might have to take some out for expenses.. (But that is still a better problem to have then credit cards)!  If you plan your diet so strict that when you eat a piece of candy that found it's way into your kitchen that you feel like you failed and you will never get to your goal.. You will fail..

The problem is if you are 100% stuck on following a plan to the letter.. If you slip up just a little.. You will feel like you failed.. And give up.. And then the guilt sets in.. And things just go down hill so quickly.. For me.. It's been a lot of failed diets..

Yes I would love to follow my diet 100% and never eat something off my plan.. But can I keep that up for life?  No.. I want to make changes now that will last forever.. And if I have a birthday party of special event.. I might decide to eat cake.. (with a side of carbease of course!) or I might decide that it's not worth it..

Trust me.. I am not telling myself or anyone to cheat or plan to cheat.. Just plan!  Plan ahead.. If there is going to be cake and you are on a diet.. Ask yourself.. Should I eat it?  If I do will I feel like I failed?  Will I be able to pick up where I was pre-cake and keep on going?  Maybe I will plan to eat the cake, and tomorrow get a little extra exercise.. Or maybe I will remember how sick I felt the last time I had some and just say no.. But either way I have a plan and know that this is a change for me for life.. Because I want to have a good, long, healthy life!

"My flesh and my heart might fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" Psalm 73:26

I had picked this verse when I first started my diet just over a month ago.. It stood out to me because I had felt like I failed so many times while dieting.. Yes I might fail.. If I do this alone.. But God IS my strength.. If I am weak and feeling like eating something that might not benefit me.. If I lean on HIM I can walk away from my temptation.. God is bigger then my failures!

Why don't you pick a goal.. Something that when you are sitting down June 13, 2014.. You can say.. I am so glad I started this last year!  It doesn't have to do with anything I wrote here.. I just picked a couple things.. It could be anything!  Running in a marathon.. Starting a family.. Buying a house.. Moving.. Reconciling with a friend or family member.. Just pick something.. It might seem big.. But take baby steps.. Find a verse that speaks to you about your goal.. Write it down!  Put it in your purse and read it often.. You can reach your goals!!!  Lets do this together!

Goal Setting..

Who do you want to be?  What do you want from your future? 

Does it feel like you are struggling just to get by?

I have been trying to go through our finances.. You see we have outgrown our SUV.  You would think an SUV that seats 5 would be sufficient for a family of 4.. But it is squished with the kids growing up.. Soccer practice and backpacks.. You know what I mean..

Wanting to adopt but knowing it will be a long time to figure out where we will get the money for that..

That is part of why we became independent distributors for AdvoCare!  If you want any information on joining our team you can send me an e-mail!  Jennyh_97236@yahoo.com

In other news..

This week has been so busy.. So crazy and stressful.. Starting with our poodle eating two.. Yes two.. Belts!  I don't know how she did this.. At 3 am.. But the vet said we were lucky that they were soft belts.. I think Brandon learned his lesson.. No more belts on the floor..

So we've been feeding her extra canned food and canned pumpkin.. Making sure things don't get.. stuck..

Back to the title of this post..

Goals!

What are some of your goals? 

Paying off bills..
Growing your family..
Saving money..
Losing weight..
Getting healthy..
Spending more quality time with family..
Being a better example..
Being a better person..

Well they are some of my goals anyways!

I know that this blog has been mostly about adoption..

Since we want to adopt from China, we need to be able to meet their requirements.. Not easy!  So we are dieting to get to a healthy BMI.. Trying to figure out our finances so we can improve them.. By a lot hopefully! 

Brandon was down another 3 lbs!  I'm avoiding the scale for this week.. But we are both doing great!  Brandon called me on his break and said the thing he has noticed the most is how good he feels.. When he has to kneel down and stock shelves, he doesn't ache anymore!  It's great!

So at least for awhile.. I am going to try to use this blog to help keep me accountable.. And hopefully inspire others to be healthier!  I am not saying I am going to be a perfect example.. Because I won't be.. But I will do my best to encourage and inspire you!  Because you are worth being healthy! 

Thoughts...

So I've been thinking a lot since yesterday about the sin of gluttony.. Yesterday the sermon at church covered just about every common sin imaginable other then gluttony..

Over eating is so common.. Trust me this post isn't about judgement or saying anyone is doing anything right or wrong.. It's just something that has been on my mind..

So many people have been asking about the diet I am on.  What I am doing..

Before I started my diet I was feeling guilty for overeating.. Dieting has been so hard in the past.. Even when I followed a plan perfectly I would lose a few pounds then no matter what I couldn't lose another.. (hoping that doesn't happen this time!)

But..

When things are hard.. We eat..

When we are sad.. We eat..

When we feel lonely.. We eat..

Does this make food.. Our rock?  Our comforter?  Our friend?

In the sermon we heard about marking up and piercing our bodies.. But what about eating till we are deformed?  Till we are so out of shape that even doing simple tasks are too tiring to even consider.. Dieting is never easy.. It gets harder and harder.. Why?  Because we are denying ourselves.. In this time of instant gratification and entitlement it is so hard to say no to desert.. To larger portions.. To seconds or thirds..

We make excuses.. What is a little bite here going to hurt?  I worked out.. I deserve it.. It was such a long day.. I am so stressed out.. I just need a mocha.. Or chocolate.. Or whatever your go to food is..

But shouldn't we be going to God?  Telling Him about our day?  Giving Him our hurts.. Asking Him for Comfort?  Why do we run to food when we have a Heavenly Father that is just waiting for us to run into His arms?

Is this a way to live?  Why is it that our lives revolve so much around food?

People judge alcoholics and smokers so quickly.. But overeating carries many of the same health risks.. Insulin resistance.. Diabetes.. High blood pressure.. Higher risks for heart attacks and strokes.. No, we might not be driving drunk, or exposing others to second hand smoke.. But we are putting our lives at risk for the temporary satisfaction of food!  And if we don't take care of ourselves.. How can we take care of those we love..

I am praying for all of us that are struggling with out weight.. It is a long slow journey.. But we CAN do this together!

Last day of the cleanse!

Today is the last day of my 10 day cleanse!  Tomorrow will be day one of the 'Lean in 13!"  I am very excited!  I feel incredible!  I have energy!  My skin feels way better.  I don't have to use as much lotion everyday.  I am loving the effects!

I didn't get a chance to get on the scale this morning.. I had to try to catch my bird.. Lol.. My life is beyond crazy (but in a good way).  My starling is still to young to eat on his own, so I had to put him back in his smaller cage so I can carry him with me throughout my day.  Needless to say I was very late getting out of the house this morning!!

My goal for this week is to focus on my diet.  Meal planning especially.. And I don't want to weigh myself every morning.. Even though my results are great.. I get so stressed out every time I get on the scale worrying about what the results will be.. So I am going to *try* to wait until Saturday to weigh in again.. Not sure if I can wait that long.. But I'm going to try..

Pic's from the weekend..

Quick Update

Yes the diet is still going good!  Brandon was down another 3 lbs this morning.  One of his co-workers told him she could tell he was losing weight.  Always good to hear!  I wasn't down this morning.. But it's not possible to lose every day of the week!  We are still doing good. :)

We have 2 more days on our cleanse and then we start the lean in 13 phase.  I am really excited!

Day 6 of 24

Every morning the same thoughts go through my head.. It's okay if you're not down today.. You've been doing great!  You can't lose every morning.. I get to the scale and pull it out.. Step on while repeating over and over.. Whatever the numbers are it's okay.. You are doing great.. You can't keep these numbers every day..

I step on.. And I AM DOWN ANOTHER LB!  Yay!!!

Dieting doesn't have to feel like you are fighting a losing battle!