"Every Pound Lost Is A Battle Won!"

Well, this was the week. After two consecutive weeks of 3-4 pound losses, I hit a “one-er” this week. Though, as one friend pointed out on my status on Facebook, “every pound lost is a battle won.” Amen! So true!!

I am grateful for every single one of those pounds lost! Since starting Fit Life at church, I have lost 9 pounds in three weeks (praise God)! That is a HUGE step up from how I was doing prior to that! Even though I have been working out consistently for some time, I have tried hard to work out even more. There has hardly been a day where I haven’t worked out in some way. And, when I do work out, I try to push a little harder and give as much as I can.

It also helps that my exercise is finally worth the time and effort I put into it now that I am doing better with my eating. The accountability of being on a team, plus trying to stick to better foods and a calorie range, keep me in check. I overeat far less when I am being mindful of what/how much I am eating. In “The Lord’s Table” course, they advised not to do such things and to only eat when hungry and to focus on Christ and not the food (and they say things like calorie counting encourage the food focus). While I do agree with what they are saying, I know that we are all individuals. When I tried sticking with what they were saying, it wasn’t enough for me because I didn’t know when to STOP eating. Tracking what I’m eating helps remind me what a good portion size is and how much is “too much.” Not only that, but I still enjoy foods that I like and I’m not restricting myself by being extremely rigid with the calories 100% of the time. Balance and moderation are, indeed, the key to success.

I also continue to read some food related Bible verses every day and pray for the strength and desire to keep doing well. Nowhere is it more vital than when I am grocery shopping. So many times, I see things that I want to get (especially if it’s on sale) and I pick it up, look at it, read the nutritional info., realize it’s not worth it, and then put it back (more often than not). It pays off to listen to nudges of, “Put it back. You don’t need this….don’t lie to yourself and pretend like you would have self-control with THAT in the house.” Christ keeps me honest. He reminds me of the fact that one “can’t eat what’s not there” and that I shouldn’t even tempt myself with foods that ALWAYS cause me to lose self-control. For right now, at least, they don’t have any business being in my home. I am going to continue setting myself up for success. It’s such a simple thing! Don’t bring crap into your house that is going to make you screw up! Keep buying the stuff you SHOULD be eating!

Speaking of which, I always notice that when I eat foods I “should“, I DO feel better! More often than not, I eat 4-5 fruits/veggies a day now. The more I do that, the more that I feel like I am honoring God (and myself) by putting beneficial foods into my body. I also notice how bad I feel physically/emotionally when I eat too much (and when I eat a greater portion of stuff that isn’t always good). You are what you eat; you get what you put in. Nothing is “off limits”, but there are “limits” to everything. Paul says the same thing in 1 Corinthians 10:23: “’Everything is permissible‘—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible‘—but not everything is constructive.”

So, that’s my update for this week! The only other thing I was going to say was that I used the treadmill for 35 minutes at the gym yesterday while I was waiting for Blake to get there. Then, he did show me some P90X exercises. One of my teammates told me that it was intense and to let her know if I could still breathe afterwards! ;) While I could still breathe, Blake said: “You might be a little sore tomorrow.” Heck, I was already feeling it! You know that feeling after you get done working out on some equipment, or roller-blading, or something like that? Yeah, well, my arms and upper body felt like that! LOL! I felt like something was still weighing them down after I has finished (and it felt strange to move!). It was over 40 minutes that I worked out (but well worth it! Over 1,000 total calories burned last night!). ;) Though, I think I will start out with P90 (and order that first) and then work my way up to P90X. It was pretty obvious that while I COULD “bring it”, it took all I had to do so! ;) Blake said, “not bad.” LOL! I had feared that going by the fact that I couldn’t even do a machine assisted chin-up that I was REALLY going to have a hard time (I felt like such a wimp when I could barely pull myself up!). Hopefully, in a few months, I will have built up some strength! ;) Though, I was pretty proud of myself! I gave it my best and for a girl, I did pretty well!! ;)

Thank you, everyone, for your support!! God bless you all!!