Friday, September 24, 2010

Day 14

I had to sit and think about what day I was really on? I think with my chaotic life right now, I can't really count as well. I need to go back and check now, but I might have put the wrong day in yesterday. Oh, well.

I slept in, which was nice, and now I'm just getting ready to eat/drink my breakfast. I've come to really enjoy being alone in the mornings at my computer, able to sort my thoughts before I start another hectic day. I can share what God is speaking to me, share my joys, share my struggles, and then get on with my cleaning, packing, and whatever else seems to take up the day.

Yesterday I had a little too much fun packing boxes. I turned my music on, closed the blinds, and I was dancing and singing like a crazy person. It was so much fun, and I hope to be able to do it again today.

I don't think I mentioned it, but we looked at a house the day before yesterday. I was excited to start the process and look at our first house, but I was a little disappointed in the house. It was not the house for us and didn't have the potential we wanted. We have a couple more options, we are just waiting for the realtor to call or send us a list of what he has for sale.

I admit that I get a little anxious in waiting. I'm so ready to get moved closer to our church, closer to the ladies that I walk with, and closer to my brother, his wife, and soon their baby (my nephew). I'll keep you updated on how that goes. Other than this little bit I've shared today, my life is chaotic, but simple....clean house, pack boxes, make lunch or supper and babysit a couple times a week. Sounds good to me for the moment.

God bless you lots!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Day 13

So today might be a little more about my weight loss. I weighed today and I'm so excited. From my top weight I have went down exactly 50 pounds...yippee!!!! This was a really big deal for me this morning.

I have also lost some inches, but I haven't measured everything yet. I do know I lost another 1.5 inches just around my stomach/waist. So far it's been a good day with good news.

It also rained last night, so it's very refreshing this morning. Nice and cool with an awesome smell outside (I love the smell after it's rained).

And to top things off, we are leaning on the end of the week, and I get to see some of my family on Saturday for a big craft fair. It's our annual thing and I look forward to it all year. And then to top it all off, I did the checkbook and I have more money to spend there than I thought.

So that's been my day so far. Here in a little bit I get to go run some errands and get a few household things.

That's actually something else that's new in our life right now. We are officially looking at buying our own house. We've alredy started looking at some, and so far nothing has caught our attention, but I'm excited to have our own place to fix up as we see fit. I can do flooring, paint, new curtains/blinds, and whatever we want to (as we can afford it that is).

But anyway, that's life for us right now. Some transitions coming up, but things are still good. Our house is a mess now and very chaotic with boxes everywhere and trying to figure out what we can start packing now and what needs to wait. I'm also a very organized packer, so it takes me longer to do it. I like to make sure what goes into boxes is categorized properly. I have also been throwing and giving stuff away like crazy. The less I have to move, the better.

But I guess I better go. It's breakfast time and I think I'm drinking a chocolate breakfast today.

God bless you and keeep you till we meet again.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Day 12

We are two days into phase two of this challenge. I don't even think, at this moment, about the progress that I'm making. My life has been turned upside down and pretty much everything is changing. In fact it's so crazy, that I haven't been able to eat because my stomach is a tad upset.

So today, I just sit here knowing that my life is changing so much. And it sounds crazy, but this change is all a good thing...even when it seems negative. My faith is growing in leaps and bounds everyday. And wanna know one good thing that I already konw about my faith growing? My singing is so different. I used to just sing. Now because my faith is so real and I feel so free I am able to "SING!!!"

When I sit and sing a song, I feel it so much within my heart and soul, it feels as if I will burst because it can't come out enough. It's so hard to explain, but I want everyone to know the faith that I have, and know this wonderful God that I serve. He won't ever let me (or you) down. How can I keep this a secret?

This does not mean that I always have a happy, giddy feeling. Just Monday I was crying out to God. I was asking Him why my life is a mess, and why He was doing some of the things He was doing. But the faith comes in when I can, even in my doubt, trust that He is good and will never leave me or forsake me. That's what makes my new faith different.

So forget the 24-day challenge for now (even though I keep doing it and will mention it). A new body is nice, but it's not the point of this life. I will follow God even if I forget diets and grow to be 500 pounds. All that matters is that I love God and I share that Love with everyone around me.
God Bless you, and I pray He gets hold of your heart for life!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Day 10

This is the last day of the cleanse for me. I plan to get up tomorrow morning and weigh so I know exactly how much I lost during that phase. I had my last sawdust drink this morning. I'm excited to see this continue to work. My clothes continue to get bigger and I need to learn how to sew better so that I can fix them without having to go buy new ones.

Today I don't want to focus so much on my diet and weight loss. I just have to share our life for a moment.

I can't give details so I will speak generally. We have some major life decisions going on right now. We have one decision to make that is very hard. It's hard because the future is so unknown. On the other hand, the decision should be easy to make because some things went down that were not cool. I struggle with my anger in this situation. I want so much to have hate, but I know that's not the right thing.

Oh, that life would be easy. That we would be able to make decisions without critisism and condemndation. And then I wonder, maybe this decision that we have to make (we actually made the decision and then were forced to take it back) is what we are supposed to be making and our enemy knows that it's right and is going to try his best to thwart God's plans for us.

If that's the case, then I'm ready for the battle. Because I know it's not really me that fights, I know that it's my God who fights for me. I'm ready to put on his armor and be a mighty warrior in His kingdom. I am not a weak person when I'm in God (alone, I am). In God I am courageous and I have nothing to fear. I know that if we are faithful to what God wants for us, even when it looks like we lose it all in the world, God will bless us and prosper us for being faithful to Him.

I just ask that if you are reading this, that you say a little prayer for us as we fight this battle. That the decisions would be made for God and not for man. God bless you and keep you.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Day 7 (a.m.)

So my routine is a little rushed this morning. I'm leaving to go to a women's conference/retreat this weekend. My sis-in-law (Scott's sister) has been wanting me to go and finally this year I'm able to go. I'm excited to see what God will teach me this weekend. I've had some good life changes in the past week and a half. I have been a very angry, bitter person (hidden on the inside) and as of about a week ago, I let that all go. And since then I've been so much more free, I don't get angry when I see a pregnant woman and I'm able to smile and enjoy life.

I've also asked God to give me an opportunity to minister this weekend and to clearly show it to me. He and I had this discussion while I was on the mower this week. We had some really good talks while I was mowing. He's so good to me. So when I come back, I will be excited to share how God was able to use me.

(change of subject...lol)
Tomorrow I start with the fiber drink again. I'm kind of nervous that I start it while away from home with a bunch of ladies I hardly know. Except for my sister-in-law, I know her pretty well. They will wonder why I'm coughing and gagging on my drink...and then they'll see that I'm not drinking anything normal...I'm drinking sawdust...lol. Ok, I know I call it sawdust, but it's one of those names given lovingly...right?

So I didn't weigh in today, I will do that Monday. Which is my last day of the cleanse. So then I get to log how much I was able to lose during the first phase. If I get into the 150's I will just have to scream. Cause that means that I am so close to my goal weight that it's not funny.

I better go now. I'm in my jammies, getting ready to eat my breakfast (chocolate this morning) and I have to go get cash and fill up our pick-up with gas. And I would like to leave Healy by 8:00 or 8:30. Can it be done? Oh, I believe so.

Have a great weekend and I do have one quick prayer request. My other sister-in-law (who is having a baby in October) is having a little trouble here in the past two days. She has been having some contractions and starting some pre-term labor. 1.)I don't want her to have the baby while I'm gone (cause I want to be her for it), 2.)The dr's want her to wait at least 2 weeks just to be on the safe side, and 3.)I just don't want her first baby to be a bad experience. It needs to be a happy joyful time. So just pray that things go well, that they are able to wait at least the two weeks, and that I can be here. (see I told you I let go of the bitterness and anger). So God bless.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Day 6 (mid morning)

I slept in today. Like worse than I have for awhile. I didn't get up until 9:45. I know, I know, I'm lazy. I stayed up way too late. It actually was "early" when I went to bed...early morning (3:00 am). So I stayed in bed this morning. And that makes my routine start a little later. I won't end up having a "snack" this morning because I will be eating my breakfast in about 15 minutes.

So things have went well again. Yesterday was good. Like usual, lots of water and the same routine. I feel good, no really bad cravings, not overly hungry, and of course making myself eat a snack has cut back on the blood sugar/grumpy hungry issues.

My clothes continue to get bigger (or is it me getting smaller...lol). I haven't done much "exercise" because the last few days I've been mowing and trimming the cemetary. So today I will probably do either some walking or some wii things.

I've found one thing to be a favorite food of mine during this time. Since I'm limited on what I can eat right now I have fallen in love with salsa all over again. I had just made a bunch of home-made salsa and it's my favorite. So with my turkey burgers, chicken and tuna I put salsa with it...and it is awesome. Plus it's full of veggies, and I know what's in it cause I made it. Yippee!!!

Anyway, I better go...cause it took me longer to type this post than it should have. It's now past my breakfast time, and now I have to go do some cleaning and start some lunch after a bit. Have a great day and I'll be back later today or tomorrow. God bless!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Day 5 (a.m.)

So here we are on day 5. That's halfway through the first part of this 24 day challenge. I weighed today and I lost some more. I have lost another 2.5 pounds according to the scale. The weight I am right now is the same weight I was at the beginning of college (before my fast-food job went to my waist..lol).

Yesterday I found out something new. I was so busy mowing agian that in the morning and afternoon, I didn't eat a snack. I drank my water and took the energy drink like I was supposed to, but no food. This caused a bad thing. My blood sugar dropped a little too low and right before each meal I kind of did my "grumpy hungry" thing.

What's grumpy hungry, you ask? When I truly get grumpy hungry I am in a very bad mood and very touchy. Little things set me off and I tend to get angry really fast over nothing. I used to think I was just an insane person...until I figured out that it only happens when my blood sugar goes down really fast (like when I have forgotten to eat a snack). I can eat and then I'm just fine and I'm very rational again. So yesterday I had one of these moments before lunch and again right before supper.

Since I figured all this out, today I will make a point to eat a little snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon. This will work out just fine because I babysit this morning and afternoon and won't be mowing (actually trimming) until after 3:30.

I've enjoyed my days without the sawdust drink (I think I just nick-named the silly thing). I take two extra pills in place of it. It's a pro-biotic (I think that's what it's called) and it helps build good things in my tummy and stuff now that we are cleaning it out.

I have done my energy drink and the pills for the a.m. about 8:00 I will do my breakfast shake. Oh, by the way, yesterday I did the berry one and put it in the blender with some fresh strawberries. It was pretty good. I might try it again. It got a little chunky so this time I will blend the strawberries alone first and get them good and pureed then add the water and powder.

So I better get going with my day. Get to spend it with 4 kids and I love that. Babysitting is so much fun. God bless you all!

Weight: 161
Inches lost: haven't measured (will measure probably Friday)

Monday, September 13, 2010

Day 3 (p.m.)

I hope it was a happy Monday for you. I actually had a very good Monday. Busy, but it was good. I got some good mowing done at the cemetary and I got a little bit of a sunburn...ouch!

Anyway, day 3 went good. My husband laughed at me this morning. Usually I get my fiber drink down before he sees me, but this morning he was determined to watch me. And of course today of all days I gagged really bad and (I apologize for tmi)some of the drink came out my nose. I'm sorry, but this did not feel good at all. So I'm very excited for my 5 days without this drink.

I had good energy levels (obviously....I mowed part of a cemetary), I didn't have cravings, and again I kind of had to make myself eat. I have found that I actually have to look at the clock to see if it's snack time....I don't feel hungry, but the clock says "you better eat a little snack now." I know this will sound bad, but I actually have to work to get in 1000 calories a day. That's strange to me.

And of course I'm still "swimming" through most of my days. But I'm noticing that my clothes are getting even more lose on me. This is the most exciting thing of all. I'm gonna share another deep dark secret (shh...don't tell anyone). If we count from when I first started losing weight (45 pounds ago) I was in a size 16 pants. I tried on some clothes last night and I'm now down to a size 12! I can't believe that. I haven't worn size 12 pants since high school.

You can imagine that I'm feeling pretty good about this. After spending so many years overweight, I'm just excited to be working hard to accomplish my weight loss goal. "I can do it...I can do it."

So that was day 3. Nothing major to report. I didn't weigh in and I won't measure my inches for a while. Have a happy Tuesday and I'll see you tomorrow.

Day 2 (sorry it's a few hours late)

I know, I know, I should have posted last night. But I had a busy, fun afternoon (shopping...yippee!!!!) and didn't get in til late. And boy was I exhausted. I guess I shopped til I dropped, almost literally.

Anyway, how did my 2nd day go? Pretty good. I started my morning with the same routine: pills, energy drink, sawdust drink (lol), and my breakfast shake (berry this time...it was good). Of course I spent the day swimming around instead of walking, at least that's what it felt like again. When you are drinking between 1 & 2 gallons of water a day you tend to think you are in the water. And I can even tell you which stores have the best bathrooms..since I used each of them like 3 times!

I did forget to take my energy drink in the afternoon (too busy scanning clearance racks) and it showed in the early evening thru bedtime. I just completely ran out of energy. And unfortulately I ended up having to go to bed with a migraine (remnants of it yet this morning, so I had to take a migraine pill a while ago).

I'm now ready to start my morning routine again. This morning is my last fiber drink for 5 days. So once I get it down, it's a break I'm gonna completely enjoy. Oh, and I will just let you know that this cleanse thing is really working. That's all I'm gonna say about it, just know it does work.

Well, I better go. I have another busy day ahead. My plans include:
Garden City once again for my daughters orthodontist appointment, rush back home so I can get her to school before lunch, pay bills and do the checkbook, eat a quick lunch with the hubby, and go mow the cemetary. Hope your day goes well. God bless!

Stats:
Weight: 163 (yippee...2 pounds gone)
inches lost: not sure yet, I'll do that in a couple days...but when I tried on pants I had went down another size as of yesterday

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Remembering...

Just wanted to share a small post about the significant day that today is. To take a moment to remember and honor those who lost their lives 9 years ago.

Lord, please be with us as we remember the tragic day. Be with families of those who lost their lives and wrap your arms of comfort around them today and always. You are an awesome God who never leaves us or forsakes us. Be with us now. Amen

Please take time out of your day to pray for our nation and those who need that special touch today. God bless you!

Day 1, a.m.

Here starts day one. I've been up for about 30 minutes. And I've been at this for about 15 minutes. My plan was to be up and motivated earlier (and go for a walk with a friend of mine), but thanks to my lovely body, that didn't happen. I get migraines quite regularly and this morning I started getting a mild one. So instead of doing a 6am walk like I planned, I slept in until 7:00.

But the extra sleep helped and I was too excited to sleep any more this morning. So here's the latest on my new a.m. routine:

Took 3 capsules of something in a bottle (don't ask me to describe it...it's just part of the routine. I think it helps keep and build muscles), had an energy drink (pink lemonade flavor was awesome, can't wait to try the citrus), and then....dum, dum, dum...on to the...gulp...fiber drink. I would love to rant and rave about how wonderful and good it was, but to be perfectly honest I almost threw part of it up in my sink. Thank goodness I kept it down and just gagged a little.

I'm so sorry, Pastor (my pastor started me on this), that I can't give you good reports on the taste and texture of this product. Will I continue? Of course. Will I enjoy it? Probably not. But so far it's the only product that I didn't like. And I only have 5 more days of it (two right now and then the last three days of the 10-day cleanse). I can do this...I can do this.

I am about to drink the breakfast shake thing in about 10-15 minutes. I am praying that it takes really good. I have two flavors: berry and chocolate. I think this morning I'm trying the chocolate. Maybe after drinking that sawdust....I mean citrus flavor fiber stuff, something chocolate might motivate me a little more. And then on to being water-logged all day.

Ok, I sound like I'm whining and complaining already, right? So what if I am? Isn't this what my blog is for? No, I'm not really whining and I am still really excited to see what this does for me.

Now for the big question of the day....Jogging on the wii or "Sweatin'" with Richard Simmons?

**update**
Ok, I am drinking my chocolate breakfast. Not bad, really not bad. After tasting this, I am excited about the berry flavor for tomorrow morning. Go liquid breakfast!!!

Friday, September 10, 2010

New Diet

I know this blog is about our family (the Musical Soodsmas), but I'm gonna change the topic for just a few short weeks. I figure I can use the blog to track my progress, and vent at the same time. I started a new diet. Ok, so I've tried a zillion different things and so far I have lost 43 pounds...and I have like 20 more to go. So I'm gonna try to get this done once and for all.

The diet starts as a 10-day cleanse. I'm limited on what I should and shouldn't have. I'm supposed to stay away from fried foods, corn or white starches, bread, crackers, any wheat products, dairy (cheese, yogurt, milk, etc), alcohol (not a big sacrifice there), and coffee and soda. I'm supposed to eat lots of veggies, fruit, and lean meats (for protien). Oh, I can have what they call clean carbs which is rice, hummus, or oatmeal.

I take a ton of pills, some special fiber drinks, energy drinks, and a meal replacement shake for breakfast everyday. I know it sounds like a lot, but I'm very dedicated to getting this weight off.

All of this is natural stuff, full of fiber, and lots of vitamins and stuff. Oh, and by the end of all of this I should have floated away from my water intake...lol.

Anyway, after the cleanse I start the weight loss program which starts out as a 2 week program (I can continue with weight loss maintenence if needed). I keep doing the energy drink, the meal replacement shake and tons of pills (vitamins and stuff).

Since I'll be giving up bread, sugars, dairy, crackers, and stuff that I really enjoy (at least for now), I know I'll need a place to vent. So that's what you will be here for. My plan is that when I have a food craving I will come down to my lovely friendly computer and spill all my frustrations about not eating my food. Wow, it sounds so dramatic when I say it like that.

I'm also going to go out on a limb and share my progress. Do you mind if I get a little personal? I guess I'm not like a normal woman, because I am about to share deep dark womanly secrets....yes...my weight. AAAHHHHH!!!! It's not that bad. It's just numbers. So here goes:

Start weight: 165 lbs
Inches lost: 0 in.

Happy 24 days!