Day 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

Wow!  I have gotten behind in my reporting.  I am still on board with my challenge, just haven't had time to document.  On Day 10 (Saturday) I did not exercise but I ate good. I also drank the second Plexus Slim.  Then on Day 11 (Sunday) I exercised on my trampoline....plus ate good.  On Day 12 (Monday) I walked 1 mile on the treadmill and drank the last Plexus Slim and ate well.  On Day 13 (yesterday) I exercised on the trampoline and ate good.  Today I did not exercise, but I did eat good.

I have lost 5 pounds since when I started this only 14 days ago.  It is hard though.  My target area is my "baby fat."  I feel like this will  probably be the last to go, so I have to keep working hard to get to my goal.  I think that I have trimmed up a little around my waist, but it hasn't burned much belly fat yet.  I want to BURN it all off!!! 

My favorite time to walk is in the mornings before I eat breakfast, because I feel like I am burning fat instead of food that I have consumed that day.  Exercising in the mornings also encourages me to make good food choices all day so that I don't ruin my hard work!  :)

Day 9

This was my first day to try the Plexus Slim.  So before breakfast I walked a mile on my treadmill and then I made the drink.  After drinking it, I waited 30 minutes and then had a fruit smoothie for breakfast.  Maybe I will show you how I make that for fun one day! :) 
     I made good food choices today, only eating one spoon of ice cream after dinner.  :)  When I weighed this morning I was down 4 pounds from when I started nine days ago! 



A friend and I purchased this 7-day supply together and split the price.  This stuff is crazy expensive, in my opinion, and I do not plan to use it all the time.  I am just hoping that it will give me a boost in results to keep me moving forward.  :)  Also, my doctor advised me NOT to take the accelerator because I have high blood pressure.



So, I am just adding this drink to my plan for these three days....unless of course I lose TONS of weight in the next three days and I find a rich beneficiary to buy this for me monthly! ha!



The directions say to take it once or twice a day, 30 minutes before any meal.  Pour Plexus Slim powder into a 12-17 ounce glass/bottle of water, stir/shake and drink.  I decided to take it before my breakfast.



Victoria took my picture!  :)  It surprisingly tasted really good and was easy to drink.  I really don't understand how it is going to help me lose unwanted weight because it is an addition to a meal, not a meal supplement.  Oh well, we will see!

Day 8

I did not walk today, like usual, but the kids and I swam at a neighbor's pool all morning.   I swam laps and then hung out in the deep end....that is great exercise! :)  My arms and legs were exhausted later!  Tomorrow I am going to try a new shake called Plexus Slim.  I checked with my doctor to make sure it was safe before trying it.  It is supposed to be all natural and help in weight loss......we shall see.  :)  I will explain more about it later.

Day 6 and Day 7

On Day 6 I walked my 1.5 mile and ate fairly good.  I did eat a bowl of ice cream after dinner!

On Day 7 I did not exercise, but I ate well.  The only sweets I ate was one chocolate chip cookie from McDonald's.  And I must admit, that cookie was GOOD!  I have been trying to avoid all pasta and bread.

My mindset:  EAT LESS....BURN MORE.  If I can follow that, my body will be forced to slim down. 

Day 4 and Day 5

Day 4 was Sunday.  I had a terrible headache the night before, so I did not exercise on Sunday.  And since I got very sick with the headache I had to be careful not to get dehydrated.  So, the healthy eating went out the window for Sunday.  I ate whatever I could keep in my stomach and drank tons of fluid!

Day 5 was today.  I was still a little shaky from being sick, so I didn't get up this morning and push myself.  But I ate well today and then walked my 1.5 mile this evening after dinner.  Yeah!  I feel great....and so glad that I am no longer sick!   I am down 3 pounds from when I started this five days ago!!!  Seeing a change is very encouraging!  My main goal is to be healthier physically and mentally, but I know the scale is one indicator that the hard work is paying off!! 

Day 3

Today I did not exercise.  After the ESL training, I was exhausted.  :)  But I did eat better today than I did yesterday!  I still snacked some during the training, but made better choices.  For breakfast I had an egg, toast, one piece of bacon, and coffee.  For lunch I had a chick-fil-a sandwich, chips, and a cookie with unsweetened tea.  Then I snacked on peanut butter crackers and apples with caramel.  For dinner I ate two slices of pizza (my family loves pizza)  and a bowl of cereal (random, I know).  For a bedtime snack I ate a yogurt and a piece of bread with butter.

Day 2

This morning I walked 1.5 miles, then had a fruit smoothie for breakfast.  For lunch I ate one hard-shell taco from Taco Bell, a small piece of leftover chicken with rice and corn, and unsweet tea.  Tonight I went to an ESL training that started at 2:00 and ended at 9:00.  So, I did BAD.....let's see, I ate two mall muffins, two small cookies, and a pack of peanut butter crackers throughout the night.  And for supper I had chicken from Whole Hog, beans, and a roll PLUS a coke.  Oh my, sugar, sugar, sugar!!  I knew I was doing bad as I ate this stuff, but I didn't pack any snacks that were healthy and I needed the sugar to keep me awake during the training.  I realize that making good food choices requires planning ahead for situations that are not part our the normal routine.

I will have the training all day tomorrow (8:00-5:00) so I will probably take tomorrow off from walking but hopefully will make better food choices!! :) 

30 Day Challenge

     Whenever I get serious about exercising, getting healthy, losing weight, I always seem to turn to my blog for accountability.  Not sure how a blog keeps me accountable, but none the less, I am taking a 30 day challenge and plan to record it here.  I have 30 days (more or less) before I leave for our family vacation at the beach.  30 days is enough time to create a habit, 30 days is enough time to lose 5 pounds, 30 days is enough time to tone and shape.  So, this is the challenge that I have given myself:  Exercise everyday and eat healthy....and then see what happens!!  I know that if I stick with it I will see the results that I want!  I have two exercise choices that I love.....walking on my treadmill and my exercise trampoline DVD routine.  I plan to log my exercise here as well as eating and weight loss (in numbers lost, not totals!!!)
So here goes:

DAY 1:  I walked 1.5 miles this morning then had a fruit shake for breakfast.  I ate pizza for lunch (not so great, I know) and then ate chicken covered with beans and cheese, rice, and corn for supper.  I am about to have some yogurt for my bedtime snack (probably not the best, but less sugary than some of the things I eat at bedtime sometimes).  I drank some water, but I could do more.  I will try to drink more tomorrow.

I am actually looking forward to getting up in the morning to walk.  The secret is that I have to go to bed at night in order to get up, but  I love staying up late hanging out with my husband.  We will watch TV, EAT, and talk.  That has to change.....and Robert has agreed to help me.  Last night he moved to the kitchen to eat his UNHEALTHY bedtime snack and watch the news, so that I could go ahead and go to bed.  I was asleep by 10:30 and rested by 7:00.  In fact I woke up at 5:50 when he was leaving for work.....I had no idea that it was actually light outside at 5:30.  Who knew?  Definitely not me this summer! ha!  I have to be in bed by 11:00 for my plan to work, so I gotta go! 

God is better than a cold drink of water!

     Do you ever start to feel like you can't handle the responsibilities that God has given you anymore?  Or that you just need about a three second break from your life to get a breath of fresh air and then you would be fine.  But then three seconds never come, so you just keep pushing on....trying to survive from day to day.
     I will be the first to admit that I do not handle stress well.  I don't know if some people are just equipped to handle stress better or if that is a learned skill, but when things start getting crazy, my inner balance gets, well......wacky!  :)  This is the state that I have found myself in lately.  I have tried to pull myself out of the funk, but have been unsuccessful.  And with the summer looming ahead, I see three long months of four kids looking to me for structure, entertainment, guidance, nurturing, etc.  I have got to get my act together.
    So, my best efforts of willing my spirit renewed was just not getting it done.  I was frustrated.....I wanted my mojo back so bad, but I couldn't find it. Finally I decided that perhaps my slacking off of my daily Bible reading might have something to do with my desire to find a hole and be left alone! 
     In the past two years Robert and I have read through numerous books of the Bible together and then have ventured our separate ways, reading one chapter of a certain book per day.  Reluctantly, I must admit that I had never read the Bible this way.  In the past I have always read the Bible along with a certain Bible study or devotional.  So, that means that I would read a certain number of verses and then read someone else's commentary about those verses and then decide what God was trying to tell me through the verses.  Reading the books of the Bible, chapter by chapter, takes a different approach.  Any particular chapter is usually not very long in itself....it takes only a few minutes to read it through once.  So, then it leaves time to reread and take my time to meditate on just what God is speaking to me about through those verses.  God has opened my eyes to understand many things that I did not understand before...as well as have many new questions.
   My life is exhausting, metaphorically, is causes extreme thirst. :)  So, why do I drift away from Him when He is the only thing that can quench my thirst?  It is cliché but true, the Bible is living water....it is fresh water.....or in other words, a breath of fresh air in our lives.  God renews us through the reading of HIS words.   He has called me to walk the path I am on in life right now....a wife, a mom of four, homeschool teacher, ministry leader, etc., but He NEVER called me to walk this path without Him!!!! 
     In order to help me get back on track, Robert has agreed to read James with me the next few days.....you know James only has 5 chapters, so it is a good place to start.  :)  Last night we read James 1....wow, God gave me just what I needed.....my thirst was getting quenched.  Tonight I read James 2 and I already feel like I have spent a week on a beautiful island with just me and the hubby!  :)  I feel my mojo coming back.....isn't God cool?  He truly is all that we need.  Why do I allow myself to get busy with life and forget what matters most?
     If you are feeling empty and/or thirsty today.......pick up your Bible, pick out a book (I would probably chose New Testament to start out) and start with chapter 1!  And be sure to have a journal handy to write down what He teaches you and any prayers that you have.  God will surely take you on an exciting ride! 

The Faith of a Child

     Tonight we observed the Lord's Supper at church.  As the bread and juice were being passed, I was quietly explaining to my sons that they stood for Jesus' body and His blood that He shed for us.  I just happened to be holding my youngest son in my arms and my thoughts drifted to the fact that this son that I held was given to me by God.  If someone were to ask me, "How do you personally know that God exists and that He is good?"  I could point to my second son and daughter.  As I held him and thought of the bond that we have, nothing can explain it except that it is from God.  You see, I did not birth my son.  Actually I did not even meet him or know that he existed until he was almost three years old.  But our God is amazing. And when I hold my son, I have no doubt that God has entrusted this amazing little person to me to love and raise in equal amounts to the children that I bore.  I love him so much.  And the fact that I could possibly love him that much proves to me that my God is real and that my God is good.
     On the flip side of that, as I was explaining to them about the symbolism of the bread and juice, I commented that Jesus died on the cross for each of us, because He loves us.  It was immediately apparent that my six year old couldn't completely grasp that concept yet, but for my five year old, it was different.  I wasn't telling him anything that he didn't already know.  There was no doubt in his mind that Jesus loves him and that God is good.  I have heard many times that a person grows closest to God during trials and times of need.  I know that when I am going through trying times of my own, that is usually when I can feel God's presence the most.  Undoubtedly there have been times in his life already that he has needed God and God has shown himself faithful.  Perhaps when he did not have an earthly father who would love and protect him, his Heavenly Father stepped in and filled the gap personally.  What I know for sure is that he knows that God exists because he has seen Him and His goodness in his own life.  If people were equipped with faith meters, his would shoot out the top!  I don't even know how to explain his faith in words; I just know that his faith and his understanding of God's love is beyond his years. 
     And as for my six year old, I trust that the time will come when he will understand how much God loves him, as well.  For now, he is still safely nestled inside the bubble of love and protection that we, his parents, have provided since birth.  He has yet to see or experience the uglies of the fallen world that we live in.  But I trust that when the time comes that He needs God's love and protection first-hand, He will also find our God faithful and good.