Learning to Crave God and Not Food

I just received my little box from Amazon.com and in it contains my books, workbooks and DVD for Made to Crave, Satisfying Your Deepest Desire With God, Not Food by Lysa TerKuerst. My sister and I are going to go through the 6 week study together first and then our goal is to open the study up to others and meet in our homes. Reviews I have read about it state that it is good for any addiction. I can't wait to start. I saw my Dr on thursday and it was a follow up to my blood work. All my blood work panels have improved. Mind you they were not bad. I am not on any medication for anything. My blood pressure is 128 over 80. Not bad but I feel like I may be tetering on the edge. She said I am doing all the right things and to keep it up and I will see a steady decline in my weight and more improvement in my blood panels. Yes I have lost some weight, and she was so pleased with what she saw and what I have been doing. I told her I read that only 5% of people keep their weight off. She said that is pretty bleak but that I could be in that 5%. I want to be in that 5%. I do not have any health issue or serious problem with any of my blood lipids, but a couple are on the higher side of normal, and if I go back to unhealthy eating and inactivity the inevitable will happen. There is no if. I mean really how many old fat people do you see? Not many to NONE. Look around for yourself! Look at nursing homes, churches, grocery stores. Fat, old people are not there because they are DEAD! They died an early death and I do not want to be one of them. I want to be an active, energetic, old person. I want to be working and traveling and visiting my great neices and nephews. Just remember this Fat and Old do not co-exist. Gosh, I hate to be so negative, but I am scared not for myself, but for our nation. Our kids. It took me 49 years to gain all my weight. There are kids that are not even out of Elementary school who are my size. The worst part is they are also getting diabetes and other serious health problems. They are taking adult meds! Yes I would say it is an epidemic. I also applaud Mrs Obama for her efforts to fight childhood obesity. It does not matter whether you agree with the President (I do not) but you have to admire the fact that our First Lady chose a cause that is serious, that hurts children. Not only does it hurt children, look at the financial impact obesity has on personal finances, insurance premiums, days lost at work. The cost of insuring unhealthy people. These children will not survive if they do not start eating healthy. Boy I am on a soap box for sure. I could go on but, my lunch hour is almost over. Praise the Lord. He is almighty and HE is the only way we can get through this. Maybe I will talk about what God's word says about food in another post. God Bless. Jacque

Walking...

I walked and walked and walked tonight. I walked up and down Walnut and Parker Rd. I just kept on going. Kind of felt like a walking Forest Gump.  I walked between 45 mins to an hour. watched a PBS program and the person had advice to get 6-8 hrs of sleep, eat 9 servings of veggies and get 30 mins exercise everyday  for good health. Sounds simple but makes since. I bet if we all ate 9 servings of veggies we would not eat as much junk huh?

Proverbs 3:7-9

New International Version (NIV)

 ⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes;
   fear the LORD and shun evil.
⁸ This will bring health to your body
   and nourishment to your bones.

HOPE...

Oops it has been a while since I blogged

I have been eating healthy. Not perfect, but a way I can feel good about food without beating myself up and without obsessing over the food. I am walking everyday now. I have committed to a 5K and it gives me some pause, however, I committed to God that I will walk every night. So far so good. In Sunday school and in the church service we had what I like to call a cross over scripture. Meaning it was read in Sunday school and in the church service. I love when that happens. It is Romans 8:24-25...

For in this hope we are saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

I love when God ties together Sunday school and church service messages. 

Another scripture that I love is... Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  Love it!

So I am just going to continue to hope and have faith (that I will lose the weight and get in shape) in what I cannot see (the final result and all that God has in store for me.)

I of course want to look better. I already feel better. I was sharing with a new friend that I remember when I lost weight several years ago I felt like I could conquer the world, that I could actually be successful in anything that I tried. I am starting to have that feeling again.

Praise the Lord.

Monday and the sun is shining September 12th, 2011

I made brown rice and put some brocolli "trees" in it. It was yummy. I cut the best part off and put it in the rice.
I made a green smoothie this morning and put in brocolli stalks. I do not like to eat the stalks, so I thought why waste them. I blended them with rainbow kale, a banana and frozen strawberries, and yuk. I did not like the taste. Basically it tasted like a brocolli smoothie. Boy that flavor really overpowered everything else. I have a whole blender full that I guess I will have to add some more fruit and greens to it. Oh I can't even stand the thought of another taste, and I love brocolli but ewwww not liquified. Live and learn.
It was so refreshing to get back in church. I did not know how much I missed all my church friends until yesterday. Praise the Lord! It was like I never left. I pray that I can withstand Satan's attacks and stay in church. He uses my weight to keep me away from people and that is not good.
Giving a shout out to Ronnie! He was to report to boot camp yesterday. What a monumental day to start serving our country - the 10th anniversary of 911.
May God bless all the men and women and first responders of our country.

Tuesday Short Week

Well of course it feels like a Monday. It is a short week. I made a yummy smoothie today out of kale, frozen strawberries and bananas. I walked tonight yea!!!!!
I read a quote today. I will try to remember it...
If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Walking

Went to the walking track and walked a 1/3 of a mile. It was hot and I need some good walking shoes for sure. It is a start! Thank you Lord.

WALKING AND RUNNING ERRANDS SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3, 2011

I will be walking today at the walking track next to the chamber of commerce at 1:00pm. Then I will be running some errands. Maybe soon I will be running and running errands.

end of the week and the start of a long weekend

Dear Lord,
Please help me make healthy choices over the long weekend. I will delight myself in the Lord and He will give me the desires of my heart.

My Emerging Health and Emerging Healthcare in Jasper GA

I have been drinking smoothies for well over a month. I feel better, maybe look a little better, and am moving around a lot better. I have been fighting the exercise, but I cannot any longer. I am not making the kind of progress I want without it. I know I know I know....Listen! I am smart enough to know I have to exercise, but I thought that the weight would start really dropping off just changing my eating habits, since I am so large anyway. Fat people lose a lot of weight at first. But nooooooo that is not happening with me. Maybe my metabolism is shot, sluggish from my years of bad eating habits, inactivity and age. I am 49. Ugh it is hard. It is hard not to be normal. It is hard not to go through the fast food line and get ye ole' fatty carby yummy food. It is hard to have an eating disorder. I am an artist and should be ok with not being normal shouldn't I?
Well this is just one more thing to add to by Not Normal portfolio.
Jasper is having a 5K in Oct. I am going to walk it. I am calling all my fat friends to get on board. Whoo Whoo! Making a train horn noise. If I can do it, you can do it. Just do it.