Temporary Suffering?

In the Bible study I lead we are in a book called Walking in Grace it is about God's grace to us and our grace to others. Last week brought a scripture from 1 Peter 5:10.
"And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you." 

At first I was struggled with this scripture but the discussion questions asked how does this verse relate to our journey with weight loss? We may consider exercise, passing on our favorite high fat/calorie foods, and dealing with our emotional eating to be suffering but in the grand scheme it is a little while. And in order to see a change sometimes we have to "suffer a little while." Now I do not think God causes the suffering or allows the suffering I think what this is telling us is that God will be there with us during the suffering and that it will only be temporary. Our reward will be restoration, support, strength, and establishment with Christ. 

As I pondered my Bible study I began to realize that is part of my problem. I'm not readily allowing for the suffering of exercise, giving up favorite high fat/calorie foods, and dealing with the emotional eating. I'm indulging in tv and the couch, my favorite not so healthy foods, and allowing food to be a comfort. So as of yesterday I made the decision to do the following:

• Eat less
• Exercise 3x this week
• Turn to other things other than food when stressed, tired, hurt, angry, etc. 

So wish me luck as I go through the week....

First Place 4 Health Update

So we are coming up on the end of our 12 weeks for First Place 4 Health. I'm happy to report I've had an overall loss of 9 pounds in the 12 week period. (we weigh this Thursday too) I've really liked this program. It really is a whole person approach to weight loss. And I really like the Bible study part of the class. It has been a good daily focus for me. If you are looking for a program that has healthy eating, exercise, and Bible study I highly recommend this program. One of the other participants has lost 30 pounds. It is awesome!

First Place 4 Health - Weight loss journey

When I was born the doctors were concerned because I was so little. They were worried I was underfed. I was on the low end of the weight chart for most of my early childhood. And then I hit 4th grade...it is weird for some reason that year we had two pictures taken one at the beginning of the year and one at the end. At the beginning I was skinny and slim faced by the end my face was round. Two things happened my 4th grade year. The first I hit puberty but that only brought a little weight. The second we learned we were moving to Maine from Alaska. I'd lived there since I was two I didn't know anywhere else. My mother was very very connected to her church and had a hard time with this move. Because of this there was a lot of emotional eating in our household. Lots of baked goods, high fat foods, and lots of trips to McDonald's and Mister Donut. Our trek from Alaska to Maine included lots of stops at McDonald's and Dairy Queen and very little activity.

Since then I've struggled with my weight. I was always heavier than most of my friends. In high school I had some luck losing weight but I gained it back my senior year. Then in college I lost some weight. But when I got into the relationship with my now ex-husband I gained a lot of weight due to emotional eating and unhealthy meals. I will say this I'm excellent with maintenance. I've remained within about 5-10 pounds of that weight. I've had several 10-15 pound loses but then I have 10-20 pound gains.

This time is different. So far since January 6th I've lost 6 lbs and every week I've had a loss. And here are some of my thoughts on why...

• I'm leading the class so I want to be a good example
• I'm not making drastic changes but I am making changes
• I'm trying to sneak in activity 
• I don't feel deprived
• I've almost completely given up my Coke drinking addiction (I occasionally have a kids Coke at a fast food resturant)
• I'm getting balanced with mind, body, spirit, and heart
• I'm doing Bible study daily
• I'm putting more faith in God and myself
• I'm putting Christ first in my life
• I'm putting myself first

I'm hoping the success continues because J and I are planning on meeting the end of this year and I want to knock his socks and possibly other articles of clothing off. Both of us are getting healthier...he's lost 20 lbs since he left.

Book Review - Give God a Year

 

As I've mentioned I've started leading First Place 4 Heath at the church where I work. It is a four-sided approach to weight loss. It focuses on the mind (scripture memorization, keeping a "live it tracker"), strength (exercise, eat well), soul (prayer, Bible Study, Scripture reading), and heart (connect with other at meetings, offer intentional acts of encouragement) to get us more balanced in our lives. Their attitude is "give us a year." So I've committed to lead this class for a year. So far it has served me well I've lost 5lbs since January 6th. I'm pleased.

As part of this I decided to read Carole Lewis' book Give God a Year, Change Your Life Forever. If you are wrestling with parts of your life particularly your relationship with God I cannot recommend this book enough. It has chapter titles like "Accepting the Challenge," "God's Will for Us," "Attitude is everything," and "Emotional Healing." How would our lives be different if we gave God a year to change and work in us? I'm making a pledge to give First Place a year and to give God a year.

First Place 4 Health aka My Weightloss journey

 A Four Sided Approach to Weight Loss
Putting Christ in First Place

Starting January 6th I began leading our First Place 4 Health program at the church where I work. I love this program because it is a four sided approach to weight loss. It focuses on your heart, mind, soul, and strength. It is easy to focus on only one side of this which the physical of eat less and exercise more but the reality is we aren't just a body so we have to focus on all sides of us. It is a great program and I'm looking forward to working with this group of people.

I'll keep you updated about how it is going.

I Will Thrive

Hello out there! Sorry for the disappearance...it was a busy and full week last week. We were busy getting Mom packed and moved and then getting the old house cleaned. But she is tucked into her apartment and life is good. The house sold. And now we go onto the search for a new home for her.

Now onto the Thriving Part...

J is doing well over in Japan they are keeping him very busy which helps him. And they have our pay almost completely straight. They are working on the last part so hopefully by January we should be set. Whoo hoo!

I am going to be leading First Place 4 Health starting the first week in January. I'm excited about this I think it will be fun and I think it will be a good experience for those of us participating. And I know I want to be in better health. I've decided I will be healthier at 40 than I was at 30. (For those doing math yes I've given myself a good couple of years.)

My friend S and I have decided that 2011 is our year for excitement and going out of our comfort zone. So in January we plan on taking a stripper exercise class over at Studio Rio. I think it will be a fun experience. And it is different. I can't wait. 

I've decided while he's gone...I'm going to pamper myself once a month. This (really last) month was getting my hair colored. When I was a kid I had bright red hair then it went to auburn and now it is just brown. So I decided to go back to red. I like it..a lot!!

My friend S has also helped me by taking pictures of me to send to J. He likes seeing what I'm up to and having updated pictures. 

And when I went to the eye doctor I was very delinquent in this...and I was diagnosed with a mild astigmatism but it is enough that he wants me to wear corrective glasses. So I now have trifocals. This has been interesting. As a girl who never wore glasses to jump to trifocals it has been fun. But I'm adjusting to them.

The new hair color and the glasses.

Starting Fresh

So I've been down this road before...I want to lose some weight and work toward a healthier me. I have a family history of heart conditions, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. And frankly I'm not getting any younger. I've tried a lot of different weight loss and lifestyle change programs by haven't found one that I felt fit and therefore I've failed to stick with it. 

A local church is offering a weight loss Bible Study called First Place 4 Health. I like it because it isn't just a diet program or an exercise program it approaches the mental, physical, spiritual and emotional sides of your life. I like the fact that it includes a Bible study portion. It begins at a local church in September and I'm looking forward to it. I've signed up for it and look forward to what I may gain from it.